/
Rosé spoke as though she was forcing herself, then she dropped her hand. With her blue eyes looking down to the ground, her whole body was so stiff that it was clear how she was entirely paralyzed by fear.
Soon, large drops of tears fell to the grass.
“Elijah
 Elijah said Oppa’s gonna throw us away soon. He asked us how we can still continue to stay in the palace. He said that for an emperor, all of his family who aren’t his children are his enemies, so it’s good enough that Oppa’s not gonna kill us.”
‘What kind of words
!’
Shocked, Sera covered her mouth. She had been wondering why Rosé hit Elijah like that, but she never expected that this was the cause.
There were often times that a child would hear something like a family secret from adults that they shouldn’t have heard. Children had no filters when it came to words, so they would say directly what they heard without adding or subtracting anything, and this was even more so the case the younger the child is.
And it was the same here.
This was an idea that Elijah himself didn’t think up on his own, being that he was only a year older than RosĂ© and Ferre. They only met once, but Elijah suddenly became knowledgeable about the imperial family’s politics in that way.
‘What is Duke Bethmann even saying to his successor! So much that Elijah said the same words without hesitation!’
With anger rising to the top of her head, Sera clenched her fist and held it in. She couldn’t say this because she was in front of children, but lots of curses were already on the tip of her tongue.
“Sera.”
Both Rosé and Ferre looked up at her with blank faces. They were so filled with heartbreak that their eyes had blurred and become out of focus, and with their hair so tousled and tangled up, they looked so hurt like that.
“Will Oppa really throw us away?”
Their expressions so full of pain that Sera couldn’t even accept, the twins rushed to her right then. Her dress became wet with the tears that poured out from their eyes.
“Of course not. That’s impossible.”
“Will Hyung think we’re his enemies? But we have no one left except for Hyung now
”
“Oppa won’t throw us away, right? Oppa won’t hate us, right?”
“Of course he won’t. His Majesty loves you two so much. It’s impossible for him to think of you as enemies.”
“Uwaaaaah
”
“Seera. Seeera
”
“Hush now, hush now. Forget all those words. His Majesty loves you both more than anything in the world.”
As she embraced the children, tears formed in Sera’s eyes. Sera was also angry at Elijah now. He was only eight years old, but how did he know that and who said such things to him?
It was most likely Duke Bethmann. It’s often said that children are mirror images of their parents, and this situation made that apparent.
Sera’s anger towards him boiled up.
She gritted her teeth tightly.
* * *
“We have to go back now.”
Sera whispered to them as she patted the children’s clothes and made them neat again. The twins had already stopped crying, and their surroundings were filled with soaked handkerchiefs that were used to wipe their tears and runny noses. Rosé’s hair accessory had fallen to the ground and rolled away.
“Nooo. I don’t wanna go.”
“Me too, I just wanna stay with Sera.”
RosĂ© and Ferre glanced up at the maid who had come to pick them up. They both hugged Sera’s arms, and as Sera saw their frowns and tired, drowsy faces, Sera almost gave in, but there couldn’t be any more delays.
It was the birthday party of the imperial prince and imperial princess, and the main stars of the event had been away for too long. Because RosĂ© had just gotten into a major incident, there would be even more rumors if they both didn’t return.
In a situation where others didn’t know what kind of words were exchanged between Elijah and RosĂ©, RosĂ© had to avoid being painted out as a one-sided perpetrator. A maid had also come here to pick up the twins, so Sera thought it would be better to send them back quickly.
“I’ll just clean up here, then I’ll follow behind you right away.”
Sera smiled and patted the twins’ shoulders. However, they still looked sad and it was clear that they didn’t want to go.
“What if Elijah’s there?”
Looking very scared, Rosé fumbled with her fingers as she asked.
“I don’t think he’ll be there.”
Since there would be a need to see if a scar would form on the precious young master’s arm, Elijah wouldn’t be able to come back to the party immediately. Sera thought that Elijah would avoid going back.
Sera shook her head slowly, her expression soothing.
“But what if he’s still there?”
Ferre sobbed this time, as if just looking at Elijah’s face would remind Ferre of what the other child said again. Sera stroked the twins’ heads because she understood how they felt.
“If it’s like that, then Your Highnesses can approach him first and say ‘I’m sorry’. And—very loudly—tell him that he’s fortunate that this crime of lĂšse-majestĂ© ended with only this.”
“LĂšse-majestĂ©? What’s that?”
“It’s a crime of saying something that he shouldn’t say to Your Highnesses RosĂ© and Ferre, and he will be punished for it. If you say that, he probably won’t be able to move.”
‘Everyone will turn to your side, Your Highnesses RosĂ© and Ferre.’
Aristocrats quite liked rumors. It was evident enough that there would be a heated debate about what exactly Elijah said after the crime of lÚse-majesté was to be mentioned.
At that place, there were kids of RosĂ© and Ferre’s age and also young ladies who were older, so if they were asked about the incident, what Elijah said would be revealed.
Above all, there was an emperor right next to the twins’ side, yet Elijah still said that? This was a good opportunity for criticism to be directed at Duke Bethmann for not raising his child properly.
“But still
 What if he says something bad again?”
Sera hugged Rosé and Ferre once more.
“Then His Majesty will be right by your side. Nothing bad will happen.”