You Are The Apple of My Eyes
Chapter 491 Hiding His Affection

John came back to the castle. He would be living with Nina under the same roof.

This time around, he changed his state of mind.

John's room was next to the children's. Vicente had designed the rooms in such a way that John would be able to quickly get to the children if they need him. The wall dividing the rooms was actually a hidden door without any sound insulation.

If the kids woke up or made any sound, John would be able to hear them easily.

When John took off his mask, he heard Nina putting the children to sleep.

"Van, Don, be good boys, okay? Mommy's going to sing to you and then let's all take a nap." Lying on her side, Nina propped her head upon her left hand. She looked at the children gently. The two children both had beautiful amber eyes, just like hers.

When Nina gazed at the children, she seemed to see herself when she was just a child. A warm, gentle smile appeared on her face. Patting their heads, she sang to them gently. "Rock-a-bye, baby, in the tree top. When the wind blows the cradle will rock..."

Her soft, sweet voice filled the room.

Motherhood agreed well with Nina. Since giving birth to the kids, she was always sweet and loving.

Van and Don grinned. The children's pleasant laughter added to the beautiful melody of the song.

Nina's singing was as gentle as a lamb. John leaned against the wall and listened to Nina sing. He couldn't help but smile as Nina sang to the children. The warmth of her voice filled his heart.

He listened until the song slowly turned into a hum before it stopped altogether.

After a few moments, John quietly opened the door and went inside the room. He glanced over the bed with the guardrails.

He saw the children huddled together.

Treading gently, he walked towards them. Van and Don opened their eyes. One waved his hands while the other moved his feet occasionally. They were not sleepy at all.

John couldn't help but laugh. "Nina may be the only one in the world who sang herself to sleep."

Don and Van grinned at him and narrowed their eyes into slits.

John smiled at them. "Shh! Don't wake up your mom."

The babies were only over a month old so they couldn't control their emotions yet. They laughed heartily as John drew nearer to them.

Their mischievous laughter disturbed Nina. Her face wrinkled slightly as if she was about to wake up.

John lay on the floor like a thief and covered his mouth to stop himself from gasping. He listened intently, waiting to see if Nina was going to wake up.

"Be good." With her eyes closed, Nina fumbled around on the bed. She didn't go back to sleep until she was sure that the kids were there.

John relaxed a bit when he heard Nina's steady breathing. He got up, and for a while, watched her as she slept peacefully. He kissed her gently on the forehead before turning back. When Nina woke up from her nap, the two children were still sleeping soundly.

She quietly swept her blanket to the side and got out of bed. When she opened the door, she saw a tall figure standing nearby. "Your Highness," he said to her.

She was a bit startled to see him there.

She instantly recognized his eyes which were able to give her a headache.

"Phew..." Nina breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly closed the door and turned to John. "So, you can talk?"

"Yes." John looked at her with gentle eyes. He tried to hide his affection for her so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

Nina noticed that her headache had gone away already. She found that his eyes were attractive.

She couldn't help looking straight into them for a few more moments before turning away. John smiled as he watched her turn away.

As Nina entered the study, there were a lot of parenting books strewn about the room.

She had taken developmental psychology when she was in university, and she was good at it. Perhaps it was because of her unhappy childhood that she wanted to pour herself into her studies. However, she wasn't really able to go deeper into it and explore the field as much as she wanted.

Alfred Adler, the founder of individual psychology, said, "Unfortunate people are healing their childhood all their lives, and lucky people are healed by their childhood all their lives." Nina hoped that her children would never get to experience an unhappy childhood. She wanted them to be able to live fulfilling lives without being held down by the past.

To do this, she tried to develop and nurture each child according to their own characteristics and traits. She tried to work on their weaknesses and further reinforce their strengths.

Every day, Nina had a full schedule. She got up early, jogged, and then took care of the children. In the afternoon, she studied, and in the evening, she tended to the children. At around eight o'clock, she would put the children to sleep. After that, she would work on the things that she wanted to do.

She seldom spoke to John. They barely got along, anyway.

However, every day, Nina would run into him several times. By the time she went out of the house, John would be returning home from his jog. He would just greet her and be on his way. When she finished studying in the morning, John would enter the room to do his own work.

When she opened the door after lunch, she could always hear his voice greeting her. By afternoon when she was taking care of the kids, he would already be there with them.

At the very beginning, John just called her. After a couple of times, he would say, "What a coincidence."

Nina didn't take it seriously. Occasionally, she would reply, "Indeed."

One morning, Nina woke up and she was on her period. Although she felt quite sluggish, she still pushed herself to tidy the bed before heading out. As she was about to go for a walk, she saw Cali sneaking around.

Beside the track by the lake was a garden. Holly trees stood all around the little park. Cali squatted under one of the trees and kept looking at her surroundings.

Nina crouched down quietly and followed her gaze to look around, but she didn't see anything.

"Hey Cali, what are you looking at?"

"Ah!" Startled, Cali stumbled to the ground when she heard Nina's voice come from nowhere. After she saw it was her, she calmed down and said, "Shh, Your Highness, don't make a sound." Curious, Nina opened her mouth and asked softly, "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" Cali hushed her again and whispered in Nina's ear, "I'm waiting for someone."

Like her, Nina whispered back, "Who are you waiting for?"

"Well..." After hesitating for a while, Cali finally decided to tell her. "I'm waiting for Sean."

"Sean?" Right after Nina had spoken, Cali widened her eyes in panic. She then quickly raised her hand to cover Nina's mouth. Realizing her mistake, she took her hand back and whispered to Nina's ear, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I have tissue paper. You can use this to wipe your mouth."

Nina took the piece of issue that Cali handed to her and wiped her mouth with it.

"You have a date with Sean? But why are you hiding here?" Nina asked her.

"Shh!" With an anxious look on her face, Cali said in a low voice, "Your Highness, can you please lower your voice? I came to see Sean secretly."

"Secretly?" Nina finally lowered her voice. "But why? Aren't you two dating?"

Cali shook her head.

"No!" A man's voice rang over both of their heads.0000