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Chapter 173
Translator: Yonnee
—
Together, Sera and Helios snuck into the rear garden.
Sera’s heart was still beating really fast, but both their steps were unusually slow.
If she were to lose focus for even just one second, the memory of being in his arms at that position would most certainly pop into her mind yet again.
Aware of her ridiculous behavior, Sera told herself to get a grip several times over already.
“Miss Popo, there’s something I must tell you.”
“Yes?”
But when Helios said that, Sera’s foot caught onto a stray rock, and she tripped at once.
Helios caught her quickly before she could stumble forward.
“Thank you. May I ask what it is?”
Sera replied as casually as she could, pretending that nothing happened.
There was a slight smile on Helios’ lips, but he said nothing about it.
“Marquis Brunner won the hunting competition not too long ago, and because of that, he’ll be visiting the palace soon. He will be bringing his son as well.”
“Marquis Brunner’s son
 Do you mean Young Lord Jerome?”
Recalling the boy’s mature appearance at the hunting competition, Sera asked back.
“Yes, he’s a little older than RosĂ© and Ferre. I believe it would be nice for him to spend some time with my younger siblings before the official event that will follow after our meal together.”
Sera knew straight away what Helios was implying.
Rosé and Ferre were twins, so they always had each other to hang out with and play together. But usually, noble children of their age needed at least one playmate.
Helios most likely had this in mind.
“I’m sure that the twins will like having a new friend. I’ll watch from the side as well.”
Soon, Sera and Helios found RosĂ© and Ferre. They’re both squatting under the shade of a tree, busy and very focused at what they were doing there.
Exchanging signals with each other, Sera and Helios carefully snuck behind the children.
“RosĂ©. Ferre.”
“Your Highnesses.”
As their names were called, both Rosé and Ferre immediately stopped what they were doing, and they rose to their feet slowly.
Then, the twins turned around, inadvertently showing what they were holding in their hands.
“Sera.”
“Heli Oppa.”
“What in the world are you two
”
Helios was baffled.
Sera, who was shocked as well, unknowingly grabbed Helios’ arm.
In their small hands were red berries and suspiciously wriggling things.
“Sera, this is
”
“Heli Oppa, this is
”
RosĂ© and Ferre scrambled to find an excuse. However, they didn’t seem to have any intention to throw away what’s in their hands.
As Sera managed to get over her surprise, she took a deep breath and took a better look at what’s in the children’s hands. The wriggling little caterpillars were still quite goosebump-inducing to see the second time around.
Their short fingernails were crammed with black soil, and this was enough to tell her how much dirt they dug through just to get those caterpillars.
“Your Highnesses
”
“Roseline, Ferreritan. You two, really
”
Sera let out a long sigh, and Helios just shook his head. They were both so dumbfounded that they couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Caterpillars as small as rice weevils, and unidentified fruits.
It’s not something that children would normally want to see. But both Sera and Helios knew one particular creature that would have liked to see such things.
“The squirrel.”
Helios and Sera agreed.
And Sera eventually put all the pieces together. She burst out into a peal of laughter, wondering why she didn’t think of that first.
She finally understood why Rosé and Ferre were so passionate about shaking their tambourines and singing in class today.
They seemed to have come up with this plan beforehand, and they must have tried their best in music class today so that they could drown out the squeaking squirrel with them.
‘But how did you get the squirrel back? I went with you both when you returned it.’
Sera recalled the day they went to the mountain, and she recalled how restless Ferre had been in the carriage on their way back.
“Your Highness Ferre.”
The moment his name was called, Ferre flinched.
Sera’s smile became a bit more despondent because this was evidence enough that her suspicions were right.
“So you didn’t have a stomachache that day.”
On their way back to the Star Palace that day, Ferre grabbed his stomach the whole time, saying that he was in a hurry to go to the bathroom.
He had some history of turning the entire palace upside down that day after the banquet, so Sera didn’t think that his behavior was out of the ordinary.
Sera couldn’t forget how much she had grilled the coachman to go faster because she was worried that another catastrophe might happen once again.
The carriage ran at a speed that she had never experienced before, and as soon as they arrived at the Star Palace, she carried Ferre over her back and ran all the way to the bathroom as fast as she possibly could.
Ferre looked up for a moment, but when he saw Helios looking at him directly, he nodded reluctantly, scared that he’d be scolded if he were to lie.
“Yeah
 I was hiding Pororing in my shirt
”
“Pororing?”
“Yeah, the baby squirrel.”
Ferre fidgeted as he murmured.
“You even named it?”
As he was listening, Helios intervened and bewilderedly said this.
“Sera, Heli Oppa. Pororing’s name is pretty. I named him.”
When the reaction to the baby squirrel was like that, it seemed like she couldn’t stay still, so RosĂ© immediately stepped forward and boasted.
“Haaaa.”
“Haa.”
Sighing at the same time, Sera and Helios gave each other a knowing look. A silent conversation took place between them, about how exactly they’re going to deal with this.
* * *
“Squeak— Squeak—”
With much reluctance, Ferre and Rosé eventually showed Pororing, who they had been hiding until now.
The twins had deemed Rosé’s doll house as Pororing’s humble abode, and even the cleaning maids had been fooled because they didn’t notice at all.
Of course, it was clear that they would have been caught eventually, but no one thought that the large dollhouse in one corner of the study room had become Pororing’s house.
“Wow
 There are even rice grains and beans in here. My goodness, there’s even some broken-up pasta noodles here for him.”
When Sera opened the dollhouse’s front door, Sera clicked her tongue as a pile of rice grains poured out.
With how much Rosé and Ferre fed Pororing, his little tummy had grown very much plump after only a few days.