From then on, my parents used to bring the twins along with them to Capicastle, to let them accompany Leticia. It was a nice idea as Leticia and the twins would be alone whenever their older siblings went to school.

Besides playing together, the twins also accompanied Leticia in her education that just started. The tutors said that they were such a joy to teach!

...Sometimes they bickered or had small quarrels like how children would, though.

When I asked the twins about their new routine...

"It's fun," Freyja said without hesitation.

"Fun," Freyr nodded.

But when I asked them about how their relationship with Leticia was, during when they were fighting...

"Not good, definitely," Freyja shook her head.

"...We were fighting?" Freyr tilted his head.

Apparently, the ones that would get involved in small quarrels were Freyja and Leticia—fellow girls. Freyr would naturally side with Freyja and was more ignorant about it, so he sometimes didn't realize that they were having quarrels.

And here I thought as fellow girls, Freyja and Leticia could get along better...

Oh well, each to their own, I guess.

It was good that the twins developed a more distinct personality.

Speaking of that!

We also noticed that Freyja seemed to be more dominant than Freyr. Meanwhile, Freyr was quieter.

Therefore, Alt-nii was determined to help Freyr be more energetic and wanted Freyr to be Alt-nii's partner-in-crime... I SHOULD INTERFERE WITH THE LATTER ONE!!

Our days passed so peacefully just like this.

Although the twins were supposed to make their debut later when they turned 6, they participated in my and Alt-nii's birthday celebrations as members of the family.

The nobles attending had already encountered the twins more or less. The twins were still unused to be in such a crowd of strangers, so they still acted timid and hid behind me, Alt-nii, Mom, or Dad when they felt like the nobles' attention were on them.

"Oh my, don't be afraid, this Auntie just wants to see you."

"Twins, aren't they? They're so similar."

"It's okay, I'm not a bad guy. Come here."

The adorable twins caught the nobles (especially the older generation)'s attention naturally. If we pushed the twins a bit, they would timidly try to introduce themselves, practicing the basic etiquette they had learned.

Their gesture was still awkward, but they tried their best. Seeing them reminded me when I was small—in my previous lifetime. How I tried so hard to be praised.

I bitterly smiled at the past memories and was reminded of my 'failing performance' in this lifetime. Even so, nobody in my family scolded me or told me to keep practicing my etiquette to better polish it. I also didn't see the need to force myself to go through the same life I had.

Maybe I would need to do that in the future. But let's save that for the future. Future me, do your best!! ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

How nice it would be if things could stay this way. I used to think like that, but maybe... unexpected changes (like the appearance of the twins) could make life better.

Maybe it's okay not having a predictable future.

As long as it's not a grim future waiting ahead of us.

***

Location: An underground cave deep in the earth, somewhere.

A young boy with his bloodstained-like hair was walking in the deep underground cave, unbothered by the eerie atmosphere and the sound of ferocious beasts that sometimes echoed within the cave. The pitch darkness inside didn't seem to bother him as well. His neon yellow eyes shone so brightly there, it was as if he could see amidst this darkness.

Behind him, a woman looking older than him was walking as she kept making small electric shocks on her palm to aid her vision. Her brown hair was let loose—it was even a bit messy. Some strands of her hair covered her brown eyes that had a trace of instability. Her breathing was a bit rough, it was evident that she was affected by the cave's atmosphere.

"Tired?" The young boy asked with his clear voice. Although the context of his word was supposed to be caring for the woman behind him, his tone was indifferent.

Despite that, the young woman's eyes sparked with joy as she responded, "No, Master, not at all!"

The corner of the young boy's mouth curved up a bit as he said, "Good. We shouldn't waste too much time. Must return immediately once we've accomplished our objective."

"Yes, Master!"

But suddenly, the young boy halted. The woman behind him immediately stopped before she bumped into her young master.

"Master, what is—"

The young boy extended his right hand and shook his head before he whispered, "Sssh, Candice."

The woman—Candice—immediately understood and turned silent. She looked at the back of her beloved master. His beautiful hair that was the color of dried blood.

'How mysterious... how wonderful,' she thought.

This master of hers seemed to be unaffected by the flow of time, retaining his beautiful figure. She was entranced by this master ever since their first meeting. She was happy to know that he never changed. Although she should have been wondering why...

"Did you hear that?" The young boy asked as he turned to the dazed Candice. Candice immediately snapped out of it and focused on her hearing.

"Grooaa..."

A vicious growl. Footsteps of a huge monster that seemed to be getting closer to them.

"...!! Master, stay back, I will handle this!" Candice immediately gestured to the young boy.

"No need. I'll do it," The young boy firmly rejected his servant's protection.

The monster seemed to realize that its preys noticed its presence, so it didn't bother trying to suppress its presence. The monster rushed to the two little preys with full force.

Candice immediately sent a spark of lightning near them, exposing the presence of an ugly bear-like monster that was rushing straight to her master. Its size was ten times bigger than her. But her master remained calm.

Just as it seemed like the monster would lunge to him, suddenly a black shadow appeared from the young boy's body.

The black shadow quickly enveloped the monster. The monster suddenly stopped moving towards the young boy and growled in agony.

Candice gulped as she looked at the black shadow. It wasn't her first time seeing this black shadow, but she still couldn't help but shiver at the presence of the ominous black shadow.

After a while, the black shadow completely enveloped the monster. The monster let out one agonizing scream before it fell to the ground and stopped moving.

The black shadow then let go of the monster's body and returned to the young boy's body.

"Okay, let's proceed. She said that it should be the right way."

The young boy wasn't affected by the black shadow at all as he immediately resumed his journey. Candice had no choice but to follow him quickly.

After walking for a bit more, they arrived in front of an ancient-looking door.