Chapter 89

Introduction

Several days after the twins’ fifth birthday party, it was time for having the twins learn how to socialize! In other words, it’s introduction time for them~

Yes. When I asked Mom and Dad when I could possibly introduce my little siblings to my friends, they told me about the twins’ imminent fifth birthday and how we could start introducing the twins after that.

That being said, there was no way I could just bring the twins along to school. For now—I guess let’s just bring the twins to Capicastle and introduce them to Leticia~!

Leticia and the twins should be at the same age, so I really think they could be best friends! Furthermore, their birthdays were in the same month~ So close in age~!

With that hope in mind, we departed to Capicastle that weekend.

“Lyra-nee~!”

The small, adorable red-haired little girl quickly made her way to me right after I entered the room. The room was some sort of a playground for the royal children to spend their time in.

Luca and Kiri were also there, accompanying Leticia to play.

“Whoa, hey, Leticia! No greetings for me?”

My big brother teasingly stood between Leticia and me as he spread his arms at Leticia. Sure enough, as a response to this annoying tease, Leti sulked.

“Altaire, move!” Leticia demanded.

“Aww, you’re no fun, Leti! Why don’t you call me Alt-nii as usual?” Alt-nii teased Leti again.

“Because Altaire is making me angry!” Leti replied, “Besides, Leti already has a Nii-sama, Luca-nii!”

...Allow me to explain.

Leti usually would address Alt-nii the same way I addressed him. But whenever Leti is upset at Alt-nii (most probably due to his teasing—understandable though, as Leti’s sulking face is also cute!), she would not acknowledge him.

Oddly enough, Luca didn’t mind to Leticia addressing Alt-nii like that. I thought his brotherly sense would get tickled and he’d get jealous! Not fun, Luca, not fun.

While the bickering continued, the twins who were standing behind me would often stick out their heads to see what was happening.

The oblivious Leticia suddenly noticed the presence of the twins and stopped bickering with Alt-nii.

“Huh? Who are they?”

Glad you asked!

Realizing that Leticia’s mind was no longer on him and their bickering, Alt-nii moved to let Leticia approach me and the figures behind me.

I’m so excited to finally introduce them to her!

We mentioned the thing about the twins in front of Leticia before, but I guess she didn’t quite get it and didn’t feel the existence of the twins yet. Or could she have already forgotten that I had acquired little siblings...?

Ah, no matter, let’s just introduce them~

As Leticia walked closer to me, I grabbed the twins’ hands and guided them to stop hiding behind me. They were quite timid since it was their first time coming to Capicastle.

The twins were standing on my left and right sides. Leticia stopped walking and seemed to be stunned at the appearance of the two similar-looking children.

“Eh...?” Leti unconsciously blurted out.

The twins were also looking at Leticia intently. Being a good and understanding big sister, I stepped back to let the young children get acquainted to one another.

Freyr and Freyja hadn’t really met with children around their age after coming to our house. I doubt they were close to anyone from their (short-term stay at the) orphanage.

Freyr who was on the left side suddenly tilted his head to the right. Incidentally, Freyja was also tilting her head to the left side.

Ngggh, cute! They seemed to be curious about Leticia, good, good!

I might look calm on the outside, but my heart wasn’t calm as I was cheering for the budding friendships between the three of them.

My heart was beating faster as a proof of my excitement.

Behind Leticia, I could see the contrastive figure of her biological older brother—Luca, folding his arms with one eyebrow raised, waiting to see what was going to happen. It was odd seeing how a little brat like him acted like an adult—oh, but maybe it was because his mind was more mature than his appearance. Like me.

As a response to the twins tilting their heads like that, Leticia also tilted her head to the left. Freyja suddenly adjusted his head and tilted it to the right just like Freyr.

Oh, the twins’ right = Leticia’s left side! Their heads were pointing at the same direction... How funny!

Or not. The next scene proved us that there was something more amusing than this.

Just right after that, Leticia tilted her head to the right. The twins simultaneously tilted their heads to their left side.

“Pfft...,” I couldn’t hold my laugh as I saw this cute scene unfolding!

Instead of greeting one another and introducing themselves, they were playing head-tilting...?!

Perhaps this was how the small ones socialized...?

“Who?” Leticia seemed to have enough of this head-tilting game as she straightened her head and neck again. The twins followed suit.

“Freyja,” Freyja mentioned her name.

“Freyr,” Freyr also gave his name.

“Oh... I’m Leticia,” Leticia showed a slight surprise and quickly gave her name, too.

Despite her face clearly showing question marks, it seemed that the royal family educated their children well enough—I mean, look! Leticia gave her name instead of asking again, despite her confusion.

“Freyr, Freyja, let me introduce you to my friend’s little sister... Leticia! She is at the same age as you two. Be good friends, okay?” I touched the twins’ shoulders as I introduced Leti to them.

Next...

“Leticia, they are the twins—Freyr and Freyja. They are also my younger siblings!” I proudly announced my cute younger siblings to Leticia.

“...Younger siblings?” Leticia questioned, as if seeking a confirmation.

“Yes, that’s right! Freyr is my little brother and Freyja is my little sister~ I hope you will get along well with them!” I nodded.

“...You two are?” This time, Leticia asked Freyr and Freyja.

Freyr and Freyja nodded at the same time.

“Lyra-neechan is our big sister!” Freyja announced.

“We are... family,” Freyr shyly nodded.

“...You mean, you two are the Hartmann?” Leticia asked.

The twins nodded.

“You live in the same house as Lyra-nee?”

The twins nodded again.

“B-but but... I’m Lyra-nee’s little sister figure... right?” Leticia’s voice seemed upset... eh?

“Leticia, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“...Lyra, you dummy,” I felt like I heard Luca’s helpless voice, but it was too small that I couldn’t really hear what he said.

“Not fairrrrr! I know Lyra-nee longer than you twooo! But why are you snatching her away from meeee,” Leticia suddenly bawled.

“Eh...,” I was dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.

The twins tilted their heads in confusion again.

“But Lyra-neechan is our big sister...?” Freyr couldn’t understand what was wrong.

“You are Onee-chan’s friend’s little sister, right?” Freyja asked for a confirmation.

...Oh, you twins—what you said didn’t help the situation at all...

“I can tolerate Lyra-nee having a little brother figure such as Ein... but Leti wants to be Lyra-nee’s beloved sister! Leti wants to be special!” Leticia said as she was still bawling.

“Here, Leti, stop crying,” Luca was suddenly standing next to Leticia as he pulled the crying little girl in his arms.

“Luca-niiii... Lyra-nee has a real sister now... Leti is no longer special...?” Leticia complained to Luca.

“There, there, Leti. That’s not true. Anyway, you have your real big brother here, right?” Luca patted Leticia’s head as he wiped her tears.

“L-Leticia, you’re still special in my heart!! It’s true that Freyr and Freyja are my real younger siblings, but you matter too, you’re like my little sister already, so don’t worry!”

It was my first time being contested like this, so I frantically tried to explain my point.

Freyr and Freyja were looking at each other for a while before they nodded.

Wait, what are you two agreeing on?

Then, they simultaneously moved closer to Leti and... patted Leticia’s head!

T-this scene... A child patting another child... Pfft, too cute!

“There, there, good girl,” Freyr seemed to imitate how he was calmed down whenever he cried.

“We can be sisters too,” Freyja suggested.

Leticia might not have expected this, as she suddenly stopped crying and looked at the twins in disbelief.

“Sisters...?” Leticia asked.

“I can be your brother, too!” Freyr suggested. Perhaps they hadn’t really understood the concept of siblinghood that well, but sure, as long as it made them feel better!

“But... Leti already has a big brother and a big sister...,” Leticia contemplated.

“Oh, I know!” Leticia clapped her hands as if she had been enlightened.

“You two can be my little brother and sister! I will get to be your big sister!” She proudly expressed her idea.

But, eh...?

The twins’ birthday was earlier than Leticia despite them having their birthdays in Month 5...

This kind of arrangement wouldn’t make sense...

“Ok.”

“Sure.”

However, the twins were oblivious to it and nodded anyway...

“Yayyyy! I’m finally a big sister!” Leticia happily waved her hands.

...I don’t think that’s how this all work, but... all is well... I guess?

What matters the most is how they look happy and can get along now...

Alt-nii realized the matter and already laughed out loud.

Luca only sighed helplessly.

Kiri only stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what he should do.

“Okay, you two! Let me introduce you to my big brother, here!” Leticia then took the twins’ hands as she led them to Luca.

Eeeh, I don’t understand kids with their sudden turns of feelings...?

Before, she was still crying out of jealousy to the twins.

Now, she seems to be getting along well with them...

Ah, children...

If only the adults can still retain this kind of thinking... maybe there wouldn’t be wars or conflicts?

Sometimes, surprisingly, we can learn from children...

“This is Luca-niisama! Leti’s big brother!” Leticia pointed at Luca.

“Hello, Freyr and Freyja,” Luca nodded at the twins as the twins also nodded back at him.

“Okay, then there is Kiri on the back! Kiri is Luca-nii’s future maid!”

“...Leticia, it’s future aide,” Luca tried to hold his laugh.

“Yes, that’s what I mean!” Leticia added.

“Hello you two...,” Kiri bitterly smiled as he waved his hand at the twins.

“Now, let’s play!”

After the introduction was finished, just like what Leti said—time to play together~

On a side note, I couldn’t imagine them realizing how the twins were actually a few days older than Leticia... Ah, let’s just leave that for the future, yes!

Time passed by so fast when we were playing.

My parents and Luca’s parents were so glad that their youngest children could get along really well. The king and the queen didn’t need to worry anymore about Leticia’s playmates.

“Sure enough, I can count on Cyan even for my children’s playmates, huh?” King Titus jokingly laughed.

“Please, Your Majesty. This is nothing but a good coincidence!” Dad followed King Titus in his joke.

“Well, it’s good that the children can get along well,” Mom said in relief.

“Cyan, Ophelia, be sure to bring Freyr and Freyja often too,” Queen Shaula quickly gave the future invitations for the twins.

Of course, I was happy to know how the twins finally had their first same-age friend~

...I wouldn’t like it if they became enemies with Leticia just because of me.

***

After introducing them to Leticia, Luca, and Kiri... the next agenda would be to introduce the twins to Iris, Carbuncle, Ein, and Harvey~

On a certain weekend, we arranged them all to visit our house again.

And the twins’ reaction upon seeing a few unfamiliar faces was...

Nothing.

Ah, it seemed that they were used to seeing unfamiliar faces around the time they were in the orphanage.

On this fine day, the twins were sitting next to each other. We were sitting in a circle, with the twins as the center.

The twins were wearing white matching outfits. With them being like this, they were just like porcelain dolls!

“Whoaaa... so cuteee!” Iris couldn’t hide her desire to dote on the twins.

“*Sniff, sniff*... Oh, they don’t have any dragon blood...?” The first thing that the mighty dragon Carbuncle did to the twins was... to sniff them.

“Of course, they are technically my cousins, not my siblings,” I reminded Carbuncle.

“Oh, right,” Carbuncle didn’t seem as interested in the twins as she did to me and Alt-nii.

Whoaa, what’s with her preferential treatment?

But I guess I could understand her thoughts. Alt-nii and I were considered special as we inherited dragon blood from Dad and Dad’s Mom.

“Hey, Freyr, Freyja! Listen, she might not look like one, but this one here is a dragon! Just call her Kuu-chan!” I grabbed Carbuncle’s head and slightly forced her to take another look at the twins again.

“Hey, Lyr, what’s with that?” Carbuncle protested.

“Kuu... chan?” Freyja tilted her head.

“A dragon?!” Freyr’s eyes were sparkling.

“Look, my younger siblings are staring at you in awe, why not impress them further?”

Carbuncle was quite weak in front of those who didn’t hide their awe at the dragon race.

Sure enough, hearing and seeing how interested the twins were, Carbuncle suddenly added.

“Hmmm... Is that so? Then, I guess I can let you witness this...”

Then, she showed her dragon wings and tail.

“”WOW!!”” The twins excitedly walked around Carbuncle as they touched her dragon wings and tail.

“Your new siblings are kinda cute, Alt!” I could hear Harvey talking to Alt-nii.

“Well, I guess,” Alt-nii said in affirmation.

“So, which one is your favorite?” Harvey asked teasingly.

Ugh... A question that can create a rift in the family, huh? B-but, what’s Alt-nii’s answer going to be..?

“Hm? I can’t really say for sure. Lyra is my favorite in terms of working together. I’ve been with her for her whole life—practically. Freyr is my favorite in terms of boy stuff. Freyja has the top reaction to my teasing,” Alt-nii listed.

Right. How Alt-nii-like.

“Ein? Not interested in playing with the twins?” I shifted my attention to Ein who was quietly observing.

“Eeh, not really. Their presences mean that I have more rivals now, Big Sis Lyra?” Ein quietly asked.

“What, don’t like it?” I asked back.

Ein shook his head.

“Well, competition is always there in life. I just have to be the best so you’ll acknowledge and favor me!” Ein enthusiastically said, but I guess you could have directed your enthusiasm somewhere else...

“Don’t you think the twins are cute, Ein? Don’t you want to have little siblings like them?” I quickly shifted the topic in hopes Ein could get along well with the twins like how Leticia did.

“Not really. I prefer to be an only child!” Ein declared.

“Eeeh, really? Why?” I asked in curiosity. I thought he’d want siblings to accompany him.

“Because I will be able to have everything from my parents~,” Ein leisurely added.

“But you will have someone to play with?” I tried to tempt him.

“Mum and Dad will do.”

“When they’re busy...?”

“The maids and their children are there? Also, my cousins, too,” Ein casually answered.

Ah... okay. Guess each to their own. Loera clan is a huge clan, so obviously Ein would have several cousins.

Judging from the way he answered, it seemed that the relationships in the Loera clan weren’t that bad.

Good for my nephew!

With that, the twins were successfully introduced to all my friends. They didn’t seem to have any difficulty socializing—well, they were quiet by nature, but they weren’t that bad with people.

I wonder what the future will have for us from now on...?