The door to the room slammed open, making Natalie and Arion almost jump in surprise. Meanwhile, Arsen just sipped his tea, unperturbed by the slamming sound.
Hana stepped in with a cheerful smile, "Dad! Mom! Arion! We're here!"
Arion still held his chest tightly, 'I swear my heart almost jumped out of my chest just now.'
Eric just shook his head in resignation at his twin sister's behavior. He waved at Reiga, who waved back and laughed amusedly. It seemed as if he was going back to supervise the training of the knights.
After the door closed again, Eric approached Hana who was hugging Natalie and Arion and babbling about how much she missed them and so on. Eric nonchalantly sat down next to his father, who immediately gave him some orange juice.
Natalie chuckled before patting Hana on the head, "Welcome, dear. How was your class today?"
''Boring,'' Eric replied sourly.
Eric preferred magic or sword lessons. He didn't hate history lessons, it was just that he already knew most of it. His father often read it to them. Although Hana always fell asleep after a few sentences.
"I hate history,'' Hana added in a whining tone. Just thinking about it made her dizzy.
Who likes history lessons anyway? History sounded so long that Hana doubted there was an end to it. Besides being long, history is also boring. Hana always gets sleepy when she hears it.
Natalie giggled, ''I see."
Arion slightly agreed with them, 'Most history lessons are boring. But I'm a little interested.'
Arion was only interested in the history of this world. He found it interesting about the origin of magic. If it was his world history lesson, he didn't like it either. He would rather read fantasy novels or comics.
Arsen sipped his tea calmly, ''Even if it's boring, pay attention in class anyway."
Hana pouted at her father while Eric nodded in understanding. After all, he was the royal heir, a crown prince. It was his duty to have a lot of knowledge.
''Oh! Mom has something to tell you.'' Natalie said, trying to change the subject.
If only their seats weren't separated by the twins, she would have pinched her insensitive husband. The children were already tired from today's lesson, but Arsen still talked about it.
"What is it?'' Hana asked curiously after sitting comfortably in the middle of Natalie and Eric. She ate the cake with relish. She was starving after all those classes.
"You guys remember that there's a party in a few days, right?" Natalie asked for starters. Arsen let his wife take over the conversation.
''Yes?'' Eric replied doubtfully. There was no way they couldn't remember all the decorations and the bustle in the palace. Meanwhile, Hana let her twin brother answer because she was busy munching on the cake in her mouth.
Natalie smiled happily, "The Flammen family is coming in the morning, not at night. So you guys can spend some time with Noam first."
Eric's hand that was about to take the cookie stopped immediately. Hana's mouth, which had been busy chewing, also stopped.
'The reactions of these two are so opposite.' Arion thought as he saw Hana coughing slightly and Eric pulling his hand back.
Hana swallowed the cake so fast that she almost choked and asked excitedly, ''Really?"
''Why?'' Eric on the other hand frowned deeply. Even the hand that was about to reach for the cookie on the table immediately returned, no longer interested in taking it.
Arion grimaced in pity, 'His expression looks very unhappy.'
Natalie giggled amusedly and patted Eric's head, "Don't be like that. I know you're happy."
Eric's frown deepened, ''I don't like noise. And he's very loud.''
Arion sighed, 'I don't like noise either.'
''Sure, Mom believes in you,'' Natalie replied simply, giving in to Eric's sulk. She didn't want her son's irritation to grow.
Arion looked at his mother, 'No, she doesn't.'
Look at the amused smile on his lips and the twinkle in his eyes. She obviously refrained from giving an answer that would make Eric sulk even more. Even Arsen shook his head in resignation.
"Is Noam's baby brother coming too?'' Hana's question distracted Natalie from Eric.
''Of course. Your aunt wants to reunite him with Arion." Natalie replied enthusiastically. She couldn't wait to see the babies together, especially since it was her baby and her best friend's baby.
Hana looked excited, ''Alright! I'll introduce Arion to my prince too."
Arion grimaced, 'No thanks.'
Eric grimaced in horror, ''Please don't. I don't want Arion to catch his virus.'' Eric said in strong opposition.
He didn't want his baby brother to become overly hyperactive like his rival. It was enough that Hana was like that.
Hana rolled her eyes in boredom, ''Don't say it like he's a disease."
Natalie laughed, ''Wouldn't it be great if Arion caught Noam's spirit? It would make him a cheerful boy!" She said happily.
She didn't mind if Arion became hyperactive like Noam. Even if Arion was a quiet baby now, that didn't mean he would be quiet when he grew up, right?
Arsen snorted, ''Don't equate all children. They have their own characteristics." He replied seriously.
His thoughts were now the same as those of his eldest son. Even if Arion became an energy ball like Hana in the future, Arsen would not mind. But he would prefer it to happen naturally.
Hana grinned ignorantly, "Don't tell me you're afraid of not being able to keep up with Arion's energy later?" Hana said in a dismissive tone.
She might have always been physically weak. But when it came to playing, she was invincible.
''Of course not!'' Eric replied unacceptably. Who had kept up with his twin sister's endless energy all this time?
Hana chuckled, ''Don't be shy. I understand that you're like an old man, boring and gloomy." She added in a mocking tone.
Eric was about to answer before he had an idea. He held back his smirk and looked flatly at his sister, ''You're indirectly insulting Dad, you know."
Hana was silent, confused by Eric's words. She turned to her father who was silent and looked at her twin brother. She did it a few times before she finally understood what Eric meant.
How could she forget? Eric was a little version of Arsen. Which meant that her father was the adult version of her twin brother.
Her father was older, often locked in his office, always working on that boring pile of papers. Sounds similar to her description, doesn't it?
"Oh, that's right. I didn't mean to.'' Hana mumbled a little embarrassed. She glanced at her father who frowned unhappily. Hana could only giggle nervously.
"Daddy is not that old." Arsen snorted unacceptably. He really didn't care if he was old or young. But to hear it directly from his daughter was more heart-piercing.
Arsen remembered with his right-hand man, "That saying is more appropriate for Reiga. He is older than me."
To be honest, they are only 1 year apart. But as long as the old title Hana mentioned wasn't directed at him, he didn't care.
On the training ground, Reiga sneezed so loudly that it caught the attention of all the knights practicing. They gave her a puzzled look, but his sharp gaze soon made them return to their training, not daring to ask questions.
When they all stopped staring at him, Reiga rubbed his itchy nose and scowled, "I'm sure someone's talking about me."
Back in Arsen's office, Hana snapped her fingers as if she had just realized something, ''That's right!"
Natalie couldn't help but ask, ''What about Mom?"
''Mom is still very young!'' Hana replied proudly. She didn't even need a second to think about her answer.
''So you think Dad is old and Mom is young?'' Eric said while covering his smirk with his hand.
Hana stammered, ''That's not what I meant!"
''But Dad often frowns until he has wrinkles like a grandfather.''
Hana hit her big brother's arm vengefully, ''Shut up! You're not helping!"
Arsen sipped his tea calmly, not even turning to the twins. His silence made Hana even more nervous.
''I banned you guys from eating dessert for a week.'' He said casually, even he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the warm tea flowing down his throat.
Arion grimaced, 'That must have been torture for them, considering that they both love this sweet excess food so much.' He thought somewhat pityingly as he watched the twins freeze.
"What!" The two shouted at the same time. Arion felt his ears ringing for a moment. Arsen wasn't even bothered by their shouts and continued to enjoy his tea.
''Wait, Dad--!''
''That's not fair!''
Arsen cleared his throat to stop the protests of the two, ''You can eat it again during Arion's banquet.'' After that, he continued to enjoy the tea and cookies made especially for him.
''Dad!''
''Hahaha!''
Natalie, who had been holding back her laughter from the beginning, finally couldn't stand it anymore. She laughed out loud when she saw the twins whining at Arsen. Even Eric, who looked reluctant, also whined at his father, who seemed unperturbed by the twins shaking his arms.
All the noise made Arion stop himself from complaining, 'So noisy.'
Well, it's a common scene, isn't it?