Seraphina looked at Keiran for a moment, feeling the same sensation of being unable to hide anything, resurfaced.
"Aiden said, 'I want to play with my big brother, so I bro-'" Before she could complete her sentence, Keiran turned to look at her and cut her off, his moon like eyes boring deep into her soul.
"I know that, but what did 'you' come here for?" His question caused the little boy beside him to look at them in confusion.
Sighing, Seraphina looked back and indicated to the maids to leave the room. They complied and left them to their privacy.
Seraphina looked at the small girl in Keiran's arms, who was looking at her with eyes that held a curious glint similar to that of her twin brother.
"I came here to ask you both about your studies. Arion is arranging a private tutor for you two. He will be teaching you the basics of everything you need to know."
Her words caused their eyes to narrow at the same time as they understood the intentions of their father.
He wanted to keep an eye on them while also nurturing them. Since they were learning by themselves till now, they were easily able to hide their level of intelligence and understanding.
"He is trying to control us," Luna's words caused Keiran to nod, and Seraphina's eyes widened in realization of the twins' intelligence.
She was surprised they understood Arion's intentions that easily, which made her reassess the IQ of the twins.
"Now, don't think too much. The new tutor has yet to be selected, and even if someone was selected for the job, they will be teaching after you turn five years old."
Ignoring the puzzled looks the twins gave her, she continued, "We discussed it together with your mother, and she also agreed to let you two enjoy your life. It was only under this pretext that he agreed."
She started remembering the meeting they had to discuss the children's future.
The faces of those family heads that were trying to set up people from their clans or families to be the tutors for the prince and princess.
They were trying to gain favors from them, or they even thought of trying to use them if they were easy to control.
Unknown to the twins, Seraphina didn't tell them that some of those noble families had already started to approach the king with marriage proposals for them all including Aiden.
Seraphina sighed, feeling a sense of protectiveness toward the kids. She knew that their lives would be filled with these sorts of schemes and ambitions from various noble families.
Although they were rejected for the time being, it was only a matter of time before they would be approached directly by the other families.
As they grow older they will have to attend many events with the children of noble families.
'It has been only a year since you all were born and people have already started plotting against you.'
As Seraphina was lost in her thoughts, a troubled expression surfaced on her face.
Looking at that expression, Aidean approached his mother and tugged on her clothes, making her look at him.
His eyes, full of concern, looked back into her own.
She smiled at her child's concern, gently stroking his hair as she glanced at the other kids.
Seeing the concern concealed beneath their usual stoic expressions rekindled a warmth in her heart.
The warmth she had seemed to have lost throughout their journey. While thinking of this warmth, the face of a cheerful girl flashed through her mind.
The face brought heartache and longing with it.
"What happened, mother?" Hearing those words snapped her out of her thoughts, and she found the twins standing nearby.
"Why are you crying, Seraphina?" Luna's question caught Seraphina off guard.
"What are you talking about?" Seraphina replied in mock ridicule and astonishment.
But soon she felt a stream of wet yet warm tears flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks.
'What is this...? Why aren't they stopping? Me, The Crimson Butcher, is crying. The world will laugh... The one who slaughtered her way to the peak is crying like a little girl.'
She covered her eyes with her hands as she sat on the bed.
Keiran and Luna came beside her to offer their support. Aidean hugged his mother tightly, tears streaming down his face.
'Why, why, Hick* w-why did you leave us, Chihaki? Everything is a mess without you. Why did 'that' happen to you?'
As she delved deeper into her memories, darker scenes flashed before her eyes.
Keiran noticed that her aura was in disarray, and he realized she must have been recalling something unpleasant.
Seeing Aiden struggling to breathe due to the distressing aura, Keiran climbed onto the bed and positioned himself in front of her face.
He brought his hands close to her face, which was just inches away from his own.
'If only we had neve-' before she could sink any deeper into her memories, she was abruptly brought back to reality.
*SMACK*
Keiran used both of his hands, summoning all his infantile strength, to slap her face.
Her aura momentarily stilled, and she found herself back in the room.
Her face had turned red, bearing small imprints from Keiran's tiny but surprisingly strong hands. Despite being just a year old, he possessed sturdy bones.
With Ether nurturing their growth, their physical abilities are already quite above that of kids their age.
"I don't know what you were feeling or thinking but take care of what you have," Keiran paused as he turned to look towards Aiden who was gasping as he looked back at them.
" Don't let the light that is burning deep inside of you disappear into darkness like the other's." He continued to speak, trying to make her realize she should treasure what she held.
Keiran's words made her tremble, and she could see that her son was struggling to breathe. Despite his difficulties, he tried to smile, reassuring her.
'That's right,' she thought, 'I have my Aiden now, and these two as well. Although they may not be my own, they mean just as much to me.'
This scene broke her heart as she hurriedly hugged her child and sobbed, this time at the stupidity of her actions.
After a short while, she quickly cleaned her eyes and collected herself. She looked at Keiran and Luna, patting their heads.
This time, they didn't avoid her, and their eyes were focused on the bright light that grew significantly inside her body.
If its size was like that of a candle flame before, now it had grown to the size of a light bulb.
"Thank you, Keiran and Luna, for making me realize something important."
Seraphina would have hugged them if they didn't have their boundaries against physical contact.
She was very happy that they allowed her to pat their heads.
"I wish all of you can grow in a safe environment without any problems or anything, but the world has turned into an arena itself."
While speaking, she looked outside the window, her gaze landing on the huge golden structure with various engravings on it, shining under whatever sunlight managed to penetrate the mist covering the Earth.
"If you want to survive in this world, like in an arena, you need power. Without power or the right mentality, you will lose everything."
She gazed back at the children as her heartache looked at their determined expression.
Even her own child who was not as intelligent as the twins seemed to understand what she said.
"I want you to enjoy your life but I also want you to be so strong that you can protect yourselves or each other."
She stood up from the bed and tidied her clothes as she continued speaking.
"Start to acquire all the knowledge you can Within these four years as after that you all will be under his watchful eyes."
Seraphina held a motherly gaze as she looked lovingly at the children.
She Ruffled each one of their heads messing up their hairs.
Twins looked at her with an annoyed expression while Aiden was practically fuming.
"Moo~~, what are you doing mommy~?" Aiden spoke in his cute voice.
Seraphina chuckled without giving any response as she walked towards the exit and he followed behind her.
"Bye big brudah, I'll definitely make you hug me next time." His words caused Keiran to look at him weirdly while he still waved back.
" I won't let you take him all for yourself… Humph'' with a snort Aiden hurriedly ran after his mother promptly ignoring the icy glare Luna shot towards him.
"Tell me~~Brother~~" Luna called Keiran in a sweet voice, making his heart melt.
"Hmm" he replied back back while trying to keep himself together.
"Can i~~~ kill him~~~~?" Those sweet words were compelling him to agree with her but the context of her sentence made him stop himself.
He approached her and hugged her from behind "Nope!... Don't worry~ No one will be able to take me from you ~~ No one~ Not even when you want to leave, you are stuck with me forever~~"
His calm yet cold voice caused her to shiver in delight and melt back in his embrace as she turned to look at him with cloudy eyes "I should be the one to say that. Hehe~"
She chuckled and hugged him tightly as she started sniffing his scent, her eyes turned 'empty'.