IYAMD 190

Two days before the Harvest Festival. As always, Karim and the children were playing in the twins’ palace.

“Have you ever seen a fox, Karim?”

Since Karim had arrived, the children had been learning numbers and letters, things they hadn’t been taught before.

The dice game Karim had brought had been popular among the children for a while, but interest had waned recently; for the past few days, they had been completely absorbed in making word cards.

It was a game where the twins would draw pictures on small cards, and Karim would write words on them.

After lunch, as the afternoon wore on and they were making word cards again, Lotis drew a fox. When Karim said he’d never actually seen a fox, the twins got excited and started bragging about the fox they’d seen on their picnic.

“A fox came to the lake to drink water and then left. Right, Loti?”

“Yes, it had red fur and black boots. It was huge.”

“Like, this big?”

When the twins spread their short arms as wide as they could, Karim’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Is it that big? Wow, then it must be bigger than Aaron.”

“Who’s Aaron?”

“He’s the hunting dog we keep at our house, and he’s big. I’ll show you when you come to Ziras. I bet he’s bigger than both of you, Your Highnesses.”

“Oh, really?”

“His legs are this long, so he’s really fast. Fast enough to catch a gazelle while running.”

“What’s a gazelle?”

“Oh, it’s like a deer. It does this with its legs and hops around, jumping as high as this?”

Karim stood up, pointed with his hand to a spot higher than his own head, and hopped up and down on the spot. The twins burst into giggles and began jumping along with Karim, while the nannies watching them wore bittersweet smiles.

“His Highness is so full of energy. Perhaps he takes after the emperor. He’s bursting with vitality.”

“Her Highness is just the same. She’s even more energetic than my eldest son… It worries me a little.”

The children ran around the spacious playroom before finally calming down. Just as they were about to resume their word studies, a maid entered and relayed a message to the nannies.

“The Imperial Household Department  has asked us to check the items needed for the trip to Ziras. They say everything is ready. They asked us to review the list and let them know by tomorrow if there’s anything else to add.”

“Is that so? Then perhaps Lady Felton should go first? You go first, and I’ll go later.”

“Shall we do that? In that case, I’ll take my leave first, my lady.”

After Lotis’s nanny left, Baroness Ilang, Helios’s nanny, took the lace she had been knitting out of the basket prepared beside her. While she was busy counting stitches to check the pattern, the children were whispering to each other.

“Karim, do you want to go see the fox later?”

“By the lake…?”

“Yes. During nap time, secretly.”

Karim blinked blankly at Lotis’s suggestion. He knew they shouldn’t do that.

“The nannies and knights will be in trouble.”

Helios, who had been holding a piece of charcoal and blackening a piece of paper, lowered his voice as much as he could and whispered cautiously.

“It’s fine. We won’t get caught.”

It seemed this wasn’t the first time the twins had sneaked out during nap time. For four-year-olds, they were remarkably resourceful.

Just as they always did, the twins had already decided exactly where and when to meet and told him. They said that once the twins went to take their nap, Karim should use a walk as an excuse to go around the garden and come to the window of the nap room.

Karim could do nothing about the plan that had already been set in motion, so he glanced at the nanny left behind. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, she seemed completely oblivious to the children’s conspiracy, her gaze fixed solely on the knitting in her hands.

Even so, the boy was worried. His father had repeatedly warned him not to cause any trouble before he left.

‘As someone who is only a guest here, how could I possibly deceive the adults and sneak out with these children?’

Karim had also been raised in luxury in Ziras, but the scale of the imperial palace in Arhen was on a different level. Moreover, he felt overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the imperial capital, which was so different from that of his own country’s capital.

Left alone in a strange place with only a few guards, it was only natural for his young heart to feel intimidated.

Is it really all right? But since Read on he couldn’t very well refuse the prince and princess, he was at a complete loss.

While he was agonizing over it, the twins’ nap time approached. Lotis and Helios rubbed their eyes, pretending to be sleepy, and approached their nannies; soon, each took a nanny’s hand and left the playroom.

Karim said he would take a stroll in the garden as promised earlier. His guards followed him, but he made up an excuse and sent them away.

Since it was the palace garden, there was no danger, so he was able to send them away by saying he just wanted some quiet time.

He was so anxious that he couldn’t even enjoy the garden scenery. Karim counted numbers in his head to roughly estimate the time, then headed to the place he had agreed upon with the twins.

The twins’ bedroom was originally on the second floor, but fortunately, their nap room was on the first floor.

The window was already open, and just as he was about to approach, Lotis poked her head out. Lotis, who had been struggling as Karim approached, crouched on the windowsill and whispered down below.

“Heli, hand.”

Wondering how the child had managed to climb up the high windowsill, Karim realized Helios must have [unauthorized copy]been acting as a step stool from below.

Helios stood up briskly from inside, brushed the dust off his knees, and held out his hand. Karim lowered Lotis to the ground and then grabbed Helios’s hand to pull him up.

“Why didn’t you use a chair?”

“It’s heavy.”

Once Helios was back on the floor, Karim noticed the children were still in their pajamas. Only then did he spot the rabbit stuffed animals they’d been carrying lying nearby.

Lotis and Helios tucked the stuffed animals under their arms and held out their free hands to Karim.

“Let’s go.”

With both hands held by the children, Karim asked,

“Is it fine if you go out wearing those slippers?”

The white fur slippers, meant for the bedroom, had thin soles and weren’t suitable for walking around outside.

“Mm-hmm. It’s fine.”

Helios nodded calmly, as if this were a common occurrence, and urged Karim, who glanced around. He briefly wondered how far he could go along with these mischievous twins.

Then his eyes met those of a knight clad in armor engraved with black patterns. A couple of knights hiding in nearby bushes signaled him to stay silent the moment they made eye contact with Karim.

Only then did Karim feel at ease. Just as he thought. Security at the twins’ palace was usually very tight, and he had wondered how they hadn’t been caught yet. With that mystery solved, Karim headed in the direction the children were leading.

For a secret escape, the twins were walking across the garden with surprising confidence. They didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding and even exchanged friendly greetings with the palace servants they passed.

A gardener who had been tending to the rose vines was delighted to see the three children and even gave each of them a rose as a gift.

The twins pinned the roses they’d received onto the ribbons of their rabbit dolls, while Karim, whose hands were full, politely declined. [unauthorized copy]The gardener gave him a sympathetic look.

“Sammy. Which way is the lake?”

“Oh my, it’s quite a long way from here. Are you going to walk?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“We decided to go see the fox.”

The gardener warned them to be careful and pointed them in the direction of the lake, and soon the three children set off in that direction.

However, the twins were walking very slowly, and the lakeshore was indeed as far away as the gardener had said.

The children, who had been chattering away, suddenly fell silent. Then Helios’s legs gave out, and he slipped down to the ground.

It was a good thing they were holding hands; otherwise, he might have fallen flat on his face. What if he’d stolen content gotten hurt? Karim, whose heart nearly stopped, helped Helios to his feet.

“Are you alright?”

“Ouch…”

Following Helios’s gaze, Karim looked down at the child’s knee and saw a trace of blood seeping through the white one-piece pajamas.

This is bad. Karim’s face paled. He pulled up Helios’s pajamas. Blood was oozing from a gash on his knee, likely caused by the stone floor.

“Let’s go back, Your Highness.”

As Karim fidgeted nervously, Lotis let out a sigh.

“I told you to let me know if you were having trouble.”

Before she could even finish [visit our site]speaking, a green light emanated from Lotis’s hand, and Helios’s wound vanished in the blink of an eye.

Karim blinked in surprise, then looked at Lotis. The child, wearing a mischievous expression, winked and held a finger to her lips.

“What you just saw is a secret.”

“That’s… divine power, right?”

“Yes. Papa said I shouldn’t use it in front of other people…”

Lotis glanced cautiously toward him. Karim crossed one arm over his chest and replied.

“I won’t tell a soul. I swear on my honor.”

Lotis’s green eyes sparkled as she beamed.

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

Karim crossed pinkies with Lotis to seal the promise. Helios wanted to join in too, so the three of them took turns crossing fingers.

But the children’s promise was in vain. A shadow suddenly appeared and slipped between them.

The surprise was brief; when he realized the figure was the empress with his black hair tied up high, Karim bowed to him. The man, who acknowledged the greeting with a nod, gently scolded his children.

“Papa told you not to come outside wearing your slippers. You keep tripping and falling, Helio.”

“But–”

The man shook his head with an impassive expression.

“Now, let’s head back today. Papa Mar wants to have tea with us.”

He scooped up the children in his arms and looked at Karim with an air of embarrassment.

“I’m fine, Your Majesty.”

Jaha softly chuckled. He looked quite different from his usual cold demeanor. Karim gazed up at his golden eyes, mesmerized, and only came to his senses after being cradled in his arms.

The empress lifted all three children at once with both arms, then soared into the air.

“Wow!”

In an instant, the imperial palace gardens receded into the distance. As the empress ran across the rooftops, the soft sunlight felt closer than usual, and a cool breeze brushed against his face.

Birds perched on the roof flapped their wings in surprise. When he turned his head to follow the birds, it seemed as though the beautiful panorama of the imperial palace had unfolded before him.

The twins’ giggles rang out right in his ears.

Peaceful. Karim engraved the word, which he had only known in theory, into his mind.

How peaceful it is. How beautiful it is.