Your Regrets Are Late

From early in the morning, Charteron had been putting in effort to do a flip. She seemed to be having a hard time, frowning and getting irritated. At the sight, Charelize eventually put away the documents she was looking at. She picked up Charteron in the cradle, laid her on the bed, and massaged her arms and legs.

“Charon, is it refreshing?”

“Uaaa.”

As she kissed her forehead and asked, Charteron’s characteristic bright laugh returned.

“Every time you smile, Mom feels better.”

“Kyaa!”

She also brought Luensir, who was having difficulty playing with Charteron, to the bed. Charteron babbled as she saw her brother come. Despite the loud noise, Luenier didn’t seem to have any intention of waking up.

“Luen.”

As she tried to lay him next to Charteron, he dug into her arms as if not wanting to get away. Charelize stroked Luensir’s small hands, which clasped her clothes so he would never fall off. Charteron, who was dissatisfied with that, asked her to hug her too, with tears in her eyes.

Recently, something serious has almost happened to children who couldn’t yet control their bodies properly. There were assassins sent by people with bad opinions about twins or vicious intruders who wanted to kidnap them for money. Fortunately, Hailey, who was skilled in swordsmanship, was by her side, and Charelize shot an arrow and inflicted a fatal wound, so it ended up being an attempt. She could not guarantee that something like that wouldn’t happen in the future.

Arensis was locked in his room, studying protective magic. Charelize was always by her children’s side, even when she worked. As a result, she only allowed Hailey and Martin to be in charge of the children.

Under the protection of Charelize and Arensis, the children grew up day by day. Time passed in the blink of an eye, and Charteron could say simple words before she knew it.

“More, more.”

“Yes, Charon. Do you want more?”

Arensis was feeding Charteron baby food directly. It was an act that would have freaked someone out if they saw it, but the way she opened her mouth without stopping was like a baby bird. He wiped Charteron’s hands, which were clapping as if asking for more food because her stomach wasn’t full.

The first words Charteron spoke weren’t mom and dad. It wasn’t even Hailey or Martin whom she often sees. What she said for the first time was ‘Lur.’ It seemed that Luensir’s name was abbreviated because it was difficult to pronounce, and from then on, Luensir was called Lur more often than his original nickname.

“Charon has already finished eating, but our Lur doesn’t want to get up…”

Arensis fed Charteron and looked at Luensir.

“…Lur?”

His breathing was different from usual, so he touched his forehead and found him to be slightly feverish. It felt like a fireball to Arensis, so he immediately reported it to Charelize and called Baron Alec.

“Don’t be so panicked.”

“Barong Alec. I-is the prince has…some kind of illness?”

Baron Alec, who had been examining Luensir with a profound expression, opened his mouth. “He has a cold.”

At the same time, Charelize and Arensis swept off their chests when he said he had a cold.

“I have prescribed a fever reducer, so his fever will go down quickly.”

“How sick it must have been. I’m sorry this dad found it late, Lur.” Arensis cupped both cheeks of Luensir and said as if he was blaming himself.

“It’s nothing serious, so you don’t have to worry too much, Your Majesty. However… I think the two of them will have to sleep separately today because the cold may be transferred to the princess.”

“I understand. I’m sorry for calling you so early in the morning. You must be tired, so you can leave now.”

“No, Your Majesty. If you see the prince showing signs of discomfort, please call me at any time.”

Baron Alec left, and Charteron left for the office with Charelize, who still had some work left to do.

Arensis carefully wiped Luensir’s body with a moderately lukewarm towel. He hugged and comforted Luensir, who kept whining as if his nose was clogged.

It was a few hours later. Luensir, who was leaning on the shirtless arm of Arensis, woke up. Arensis, tired from caring for him all night, was sleeping without the world knowing.

Luensir raised his hand and continued to caress Arensis’s cheek. He used his strength to stretch it out, but the baby’s grip strength was too weak. There wasn’t much damage to Arensis. In the end, he gave up trying to wake him and crawled down the bed. His cold had already gotten better, and he was able to move around and conquer the room.

“…Lur?”

“…”

“Where are you, Lur!”

It just so happened that Arensis woke up and was very surprised to find that Luensir wasn’t there.

“Baby! Where are you…”

Without a top on, Arensis rushed to find Luensir. Then he found Luensir in one corner of the bedroom, sighed in relief, and moved to the bed again.

“This guy… Dad was surprised.”

Arensis grabbed Luensir’s nose and shook it slightly. Luensir, who would normally have cried, was strangely quiet.

“Lur…?”

Then he reached out his hand for a hug and rested comfortably on Arensis’s shoulder. It was the first time Luensir had hugged him voluntarily, so Arensis didn’t know what to do. He patted him on the back like what he did with Charteron, but he still couldn’t believe it. Arensis was so happy that he went to Charelize and bragged about it.

“What about Charon?” He didn’t see Charteron next to her momentarily, so he looked puzzled and asked.

“Hailey is watching her in the next room.”

“Did something happen?”

“Don’t even mention it. Charon kept crying because she caught a cold and didn’t see Lur. Her throat was hoarse, and she had a fever… I think the two of them should sleep separately for a while.”

Unaware of the situation, Luensir turned his head here and there, looking for Charteron.

“Lur, are you looking for Charteron? I’m sorry… but you should be separated for a while…”

He felt sorry for that, and Charelize, who tried to tell him where Charteron was, paused. Luensir soon realized her absence, sighed heavily, wrapped his arms around Arensis’s neck, and fell asleep.

“Son, are you giving up so quickly?”

Arensis laughed softly. Charelize also laughed as if it was absurd.

* * *

It was 6 years later.

“Your Royal Highness.”

“Yes.”

“Where is Her Royal Highness?”

It was time to have a snack. Martin especially brought two plates of pudding and asked Luensir.

Charteron, who hated piano lessons that were about to start in a little while, begged Luensir not to tell anyone, and she climbed up the three.

“…I don’t know.”

“Then, I’ll take this pudding—”

“Viscountess Rael, why don’t you listen to what people say until the end?”

“Pardon?”

“There, on the tree. I told you, so put the plate down quickly.”

Luensir, who seemed to be loyal at first, closed his eyes and eventually chose pudding.

“Luensir. Y-you traitor. How could you do that to me?”

Charteron jumped down from the tree pointed by Luensir. She stomped her foot and got very angry. It didn’t reach the ears of Luensir, who was already preoccupied with the pudding.

“Her Royal Highness! How on earth did you climb that tree? No, you can’t go up there next time because it’s dangerous. Understand? I thought my heart was dropping.”

“Martin is the worst. I’ve heard everything. How could you seduce Lur with pudding?”

“Ah, you have good ears, too. Did you hear that on the tree?”

“Martin!”

“And… Seduce him? His Royal Highness didn’t eat breakfast, so I gave him more. Her Royal Highness, please sit down and have some cocoa. Today, I floated rabbit-shaped marshmallows on cocoa.”

“Y-You think I’m going to give up because I like that?”

Charteron, with her cheeks puffed out, sat down straight on the chair, contrary to her words.

“Sit down.” Luensir, who swallowed pudding in his mouth at a mouthful, said dryly.

“Don’t talk to me. I’m really angry at Lur.

”

“Stop being angry and eat this.”

Luensir seemed to feel sorry for what he did, so he put the spoon filled with pudding to Charteron’s mouth. Although she was angry, Charteron accepted it quickly.

“Charon, if you don’t like piano class, tell Her Majesty Mother directly. How long are you going to run away like this?”

“But… I promised to play the song that Her Majesty Mother likes… So how dare I do that?”

Charteron, who had outstanding artistry, wanted to play various musical instruments from a young age. She played various instruments, including violin, cello, and flute. She was also good at playing piano, but she ran away and avoided class because it was annoying to play the keys that were too far away from each other. Countess Hakan, who is in charge of the piano class, sought perfection.

But that didn’t mean that Charteron didn’t like to move her body. Rather, compared to Luensir, who only reads books all day, Charteron was more active.

It was their birthday last year. Charteron wanted a dedicated training ground to practice swordsmanship, and Luensir wanted a personal library stocked with most books. As such, the children’s personalities were different. Unlike Luensir, who was sometimes awkward with Hailey and Martin, whom they had seen since birth, Charteron was very sociable.

In many ways, twins have different tastes. Charteron liked cold milk, and Luensir liked warm tea. Contrary to Luensir, who hated cumbersome things, Charteron really enjoyed decorating.

“They said we shouldn’t make promises carelessly… That seems correct. Thanks to you, I always learn important lessons. Charon, thank you.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“No matter how much you promised, Her Majesty Mother will not scold you for something like that. Last time you told that you didn’t want to take a riding class, she said she understood.”

“I know it too, I know… Last time, when Her Majesty Mother told me she wanted to hear me play it, I was so happy…”

Charteron, who had been contemplating and not even drinking her favorite cocoa, suddenly kicked off her chair and stood up.

“Charon? What’s the matter?”

“I won’t tell you. I’m going first, Martin. Don’t ever follow me either!”

Luensir looked closely at the back of Charteron as she left the garden.

“Magic lab…?”

Although she enjoyed using magic and learning magic from Arensis, Charteron disliked complex formulas and rarely visited the magic lab.

“His Majesty has been so busy that he couldn’t teach her magic lately. There is no class, but she’s going to practice… That’s really a relief.”

Martin took out her handkerchief and wiped away her tears.

“Viscount Rael, it’s still too early to cry.”

“Pardon…?”

“Isn’t it Charon who persuaded the strict Marquis Petra to claim what she made was art even when she was just applying a dot because she wasn’t patient enough to wait for the paint to dry?”

“That’s… right.”

“When she sits quietly in one space and does something passionately…”

“…”

“Always keep in mind that it can lead to a huge accident.”

As soon as Luensir finished speaking, the sound of something exploding was heard from the magic lab.

“Just like now.”

“Her Royal Highness!”

Luensir shook his head to both sides as he followed Martin, running to the magic lab.