/
Sera seemed a little surprised to hear this, and she asked back reflexively. With how gentle Helios was, it was difficult to imagine him killing anything.
“It’s tradition for the Emperor to participate in the hunt personally. Though it’s not something I’m fond of.”
Helios frowned, looking as though he really hated hunting. For some reason, Sera had a feeling that he’d let go of as many of the animals he could have caught.
“Your Majesty must be having a difficult time as well. You have to do something that you don’t want to do.”
And, hearing her words of comfort, a light smile appeared upon his face. Sera sighed, and continued to speak.
“All I can do is to take care of Their Highnesses RosĂ© and Ferre. I’ll try my best to make sure that they wouldn’t see that kind of sight, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
Helios closed the carriage door quietly. Soon, the carriage had set off.
He could leave now. However, as Sera looked out the window, she saw Helios still standing there for a long time, watching the carriage move further and further away with his gentle eyes.
* * *
Sera returned the graded math exercise to the children, and when they saw that they were filled with hardly any red marks, Rosé and Ferre were all smiles.
“I knew it. I’m a little smart, aren’t I, Ferre?”
“Yeah. And I’m your twin, so I think I’m also a little smart, huh?”
With how pleased they were about the results, Rosé and Ferre both grinned widely. Seeing this, Sera chuckled to herself because of how adorably confident the children were.
On the palms of their hands, which were like cute kitten paws, she gave them one sticker each. And at this, the twins once again became excited.
“Seraaa.”
“Seeraa.”
After they put their sparkling stickers on the sticker board, Rosé and Ferre turned back to face her.
Because they called her name in such sweet voices, Sera turned her head to face them as well. She was sure that, as ever, they had something they wanted to ask.
Sure enough, when the children jumped down from their chairs, they clung to both sides of her.
“I got all the tricky questions right. Can’t you give me a prize? Hm, please?”
“Yeah. It was really, really hard, but I got everything right, too. I really wish Sera can give me a prize.”
RosĂ© and Ferre hugged Sera’s arms tightly and tugged a little.
At that moment, Sera had to squeeze her eyes shut because of the dazzlingly cute attack.
“Just a small prize, really. It’ll only take a second.”
“I’m not asking for a big prize. Sera, please?”
The twins hugged Sera’s arms tightly and pleaded.
Well, that doesn’t sound unreasonable at all. Especially during the days that RosĂ© and Ferre did well, it’s good to positively reinforce them with small prizes and compliments.
“I’ll listen first and see if it’s something I can give.”
Sera pretended that she couldn’t win against them, opening her eyes as she agreed as if she had no choice.
Noticing that Sera was slowly being convinced, Rosé and Ferre pouted their lips.
“Today! You know, today, Oppa’s gonna practice horseback riding.”
“Don’t you wanna go see Hyung ride a horse? Sera?”
She thought that they’re going to ask her not to give them any homework. A bit perplexed by the unexpected question, Sera tilted her head to the side.
She could understand how the twins wanted to see Helios, but they weren’t the kind of children who would be satisfied with just watching.
“Oppa’s preparing for the hunting contest, so starting today, he’s gonna practice horseback riding. Can’t we go watch him?”
“Hyung’s really really good at riding horses, you know. I wanna watch him. Please?”
Hmm.
Sera tilted her head once more, this time in thought. When Rosé and Ferre gave each other a glance, they both clung to her tighter.
RosĂ© brought her lips close to Sera’s cheek, leaning in to whisper.
“Seraaa, please? My Oppa’s really cool. Sera, don’t you want to see Heli Oppa being cool?”
“Hyung is so cool when he’s riding a horse. His hair goes flutter, flutter, too. C’mon, let’s go watch him, sera. Pleeease? Sera wants to watch Hyung, too, right?”
Are you using me as an excuse now? The children’s antics made her smile. It was obvious just how much they wanted to go see Helios.
She gently pushed the twins away. In turn, Rosé and Ferre struggled not to be pried away from her.
“It’s not just that, right? Your Highnesses want His Majesty to give you a ride.”
When Sera hit the nail on the head, the twins opened their mouths wide.
“Huk!”
“Oh?”
“Ferre, how does Sera know?”
“RosĂ©, Sera can read our minds!”
“What do we do now?”
“What kind of excuse should we give now?”
Without noticing that Sera could hear everything, Rosé and Ferre held an emergency meeting and whispered to each other.
Both of them had serious expressions, each one had their eyebrows raised.
Sera couldn’t help but watch because of how cute they were. She then rose quietly from her seat and approached the twins and took their hands.
Surprised that their hands were being held, Rosé and Ferre stopped talking as though they never started talking at all.
“Well, it might not be all that bad to go and watch just for a little while.”
Sera took the little children’s hands in hers, and both RosĂ© and Ferre started jumping up and down, absolutely ecstatic because of her decision. Still, they beckoned her to lean down.
“Why, Your Highnesses?”
Crouching down to their height, Sera looked at the children.
And at that moment— Oh my!
Rosé and Ferre kissed her on both of her cheeks.
“Sera is the best!”
“There’s no one like Sera!”
Rosé and Ferre exclaimed one after another. Hugging her on each side, they looked up at Sera with proud faces.
And as they hugged her, Sera couldn’t hold back the peal of laughter bubbling inside her. She pulled them into one big hug.
“Really. You two know exactly what my weakness is.”
Practically melting because of the twins’ kisses on her cheeks, Sera grumbled a little, albeit delightedly.