/
Momentarily flustered by his own actions, Helios’ expression hardened.
What did he mean, ‘stop’? Why? What made his mood plummet?
Helios wasn’t the only one who’s surprised. Jean was also quite shocked by Helios’ change in demeanor.
He couldn’t believe that Helios, who always had a smile on his face, stopped him from talking and looked at him with such expressionless eyes.
The corners of his lips might have been up, but his violet eyes were cold.
This was an expression of Heli’s that he rarely saw except when they were younger.
‘Maybe he’s sick!’
Jean’s eyes widened as he looked carefully at Helios’ face. He could already hear Raphael’s voice ringing in his ears, nagging about Helios’ health until his mouth would dry up and be worn out.
Didn’t Raphael warn him every time? It would be a real disaster if he attended to his work in political affairs until so late in the night.
“Your Majesty, you have to take care of your health, too.”
“Your Majesty, won’t you go to bed early tonight?”
“Your Majesty, did you stay up all night reading fairy tales to Their Highnesses?”
“Your Majesty, you’re not taking a break?”
“Your Majesty, working is good and all, but you’re overdoing it!”
As Jean thought about Raphael’s daily nagging, he suddenly remembered Helios’ hard tone earlier. Did Heli ever tell him to stop talking first before?
And he didn’t look all that chipper either. Maybe he wasn’t in a good condition. Jean thought that Helios could rest more thanks to Miss Sera these days, but it his fatigue had accumulated this much
!
“Heli, you have to tell me if you’re sick. Don’t hold it in.”
Jean frowned as he examined Helios’ face. Then, he gripped Helios’ shoulders tightly, looking at him closely with an unwavering gaze. Their faces were about one hand’s span away.
However, as if awoken from a stupor, Helios’ eyes quickly curved softly and he smiled as gently as usual.
“What are you talking about, Jean? I’m fine.”
‘Maybe I was mistaken.’
Jean observed Helios’ complexion again, but he couldn’t find anything amiss. Helios was still just as handsome, and the bags that had been under his violet eyes for quite a while now had almost disappeared. Even the traces of them were almost gone.
In short, he looked to be in the best condition he’s been in recently. Though, rather than being just ‘alright’, his face was glowing.
‘But what’s with that expression?’
Jean looked at Helios with a puzzled look, but he said nothing. More than that, he couldn’t believe that Helios was already casually walking away and leaving Jean alone.
‘Does he miss Her Highness RosĂ© and His Highness Ferre that much?’
Jean already knew that the twin highnesses were like cicadas on a tree that wouldn’t let go whenever they clung to Helios, but Jean also realized once again that Heli was also a fool for his younger siblings.
* * *
“Hyuuuuuuung!”
“Heli Oppaaaa!”
The moment they saw Helios coming, Rosé and Ferre ran towards him as though they were excited puppies welcoming their owner. Their silver and gold hair glistened like sand on the beach beneath the sun.
Helios hugged Rosé and Ferre as they jumped into his arms. The siblings, locked into a wide embrace, looked at each other with their long eyelashes fluttering and their eyes curved like crescent moons.
“Why are you here, Oppa?”
“Yeah, why are you here already? Did you miss us?”
Helios bent on one knee and made eye contact with the twins. When he stroked their soft hair, swaying like grass in a soft breeze, with his big hands, Rosé and Ferre beamed.
“I came here because I saw you and Miss Popo taking a walk. Did you study hard today, too?”
“I did my best, Oppa!”
“Hyung, we collected all these stickers and Sera gave us a reward!”
Ferre slightly pushed Rosé aside and showed off as though it was all his good work, his shoulders proud. It was like a clear indicator that Helios should praise him because his chest was puffed out.
“It’s not you, but me who collected them, Ferre.”
RosĂ© snorted at Ferre. How could he steal her credit! Just to collect the stickers, she ate all the food she didn’t want to eat!
This just can’t be.
“That’s true, but
”
“You got three and I got twenty. Should I explain more?”
When RosĂ© pointed this out straightforwardly, Ferre replied, “Hmph! I hate you!” and turned his face away from RosĂ©.
Then in his mind, Ferre added, ‘Everything you said is right, but you don’t have to say that!’
But he didn’t have the courage to actually say it. He tried to win against RosĂ© all the time when they fought, but he never managed to win even once.
With a helpless smile, Helios looked back and forth between the sulking Ferre and RosĂ©. He was always the one who got caught in the crossfire whenever there was a war of nerves between the twins, even if they wouldn’t be able to live without the other.
As soon as he thought about how to intervene between these two cuties, Sera greeted him.
“I didn’t expect to see Your Majesty here.”
Sera was wearing a bubbly dress that matched her image. It had a light pink shade, and as the wind blew, the skirt of her dress fluttered by her legs.
As she curtsied towards him with elegant posture and a soft smile, Jean raised one eyebrow. It’s his first time seeing this.
But what’s more surprising was what happened next.
“Sera!”
“Seraaa!”
The twins suddenly stopped clinging onto Helios as soon as they heard her voice behind them. Rosé and Ferre rushed to Sera and clung to her just as they did with Helios, then they buried their faces in her skirt!
‘They went to Miss Popo just now, not me?’