/
“Still though, I’m happy. Sera’s going with us and Oppa to the Imperial Villa.”
“Yeah. I’m glad Hyung asked Sera.”
Thinking back to what had happened just now, Rosé and Ferre covered their mouths with both hands and giggled.
“I didn’t know Hyung and Sera would be tricked.”
“Me, too. But Ferre, you were so good at acting today. ‘D
Don’t go
 Sera
’ I almost fell for it, too.”
With tears in her eyes, Rosé mimicked Ferre from earlier.
“You, too. When you said, ‘Se
ra
’ and sniffled like that, it looked so real.”
Their giggles kept leaking through the hands that covered their lips, and they were so filled with mirth at their antics.
It’s true that they cried for so long that they were so sleepy and tired, but they weren’t really asleep.
It’s just that Sera and Helios seemed to think that they really were sleeping, so they just went with it and pretended to sleep.
Whenever the adults have successfully tucked children into bed and lulled them to sleep, the twins knew that they tended to whisper to themselves and talk about something important.
Therefore, pretending to fall asleep was the best strategy in getting important intel!
Fortunately, Sera and Helios didn’t deviate from this expectation, and the twins were very talented in acting, if they do say so themselves.
“Anyway, that’s such a relief. What would we do if Oppa didn’t hear us say that we want Sera to come to the Imperial Villa with us
”
“Yeah. And if we didn’t call her like, ‘Se
ra,’ she wouldn’t have said she’s coming with us!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Rosé and Ferre enjoyed their sense of accomplishment, rejoicing at the good results that they had reaped today. However, they both felt a looming fear in the corners of their minds.
Something that they were afraid of saying out loud because it might come true.
‘Sera probably won’t continue teaching us after the trip.’
When Helios had asked her about this as his final question, Sera didn’t answer and just kept her lips closed.
It was an inevitable conclusion that was unlikely to be changed by just the twins’ efforts alone.
Concealing their fears, Rosé and Ferre hugged each other tightly.
In each other’s embrace, with a similar scent between them, the twins opened their eyes and shed silent tears.
As their eyes got used to the darkness, they heard the doorknob turning. It was Helios.
He opened the door only a little so that he wouldn’t wake the children. They were very light sleepers.
Inside the room, what could be heard right then were only the sound of his movements, and the sound of silent weeping. Helios approached the twins’ bed and sat down at one side.
He stroked the heads of his younger siblings, who were sniffling with their faces buried in the pillows. Just like always, his touch was as warm as the spring sun.
With his gentle hands sweeping down their backs, RosĂ© and Ferre were carried into Helios’ embrace.
“Heli Hyung
”
“Heli Oppa
”
Pitter, patter. Their tears soaked his collar.
He hugged his younger siblings and patted their backs for a long time, comforting them with this slow movement.
* * *
“Seeeraaa.”
“Seeera.”
“Just a moment, Your Highnesses!”
Rosé and Ferre, who were waiting for her in front of the Star Palace, rushed to Sera the moment they saw her.
With an expression that you don’t know whether they were either laughing or crying, the twins ran straight to her like two reckless rhinos.
Opening her arms as they ran to her, Sera gave Rosé and Ferre a big hug.
She was ready to face them as they had tears and runny noses again. However, while the twins still had swollen eyes, they didn’t look as forlorn as they did during her last visit.
“Sera! I’ve been waiting for you for a looong time.”
“Me too! I waited more for you than RosĂ©.”
The children clung to her neck and shoulders like two little monkeys, whispering in her ears.
“I’ve been waiting, too.”
With a soft gaze, Sera checked the faces of the children, who were nuzzling her cheeks.
There were traces of redness around their eyes, leading her to guess that they must have cried again last night.
‘You must’ve cried because of me
’
Feeling remorseful, Sera brought one hand each to the twins’ cheeks, and they both leaned into her palm, as if they didn’t want to be apart from her.
The twins didn’t let go of her hands for a long time.
Normally, Sera would have already taken the children’s hands and led them to the Star Palace, saying that they should go inside right away. However, this time, she silently waited for the twins.
They nuzzled closely into her arms, and about ten minutes later, they carefully pulled away.
The angel-like children looked up at her, tears brimming in their eyes as they looked up at her.
“Us
”
Rosé was the first to open her lips, tears in her green eyes.
“And Sera. Let’s make good memories.”
Ferre also cried.
“Let’s make a lot.”
Rosé and Ferre spoke slowly at the same time. This was the result of Helios trying to persuade and soothe the children over the past two days.
‘Because Heli Oppa said, after we go to the Imperial Villa, we can’t see each other anymore
!’
‘Because Heli Hyung said that Sera’s heart will hurt a lot if we cry a lot
!’
But even if they were determined not to be sad, their emotions couldn’t follow just like that.
Only thinking about Sera leaving them
 They couldn’t stop the tears from forming, and neither could they stop their noses from getting red.
“Heli Oppa said that if we make a lot of good memories with Sera, Sera will keep wanting to see us.”
“Heli Hyung said that we shouldn’t cry because Sera will have a hard time, because Sera feels the same way as us. Then Sera will also cry.”
“Heli Oppa said that if we listen well, Sera can keep seeing us even if you’re not our tutor anymore.”
“Yeah. Heli Hyung can just invite Sera to the palace every day.”
Their eyes were like two crescent moons, but the corners of their lips were being tugged down.
The twins tried to smile brightly with such sad expressions that you couldn’t tell whether they were smiling or crying.
Tears that they tried to hold back somehow eventually flowed down their rosy cheeks.
Sera looked away for a moment and closed her eyes.
‘I don’t think I cried like this even with my sixth-grade graduating class before. I guess I’ve gotten too close with Your Highnesses.’
“Yes, Your Highnesses. Let’s make a lot of good memories for the rest of the month! So that we can always remember each other!”
With her heart feeling heavy, she drew the children tightly in her embrace.