Chapter 118

‘Kai Hardeion, twelve months old.’

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess came again. True to Reina’s word, it was quite soon.

This time, the twin princesses came along.

“I’m sorry, Ivelina! His face kept floating in front of me! And Kai’s birthday is coming up anyway—”

“You’re so welcome! Oh! Hello, your little highnesses!”

Two lovely girls—each a perfect blend of Reina and Adrian—looked up at me with wide, attentive eyes.

I bent my knees and crouched down to their level.

“You’ll be three years old this year, yes? I’m the Duchess of Hardeion—Ivelina Hardeion.”

The two princesses, who had been holding one of Adrian’s hands each, began to drift toward me.

“Are you our auntie? Romi and Rozi’s auntie?”

“Yes, that’s right. I saw you both when you were just born. You’ve grown so much already. Hehe.”

I smiled brightly.

The twin princesses’ eyes began to grow wider by the second.

“The Duchess of Hardeion who is said to be as beautiful as a goddess and as gentle as a saint?”

“Ha, ha… I am certainly the Duchess of Hardeion…”

The princesses’ eyes began to sparkle.

Then both small hands balled into fists at their sides.

“She’s so pretty! She really is a goddess!”

“Romi’s right! Auntie! You’re the wife of the scary duke? Of Tiger Duke Uncle?”

“Ha, ha. That’s right. The scary duke is my husband. And it seems he’s evolved all the way to tiger since I last heard.”

Both princesses puffed up simultaneously and declared:

“Yes! Papa said if we’re too noisy, Duke Uncle will ‘rawr!’ come down at us!”

“Right! He said Duke Uncle will come ‘pounce’!”

Behind me, Kael—hearing this for the first time—clicked his tongue. Adrian scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

“Unavoidable circumstances. You’ve been sold out just a little. These two are quite the handful. Haha.”

“And it worked wonderfully. So their father kept selling the duke out.”

Reina’s candid confession made me smile ruefully.

‘Well—honestly, my husband does look terrifying.’

Even I still startled sometimes when I caught him standing in the shadows.

I was rising to my feet, smiling at Reina’s account, when—

“Oh!”

Two small angels attached themselves to my legs, one on each side.

“Romi likes Auntie!”

“Me too, me too! Auntie is so pretty! Rozi likes Auntie too! I hope our little cousin looks like Auntie!”

Then they turned sparkling, hope-filled eyes up at me.

“I’m afraid it won’t work out that way. Your little cousin looks exactly like his scary Tiger Uncle.”

I stroked the soft golden hair with both hands and laughed apologetically.

“Oh no! Does the cousin look scary too?”

“Why didn’t he look like Auntie! Rozi is so sad!”

At that moment, the hem of my dress rustled—and Kai poked his head out from underneath it.

A grand entrance entirely in keeping with his shy little personality.

“Here he is. Your little cousin. His name is Kai Hardeion.”

“‘Wow!'”

“He’s ‘so cute!'”

The princesses’ eyes went wide and they crowded in close to my dress.

Both crouched down and peered at him.

“Auntie! Kai’s eyes look just like rubies! They sparkle!”

“His cheeks are so ’round!’ So adorable!”

At the enthusiastic reception, our little mole of a baby startled—and immediately burrowed back under my skirt.

“Oh no! He hid!”

“Kai. Did we scare you? We’re sorry! Please come out! We’re your older cousin sisters!”

The princesses pressed their foreheads nearly to the floor, patting my skirt urgently from both sides.

The small lump shifting under the fabric slowly lifted the hem—and one cautious eye appeared.

“‘Yay!’ Kai’s coming out! Hello! I’m Romi!”

“Hello! I’m Rozi! So glad to meet you!”

“Romi. Rozi. Kai’s. Sissuhs?”

Romi and Rozi dissolved into laughter and clapped their hands.

“His voice is so ‘tiny’ and precious!”

“Yes, yes! We’re your cousin sisters!”

“…Coussuhs.”

The two princesses settled cross-legged in front of my dress and made friends with Kai.

He was folding his small fingers down one by one, working out the family relation—when Romi extended her hand. Kai looked up at me.

I leaned down and whispered.

“Kai. You remember how Mama taught you to greet people? You can say: ‘It is an honor to meet you, Princess Sissuhs. I look forward to your acquaintance.’ Like that.”

Kai gave a gentle nod and slid out from under the dress.

He patted his dusty knees, placed both hands over his tummy, wobbled forward in a bow, and said very carefully:

“It ith an honor to meet you. Pwincess Sissuhs. Please be kind to me.”

The drawing room went sideways.

“‘Oh my goodness!’ He’s too adorable! My small and precious baby cousin!”

“Rozi is also very honored! So pleased to meet you!”

For all their excitement, both little princesses remembered to hold their skirts and curtsy like proper young ladies. Reina had clearly trained them well.

“Oh, Duchess—his speech is remarkably developed, isn’t it? He’s already talking like a little adult. He’ll surpass me before long!”

“You know, my nephew might actually be a prodigy. He’s far ahead of my two at this age.”

I laughed warmly.

If Kai was a prodigy, it was certainly from his father’s genes, not mine.

That stung a little—but I was good at being honest with myself. I had maintained my academic rank at the academy only through sheer, relentless effort, putting in several times what my peers did.

“Kai! Come play with us over there!”

“Mmhm. I suh-pose.”

“Yes! Let’s play Tyrannical Older Sisters and Their Put-Upon Little Brother!”

The twin princesses each took one of Kai’s hands and led him off with great tenderness.

We adults watched their retreating backs for a long moment, then moved to the nearby gazebo.

* * *

The children played happily together.

The princesses would sometimes pull Kai into a hug, or drop a small kiss on his cheek, doting on him with obvious affection.

Kai, on every such occasion, made sure to give each princess a kiss on the cheek in return.

“Goodness. He gives kisses so naturally already? So comfortable with it. He’s going to break hearts someday.”

“He grew up watching his father gnaw at and devour his mother all day long. Of course he did.”

“‘Tch.'”

Adrian’s remark hit its mark, and my husband clicked his tongue irritably.

I looked at him sideways with a private little smile.

‘Oh, he’s embarrassed.’

Honestly, Adrian was completely right.

Kai had learned affection and physical warmth remarkably early—clearly from watching his father with me. And I had never stinted on showing Kai love either. It was only natural that he had absorbed it all.

“‘Kyaah!’ Rozi! I told you not to pull my hair!”

“Get back here, you!”

My attention snapped toward the commotion.

The twin princesses had gotten tangled up together in a spirited little skirmish. Kai sat a short distance away, crouched down, watching them with solemn eyes. His red gaze shimmered.

“Ow! That tickles!”

“Hihihi! Serves you right! Surrender now!”

And just as suddenly as it started, the princesses were wrapped around each other, giggling and rolling in the grass as though nothing had happened.

But Kai’s expression as he watched them—it reminded me of someone watching the last light fade from the sky at evening.

Something a little wistful. A little lonely.

My chest tightened unexpectedly.

“Those little troublemakers. Fighting again. No hair on my head for them to pull, so they pull each other’s now.”

Adrian shook his head slowly and sighed.

I looked between the squabbling princesses and Kai—sitting apart, watching quietly—and said:

“They’re lovely to watch, though. They’re so close, almost like friends. I imagine they’re never lonely.”

“Twins. Two children. Double the trouble. It is very hard. There is no room to be lonely.”

“Reina’s right. Especially my hair—they love pulling it every day, to the point where I’m losing it in handfuls. Two of them pulling at double the rate. I envy Kael so much for having such a calm child.”

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess exchanged a sympathetic smile.

And then—

‘Pat pat pat. Fwump.’

Kai glued himself to my skirt like a rice cake and tugged at the frills.

“Mama.”

“Oh, there’s my Kai. Did you play well with the princesses?”

“Mmhm!”

He stretched both arms toward me, wriggling to be picked up.

I slipped my hands under his arms and lifted him onto my lap.

“There we go. Is our baby hungry? What shall we get you?”

“Baby bwuther. Sissuuh.”

A small silence fell over the gazebo.

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess both went still at the same moment. I, keenly aware of my husband’s current state, broke into a cold sweat at that particular forbidden word.

“A—a baby brother…? Or… sister?”

“Mmhm. Kai wants a baby bwuther! A sissuuh would be nice too! As a birthday present, please!”

Kai’s vocabulary had expanded again in an instant.

His speech had always developed quickly—but it had a way of suddenly surging forward in exactly the right moment, as though he had been hiding his full abilities.

I was quietly sweating through the unexpected request when—

“No. There will be no siblings in your future.”

My husband’s refusal was low-voiced and absolute.

“‘Hiik!’ Mama!”

Kai went pale and began frantically burrowing into my chest like a mole in distress. He pressed his face into me and mumbled in a very small, conciliatory voice:

“I—I shorry. Dada scawy… eeeh…”

Kael bent forward toward us. A dark shadow fell across Kai.

My husband poked him gently in the ribs and said, with quiet menace:

“You. Why is it that your speech only goes adorably vague at times like this?”

“…”

“This is the one thing you take after your mother. You cunning little mole.”

“Hitt…”

“Your mother belongs to your father. Remember that.”