NOVEL NEXT “Mom, Mom!”
“Huh? Astrid, why all of a sudden?”
“This… I want to make it for Dad…”
“Huh?”
What Astrid was holding… or rather, what she had gathered in her hands, was flowers and grass.
I still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do.
“So, what do you want to do with this?”
“I… I want to make a crown… and give it to Dad.”
“Ah…”
Well, it wasn’t a crown, but more like a floral wreath. Close enough.
I kinda understood.
Right, so the things she gathered in her hands were just flowers and grass.
When we go out together on the weekend and give it to him, I’m sure he would love it.
Of course, it wouldn’t be very dignified for a duke, but he’s Dad after all.
He’ll figure it out.
“You wanted to make a crown for Dad, huh?”
“Yeah…”
“Hmm… then should we call Elissa to help us?”
“Um… okay.”
Since Elissa had taken a nap for about an hour in the playroom, it was time to wake her up.
Although Elissa was still young and took a lot of naps, I couldn’t keep her asleep forever.
She needed to sleep at night too.
“Elissa?”
“Mmm?”
“Do you want to get up and help make a gift for Dad?”
“Ummm…?”
Elissa answered in a slightly silly voice.
Really… so cute.
It’s making me seriously consider having a third child.
Should I just make it after coming home with the kids on Sunday?
“A crown…? Why are you suddenly making that, sister?”
“I saw it in a fairytale book this morning.”
“Oh, I see… that sounds fun!”
Kids really are just kids.
They can’t help but seem younger than they actually are.
So adorable that sometimes, I find myself staring at them without realizing.
The day I gave birth was incredibly tough.
But now I’m proud of it to the point that it feels amazing.
“Okay, then shall we start by getting ready to make it?”
“Yes!”
“Yes.”
By the way, where did they get the flowers and grass… Did they ask a servant in the castle?
That might be it.
They hadn’t gone outside the castle today, so it’s likely they got it from somewhere around here.
Or maybe from the castle garden.
“Um… Astrid, Elissa?”
“Yes?”
“Could you wait a moment?”
I said this and left the playroom.
The reason was simple.
There just weren’t enough flowers and grass to make a crown…
*
“Before going out… kids? Hurry and bring that here!”
“Yes~!”
“…?”
The kids ran out of the room while Kyle looked on with a puzzled expression.
He probably didn’t understand what was going on right now.
Well, he’d find out in less than a minute anyway.
“Big sister, what’s happening all of a sudden? What is that?”
“Oh, just wait a bit. Close your eyes.”
“…?”
Kyle seemed to be questioning the situation, but he obediently followed my words and closed his eyes.
He was really good at listening to me.
If it had been Louise or Adela, they definitely wouldn’t have done it right away.
Well, Louise would have insisted I keep going if that’s what I wanted.
“So what is it?”
“Just wait a little longer. It wouldn’t be right to give it to you outside.”
Giving Kyle a floral crown outside seemed a bit off in many ways.
Especially for a duke to walk around wearing… a floral crown like that would certainly diminish his dignity.
“Mom! We brought it!”
“Me too.”
Each of them came back not only with floral crowns but various decorations as well.
Since they had asked the servants to bring more flowers and grass than I anticipated… they ended up making a ton.
Of course, after making them, they washed their hands thoroughly.
“Um… okay, let’s put this one on Mom first. Astrid and Elissa… can’t put it on Dad’s head, right?”
“Ugh…”
“Well…”
The little princesses lamented their own short heights.
They were seriously so cute that I almost couldn’t help but embrace them, leaving Kyle with his eyes closed.
But I managed to hold back, so there wasn’t any problem.
Anyway, I placed the two crowns that my daughters had made on Kyle’s head.
Carefully, so they wouldn’t look uncomfortable or strange.
“Okay, Kyle. You can open your eyes now.”
“…?”
As Kyle opened his eyes and looked up, there was no way for him to see what was actually on his head.
The crowns weren’t very big anyway.
In fact, they were more like tiny tiaras.
“On top of your head.”
“Ah… oh.”
“Hehe…”
“Hoho…”
As soon as Kyle noticed the tiny crown on his head, the kids couldn’t hold back their laughter.
This was the whole point of waiting until Sunday.
They were definitely excited.
We could have shown it to him the same day, but since Kyle had to work, it felt more fun to pull off a surprise like this.
“How is it? You made it together with the kids. Pretty good, right?”
“I made a bigger one!”
“No, I made the bigger one!”
“Nuh-uh! My flower crown is bigger!”
“Overall, mine is bigger, so I made the bigger one.”
“Nope! My crown is bigger!”
“Nuh-uh!”
Well… they were cute, always arguing over pointless things.
*
“Kyle! Be careful not to drop the kids!”
“I know, I know.”
“Whoa! I’m flying!”
“Wow….”
I told Kyle to be careful while holding the girls on either side, but I was really worried.
I had some concerns, but… the kids were having fun, so was it really okay?
I honestly didn’t know.
As long as he didn’t drop them, it should be fine… but still, I couldn’t help it.
“Dad! Over here!”
“Elissa, do you want to touch my eyes?”
“Yes! No, yes!!”
“And what about Astrid?”
“Yeah.”
Right now, we weren’t at a snowy area, just playing around the castle.
The snowy area sometimes attracted animals, so it was best to just play safely in front of the castle.
Just because it was around the castle didn’t mean there was nothing.
There was plenty of snow, and a little further down were places where people lived.
“Wow! Snow!”
“Elissa, you need to keep your clothes on or you might catch a cold.”
“Ehh… I won’t catch one anyway…”
“Ugh!”
“…yep…”
Even though Kyle was naturally warm due to his traits, he was still just a kid.
When throwing themselves into the snow and constantly touching it with their hands, they definitely needed to wear warm clothes.
Of course… Elissa and Astrid were much better at handling the cold than I was.
“Astrid, is it okay if you don’t play in the snow with Elissa???”
“Yeah, I like being with Dad more.”
“Really? Then let’s stay with Dad like this.”
“…Kyle.”
I called out to Kyle and shot him a slight glare.
Not in a bad way, but just because he was about to do something troublesome again.
“No, I didn’t mean anything weird by that.”
“Ugh.”
I always said this even before the girls were born.
I really… loved my family to a ridiculous extent.
It was the same when Adela was born, but now it felt even stronger.
What would I do if Astrid or Elissa brought home a boy next time?
“Yay!!! Snow!!!”
“….”
“Astrid, wanna play with Elissa?”
“Y-Yeah?”
Since Astrid kept looking back and forth at Kyle and Elissa, I figured I could ask.
It wasn’t just idle watching; she was clearly contemplating something.
“If your little sister is having fun playing alone, how much fun would she have if you joined her…?”
“….”
“The hugging thing can happen when we go back to the castle in a bit, but playing with Elissa…”
To be honest, Elissa probably wasn’t thinking about much.
She must be super happy playing in the snow after so long since we’ve been outside.
But Astrid… was slightly more introverted.
She had a vibe that reminded me of a more feminine version of Kyle when he was younger.
So, she often held back from expressing her thoughts and spent a lot of time cuddling with Dad.
“If Elissa plays with you, I think she’ll be really grateful.”
“Right?”
“Ugh, okay…”
I guess she really would’ve liked to play with Elissa from the start but stayed in Kyle’s arms because it felt cozy.
Because Kyle’s embrace was extremely warm.
I knew that very well from how often I’d been held.
“Sister! Hurry up!”
“Okay, okay, put your gloves on…”
“Oops!”
*
“Kyle, did you enjoy today?”
“I feel like I finally got to rest properly for the first time in a while.”
No wonder.
Kyle had been busy with work lately, so he must have needed the break.
Spending time with the kids today must have been incredibly healing for him.
We didn’t go anywhere too special or anything.
But being with the kids was still a healing experience.
“By the way, what happened to that document we talked about last time?”
“Um… the princess is coming to Eristirol next month to take care of it.”
“Huh? Is it okay that we aren’t going?”
“Yeah.”
I was a bit surprised.
Because Dad had gone all the way to the imperial palace to deal with it.
So I thought we’d have to go too…
“Since I’m a duke and I’ll soon be taking the position of the head of the family… I can’t just be going to the imperial palace.”
“Oh… the duke sure is different, huh?”
“That’s true.”
It really seemed like there was a difference between commoners and nobles.
Dad had said he worked hard to go to the imperial palace to deal with things right after I was born, only to find I didn’t have to do that.
“So… the princess will be meeting the kids for the first time this time.”
“That’s right. She expressed her excitement in a letter.”
“Hehe, our kids really are quite cute, aren’t they?”
They really were adorable kids.
It was a natural response.
Though the princess hadn’t seen them in person yet, being their parents, Kyle and I couldn’t help but think so.
“By the way, having to submit a document about being half succubus isn’t something most people experience.”
“Yeah, I really didn’t expect to be dealing with something like this.”
“Right? What did you think when you first came here?”
I intentionally brought up something Kyle had said in the past.
There was a simple reason.
I just wanted to tease Kyle a little.
“I thought you were pretty. That’s all.”
“You didn’t expect the pretty teacher to be so… revealing, huh?”
“Well… I’m both pretty and revealing.”
“Is that so?”
Maybe it was.
Lately, my libidinous side had been increasing.
So that seemed plausible.
“So… do you want to do some of that revealing stuff today?”
“Just twice.”
“Really, can you only handle twice?”
I asked Kyle playfully, but it was genuinely a question.
Because…
“…I’ll do my best.”
He was a really energetic husband, wasn’t he…?