CH 45

After their tears had stopped to some extent, Rosé and Ferre felt that after they had cried so much, their eyes started to sting. Their swollen faces were stained with tear streaks, and they could only half-open their eyes because they were so puffy.

Their clothes were ruined, too, and it couldn’t be said whether the marks on them were because of water from washing up, their tears, or because of their runny noses.

The sniffling twins looked at Sera like kicked puppies in the rain considering how hunched they were. It was still cute to see them so gloomy, but it was clear that class could not proceed in this state.

Sera gently sat the twins with straighter postures, then she stood up to bring some cold water for them.

“Sera.”

Rosé, whose nose was red, grabbed the tutor’s skirt with an anxious look.

“I’m not going anywhere. Please wait a moment here.”

Sera smiled and tucked a tuft of Rosé’s soaked hair behind her ear. As the movement brought a slight wind to her forehead, Rosé felt that the warm air had gotten cooler. Rosé let go of Sera’s clothes.

For a moment, Sera struggled to open the heavy doors that were wide on both sides. As the door opened finally, fresh air blew in and the study was filled with a cool breeze.

At that time, the maid who was cleaning around the hallway made eye contact with Sera. It was the maid who treated her forehead earlier.

“Can I have some ice, some handkerchiefs and two glasses of any cold drink or water for Their Highnesses?”

Sera asked as she peaked out the door.

For a while now, the maid had been wondering what was going on inside. Some traces of tears could be seen on Sera’s face along with the curious spots on her clothes, and this just had the maid guessing even more. And when she craned her head a bit to see inside the study, she saw the twin highnesses sitting in front of the desk, their faces a mess of tears.

And so the maid thought, ‘Of course, of course. They caused another incident.’ As she smiled, she felt pity for Sera.

“I’ll bring them right away.”

* * *

After a while, Sera wrapped a few pieces of ice with handkerchiefs, making two ice packs for the twins. The tips of the handkerchiefs were clumped together and held by their small hands.

“What’s this?”

“This, what is it?”

Busy sipping their orange juices, Rosé and Ferre asked with their cheeks preoccupied. As expected, sweet things were the best for soothing children.

However, their puffy eyes poked at Sera’s heart. She had already decided to scold them firmly, but they had been crying just a moment earlier. She felt sorry somehow.

‘Did I scold them too much? No, still… It was right to scold them because someone got hurt because of their pranks. I hope His Majesty won’t condemn me for scolding Their Highnesses.’

Shaking her head a little, Sera decided to brush off these unproductive thoughts.

She gently held the twins’ hands that were holding the ice packs and raised them so they’d reach their eyes. As soon as the ice packs touched their eyes, they exclaimed.

“Wow, it’s so cold.”

“I like it because it’s cold. It’s like Heli’s Oppa’s hand.”

The heat over their eyes went away, and the twins smiled and felt refreshed because of the ice packs. As they giggled, it even seemed as if the ordeal earlier never happened.

Since then, there have been no such model students as them.

Rosé and Ferre followed each and every word Sera said. They thought hard about the questions and quizzes Sera gave them, and they didn’t forget to ask questions if there was anything they couldn’t understand.

They were very calm while they ate lunch and dinner together, and when they headed to the comfort room to wash their hands, they obediently held the maid’s hands.

Even when they went to bed, they were quiet and didn’t complain about their bedtime, not saying the usual declaration of them waiting for their brother to come.

When the time came for Sera to finally go to Helios for her report to him, Rosé, donning a white nightgown, called to her. With the sheets up to her chin, her face was still puffy from crying, but nevertheless, she looked like a lovely doll.

“Sera.”

“You’re not sleeping yet, Your Highness?”

“I can’t sleep.”

Rosé’s soft voice was filled with nervousness.

Was the incident from this morning too shocking for her? Or was it because Sera scolded them too much? Sera looked at the child pitifully and caressed her small cheek.

At Sera’s touch, Rosé rubbed her cheeks on her palm like a puppy.

“Why can’t you sleep?”

“…I’m really sorry, Sera. I won’t do that anymore. I’m sorry I hurt your face.”

It was a very small, trembling voice. Rosé turned around, but because Sera’s hand was still on her cheek, she felt tears running down, also trickling towards the pillowcase.

“Yes, Your Highness Rosé. I believe in your promise that you won’t do that anymore. And I know you’ll be good in the future.”

Sera gently stroked her soft silver hair a few times.

Rosé remained quiet without saying anything more. Then, after checking on Rosé and Ferre one last time, tucking them in more, Sera turned off the lights. But then Rosé, again, held onto Sera.

“Sera, what are you going to tell Heli Oppa?”

‘So you were worried about that.’

Sera smiled at Rosé, who was half-asleep in the darkness.

She was a child who steadfastly worried about getting scolded by her older brother. Even if she was an Imperial Family member, she was still just seven years old. But Sera had always known that Rosé loved and respected her brother very much, but it was the first time she was so very anxious about being scolded.

“Because Your Highnesses both did a great job today, I won’t tell His Majesty. You’ll be good from now on, right? I know you will be.”

Sera’s tone of voice was playful.

It was dark now, so she couldn’t see Rosé’s expression. Sera hoped that the children could sleep comfortably tonight and could forget the tumultuous events of the day.

She closed the door quietly and headed to the Central Palace where the Emperor was waiting.