NOVEL NEXT “Waaah….”
“Kyle, can you take a look at Astrid? She’s suddenly crying.”
“Yeah, I’ll check on her. Elissa, can you take care of Sophia?”
“I’m already doing that.”
There was a reason birthing was so tough. Of course it was hard when you give birth to twins!
Sure, it’s great now, but giving birth to twins… was seriously exhausting.
Back then… I almost lost my mind. If I hadn’t been gripping Kyle’s hand tightly, I might have actually lost it.
“Uh?”
“Uzzhuu~ Our Elissa is okay, right~?”
“Mwa!”
“Hehe….”
Well, now that I have two adorable daughters, I’m just happy.
I have one daughter who looks like Kyle and another who looks like me, which is just delightful. Double the joy!
“Mwa? Mama~”
“Why~? Are you hungry? Want to suckle?”
She’s still at that age where she should be breastfeeding, after all. She couldn’t even say anything beyond “Mew~? Uwaah~ Uwah, hehe, mwah, ueuh, iah, waa.” Just a real baby who couldn’t even call us Dad and Mom yet.
But that just made her even cuter.
“Muh.”
“….”
But wait, isn’t she a little too openly rejecting it? Unlike Astrid, who loves breastfeeding, Elissa didn’t seem to like it that much.
Kyle and Astrid were fine with it, though. I thought that could happen.
“So… should we try formula instead?”
“Kyah~”
“….”
She really loves that idea! Why does she hate my milk so much?
Is Elissa a picky eater?
“One sec~”
“Uuuuhhhh~”
“Waaahhhh…!”
“Astrid, you peed yourself.”
“….”
“Huh?”
I looked at Kyle while giving Elissa a bottle. The truth is… we could have just had the servants handle it all.
After all, we were nobles, and it was pretty much the norm for others to do this stuff.
Those people earned money for a reason, right?
But… for the most part, we decided to handle everything ourselves. Sleeping, eating, bathing — all together.
Well… because we were family.
It felt much better to be together than apart.
Of course, we did fill the rooms a bit more for the babies.
“Kyle, lay Astrid down and call the maid.”
“…Yes.”
But still… we were pretty inexperienced parents, so we fell a little short here and there. Honestly, it was unavoidable.
Changing diapers was a bit challenging, and we were still pretty clumsy at cleaning them up.
Sometimes… we learned from older maids, but honestly, we were still pretty inexperienced.
“Our Astrid just wet herself again~ Is Elissa okay?”
“Uwah?”
“Yeah, if she’s fine, that’s good.”
She just had formula… so I figured she’d probably go again soon, but if she called for me then, I could just feed her.
I couldn’t just deny her a meal because she wanted one.
“By the way, it seems like Astrid’s hair is getting whiter as it grows longer.”
“That’s definitely true. Was I like that when I was little?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Astrid’s hair was white like Kyle’s. When she was born, it had a slight gray tint, but it was becoming pure white over time.
Even Kyle and I started to notice how much whiter it was getting with everyday encounters.
Of course, with Kyle’s white hair and her red eyes, it felt pretty cool and stylish, so no complaints there.
After all, pure white is way fancier than a hint of gray!
“Elissa… well, she has regular black hair that hasn’t changed much.”
“That’s because it’s black.”
“True. Still… I’m just glad they’re both getting prettier.”
Seriously, even before their coming-of-age celebration, they were beyond cute. Not just cute, but it seemed they’d end up super pretty like Kyle when they grew up.
Probably when they turn four or five, they’ll be famous for their looks in Eristirol.
“Hehe….”
“Sophia, why are you suddenly laughing like that?”
“I’m just imagining how our daughters will turn out in the future, it’s already funny.”
“Hmm….”
“Are you going to be all protective like you were with Adela when boys come around?”
Well, it seems Adela ended up corresponding with that guy she met back then.
But seriously… Kyle was so annoying trying to block all the boys.
Even after the coming-of-age ceremony, he kept grilling her about who it was. What a clingy brother.
If he was going to be that way, he should’ve just said something to Adela in the first place! I laughed so hard just watching him.
“…Of course I would.”
“…Really?”
I didn’t think he’d actually do that. The fact that he would think of it as natural was unbelievable!
“What are you going to do when our daughters grow up and want to marry?!”
“…I’ll keep them close….”
“Crazy man!”
Even so, is that something you’d say to your daughters? If they heard that when they were ten, I could seriously see them hating Kyle.
Not that I know for sure, but most little girls can be a little feisty, you know!
I mean, I struggled with it so much when I was an adventurer!
“You’ll seriously end up hated by Elissa and Astrid if you say that…”
“…Really?”
“Hey! Think about it. It’s like your dad suddenly opposing your relationship when you come of age!”
“….”
Kyle was left speechless by my words, staring at the ceiling with Astrid in his arms, now with a clean diaper.
“Got it?”
“…I’ll think about it… a bit.”
“Right, because you don’t want to be hated by your beloved daughters?”
“….”
Of course, I would never let things go that far!
*
“Oh gosh! So cute~ Unlike that mom of hers~”
“…Hey, what did you just say about my daughter?”
“…Well, it’s not wrong, is it?”
It wasn’t wrong, but come on, isn’t it a bit much to insult a mom in front of her kid?
Well, it wasn’t exactly slander, just a joke.
Plus, Elissa is cuter than I am anyway!
“Muh.”
“By the way, is this one Elissa?”
“Yep, the black-haired one is Elissa and the white-haired one is Astrid.”
“How come both twins are girls? I was thinking if they were twins, it would be two boys.”
“Uh…”
Louise said it as a joke, but honestly, I wasn’t too keen on that idea.
I have no idea what a son with Kyle’s personality would be like… but a son who takes after me?
Two of them?!
“That’s not it. I’d prefer polite daughters.”
“…You think they’ll be polite?”
“Um… I hope so?”
Don’t you think they would?
People usually have a perception that girls are quieter than boys.
Especially when they are younger, they tend to be less active too.
“Were you polite when you were little?”
“…Hey, I was the exception.”
Yeah, I was an exception. That’s when I suddenly got memories of my past life and everything changed.
Prior to that, I wasn’t quietly introverted or anything like a typical girl.
“….”
“Right now, they’re just little babies who can’t even talk. Of course, we’d think they’d be like that. All they can do is cry and sleep!”
“….”
Louise’s words made me feel a little anxious.
Imagining our beautiful daughters growing up with my personality? That’s terrifying!
Not just active, but pretty much a handful!
“Come on, that can’t happen, can it?”
“Exactly! Just look at Astrid right now; there’s no way that’s going to happen!”
“Uh?”
“See! With a smile that looks like an angel without wings!”
Yeah, it won’t happen.
Our cute, sweet daughters wouldn’t suddenly turn into brats like me!
Just as Elin said, they were like angels without wings.
No way that could happen.
Since they got blended genetics from both me and Kyle, they might even be more polite, right?!
Kyle wasn’t this cheeky little boy when he was young either.
Yeah, I hope that’s how it is.
“But… honestly, with their looks, wouldn’t they end up even cuter?”
“…That could be.”
“Right?! You think so too, Sophia?!”
“Absolutely! Our girls are super pretty!”
Yeah, as long as they’re cute and pretty, I could overlook whatever shenanigans they get up to.
So I had to charm and get discounts from a female merchant when I used to be an adventurer.
It was so nice to be able to skip quests for two days thanks to that discount.
“Yeah, that’s how it is now.”
“Uh?”
“You don’t gotta worry about it.”
“Uwaaaahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Hey! Why is Elissa suddenly crying?!”
Elissa, who had been snug in Louise’s arms, started wailing loudly.
Is it because she looks too much like me and she’s angry?
Even if her personality didn’t take after me, her tastes might’ve?
“Waaa~ Was it scary seeing her sister’s weird eyes~? There, there, it’s okay~?”
“….”
“Uwahh… heh… heh!!!”
“It’s alright~ The mean sister made mommy do this, so she’s just standing over there with her hands up~?”
“Ugh… ugh…”
“….”
“….”
Louise and I exchanged glances.
I gestured for Louise to raise her hands, and she looked at me with a bewildered expression.
The cute little girl had been happily playing, and now the adult is shirking responsibility.
Ah, but she started raising her hands to the sky on her own.
No matter how crazy Louise is, she wouldn’t be that clueless.
She always treated our daughters well.
“Look over there, the mean sister… I mean, your aunt is standing there raising her hands in repentance!”
“Mwa!”
“The mean aunt is sorry… would you like to forgive her?”
“…Muh.”
“…”
“…”
Hmm… maybe she really has similar tastes as me…?