Camael seemed to have similar thoughts as he stayed obediently in Dietrich’s arms. Lysith, whose arms had somehow become lighter, let out an awkward smile.

It was true that Seraphiel liked Ashites and Camael liked Penchev, but that didn’t mean they disliked the other daddies.

They just liked them a little, just a very little bit more. When given the choice of who to be held by, they would hesitate and contemplate a little before choosing them—that kind of little.

Lysith, who had been watching the two men playing with the two children for a while, moved to organize the remaining documents.

Surely nothing would happen just because she looked elsewhere for a moment. There weren’t just one but two husbands here, after all.

Meanwhile, when Seraphiel began to freely squish Verheigen’s face, Camael, who was watching this, seemed to find it quite interesting and followed suit by kneading Dietrich’s face.

“Daah.”

“Ddaa.”

It was then that the children, who had been freely touching the two men’s faces, opened their mouths simultaneously. Since it happened to be words close to ‘daddy’ rather than something else, both men froze at the same time.

“Didn’t they just say daddy?”

“I think so too.”

“……”

Anyone could tell it was just a meaningless ‘dda’ they uttered, but since they wanted to think that way, Lysith didn’t bother to dampen their spirits. To feel jealousy…… both children had already said ‘mommy’ before.

‘There’s no need to tell them and make them dejected……’

Anyway, she thought it was good that they felt happy.

Watching two grown men and two small babies playing well among themselves, Lysith soon began calmly writing content related to a banquet to commemorate the twins’ first birthday on a small notepad.

Since the two children were now nine months old, thinking of the imperial palace’s banquet, there wasn’t much leisure time.

* * *

“Heuung……”

“Did you hate it that much?”

“Hiing……”

The current situation was this: after diligently putting effort into the banquet and attending it, one of the twins suddenly burst into tears, so Lysith hurriedly picked up the child alone and rushed out of the banquet hall.

Her husbands looked worried, wondering if there was somewhere uncomfortable, but Lysith, who was holding the child, could quickly tell. There wasn’t anywhere uncomfortable, but he clearly just hated the banquet hall itself where people were swarming.

On the other hand, Seraphiel was busy watching Camael, who had burst into tears, with bright eyes, then looking around at the people in the banquet hall as if it was fascinating.

Lysith, who entered the lounge prepared near the banquet hall, sat on the sofa holding Camael and patted his back as he still hiccupped occasionally.

“Noona is there too, but you still hate it?”

“Euuung. Noooo.”

Camael, who buried his face between Lysith’s shoulder and neck, shook his head saying no. Not knowing that his mommy’s dress was getting damp with tears and snot, he was busy swallowing his sorrow.

“Alright. Then let’s just stay here with mommy.”

“Hm.”

……Do babies’ expressions of intention develop this quickly originally? Being her first time, she had no way of knowing. From what she heard from the wet nurses and maids, both rolling over and walking seemed to be quite fast.

Anyway, if he hated it, there was nothing to be done. He seemed to have inherited her tendency of not particularly liking crowded places.

Seraphiel…… sometimes when her eyes lit up, she resembled Ashites to a surprising degree, which would startle her. At such times, she would think whether that wasn’t why she liked Ashites a little more.

After some time passed, Camael, who had been sniffling in Lysith’s arms for a while, fell asleep as if exhausted.

Though she wanted to stay by Camael’s side, the empress wasn’t in a position where she could simply leave her seat. No, her husbands would say it was fine, but she didn’t want to act that way.

Lysith, who quietly left the lounge carrying the child, headed to the nursery with maids trailing behind her.

The wet nurse seemed to have stepped away for a moment, as no one was in the room. Lysith gestured to a maid to call her and carefully laid Camael on the bed with her upper body pressed close to him.

After listening to the child’s peaceful breathing for a while, she slowly separated her upper body and straightened her back. Fortunately, the child didn’t wake up and was still traveling in dreamland.

“Phew……”

This was a method she had learned because if she just dropped him from her arms, he would immediately wake up and cry. After wiping his eyes that still had traces of tears and loosening the buttons of his clothes, the wet nurse quietly approached.

When she said she would handle the rest, Lysith left it to her and exited the room, whereupon a servant sent by Verheigen approached.

“If you plan to stay by His Highness the Prince’s side, he said you don’t need to return.”

“I understand.”

She knew he would say this. Lysith, who looked down at her damp dress for a moment, changed her dress and headed back to the banquet hall.

Despite entering quietly, she couldn’t avoid drawing attention. Since she had left carrying the prince but returned alone, curiosity naturally focused on the princess who remained.

Until now, almost no one knew about the twins’ personalities or appearances. Of course, things like hair color and eye color were inevitably known, but not other things.

And at this occasion of first presenting the two children to the world, it was natural for the nobles to observe the two heirs, since they needed to curry favor rather than just celebrate.

The prince seemed quite timid, but the princess appeared quite bold. She showed herself making eye contact with various people without any concern while being held first in the emperor’s arms, then the Tower Master’s arms, then the knight’s arms, then the Grand Duke’s arms.

Meanwhile, regardless of whether the nobles were busily rolling their eyes and minds, Lysith, who sat down with Ashites’ escort, let out a small breath.

“Camael?”

“He fell asleep. He seemed to hate having so many people around.”

Ashites, who nodded as if he had roughly expected this at Lysith’s answer, subtly pointed somewhere below with his eyes.

“Noona, look over there.”

“Why? Oh……”

Looking where he pointed, she saw Sylvian and Serul having a confrontational conversation. Though it was quite a fresh combination, it wasn’t like they couldn’t converse, so the people around them weren’t very interested, but Lysith knew. Why the two were acting like that.

Just other people’s love affairs were interesting, but more than that, it was almost an academic truth that it was more fun when multiple people were involved.

Thinking about it that way, she often wondered whether what she had experienced was also interesting when others saw it. Well, that side might be a little more flustering than her, who had to ‘capture’ them.

Sylvian and Serul, who had been conversing about something for a while, soon turned their backs and moved away from each other as if annoyed with one another. Lysith, who was watching this, asked Ashites and Penchev beside her in a small voice.

“……How did those two come to know each other?”

“Wasn’t it too obvious?”

“He asked me questions about women’s accessories.”

I see, I was the only one who didn’t know…… Tsk, Lysith clicked her tongue once and shifted her gaze toward Seraphiel. Seraphiel, whose eyes happened to meet hers, smiled brightly and waved her fern-like hands toward her, saying hello.

When she smiled back and waved at Seraphiel, the sound of her bursting into ‘kyaah!’ laughter could be heard as if she became even happier.

It seemed like she didn’t need to worry about her first daughter. Though she might be intimidated by this large crowd, the princess showed no such signs. She was just sparkling her eyes while being held in Verheigen’s arms as he dealt with the nobles, as if she was simply enjoying herself.

It was then that a maid approached Lysith, who was watching her daughter looking happy, with a troubled face.

“Your Majesty the Empress, um…… His Highness the Prince is looking for Your Majesty.”

She could understand what was omitted without having to say it. With one hundred percent probability, he was crying while looking for her.

She had tried to maintain her position, but it seemed like things wouldn’t go as planned. Phew, Lysith, who let out a small breath, said goodbye to her husbands saying she would go check first, then left the banquet hall.

Originally, whether son or daughter, regardless of gender or birth order, she had planned to let them discuss among themselves or compete to decide the emperor’s position. The fact that Camael was introverted and timid was already something she knew, but still…….

……It seemed like the outline of who would become the next emperor was already taking shape.