Arien and Arjen's POV-
Arien and Arjen sat quietly in their room, both with bored expressions.
"I want to go out again..."
"Me too, but..."
"The servants and knights should be guarding this castle. Will we be able to leave without being caught?"
The two then turned to the door, their faces filling with excitement at the sight that greeted them.
"Huh? There's no one here?"
Like before, the room was empty with the exception of the twins. Seeing an opportunity, Arien quickly covered herself with a shawl and they snuck out with ease.
"Eh? Such an easy escape is a good thing, but...is it alright for security to be this lax? After all, this is the Imperial Palace..."
The two continued walking, stopping at each area that Alec had pointed out the day before. Suddenly, Arien pulled Arjen and hid behind a tree. She started to speak telepathically.
'Arjen! Someone's here!'
They cautiously peeked around the tree. What greeted them was the sight of two nobles walking around, their faces twisted in annoyance.
"Ugh...this is so annoying."
'Nobles this early in the morning?'
Their confusion did not last long, since their question was immediately answered.
"I can't believe we're having an emergency meeting at the beginning of dawn."
"I know, right?"
"Drastically raising the budget for the Syviolla Castle. It's all to feed and clothe the two illegitimate children, isn't it?"
Hostility was evident in his voice, and the twins hid themselves behind the tree with even more care.
"I don't understand why those lowly illegitimate children were taken in. An emperor's illegitimate children are embarrassments to the Empire."
"They're also mixed with commoner's blood so they can't even undergo manifestation. It's difficult to believe people like them are part of the Imperial family."
Arien and Arjen looked down angrily as they heard the nobles ridicule them behind their backs.
"The neighboring kingdoms are saying that they bring shame to the Emperor."
"Even low-class nobles know to thoroughly hide their illegitimate children, but the Emperor, of all people, decided to do this...Tsk tsk."
'Why do we have to listen to these kinds of words again?'
Rurahel's image overlapped with that of the two nobles.
"Those worthless illegitimate children...are better off dead!"
They gasped. Such hurtful words, but they've heard it all before.
Then, they heard a stern voice call out.
"What did you just say?"
The nobles turned around, alarmed. Then, they bowed.
"Y-your highness!"
"W-we greet your highness, the crown prince!"
'The crown prince?'
Arien and Arjen peeked around the tree and saw the crown prince, who continued to stare at the offending nobles with coldness.
"'Those worthless illegitimate children are better off dead.' Was that what you said? Can you repeat what you said just now?"
"It's...It's nothing..."
Without needing to look closely, Arien and Arjen could see the previously self-assured nobles excreting enough sweat to fill buckets.
"If it was nothing, then there would be no reason for me to ask you personally. I'll ask again. Did you slander the imperial family just now?"
"Y-your highness! W-we would never!"
The prince paid no mind to their pleas and, instead, shouted out one command to the knights behind him.
"Take them away. They shall be punished for the crime of slandering the imperial family."
"Yes, your highness!"
The knights did as told, and the twins found themselves letting out relieved sighs. That was until they saw a large shadow hovering above them. Looking up, they could see the crown prince looking at them.
'Ack! Did he know we were hiding here all along?'
'So he's the crown prince. That means this person is our eldest half-brother.'
'But why is he trying to talk to us?'
"Are you okay?"
The twins stared at him in disbelief.
'Are we okay? After hearing those words?'
'We have to listen to those words all the time simply because we're the Emperor's illegitimate children, and you're asking if we're okay? There's no way we would be okay. How dare you ask us that!'
Arjen gritted his teeth.
"You're all the same."
Arien looked at him in shock, but he pretended to not have noticed.
"Did you really think we would be okay after hearing such cruel words just because we're illegitimate children? If we weren't part of the imperial family in the first place, we wouldn't have come to this place!"
Then, with quivering lips, he asked.
"Is being born that much of a mistake?"
[688 words]