As she turned behind her, she was once again faced with Heliosâ beautiful appearance. Right now, he was dressed in a clean white shirt and pants.
His hair had droplets of sweat and his clear purple eyes made him look like he was the main character of a movie with the theme of coming of age. His neat shirt that came up to his neck seemed constricting, but the first few buttons were loosened.
His long neck and the silver hair that could be seen above the loosened collar was breathtaking.
âYour Majesty.â
Sera hurriedly rose from her seat and curtsied to greet him. The reason why she dropped her head even lower was because she didnât want him to see her face all pink again.
âMiss Popo.â
The gentle voice that called her name was like a soft melody.
When Sera raised her eyes at the voice, a dazzling smile welcomed her. He looked as beautiful as the couple in the portrait.
âYouâre not covered in flour today.â
Helios grinned as he said this. It was a refreshing smile.
âThe first day was a mess, right?â
âWell⊠Itâs difficult to say that it wasnât.â
Sera and Helios laughed briefly.
âI apologize for making you wait for a long time.â
He apologized in a sweet, dream-like voice. The frustration she felt at having to wait seemed to disappear like smoke. She could see how sorry he was through his dark purple eyes.
âNo, Your Majesty. I was able to drink delicious black tea, so thank you.â
âPlease sit.â
Sera carefully sat back down again. While Helios also sat down, trying to catch his breath, the maids brought out fresh tea for him.
Unlike the tea she was served earlier, the black tea now was served in luxurious glasses and filled with ice. It was a drink especially prepared for Helios, who had just finished training.
âHow was it today? Jean said many things happened.â
Taking the glass with his fine hands, Helios gracefully asked as he drank tea.
Perhaps he still felt a bit hot, but he loosened a few more buttons on his shirt, and soon, firm muscles that were drenched in sweat could be seen through the gap. His moist skin glistened softly as beads of sweat that were like pearls shone under the light.
Naturally, her eyes gravitated towards his bare skin. So that her devious eyes wouldnât openly ogle his perfect body that was like Michelangeloâs David, she consciously tried to lift her gaze and avoided looking down.
âYour Majesty heard about it, so you must know already.â
Sera sipped the black tea in front of her, desperately pretending that she didnât see that.
âI donât know the details though. I was so busy that I could only hear about it in passing.â
âWe only had a small problem before class started.â
âA problemâŠâ
He sighed with an expression saying he knew this would happen. He deliberately asked his younger siblings not to cause any trouble to Miss Popo⊠Goodness. He underestimated the twins.
Helios gave Sera a very apologetic look.
âUm, well it was only a harmless prank, so Iâm fine. In fact, I was going to let it slide if Your Majesty didnât ask me.â
Sera hurriedly waved her hands. When he looked at her with those half-lidded eyes as though he was extremely sorry, she also felt sorry for no reason as if she unnecessarily inconvenienced an extremely busy person.
âWhat kind of prank was it?â
Helios asked with concern.
âI really wasnât going to say it because I was worried he would react this wayâŠâ
She already knew that it would be impossible for troublemakers to change all at once. However, she didnât expect that todayâs prank would involve a roach, nor did she expect that it would be something theyâd greet her with.
In any case, this was a lighter prank than the first day, and it wasnât anything Helios should be worried about.
But apart from that, Helios seemed to be greatly concerned. Naturally, the atmosphere inside the office also sank.
âI need to change the mood a little.â
Sera took on the tone she used whenever she was reading the most interesting part in a fairytale to children.
Sera lowered her voice and wrinkled her forehead. It was a serious expression. She leaned forward and went closer to him. Her hands on the table were clasped together, as though hiding something secretively.
ââŠput a cockroach in my pocket!â
She said this in a burst. At the same time, she unclasped her fingers and used them to imitate the crawling of the bug, itâs tap-tap-tapping on the surface making a rattling sound along with the glasses of tea.
The fingers that imitated the roach stopped in front of him. At this, Helios smiled first, then burst into laughter, perhaps finding it a surprise that she did that.
âA roachâŠâ
His voice was full of disbelief. There was a cockroach in his palace? He felt frustrated. Just what were his younger siblings doing while he wasnât watching? And how did they get ahold of a cockroach?
âShe told me that she put a gift in my pocket, but when I checked, something was wriggling in my hand. Then when I took it out, I saw that it was a bug.â
Recalling the hateful creature, Sera wrapped both arms over herself and shivered. She had washed her hand several times, but the feeling of it touching her still lingered.
âDid it surprise you a lot?â
When Helios asked, his purple eyes were curved beautifully into crescent moons.
âNot just surprised, it was much worse! I screamed a lot, too, and the knight came running into the room. And then he used a daggerâŠ!â
Sera imitated the way Jean threw the dagger.
âIâm the perfect tutor, but tak! I guess I canât catch bugs.â
Helios answered her with a playful smile on his lips. His mischievous expression was just like the twinsâ, and at times like these, it really made it obvious that they were truly siblings.
âThe only weakness of a perfect tutor is a bug.â
As though itâs something that couldnât be helped, Sera pouted.