IYAMD 183

“As royalty of Arhen, you must learn the imperial style of swordsmanship. Since the successor to the throne hasn’t been chosen yet, both of you will start with that.”

Marsilia explained to the children why they shouldn’t learn Eastern martial arts. However, their reaction was entirely unexpected.

“We’re not going to be the emperor.”

“Not going to be!”

As Helios echoed Lotis’s words, the two looked at each other and giggled.

“You won’t be the emperor? And why is that?”

The children, who had been throwing their heads back with laughter, finally straightened up and threw their arms around Marsilia’s shoulders.

“But Papa is always so, so busy.”

“Right, right! We hate being busy. Right, Heli?”

“Uh-huh. They said if you become the emperor, you don’t even have time to play.”

“Who told you such a thing?”

At Marsilia’s question, both children spoke up at the same time.

“Lord Serez!”

“Lord Serez said that if you become the emperor, you’ll be so busy you won’t even have time to breathe.”

Marsilia cursed under his breath. Jaha chuckled softly as he watched him restrain himself from swearing in front of the children.

As Jaha stepped closer and took Lotis into his arms, Marsilia asked with a disgruntled expression,

“What should I do with that bastard?”

Unable to hold back his frustration any longer, ​unauthorized copy​Marsilia tried to assure the children that wasn’t the case.

But there was no way such a half-hearted excuse would work. The children had eyes of their own; even without being told, they knew exactly how busy Jaha and Marsilia always were.

Jaha felt a sudden pang of guilt. It felt as though they were saying this because he had put off their education.

However, they were only four years old. Perhaps things would change as they grew older.

“It’s too early to worry about that. Let’s wait and see. One of them might change their mind later.”

“Heli doesn’t want.”

“Lotis doesn’t want to either.”

As if they thought they were being forced into something they hated, the twins puffed out their cheeks.

“Then what do you want to do?”

He asked out of curiosity to see if they had something [visit our site]else in mind, but their response was a spectacle.

“Heli wants to marry Papa!”

“What?”

Lotis, who was cradled in Jaha’s arms, placed both of her small hands on his cheeks.

“Lotis wants to marry Papa Jaha too!”

While Jaha laughed in disbelief, Marsilia grumbled enviously.

“Is no one going to marry me?”

Helios wrapped his arms around Marsilia’s neck. He nuzzled his plump cheek against him as he replied,

“But Papa is too busy.”

“Jaha is even busier than I am.”

“Lord Serez said Papa Jaha doesn’t do any work.”

Pfft. Marsilia laughed, while Jaha’s face soured slightly. He muttered,

“I think we need to keep Serez away from the kids.”

“It’s always wise to be selective about the company you keep.”

Jaha rolled his eyes at Marsilia’s teasing.

“Why didn’t you follow your own advice then?”

“Serez isn’t my friend, Jaha. I was being selective.”

Jaha was left speechless by the man’s implication that he had been so selective he didn’t have a single friend left. Then again, Jaha didn’t have any friends either, so he couldn’t really argue.

As they strolled along the lakeside, a few knights arrived bearing their luggage. They spread a cloth over unauthorized copy the grass, and sat down together to enjoy a late breakfast.

“Oh, by the way, I haven’t seen Ashton around.”

He had been wondering why the emperor’s head attendant had been missing since morning. He hadn’t seen him since dinner last night.

“I heard he strained his back yesterday evening. He needs a few days of rest, so I told him to take some time off.”

“Oh, how did that happen?”

After finishing the purification of the food, Marsilia handed a bite-sized sandwich to Helios. The look in his eyes as he gazed down at the boy’s head was rather peculiar.

“Lotis, Helios… I heard you gave Ashton a present yesterday?”

“Uh-huh! A froggy!”

Apparently, they had slipped a tree frog they caught in the garden into Ashton’s pocket. It was a tragic tale: the head attendant had reached in to pull out his pocket watch, only for the frog to leap out. It startled him so much that he fell over and strained his back.

As Marsilia explained this to Jaha, his stolen contentgaze drifted toward Joshua and Ian, who were waiting nearby. It was a look mixed with rebuke for failing to keep the children under control.

Since they were standing behind Jaha, their faces weren’t fully visible, but it was obvious that the knights were wearing aggrieved expressions. No matter how closely they guarded the twins, they were knights, not nannies.

Moreover, Joshua had a very playful personality, so it was highly likely he had actually egged them on.

Jaha belatedly glanced back. The knight whose eyes met his shrugged playfully, while looking uncomfortable. Only Ian wore a genuinely wronged expression.

Jaha felt a complex mix of emotions as he watched the children proudly chatter about catching frogs.

Jaha wondered who they took after to be so mischievous. As he glanced at Marsilia, the man warned the twins with a shameless look on his face.

“Loti, Heli. Ashton is elderly, so you mustn’t startle him. He is old enough that injuries like this don’t heal easily. Next time, choose who you prank more carefully.”

“It’t wasn’t a prank. Right, Heli?”

“Yes. It was a present.”

With their sandwiches still in hand, the children rambled on about how tiny and pretty the frog they gave Ashton [unauthorized copy]had been. To them, it was just too cute not to share, so they were rather indignant.

“Alright, let’s stop talking and eat. Everyone likes different things, so from now on, let’s ask before giving someone a gift. Understand?”

“What if they say they don’t want it?”

“Then you give them something else.”

“Like what?”

“Most people like things like flowers or jewels.”

Jaha, who had been quietly listening to the three of them, decided that he should end the story here. He was afraid that the children might actually take it to heart and start handing out jewels.

“How about we pick some flowers after we eat and send them to Ashton?”

Since autumn had not yet arrived, wildflowers bloomed everywhere. They weren’t rare or precious, but Ashton would appreciate them if the children picked them themselves.

“Yay!”

Only then did the children stop talking and focus on their food. Although they were being taught table manners, they were still clumsy, and their faces quickly became a mess.

Jaha and Marsilia each took charge of a child. Usually, the twins’ nannies would look after them, but since they had gone out for some family time today, they had to care for the children themselves.

Since it wasn’t something they did often, it was awkward, leaving them with no time to even notice if they were getting any food into their own mouths.

As Jaha was barely eating, Marsilia was bothered by it.

“You should eat some too.”

He picked up a bite-sized piece of sandwich and fed it to Jaha, then poured him some tea. He was completely unaware that he hadn’t put a single thing into his own mouth.

Jaha smiled warmly and fed Marsilia just as the man had done for him. He also stroked the cheek of the man who quietly accepted the food.

A warm breeze blew gently, spreading the strong scent of grass. The sound of the grass, which had grown tall during the summer, was quite noisy.

Yet, the children’s laughter sounded far louder to Jaha than any wind. Surrounded by deep, lush greenery and looking into three pairs [stolen content]of emerald-green eyes, he felt as though he had stepped into paradise.

So this is what happiness is. He felt that way especially today. He realized anew how happy it was to live each day surrounded by precious things.

***

The four of them spent over half the day by the lake. Time flew by even when they did nothing but lie idly on the grass.

While Marsilia, who had been hounded by work, and Jaha, who was exhausted from rushing back from a monster hunt, lazed around, the children rolled on the grass with the knights. They didn’t care in the least that their white clothes were getting stained with grass.

Bright, joyful shrieks filled the air all day. Every now and then, the panicked voices of the knights could be heard crying out, “No, you mustn’t!”

The children raised a fuss upon spotting a fox coming down to the lake for a drink, and later gathered white wildflowers to assemble small bouquets.

Jaha couldn’t help but smile when he watched the children squat beside the hulking knights, their tiny hands meticulously weaving flower crowns.

“Wow! Sir Ian is amazing.”

Helios loved the crown Ian had made. Joshua mumbled as Helios praised Ian in admiration,

“Your Highness, I made one as well… Why won’t you look at mine?”

Helios did not answer. As if he had decided to ignore him completely, he didn’t react even when Joshua begged him several times.

“Papa, look at this!”

As Jaha sat up, Lotis came running toward him with a flower crown on her head. The white and yellow wildflowers stood out vividly against her jet-black hair.

Seeing her fluttering hair and the crown atop it brought back a fleeting memory of a spring day from his youth. A child just as small as her, holding a crown woven from clover leaves, came back to him as vividly as if it had happened yesterday.

Jaha opened his arms to the approaching child. Lotis threw herself into his embrace, her deep green eyes, so like Marsilia’s, sparkling bright.

“Papa, isn’t it pretty? Sir Ian made it for me.”

“Yes, it’s beautiful. I had no idea Sir Ian was so skilled with his hands.”

“Indeed. Even a bear can learn tricks. Perhaps unauthorized copy Ian should have opened a flower shop instead of becoming a knight.”

Marsilia, who had risen slightly with his arm as a pillow, criticized Ian for his recent stagnation in swordsmanship and pulled Lotis out of Jaha’s embrace. He placed the child on his waist and repeatedly kissed her cheek.

“My beautiful daughter. Don’t ever get married, just stay and live with Papa forever, alright?”

“No.”

The child answered firmly and pushed Marsilia’s jaw.

“No?”

“Lotis already promised to marry Papa Jaha and Heli.”

“I told you, Papa Jaha belongs to me, so you can’t have him. Besides, siblings aren’t allowed to marry each other. It’s the law.”

Ahaha. Jaha threw his head back and and burst into laughter. It was so funny that Marsilia was responding to the child in such a serious tone.

“Then Papa can just change it. You’re the emperor.”

“I’m not changing it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to. My feelings are hurt because Lotis doesn’t want to marry me.”

Jaha’s eyes crinkled with amusement at the man’s stubborn insistence on bickering. Why did he look so deadpan while squabbling over nothing with a child?

He’s really a funny guy.