CH 172

After Helios settled on this not-so-difficult decision, his legs moved forward automatically.

Right now, Sera was hiding behind a marble column, sticking her face out for a moment to peek at the children.

As focused as she was at his younger siblings’ backs, she didn’t notice his approach.

But just in case Sera would be very surprised, Helios walked closer to her carefully.

“What are you doing?”

He whispered in a very soft whisper that only she could hear.

Surprised, Sera looked to the side where she heard that voice. And when she realized who it was, her round eyes went wide.

“Your… Majesty? What brings you here…”

But then, the twins started speaking. Sera hurriedly covered her own lips with both her hands, and Helios paused as well, stopping his breathing for a moment.

“Ferre, Sera didn’t follow us, did she?”

“If we got caught, then we would already be in trouble. Why do you think we’re being followed, Rosé?”

“I just feel it. It’s like someone’s following us… You didn’t feel it?”

“Eyy. We looked back so many times and checked. No way.”

“But it’s weird.”

Rosé and Ferre were standing with their backs turned on Sera and Helios, and they whispered with their heads together.

Sera and Helios couldn’t move easily because the twins might notice them, and so they quietly eavesdropped on their conversation without moving.

“Ferre, you don’t think that’s weird?”

“Huh? What?”

“That. Behind the pillar of the library building.”

As expected, Rosé had really good senses. Rosé pointed out exactly where Sera and Helios were hiding.

Startled, Sera and Helios looked at each other at the same time.

“Then should I go check?”

Ferre was the one who said that. He turned around and slowly walked towards Sera and Helios. The sound of his footsteps gradually grew louder.

Not knowing what to do, Sera hesitated.

“You don’t want to get caught?”

Helios asked with a low voice when he noticed Sera’s flustered appearance.

“Not yet.”

Sera shook her head.

Then, coming up with a way as to how they could further hide, Helios drew Sera closer to him for a moment.

Her petite body was now trapped between the column and his large body.

Her back was pressed against the hard marble column, and if she were to raise her head just a little, she’d be directly face to face with Helios.

Sera’s cheeks went bright red.

With the way things were now, while it’s true that they were less conspicuous to the twins’ eyes, their bodies were far too close to each other.

Freezing as she was from nervousness, Sera immediately looked down on the ground.

“Ferre might just go without looking properly. Let’s stay like this for a little while.”

Helios whispered softly into her ear.

“Yes…”

So close together that their bodies were almost touching, Sera was so conscious about every breath he took as his chest went up and down.

Her heart was pounding heavily. With how close they were, the pleasant scent coming from him was so evident.

She raised her head slightly to check what was going on, but she instead made eye contact with Helios.

They both smiled, expressing a mixture of embarrassment and awkwardness.

As Ferre was now just a few steps away, Helios naturally pressed closer to her.

The sound of each other’s heartbeats reverberated in the extended silence where nothing was said.

“Oh, I don’t think there’s anyone here?” Ferre said.

“Then just come back!” Rosé shouted.

Soon after, Ferre returned to Rosé’s side.

Just to make sure that they wouldn’t be noticed by Rosé and Ferre, Sera and Helios remained still for a while more.

But as it went on, they couldn’t hear the twins’ voices anymore, and Sera increasingly became more embarrassed to stay in this position.

It seemed like forever had passed, but Helios still did not let go. Sera was the first to speak.

“Your Majesty, are Their Highnesses Rosé and Ferre still there?”

At the question, it was as if Helios was brought back from a trance. He let out a breath and answered.

“Apologies. They’re gone now.”

With that, he immediately let Sera go, but it kind of sounded like an awkward excuse.

They were so close together that it was almost like they were in each other’s embrace.

Helios took a step back from Sera, coughing awkwardly.

“Where did Their Highnesses go?”

Pretending that what happened just now wasn’t a big deal, Sera looked around. The children were nowhere to be found.

“They went up north. It seems like they’re headed for the rear garden.”

Helios looked towards the direction that the children disappeared off to.

“The rear garden…”

Sera also turned to look where Helios was looking.

“What’s going on? Why are you hiding like this?” Helios asked.

They were both speaking so fast, as though hurriedly trying to brush off the awkwardness between them.

“Their Highnesses were acting unusual today.”

“Unusual? What did my younger siblings do?”

His eyes were filled with concern.

Sera wanted to say that there’s nothing he should worry about, but her hunch as a teacher was saying, no, there’s something to worry about.

With an ambiguous smile, she told the truth.

“I’m not certain yet. They’re hiding a secret, and they wouldn’t tell me about it. That’s why I’ve been sneaking after them to find out what they’re up to.”

“A secret…”

Helios finally understood the strange things he saw today.

“Then I’ll come with you.”

He immediately suggested this.