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Fortunately, as soon as Rosé finished speaking, the sounds of approaching horses thundered on the ground.
As the people who were out on the hunt were about to come back, the people who recognized this spoke in excited voices.
Ttooooom.
A trumpet announced the emperor’s arrival. Sera quickly stopped the children so that she could take them back to the tent.
She intended to lead them away for a while so that they wouldn’t see anyone displaying and bragging about the game that they caught.
“Sera, why? I wanna see Oppa.”
“Yeah. I wanna see the animals.”
RosĂ© and Ferre dragged their feet as they walked, not wanting to leave. The twins tugged at the skirt of Sera’s dress, but she only looked at the twins gently as though to urge them.
“Your Highnesses might get surprised. The animals are in a lot of pain right now.”
Sera’s quiet voice had always been quite convincing, so RosĂ© and Ferre’s resolve wavered a little.
They couldn’t believe that the animals were in pain. It’s something that they never imagined to happen.
“Please remember that this is a hunting competition. Your Highnesses won’t be able to meet the animals in the way that you’re expecting.”
When Sera told them yet another truth, the twins’ expressions stiffened.
“Is it because the animals are dead?”
Rosé pursed her lips. Sera nodded calmly.
“Yes. You might get scared.”
“I’m kinda scared of things like that, Sera!”
Ferre clung to Sera, frightened at the news that the animals would be dead. RosĂ© quickly grabbed Sera’s hand as if she wanted to leave right away.
At that moment, a young noble lady with a deathly pallid face passed by the three of them.
RosĂ© and Ferre now had tears welling up in their eyes. One look at that passing young lady’s frightened expression was enough to instill fear in the children.
“Sera, me too, I’m scared. Let’s go.”
“Yeah. I got scared even long before RosĂ©.”
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
The twins looked up at Sera with their round eyes. Placing one hand each on their shoulders, Sera quickly ushered them both forward, making it so that they wouldn’t look back.
* * *
“Let’s wait here for a while.”
When the children had calmed down a bit, Sera let go of her hold on them.
The atmosphere was different in the dense woods, even though they weren’t that far from their former spot.
The sun shone through the thicket, and the twittering of birds could be heard from somewhere.
Perhaps it’s because of this that RosĂ© and Ferre soon calmed down. They walked through the forest with lighter steps.
Sera, Rosé and Ferre went on a peaceful stroll together.
“What’s this, Sera?”
“What’s that, Sera?”
Of course, being as curious as they were, RosĂ© and Ferre couldn’t just pass through the path. Their small index fingers constantly pointed at new things.
“This is a pine tree, and that’s an acacia tree. They both smell pleasant.”
Sera carried Rosé and Ferre one at a time so that they could smell the blooming flowers nearby.
The twins, who breathed heavily, came down from her embrace after being elated by the sweet scent.
“Sera, then what’s this?”
“It looks sooo pretty. And colorful.”
This time, Rosé and Ferre were pointing at a red mushroom at the base of a tree.
“That’s a mushroom.”
“Mushroom? Let’s pick it!”
Ferre exclaimed innocently.
“No, it’s a poisonous mushroom.”
“Poisonous mushroom? Will we die if we eat one?”
Rosé tilted her head to the side.
“It’s possible for you to die, or you could also go on and bahahaha! Keep laughing like that without stopping. Or, you could also get red and weird splotches on your body.”
Surprised by her explanation, the twins trembled. They both shook their heads and soon averted their eyes from the mushroom.
Sera walked slowly along with the small children. Birdsongs could be heard from a distance, and it was at this time of the day that the yellow sun was pleasantly warm.
And on their long, leisurely walk, they found a small animal. Its fur had the same color as the ground.
Wriggle.
The small animal moved.
At this, the twins let go of Sera’s hands and ran towards it.
“Your Highnesses, wait! Don’t touch it! It might be dangerous!”
Even though it didn’t look dangerous, Sera shouted nonetheless.
Fortunately, RosĂ© and Ferre obediently followed Sera’s words. The twins only squatted in front of the small animal and waited for Sera.
“It looks like this squirrel’s hurt.”
“I guess its tail is hurt.”
“I think it’s bleeding.”
“Shouldn’t we save it?”
After observing the squirrel, Rosé and Ferre turned their heads as Sera also crouched in between them.
Carefully reaching out towards it, she cradled it with both hands so she could assess the injured squirrel.
The small animal let out a pained groan.
“What do we do, Sera?”
“It looks like it’s hurt a lot.”
The twins gathered around the squirrel that was in Sera’s hands.
“Sera, what do we do?”
“It’s so pitiful.”
As it was gingerly cradled by her hands, the squirrel looked like a baby.
It’s uncertain whether it was due to this morning’s hunting competition, but a large wound remained on its tail. Red blood was staining Sera’s hands.
Pitying the squirrel, Sera gently bit her lower lip. The children started crying as they thought the same thing.
“Can’t we save it?”
“Let’s save it. It looks so hurt.”
“Alright. Let’s try to save it first.”
Sera nodded in agreement with the crying children’s pleas. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped it around the squirrel. The white handkerchief instantly turned red.
“Sera, let’s go. Let’s ask Oppa or a doctor to save it. Okay?”
“Let’s hurry!”
“You can’t die, Baby Squirrel. Please hang on.”
“Yeah. Hang in there.”
Urgently, Rosé and Ferre pulled Sera forward. Likewise, Sera hurried as well because she could feel the small squirrel in her hands writhing in pain.
Before they knew it, the three of them started running together.