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“Tree.”
Sera called a very easy word.
It was a simple word that needed only a few tiles. Since Ferre was a boy, he had a relatively weaker hold on language compared to Rosé in terms of development at this age. To prevent the odds from skewing on just one side, Sera had to call easy words so that they both could find the right tiles.
Perhaps proving that this strategy was effective, Ferre raised his hand first.
“Ferre, done!”
To confirm the spelling, Helios leaned forward to look at the tiles that Ferre had combined. It was a perfect ‘tree’ without any mistakes.
With a smile, Helios called a point for the opposing team.
“Ferre gets one point.”
“Of course! His Highness is so good at this!”
Sera replied to Helios with a broad smile. It was a little sly, but because Rosé and Ferre had differences in their language skills, this trick was needed to make the game fun.
‘And a fun game is where you can win.’
She made a high five with Ferre, hiding her guilt a little. She purposely called a word to match Ferre, so if she called words of this level, then even if Ferre would lag behind, it would still be enough that they could take the cake.
“Then it’s my turn to call a word.”
Hearing Helios say this, Sera nodded.
RosĂ© and Ferre were looking only at Helios’ lips as they waited for what word would come out. The brother and sister’s eyes were burning with a determined fire for victory.
In particular, Rosé’s desire to win the next point was shown as her eyes were so focused to the point that they looked as though they’d pop out. Her lips were also pursed to show just how high her concentration was.
While everyone was nervous about which word would come out, Helios called the next word in a gentle voice.
“Daisy flower.”
For a moment, Sera looked dazedly at Helios. She wondered if she heard it wrong, but Helios just leaned his chin on the back of his hand and smiled at her.
“Your Majesty
?”
“What is it, Miss Popo?”
It was as intentional as Sera’s ‘tree’. It was a spelling that RosĂ© would definitely get right.
With that many different letters to spell two words, even if Ferre finished faster, it would be difficult to expect a point for their team because he would probably misspell it.
‘Isn’t the spelling too hard for that?’
Sera never thought that Helios would think to call these words. With an incredulous smile, Sera gaped at Helios with her mouth open.
“It’s not fun to lose.”
Helios grinned, his smile matching the ‘daisy flower’ that he called.
No wonder the look in his eyes seemed unusual earlier—he was serious about this game. It was a simple game, but his eyes were strangely sparkling with a desire not to lose.
‘You’ve always been smiling gently and softly, so I thought you wouldn’t be competitive
’
Sera glanced at him, his unexpected countenance startling her. While she was dazed, Rosé was the first to shout.
“RosĂ©! Correct! Done. Me!”
This time, it was Sera who checked the answer. There were signs of some struggle with the spelling because the tiles were in a bit of disarray, but RosĂ© perfectly spelled ‘daisy flower’.
Ferre on the other hand
 As expected, it was too difficult for him, but he at least got ‘daisy’ correctly.
Ferre glanced sneakily at Rosé’s answer. Perhaps embarrassed, he scattered his tiles around. Seeing this, Sera patted Ferre’s back, comforting him.
“It’s okay. Both of you spelled difficult words, but Your Highness did a great job. Her Highness RosĂ© just took one point, so we’re tied right now at 1:1.”
“Is it our turn?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s time for me and you to spell.”
“Oppa, good luck!”
“Sera! You have to win!”
Sera brought the tiles that Rosé and Ferre used and gathered them together in a pile in the center again.
As Sera mixed tiles evenly, Rosé and Ferre were thinking of good words to call.
For a while now, the twins seemed to already be excited about their words, and they were out of focus. They laughed at something they found funny while looking at Sera and Helios alternately.
While they whispered amongst themselves talking about which word to call, Sera and Helios were ready to spell, just waiting for the twins.
Then, Sera and Helios’ gazes met. He still had a laidback smile, but his purple eyes had a glint to them. He wouldn’t go easy on her.
Sera thought that they could just let Rosé and Ferre score points leisurely so that they could enjoy the game. But here, Helios seemed to be determined not to lose any points to Sera.
Seeing his demeanor, Sera felt a little nervous.
“Are Hyung and Sera ready?”
“Yes.”
“That’s right.”
Sera and Helios fixed their gazes on the wooden tiles.
Which tile should they reach for first, where each letter was, which tiles there were. With hawk eyes, they were entirely focused on the tiles, but Ferre wasn’t calling any words.
When Sera turned around, RosĂ© and Ferre were giggling together so boisterously that it seemed like they were out of breath. Helios also shook his head as though to tell Sera that he also didn’t know what they were thinking.
“What’s so funny, Ferre, RosĂ©?”
When Helios asked, Rosé and Ferre just looked at each other and covered their lips with both hands.
“No, no, no. It’s nothing.”
The twins waved their hands.
What kind of word were they thinking of? Even as they said it was nothing, it wasn’t believable at all because their giggles were still leaking through the two hands that were covering their lips.
“Okay, okay, here’s the real word now. Get ready.”
At Ferre’s declaration, Sera steeled herself. There were a few topics that children would giggle at like that. Stuff boggers and other such stuff.
As she prepared herself, she thought that she shouldn’t lose her composure even if they would call words like that.
“Kiss.”