/
‘This is huge trouble. There’s no good news yet.’
Jean had just read Raphael’s letter.
As he was about to report to Helios, Jean’s heart sank as heavy as the contents of the letter.
Raphael had remained in the capital so that he could supervise what went on in the imperial palace.
Perhaps the news about what happened here in the villa had been so shocking to him, but Raphael’s letter was utterly long to the point that Jean couldn’t keep up. The concerns of the aide towards Helios were abundant.
However, if the letter had contained only that, Jean’s steps as he was going to Helios wouldn’t be this heavy.
What’s weighing on Jean’s heart heavily was the imperial mages’ opinions on the incident.
Who could dare use powerful spells to break through the barriers in place around the villa?
But the only answer that returned was, ‘I need more time’.
Of course, it couldn’t be easy to find the culprit because no evidence was left.
Jean already expected this result beforehand, however, what he heard from Helios before was what surprised him.
“Considering the dreadful incident, it’s a red-eyed snake of all things. It’s ominous.”
Perhaps this was why.
“The train accident that took my parents’ lives
 I believe we need to see if there’s any connection with the recent incident.”
Helios was thinking that the incident here at the villa was somehow connected to the train accident.
Jean couldn’t help but feel saddened that this suspicious incident was serving as a trigger for Helios to remember his parents’ deaths. Even so, it had long been concluded that it was an accident caused by a mistake by the engineer.
So why would Helios bring that up again now? Jean was concerned about this.
‘It seems like it’s just a coincidence, but is it really?’
“Ah, I’m going crazy.”
Jean tore his hair with both hands because it was a conflicting incident in many ways.
“Even though we want to find out who did it, we can’t even find any clues.”
Jean was muttering to himself, but at this moment, his footsteps stopped.
One door along the hallway was wide open, and he saw the twins lying on their bellies.
“Your Highnesses?”
They were usually by Sera’s side at this time, but they’re still here.
That’s strange. And what’s with all the paper around them?”
“You’re not with Miss Sera? Today’s our last day here at the villa.”
He strode into the room where the children were.
Naturally, the children raised their heads as Jean’s big shadow cast down on RosĂ© and Ferre.
Then, Jean gasped.
Shocked by the faces he encountered, Jean trembled.
“Wh
What’s wrong with Your Highnesses’ faces?”
The faces of the twin prince and princess, which should be all adorable, were stained with tears that did not seem to be theirs.
Their swollen eyes and faces were as red as ripe tomatoes.
“We know that today
! Uhuhu!”
“Hiicc!”
Both RosĂ© and Ferre couldn’t talk properly due to their runny noses.
Then, as snot and tears ran down profusely, the twins wiped their noses with hands that were holding pencils.
Transparent threads of mucus stretched along their small fists.
The sticky liquid must feel uncomfortable, so they wiped their hands on some pieces of paper that were on the floor.
“Umm
”
Dazed for a moment, Jean didn’t know what to do.
However, he couldn’t just let them continue doing that, so he took out a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his uniform.
“When we sleep tonight, Sera’s gonna leave, hiiic!”
“Yeah, Jean! We’re so sad, hiiiiic!”
As they weren’t interested in wiping their hands, the twins continued to inhale through their runny noses while shouting.
“Jean, what do we do? Beg to Oppa more? I wanna study more with Sera.”
“I hate studying, but I just want Sera to live in the palace.”
“I can’t believe it’s going to end tomorrow.”
“It can’t happen.”
Jean’s pupils shook wildly.
“Haaa.”
“Haaaaaa.”
The twins let out such long sighs that didn’t sound like they came from kids. And being the twins that they were, they reached up at the same time for a hug.
As RosĂ© and Ferre stretched out their short arms up high, they leaned their small bodies into Jean’s embrace.
“We can’t even write a letter. When we think about what happened with Sera, we keep getting sad.”
“Yeah, just like RosĂ© said. We keep crying.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh-huh.”
Jean looked alternately between the children who had puffy eyes, then at the balled-up pieces of paper scattered all around.
It seemed like all of those papers were the twins’ scrapped letters.
Pat, pat.
He patted the children on their backs naturally. At his soothing touch, the twins admitted their true feelings once again.
“What if Sera forgets me and Ferre?”
“We want Sera to have good memories of us, too.”
Their tearful voices tickled Jean’s ears.
He smiled sympathetically, understanding how they felt.
They were like baby koalas clinging to Sera, and they couldn’t let go.
Other than Helios, the twins weren’t attached to anyone else.
Just as much as the affection Sera gave them, the twins loved Sera as well. So, as they would soon part ways, it’s bound to be very difficult.
“How about a farewell party?”
Still carrying the saddened children, Jean inadvertently gave this suggestion.
“Farewell party?”
Together, Rosé and Ferre repeated the unknown term.
“Sometimes, there are knights who need to be assigned to faraway places. They’re colleagues who’ve been with us for a long time, and we all share the same feeling of sadness because they’re leaving, but we also want to wish for them to be happy. It’s an event to come to terms with that.”
“Sharing sadness?”
“Wish to be happy?”
Each of the twins murmured in small voices, then they took off their faces from his chest and withdrew from him.
Making eye contact with each other now, RosĂ© and Ferre’s gazes glimmered for a moment.
Seeing the familiar spark in their eyes, Jean winced. Somehow, a foreboding feeling washed through him.
“A farewell party like that, how do we do it?”
Rosé and Ferre looked back at him, saying the same thing in unison.
Ah, I made a mistake.
This thought was flashing through Jean’s head as he gave the children an awkward smile.
“Jean.”
“Jean.”
Sure enough, the twins took one each of his arms and pulled