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Sera knew—she knew—that His Majesty wasn’t the kind of person who’d do that, but nevertheless, she closed her eyes tightly.
Unwittingly, she pursed her lips, and she felt the palms of her hands getting clammy, so she hugged her bag tighter.
Right now, Helios’ face was so, so close.
Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump.
It felt like her heart was going to burst right out of her chest. No, I don’t think I can do this.
Right as Sera was about to push him back, Helios spoke up.
“Perhaps it’s because my younger siblings touched your face with their dirty hands.”
At the unexpected answer, Sera’s eyes shot open.
“Huh?”
“There’s something on your cheek.”
“Something?”
“Earlier today, didn’t RosĂ© and Ferre touch your cheek while they were crying? It seems like they got a little dirt on you. Please stay still for just a second, Miss Popo.”
The way he was looking at her reddened cheek was serious. And, still cradling her cheek with one hand, he rubbed Sera’s cheek with his thumb without hesitation.
He rubbed so softly that you’d think he was caressing a baby’s cheek.
With his thumb brushed against her skin a couple of times, after Helios finished his task, he smiled and stared into his blue eyes.
“It’s all gone now.”
“
Yes
 Thank you.”
What in the world was I expecting!
Sera rebuked herself right then. There was a blank expression on her face, as if she couldn’t believe what happened just now.
“But why did you close your eyes?”
His gentle smile slightly turned into a smirk, and Helios stared into her eyes with curiosity.
At his words, Sera’s blue eyes—as she had been looking into her violet eyes—slowly went down, lingering on the pretty arc drawn lightly upon his lips.
‘Look at you, imagining all sorts of things by yourself, Sera Popo
’
Sera quickly turned her head to the side as her cheeks blossomed into a red-hot shade.
All she wanted at this very moment was to crawl into a mouse hole. She was so afraid that she’d be caught and that her wild imagination would be revealed.
However, there was no place to run away.
“Ummm.”
Not even knowing it herself, she let out a groan.
“Does it hurt because I rubbed it too hard?”
Helios’ calm gaze was clueless beyond measure.
Sera couldn’t bear to make eye contact with Helios right now, and so she shook her head while avoiding his eyes.
“No, I was just surprised because Your Majesty came so close.”
Pretending to be calm, Sera turned away from Helios.
She hugged her bag tighter and kept her head down. Then, she heard a low chuckle behind her.
“I wasn’t imagining anything weird, Your Majesty.”
Sera went ahead and said it first just in case he’d tease her like before.
“What kind of weird imagination?”
One of Helios’ eyebrows shot up.
“Just, something.”
As Sera pouted and grumbled, Helios tilted his head to the side. It hadn’t been long since he teased her like that last time.
Now that she thought about it, though His Majesty was teasing her, he seemed to be treating her a little differently these days.
He kept taking care of her to the point that there were times when she really would be mistaken. She tried to keep her distance, but he continued to show such excessive consideration towards her.
‘As if you’re interested in me.’
But it was a ridiculous thought.
Sera shook her head. She straightened out her errant thoughts, then looked up. Once again, that playful face of his returned into her line of vision.
“Please don’t tease me. Anyone at all would be so surprised when Your Majesty comes so close.”
“Why were you so surprised?”
“Would I be the only one who’d react like that? No way. Your Majesty should know.”
Sera then tapped the toe of her shoe at the door, as though urging him to open it quicker.
“Miss Popo, you’re always so fun to tease.”
“That’s why I’m always so skittish about pranks. At times like this, I could clearly see that Your Majesty and Their Highnesses RosĂ© and Ferre are siblings.”
Helios chuckled a little as he opened the door, and he soon burst out laughing.
And even as Sera had already pushed the door wider, his laughter still continued.
“You don’t have to see me off, Your Majesty.”
“I want to take you there. Hand me your bag.”
“Your Majesty!”
Before Sera could stop him, Helios quickly took her bag from her.
Brows furrowed, she looked like the very image of a strict teacher right now, but he avoided her with a sly smile.
With a low whisper, he spoke into her ear so that his younger siblings wouldn’t stir awake. His saccharine voice was like a gentle breeze.
“Just until the front then. I won’t be greedy anymore.”
* * *
“Hey.”
A very, very faint whisper suddenly resounded inside the dark bedroom where all the lights had been turned off. Just like the thin strip of light leaking through the door, it was a truly small voice.
“Hey. Hey, Ferre.”
After confirming that no one else was there anymore, RosĂ© nudged her little brother. He wouldn’t budge.
Was he really sleeping already?
She patted Ferre’s shoulder carefully, then soon, his eyes slowly opened and twinkled in the dark.
“Are both of them gone?”
“Yeah. Heli Oppa and Sera left. You can stop pretending now.”
Ferre cautiously turned his head and looked around the room, fearing that someone was watching. And after seeing that no one was there, he immediately kicked the blanket off his body.
“It was so hot, I thought I was gonna die.”
“Me, too. I thought I’d die from the heat.”
Pushing the white blankets away with their feet, the twins plopped down on the bed in unison. Just by removing that thin blanket, they were finally able to breathe.
Truthfully, the blankets had been very hot and stuffy for them. While they were under those things, they sweated so much and immediately wanted to shout, ‘It’s hot!’
But if it’s to weaken Sera’s resolve, even a little, they could endure it.
The white sheets were kicked far away, piled up like two mountains at the corners of the bed.
Ferre inhaled deeply, his belly puffing up like a melon.
“You know, RosĂ©. We—!”
“You know, Ferre. We—!”
Did they send each other a telepathic message?
Rosé and Ferre turned to each other at the same time. On this very day, not only their actions, but even their words were in sync.
Their methods weren’t perfect, but because they achieved their goal to some extent, they smiled widely like never before—even if their faces were swollen like a puffer fish.