/
“It’s alright. I’ll wake you up before we arrive,” Helios whispered warmly.
In the end, Sera could not overcome her drowsiness as he extended his consideration towards her. Helpless against the pull of slumber, Sera drifted off as well.
Soon, different, quiet breathing sounds could be heard inside the train car.
Helios turned his head for a moment. He tried to avoid looking at Sera, but failed.
She was smiling comfortably in her sleep, and she kept a hand each on RosĂ© and Ferre’s heads.
If there was something Helios was a little concerned about, it was the fact that Sera’s own head was tilting uncomfortably off to the side.
‘You’ll have a stiff neck when you wake up.’
Helios rose quietly from his seat and, without making any noise, he went closer to Sera.
Long shadows beneath her lashes fluttered in the yellow light of the nearing sunset.
Helios gently straightened her head, and he carefully brushed aside the black fringe that tickled her forehead.
“Mmmh.”
She seemed to be exhausted. In her sleep, Sera nuzzled her cheek into his hand, making a saccharine sound that was not so different from his younger siblings whenever they whined.
With a smile of satisfaction, he slowly returned to his seat.
Just watching this beautiful sight before him filled him with serenity.
Soon after, someone knocked on the door of their train car.
Helios once again rose from his seat without making any noise, then he opened the door carefully so that the three sleeping people would not wake up.
“Heli, we’re almost there. It’s time to get ready to alight the train now.”
“Ah
 Jean, is it okay if we wait a little bit?”
Helios lowered his voice to a whisper, giving the knight a troubled smile.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, there isn’t any.”
Helios glanced behind him.
The three adorable people were still deep into their nap, and he wanted to let them sleep a little more. It seemed cozy, napping in the afternoon sun.
“They’re still asleep.”
“I can carry Their Highnesses RosĂ© and Ferre, so wouldn’t it be alright?”
“No, Miss Popo is sleeping, too.”
“Huh?”
Only then did Jean peek into the train car to find the twin prince and princess, and Sera. Then, he turned back to Helios.
Helios’s warm gaze looked especially deep and serene. It was a somber look that didn’t feel like it was meant for his younger siblings.
Watching silently as Helios’s gaze lingered, Jean could do nothing but close his lips shut.
At the end of Helios’s gaze was Sera.
* * *
“Sera, you woke up last.”
“Yeah. Me and RosĂ© shook you, but you didn’t get up. Sera, you must’ve been really tired!”
With Sera in the middle, Rosé and Ferre chatted cheerfully.
The little ones begged her to join them in their carriage on the way to the villa. Perhaps it’s only because they wanted to tease her like this.
“Really. Both of you, please stop. I’m embarrassed.”
Playing along, Sera sighed exaggeratedly.
In any case, this trip had caused her many a sleepless night, so she knew she felt exhausted even before they left. Still, she didn’t know she’d sleep so deeply in the train.
It was all her fault that they arrived at the imperial villa twenty minutes late. The schedule got delayed.
“Your Majesty, I really am sorry.”
“I’m the one who decided not to wake you up. You don’t have to apologize.”
Helios shook his head and said that Sera had no need to apologize. At this, Sera’s cheeks turned pink.
“Your expressions while you were sleeping were interesting to look at, too.”
Helios, whose eyes were on her, smiled.
“You’re also teasing me, Your Majesty?”
“What do you mean, teasing you? I don’t mean it like that.”
He waved one hand, though he’s obviously holding back his laughter.
She’s so adorable whenever she got teased like this. He wanted to tease her more, but he had no choice but to restrain himself in front of his younger siblings.
“Sera, you talked a lot while sleeping, too.”
“I did?”
“Uh-huh. Every time Ferre told you to get up, you just said, ‘Five more minutes. Uuuung. Five more minutes.”
RosĂ© imitated Sera’s drowsy voice while she was napping on the train.
Ferre also closed his eyes and pretended to be Sera as she was talking in her sleep.
In response, Sera pouted and grumbled mostly to herself.
“Your Majesty and Your Highnesses, are you really going to be like this to me?”
Even so, the three siblings were so cheerful and bright at this moment as they were teasing her.
Eventually, Sera relented.
She made eye contact with the twins once and gave them her own playful smile.
“Are you going to keep teasing me?”
Sera’s voice dropped to a lower tone as her smile turned quite sneaky. At this, the jovial atmosphere inside the carriage shifted.
Helios continued to watch comfortably from his seat, keeping his legs crossed and continuing to prop his chin on one hand. However, both Rosé and Ferre jolted at once and froze where they were.
Ferre had a feeling that he’s about to get scolded now. He surreptitiously got off his seat next to Sera and went over to Helios’s side.
“Why’d you come here?”
Helios asked in a serious tone. He had to stop himself from smirking, though he could feel one corner of his lips trying to curl up.
“U
Um.”
“You have to be scolded, right? Miss Popo seems to have gotten angry because you two did something wrong.”
“Hyung
”
“You both, go ahead and sit next to Miss Popo. So you can learn your lesson.”
Helios’s words made the children gulp. Their round eyes turned towards Sera.
At that moment.
Sera was no longer expressionless—there’s a big smile on her face.
At the same time, she reached forward for a full-frontal tickle attack on Rosé and Ferre.
“You can’t tease me!”
“Kyaah! Stop! It tickles!”
“Sera, stop! Just tickle RosĂ©!”
“No can do! Both of you teased me, didn’t you?”
“Kyahaha!”
Bell-like laughter rang out as RosĂ© and Ferre tried to wiggle away from Sera’s tickle attack, their vehicle shaking along with their movements. Still, they couldn’t continue playing longer for safety reasons since this was a moving carriage.
Calmly straightening her posture once more, Sera sat Rosé and Ferre next to her again.
“By the way, Your Majesty. What are we going to do once we arrive?”
When Sera asked this question, RosĂ© and Ferre excitedly waited for Helios’s answer as well.
Once they’d arrive at the imperial villa, they’d have to get out of the carriage right away with no time to lose.
Of course, Sera admittedly knew that it’s mostly her fault for oversleeping that their schedule was going to be tight for the rest of the day.
“We’re going to the town for an outing.”
“Outing?”
“The first item on the agenda after arriving at the Imperial Villa is always to have an outing around town.”
Helios smiled and pointed out the window.
In response, Rosé, Ferre and Sera all looked towards where his finger was pointed.
“Uwaaah!”
“Woooow!”
“Ah!”
Each person gave a different exclamation according to their individual personality.
Then, when the carriage finally stopped and when the door finally opened, they soon found the wide ocean, which had the same azure hue as the sky above.