Before Arion was picked up by Natalie, he had a blank look in his eyes. He no longer paid attention to their conversation, too deep in thought at the moment.
'Wait, he said I laughed?'
Arion didn't understand Eric's words. What did he mean by laughing? Arion didn't remember that he laughed just now. Was something wrong with his ears?
It was then that Arion remembered the strange sound he had accidentally let out when he had been unable to resist the strange trembling in his lips.
Arion frowned in confusion, 'I was just coughing. Why do they think I'm laughing?'
As he felt his body being lifted, Arion immediately snapped out of his reverie. He stared confusedly at the twins, who smiled at him.
Arion blinked a few times, 'That's weird. Did they hear wrong?'
As the two played with his hand, Arion still couldn't get his mind off it, even though he was starting to feel dizzy. Fortunately, his thoughts were successfully distracted by the sound of the bedroom door suddenly opening.
Arsen entered with a flat expression and an unusually cold aura. He motioned to the servants behind him, who immediately bowed and closed the door, leaving the members of the royal family alone.
Arion swallowed nervously, 'What's wrong with him? He's twice as scary as usual.'
He glanced to the side and noticed that the twins' faces looked rather pale, 'Is it because of them?'
"Here you are."
Arsen stared expressionlessly at the twins who stared back at him nervously, not knowing what to say to their father who seemed to be in a bad mood. They looked at each other nervously and got off the bed, standing upright in front of their father.
"Good afternoon, Dad..."
Eric and Hana greeted their father softly. Their heads were down, not daring to look directly into Arsen's golden eyes.
Natalie, who felt their tense atmosphere, couldn't help but feel sorry for the twins. So she decided to help a little, "Isn't there something you want to tell Daddy?"
"Sorry Dad..."
The two whispered in sad voices. It seemed that their behavior had gone too far this time. Not only did they make their father angry, but they also made him delay his work, which must have become more and more. No wonder his aura felt so cold now.
Arsen frowned at them, "Why do you keep running away from your nanny?"
His cold tone made Eric and Hana flinch in surprise. Their father never used that tone with them. Usually, Arsen used that tone when dealing with the sycophantic nobles he hated so much.
Arion looked fearfully at his father, 'He looks almost like him...'
Even Natalie looked at Arsen in shock. She hadn't thought that he would use such a cold tone with their children. She wondered if something had happened.
Hana was already thinking of a reason to say, but Eric held his twin sister's hand to stop her, "We just want to see Arion." He answered quietly.
Hana glanced at him in disbelief but a shake of the head was all she got from her twin brother so she kept quiet.
Eric felt that if they lied now, it would only make their father angrier. Arsen always knew when they were lying, so that wouldn't work. So telling the truth was better than facing their father's anger, which they rarely saw. He was in no mood for jokes.
"Do you know how panicked I get?" His question was met with silence. Neither of them could answer him.
Arsen sighed tiredly. He knelt down in front of the twins, who were still looking down, and snapped his fingers to make them look at him. His face looked serious, but the cold aura that surrounded him had disappeared, so the twins could look at him without fear.
"You're still too young. You'll be safe when you're with someone. But what if you get hurt when you're alone?" Arsen asked softly. He felt a little guilty for scaring them before.
Arion blinked slowly. He began to feel calm. But he still couldn't get rid of his fear completely.
"Both of us." Hana quickly denied it. Eric nudged his little sister who immediately covered her mouth with her hand.
Arsen raised his eyebrows, challenged Hana to repeat it. She only replied with a panicked shake.
Eric glared at Hana who had almost ruined their hard work and she still dared to grin innocently at him.
Arsen snapped his fingers again to bring their focus back to him, "Being a member of the royal family means that your life will always be in danger. Daddy told you that once, right?"
It might sound like inappropriate talk for children. But he knew that his children were intelligent and could understand the position they were in at such a young age. He didn't want them to be in danger, so he always had to emphasize the importance of remembering that.
They both nodded slowly. They still remembered all those lessons. And if Arsen mentioned it now, it meant that the conversation would be more important and serious.
"And what is the reason?"
"Because royal members have strong magic," Eric replied seriously. Even though he hasn't received his magic yet, he knows that royal members always have strong magic.
"And?"
"The bad guys want to hurt us before our magic develops." Hana continued sadly.
She already understood that not everyone was good. There were many evil and cunning people in this world. The world itself was not always fair to the weak. In this case, it was the two of them.
But to hurt others, especially a child, just because they had powerful magic was too cruel. She didn't understand why someone would do such a thing.
Arsen looked at them closely, waiting for them to say the most important thing, "And?"
They looked at each other and swallowed nervously, "...Dad has many enemies, so they might target us to take revenge on you."
Both of them had seen Arsen's lightning. His lightning was pitch black and possessed great speed and power. His control over his black lightning was also amazing.
In short, their father was very powerful. No wonder he had so many enemies out there. Just thinking about it gave them goosebumps.
Arsen nodded in satisfaction. Even though they often make a mess, at least they still remember all his words. He didn't want them to be arrogant and take his words lightly, which would cause trouble in the future. So he had to be strict with them.
Arion frowned uncomfortably, 'Is that something you should discuss with children?'
He didn't know if that was normal or not. Despite all the suffering in his life, he came from a peaceful era. Now he was in a kingdom where there were still wars and conflicts. So he didn't really understand.
Seeing the sad looks on their faces, Arsen smiled slightly, "Now you understand why Dad is always worried if you're alone, right?"
The two nodded in embarrassment, but Hana quickly pouted, "But I don't like nannies!"
Arsen frowned in confusion. Then he turned to his wife, who was holding back her laughter. Natalie looked away, not interested in answering. Arsen's expression only made it harder for her to hold back her laughter.
Arsen stared blankly at his wife before looking back at the twins, "Did they hurt you?"
Arion suddenly felt anxious, 'Are they secretly doing something bad to the twins?'
He couldn't help but think badly because of his experience. He just didn't want the twins to feel the same way he did.
"That's not it!" The two replied at the same time in a high voice that made Arsen blink his eyes in surprise. He hadn't expected such a shout from them. Even Arion gasped in surprise.
Arsen sighed tiredly, "What exactly did they do?"
Eric frowned unhappily, "They're always loud."
Hana had a big frown on her face, "Some even dared to pinch my cheeks!"
She rubbed her cheeks sadly. They could ruin her cheeks if left unchecked! She still wanted her cute cheeks!
"They always call me cute." Eric snorted in exasperation and crossed his arms, "I'm not cute! I'm handsome!"
The servants always muttered that he was cute whenever they finished dressing him. They once asked him to try on more than one outfit a day, which he thankfully refused immediately before they prepared more clothes.
Imitating her twin brother, Hana crossed her arms, "They made me try on 10 different dresses and 10 different hairstyles before deciding which one suited me."
Even if she only changed clothes to play freely, they still made her change a lot of clothes and try on different hairstyles. And it's almost every day!
"This is annoying!" The two of them shouted in desperation. Not only was it annoying, it was tiring!
They both knew that the nannies were not bad people. They just got carried away and treated the twins like ordinary children, not the descendants of a king. So they refrained from protesting to their father.
But Eric and Hana couldn't stand it anymore! It was torture!
Arion stared blankly, '...Forget what I think.'