"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...?