Chapter 317 [Special Episode!] Ignis And Little Han
"Ignis… have you gotten all my reminders?" Celeste checked again once before she opened her portal to carry out the Overseer's tasks.
"En… I got it…" Ignis nodded expressionlessly as he replied to Celeste.
"Alright… take care of Little Han then!" Celeste was still worried that Ignis would rear a child. But since Zale was even able to look after Little Han without any mishaps, she opted to trust Ignis and left the realm for their task.
Finally realizing that they were alone, Ignis looked at Little Han who had just woken up from his slumber.
Yawning like a little cub, Little Han rolled on his sleeping nest and slowly sat up, he looked around to see that his godmas and godpas were no longer around until his eyes met Ignis's. Little Han blinked his dewy crystal blue eyes silently.
"..." Ignis just stared at him blankly.
"..." Little Han blinked at him in reply.
"..." Ignis still didn't move and stared at him silently while his great guardian's body was squatting in front of Little Han whose hair was still messy because he had just woken up.
"...uwaaaaaahhh!!!!" Little Han blinked one last time and started to cry.
Ignis's body jolted in fluster, he did not expect to encounter Little Han's crying during the first hour of his babysitting.
"Ah… don't cry…" He reached out his hands and tried to pat Little Han's head gently. However since Little Han was yet to wake up, the motion of his touch led Little Han to tumble down his sleeping nest.
"Waaaaaaah!!!" Little Han cried louder making Ignis, the Fire guardian sweat profusely.
"W-what to do… wait a moment… uh…" Ignis was deeply troubled as Little Han cried louder.
With his power, a book titled 'Babysitting 101' appeared in his hands. Without delaying any further, Ignis flipped the book open. "Baby crying… where is it… Baby crying…"
"Ah, there it is…" His eyes flicked in relief when he saw the page he was looking for.
"Alright… first, change his diapers… Eh…" Ignis was shocked, he had not learned how to change diapers from Celeste!!!
He flipped the book once again and looked for the page for changing diapers.
"Alright… there you go... Godpa will check your diapers ok?" Ignis lifted Little Han up and what assaulted him was the pungent and milky smell coming from Little Han's bum.
Ignis's eyebrows twitched and he looked at Little Han's diaper with reluctance.
But Little Han's crying could not wait anymore. He clenched his fist and let out a cry as he tried to point out what was wrong with him by wiggling his chubby toes.
"I can do this…" Ignis closed his eyes and swallowed the fear he was already feeling because of what he was expecting to see inside Little Han's diapers.
Even if he was a guardian, a spiritual being, he could feel the nervousness and suspense that was brought by the fact that he had to change Little Han's diapers.
He touched Little Han's diapers and gritted his teeth… "There's nothing to be afraid of… it's just diapers… a normal thing for babies!"
However… when he saw what was on Little Han's diaper… he almost fainted in shock.
"Boohooo…" Little Han's cries immediately pulled him back to reality and started to gently lift his feet like the instructions in the book.
"Focus… alright… first… clean Little Han… clean…" Ignis was then again dumbfounded… "I had to touch it?" Ignis's face was filled with unwillingness, how on heavens did Celeste manage to do this? Even Zale could… Why was it hard for him?
"Wuuwuuuuu…" His body jolted guilty as he saw that Little Han's under eyes were already red and puffy from crying.
"Alright… for my godson… I'll do this!!!" He held his breath and speedily cleaned Little Han.
"Pat it dry…"
"Baby powder…"
"Diaper…"
"Whew! All done!!!" Ignis wanted to pat himself on the back but then, realizing that Little Han was still yet to calm down, he did not let his guard down.
"Awummm.. *sniff* *sniff*" Little Han started to crawl toward the mentally exhausted Ignis and nuzzled his head on his hand. "Awummm…"
Ignis felt joy upon Little Han showing signs of affection, but there was another problem… Little Han was looking at him with eyes that were anticipating something.
"Ah… your breakfast… yes…" After a few seconds of thinking, he finally realized what Little Han needed.
And so he put Little Han on a stroller and led him to the kitchen for his meal.
"Alright… wait for godpa to bring you breakfast alright?" Ignis transferred Little Han to the High Chair and bent to level with him while trying to converse with him.
"Awummm…" Little Han was still a little bit woozy and so he just replied meekly.
When it comes to cooking, Ignis was a bit confident because he listened attentively to Celeste's crash course before they decided to rotate in looking after Little Han.
Soon Little Han's baby food was ready and Little Han excitedly picked up his spoon and looked at Ignis with anticipation.
"Oh, you want to try feeding yourself?" Ignis smilingly asked Little Han as he watched him try his best to scoop his baby food on his own.
"Humans really did have a hard time raising kids… Now I understand…" Ignis sighed in his heart as he watched Little Han pour more than half of his baby food all over his body and his high chair.
"Jiheeheee…" Little Han seemed to have felt his lament and so he awkwardly laughed at his godpa.
"Well it's alright… you did a great job eating by yourself today… You must practice more…" Ignis patted Little Han's head and gently praised him despite the mess he made in the kitchen.
"Aye!!!"
"But… this is not good… Your clothes are all messy…" Ignis gently poked Little Han's tiny nose to which the little one pouted charmingly.
"Washy washy…" Little Han excitedly shouted.
"You want to take a bath?" Ignis raised his brows… Celeste warned him not to let Little Han bathe frequently as it was not yet necessary for infants like him to bathe daily.
"We can't go washy washy because godma Celeste will punish me for making you bathe frequently. Didn't you already washy washy with godpa Zale yesterday?" Ignis carried Little Han up, using his magic to clean his messy clothes magically.
"Awww…" Little Han's excited eyes drooped sadly… but he seemed to understand what Ignis was trying to say. In his mind, he remembered his godpa Zale stopping him too.
"Don't be sad… we'll play something fun today… How about flying? Fly fly???" Ignis tried to coax the sad Little Han by making a little firebird fly around them.
The little bird was like a sparrow covered with flames, but the heat never affected the two of them.
"Kyaaaa!" Little Han squealed excitedly while he watched the flame sparrow rise up in the air.
"Aiyaaaaa!" He reached out his hands and tried to catch the flame bird but he couldn't. "Fwy… fwy… (fly.. fly)" His eyes became teary as he begged Ignis to let him fly too and catch the flame sparrow.
"Alright…" Ignis smiled and lifted his hands. He covered Little Han with his hands and slowly let Little Han float in the air.
"Kyaaaaa!!!" Little Han squealed in delight. He stretched his hands upwards gesturing that he wanted to move around.
Soon the guardian's realm was filled with his giggles and squeals as he enjoyed flying with a bunch of flame sparrows around. Of course, Ignis did not dare to neglect his meals and ensured that this time, Little Han would eat all that was in his bowl.
After some time, he got tired and wore a sleepy expression. Ignis immediately carried him to his sleeping nest and brought his milk bottle so that he could have some before he slept.
And then the godson and godpa laid on the sleeping nest peacefully as they took an afternoon nap. It was a sight to behold as Ignis also shared similar features as Little Han - hair was as hot as a fiery flame, eyes as intense as the bluest fire.
For the citizens of Seirende, Ignis would be regarded as their Imperial Family's benefactor as they all knew how the Seirende Family received direct blessings from him during the first war, and so all of the offsprings of the Imperial family possessed these characteristics.
After a few hours, the peaceful nap time was then again disturbed by Little Han's sudden grumbling. Ignis felt his restless whimpers and so he attentively got up and checked Little Han's condition.
"What's wrong?" He asked. In his mind, he ticked all the boxes to ensure that Little Han was comfortable.
'Food, check'
'Temperature, normal'
'Playtime, check…'
'Clothes, comfortable…'
'What else does he need?' Ignis was deeply puzzled as he had already done everything that was in the book in order to ensure that Little Han was in a good mood.
He looked at Little Han helplessly and for some reason, his eyes darted on his diapers once again… Automatically, his hands went to check it again, and…
"Don't tell me…" Horrible flashbacks started to flood his mind at once.
Little Han had soiled his diapers once again!