A groan came from Arion's right side, bringing him out of his reverie. The sound also made Natalie and Hana turn their heads. They found Eric awake with an annoyed look on his face.
"Noisy, Hana," Eric grumbled unhappily at being woken by his twin sister's loud voice. This was not the way he wanted to be woken up.
"Brother! Good morning!" Hana greeted him with an embarrassed smile. She didn't mean to wake her twin brother up so he was in a bad mood.
'Morning?'
Arion blinked in confusion. He was sure that the sun was very high in the sky now.
Eric's eyes narrowed as he looked at the window, "It's already noon."
Hana shrugged indifferently, "Just the same." She replied casually, not bothered by her brother's sharp gaze. Arion looked at her blankly.
Eric let out a long groan and then buried his face in the pillow. He wanted to get back the sleep he wanted.
"Did you sleep well, Eric?" Natalie asked with a soft smile.
She moved to Eric's side so she could stroke his messy hair. She felt a little guilty for accidentally waking him, although it seemed that Hana's loud voice dominated the reason he woke up.
"Very sound," Eric muttered hoarsely. He was in no mood to get up from his position. If he could, he wanted to laze around for the rest of the day.
"Still sleepy? Go back to sleep." Natalie asked gently as her hand continued to gently stroke Eric's hair, at the same time fixing his messy hair from lying down too long.
Eric hummed as he enjoyed his mother's gentle stroking, "Hana's voice keeps me fully awake." Eric said sarcastically as he stared intently at his little sister.
"You think I'm so noisy?" Hana asked annoyed. All her guilt was gone. It turned into annoyance.
"Yes," Eric replied briefly, not even trying to be evasive. Arion almost choked on his blunt statement.
'He is very outspoken when he speaks.'
"Evil!" Hana shouted with such exasperation that Arion almost jumped in shock if he didn't control himself properly.
'Jeez, can't they just get along for a little while?' Arion thought somewhat annoyed. First, he almost choked. Second, he almost had a heart attack.
Eric looked at her sharply, "You woke me up!" He replied unacceptably. Why was he being blamed now? He is the victim here!
"But I didn't do it on purpose." Hana's reply was also unacceptable. She meant what she said. Sometimes, when she gets too excited, her voice gets louder unconsciously.
Eric snorted, "That means your voice is loud." He replied ignorantly, not wanting to hear any more of his twin sister's ramblings.
"Hey!"
Arion looked back and forth between them. He felt uncomfortable being caught in the middle of their argument. But he couldn't help but agree with Eric's statement. Arion fully supported that statement.
'It's true. Even my sleepiness comes and goes because of her loud voice.' Arion nodded in agreement. Still, it didn't bother him too much. After all, he had gotten used to it in the past.
"Why don't you sleep anyway? It's your nap time." Eric asked half-heartedly. He felt lazy to ask, but he was also curious about this unusual scene.
The frown on Hana's face was soon replaced by a proud grin, "I was already asleep. Just woke up earlier than you." She replied proudly. She had always been so hard to wake up that her twin brother had repeatedly mocked her for being lazy.
Eric looked at her in disbelief, "No way. Who are you?" He asked in an accusatory tone. There was no way that this creature in front of him was his little sister. He doubted it very much.
Arion sighed, 'Believe me, I was also surprised at first.'
Soon the grin on her face disappeared and was replaced by a snarl, "Cruel!"
Natalie chuckled amusedly but still stopped the two before the fight continued, "Okay. Don't fight." She said calmly to both of them.
Come on, even one of them had just woken up, but they already had the energy to start a fight. Sometimes she forgot how much energy children had.
Hana sulked and looked away, still irritated. Eric didn't say anything as he put his head back on the pillow.
The silence between them was so tense that it made Natalie grimace in confusion. Even Arion felt uncomfortable.
'This silence feels suffocating.' He thought uncomfortably. He was used to hearing arguments from the two of them, not silence like this.
To his surprise, Hana was the first to break the silence, "Brother, have you ever seen Arion cry?"
Eric turned to her with a confused look, not understanding the meaning of her sudden question.
"Of course not. I couldn't possibly make him cry." Eric replied with a snort.
First of all, he wanted to be a good big brother. Second, Arion was still a baby, so he wasn't annoying like his little sister. Third, he didn't want his mother and father to forbid him to visit Arion again.
And most importantly, Arion was one of the reasons why he could enjoy a moment of peace without Hanas babbling because she was so focused on staring at Arion.
Hana frowned, "Not that kind of crying." She murmured.
She was confused as to why he didn't understand. She felt that she had asked in clear words. So why was his answer a bit off-topic?
Eric was getting confused by his little sister's topic of question, "Then what?"
"I've never seen Arion cry either," Hana replied innocently, unaware of her brother's confusion and the person who was the subject of their conversation.
Arion grimaced, 'Your words sound like you want me to cry. That's ambiguous.'
He understood the meaning of his sister's question. It was just that the way she said it was a bit ambiguous to his ears.
Eric snorted slightly, "Weird."
"What!" Hana glared at him, not accepting to be suddenly called weird by her annoying brother.
"If he's crying, it means he's sad. Isn't it good that Arion never cries? That means he's never sad." Eric explained proudly.
Hana was silent for a moment, "That's right." She murmured under her breath. She hadn't thought about that before. The explanation of her twin brother made sense.
"Arion is a good baby after all, and he is not troublesome. Not like someone." He continued in a mocking tone, knowing that his little sister would be provoked.
"Hey!" Hana snapped in disapproval, just as Eric had predicted. Arion sighed tiredly at the behavior of the two who never got along.
Eric smirked, "What? I didn't mention your name. Why do you look offended?" He said nonchalantly, knowing that he would soon silence his sister.
Hana stammered, not knowing what to say. In the end, she just pouted and averted her eyes, "You annoying."
Eric snorted proudly after seeing she was unable to reply. But then his confusion over his sister's sudden question still hadn't disappeared.
"Anyway, why would you want to see Arion cry?" Eric asked confusedly, not understanding why his little sister would want to see their brother cry. That's a strange thought.
Hana pouted, "It's not that I want to see him cry. I just wonder why I've never seen Arion cry. Mom said babies cry a lot." She said still sulking.
She wanted to be a good sister. Eric's question was a little insulting to her as if she wanted him to cry. She didn't accept that!
Eric gave her a strange look, "Instead, think of a way to keep him from crying. That way it means he's happy." He said proudly, feeling satisfied with his own statement.
Hana blinked, "That's brilliant! She exclaimed with sparkling eyes, finally managing to get rid of her strange thoughts. She couldn't even remember the reason why she suddenly thought that.
"That's right, but also wrong." Natalie's statement made the twins stare at her in confusion. During their argument, she remained silent and listened.
"Why?" Eric asked confused. He didn't understand which of his statements was wrong. Everything seemed to make sense to him.
Arion was also confused, 'Yes, why?'
"Someone not crying does not mean they are happy. Conversely, someone crying does not mean they are sad." Natalie explained with a gentle smile, but upon closer inspection, there was a hint of sadness in it. None of the three small children in the room noticed.
Hana tilted her head in confusion, "I don't understand." She muttered under her breath. She could feel her head starting to dizzy from thinking too much, especially when the object of her current thoughts did not find an answer.
'Neither do I.'
Arion could also feel himself getting confused. To him, most tears always symbolize sadness.
In his first life, when he was a child, tears were present in his life every day. You could say that they were silent witnesses to little Rion's suffering.
So if they did not necessarily symbolize sadness, then were all the tears he had back then not sadness?
Natalie smiled softly, "You will understand when the time comes." She didn't explain anymore and just patted them on the head.
Eric and Hana looked at each other but said nothing. They had the feeling that their mother was not going to explain anything.