The twins proposed marriage to Alver at the end of the banquet. The entire hall had fallen silent, and even the king seemed to be having a good time. The twins simply smiled as innocently as they always do, as if they hadn't just dropped that mega bomb out of nowhere. Looking at them, he noticed their mischievous grins and realized they were just playing with him.

"Keh! What are you? Cut-sleeves?" Neo Tolz snarks while laughing at them.

*thud!*

"W, what...?"

Cale kicked Neo Tolz's knee. "Compared to our Alvery..."

Rok snickers, "Your face is that of a squid."

"We like pretty people..." Cale once again clings to Alver's neck. "And you're not on the list," Rok continued.

"Well, good-looking people," Cale says, creeping them out, and Rok adds, "should be with good-looking people."

Both look at Alver and say, "Right?" before clinging to his neck.

Neo Tolz flushed violently. Everyone who was listening to the creepy twins shivered.

"And..." Rok smiled innocently viciously once more, "I hope I don't hear any more rumors about our Alvery..."

"What can an illegitimate—!"

Rok locked his gaze on him. They all noticed the golden turtle on their pins that only legitimates wear.

"Say it again... I hope your family business thrives after that..." Cale grins and leans against Alver's chest, while Rok does the same.

"If he can finish his words," Rok says, "Dad will undoubtedly flip things up once we say a word."

The hall fell silent. Every noble family within the hall has some sort of connection to Henituse County. They simply stated that the count would go to any length for them. Rok and Cale were confident that, given their upbringing, they would be on the lookout for anything concerning them. One bad decision can cost their entire family a fortune.

"This tastes good." Rok breaks the tension.

"Watch out for cavities," Cale says, taking what his older brother offers him.

"Hm... this is good," Cale said as he took one, and the two of them went to feed Alver.

"Try it, wifey!" they both said, smiling. Alver could feel the problems coming his way.

They have no shame, don't they? He praised their attempt to annoy him. He only needed to steel himself for whatever shit was coming his way.

He didn't expect to be contacted by Deruth Henituse through a video communication device brought by the twins. Zed Crossman offered the twins a room in the main palace, but they chose to accompany him to his palace instead. The twins happily looked around.

He simply did not anticipate the move made by the Henituse family.

"Are you going to support me?"

"Do you not want to?"

"Ah, thank you very much."

"However."

Alver paused and listened to the count.

"You must earn my trust before I will make a move for you."

[***]

Deruth looked at the letter that Zed Crossman sent him before he sent the twins to the capital. He planned on following after a week or two. The one-month celebration at the palace will determine the power and stability of both the royal family and the nobles.

It's a month-long celebration for the Nobles to create their faction. Children should choose who they want to mingle with, but the nobles took that the wrong way.

[I hope you will support the first prince, Deruth. It makes no difference what demand you make as long as Alver can tolerate the other factions.]

He can play the game if they can, right? He didn't need to send tutors because his twins were the best teachers to teach the naive prince. His children have already made their movements known.

He had intended to take a neutral stance, but the words the twins said to him before they left stuck with him.

"He needs to be king," Cale said quietly. Rok continued his words, "He's fated to be."

He just knew and realized that the twins were attempting to do something. They used to look like they were planning something. Their legitimation just became a stepping stone to their plans. He couldn't understand why they suddenly went after the prince.

"There's no harm in supporting whatever they want to do."

He'll keep an eye on them and help them in any way he can. He still has no idea what they're up to, but he knows they'd never do anything that would harm those around them.

"It's sad. They still can't tell me everything they're worried about."

He can only keep an eye on them and do everything he can for them quietly.

"I miss them," he whispered, looking at the video communication device. They must be sleeping by now.

"Gilbert." He called, "Call for the neutral houses tomorrow."

"Yes, My Lord."

If he understood the twins correctly, the neutral faction is essential to their plans.

[***]

Alver thought he could have a good night's sleep, but he did not expect to see two cute little redheads invading his bed. They certainly appeared to be at home.

He shook his head and looked at the long couch by the side.

"I guess... I should suck it up for the night."

He took the blanket from the cabinet and slept there.

But...

The familiar wriggling from Henituse County startled him once more.

"Next time, sleep with us," he said, closing his eyes and resisting the urge to scream. Just what the hell are these twins planning?

Rok, "Wake up! You need to train!"

"You know it's the banquet, right?"

"Do you think that's all there is to this banquet?" Cale asked.

Rok, "We wouldn't come here if we don't know what would be there."

"You want to be Crown Prince," Cale said.

Rok, "You're not even making efforts..."

Cale, "so wake up... let's start!"

Hearing that, Alver hears the loud thuds of books being brought into his room by Ron and Vicross.

Rok and Cale stood in front of him, wearing some brilliant-looking eyeglasses and fanning some paper. *goosebumps* He looked at them. They looked strict and definitely like the instructors you'd see in the academy. He did not attend the academy for two reasons: first, he was not supported by the royal family, and second, it was too late when he learned that the academy was accepting students.

"We'll be your teachers, Wifey."

It's finished.

Yes, your highness, Alver Crossman, it is finished. Your life, that is.

"Academics, ethics, administration, and politics—we'll pound it into your head for a month and make you shine brighter than the other princes at the very end of the one month," Rok said with a devilish grin on his face.

Cale continues, "You just need to beat them..."

Both said, "with words and a handsome face."

Following that, Ron and Vicross became his training partners. The twins would take turns teaching him everything from afternoon to evening. They would pound him with every complex book about politics and administration. He was completely immersed in learning all of these things. They looked more like seasoned instructors than children.

He had to absorb everything, understand them, and formulate his ideas while incorporating everything they taught him.

He still doesn't understand why they're doing this. He didn't have anyone to teach him before. He had to put in extra effort to learn things that his half-siblings already knew. He knew the twins were the best in academics, but he didn't expect them to help him right now.

He's seeing everything in a different light. His sit-ins with other classes paled in comparison to the twins' hand-to-hand lectures. When he lived in Henituse County, he used to attend classes at public schools. He used to listen to the twins' classes and found it odd that they weren't paying attention to anything. This was the reason. It was because they were far more accomplished than any scholars or well-known instructors he had ever met. He trembled in excitement. He couldn't contain the happiness swelling deep inside his heart.

No one bothered to help him before. No bothered pitied him.

That's why, he can't help but asked them, "Why me?"

The twins looked at each other and placed the pen on the table.

"Why you?" Rok mumbled.

Cale replied, "No reason at all."

Rok and Cale smiled, "It's just... We don't want to see one of our people bullied by others..."

What was he expecting? These kids are out to bully him! Instead of being surprised and perplexed, he smiled heartily.

"And... compared to the other princes..." the twins said confidently, "you are fated to wear that crown."

He was one of the few nobles who looked after them before they were adopted by the Henituse family. Back when they were just Rok and Cale, not Rok and Cale Henituse.

The twins smiled once more and took up the pen.

"Since you've mastered the fundamentals, it's time to move on! Can you keep up?" Rok smirked.

"Of course, he can!" Cale exclaims, "but if he doesn't... we'll just hit him with the book and make him learn the hard way."

"Hey... I think I should be rewarded for all my efforts," Alver said.

"OK... but after you crush the other nobles and not become that wimpy idiot smiling in the corner of the hall!" said the twins.

What a vicious pair!

However, neither the nobles nor the princes had anticipated the celebration in the last week of the month. The king planned a game in which everyone would take a piece of paper and say their thoughts.

Rok and Cale participated as a pair.

"There are no beings as pure as animals," Rok read, "and if there were, they'd probably already be saints or gods!"

"This is ridiculous... there's no perfect in here... we're all just perfectly imperfect!" snorted Cale. "Whoever writes these must be going through something."

"Right! He must have worked hard on this! He deserves a paid day off!" Rok continues, "don't you think so, Uncle Majesty?"

The servants and a few elderly nobles who arrived all laughed at the twins' antics. However, they are correct in that no one is perfect.

"Oh, I see, the person who wrote this was heartbroken!" Cale exclaims, "He has to be in denial!" Rok concurs, "to the person who wrote these emo things, don't worry, don't think of yourself as useless."

"Right, you're only useless if you can't procreate what should be created."

"Right!" Rok continues, "you're perfectly fine however you look! The one who dumped you must be blind!"

Someone in the background: Thank you very much, Young Master-nims! I'll find my way in life!

Cale and Rok exchanged glances before running towards Alver, acting like scared little rascals who had just heard some horror.

"Now you act scared after nagging off the poor, heartbroken man."

Rok and Cale looked at him and frowned.

Zed Crossman, "since the Henituse already gave their answer and even nagged at my secretary, it's just right to give my secretary some time for his heart to mend..."

Laughter ensued. The noble children and princes were questioned by the king. He eventually came to Alver. The twins were still hooked on either side of him.

"What did you get?"

Nothing was written on the piece of paper.

"And what do you think this blank paper means?" the king asked, looking at him.

"This is my life," Alver explained. "For what is a man? If not himself, he has nothing. It's blank... it's nothing... This was something I had to make or create with my life. This blank sheet of paper is me."

Rok and Cale smiled and took the paper from him. They doodle on it and draw two scrawny stick children holding hands with a bigger child.

"If not... then have someone draw for you," she says, handing Alver the paper with the three of them scribbled on it.

With those words and meanings, Zed and Alver Crossman finally realized why the twins came here.

"Whatever worth everything seemed to be is nothing compared to those who created it; we'll just have to write whatever we want in it." Alver smiled and patted the twins' heads again.

Not long after, a laughing Deruth emerges from the elderly people sitting on the second floor of the hall.

The twins call out to Deruth, "Dad!"

"At the very least, I heard something sensible today."

The count, who wasn't supposed to be there, was sitting pretty and sipping tea.

Not long after, redheads came to greet the count and latched themselves onto his lap.

"Missed you!"

"Missed you too!"

Deruth smiled and looked at the prince.

"Your Highness, Alver.."

Deruth and Zed Crossman gazed at each other, but Deruth coolly brushed the king's gaze aside.

"Thank you for taking care of my peas. I hope we continue to get along in the future."

Real meaning: thank you for meeting my expectations; I hope you do well as prince of the kingdom.

"Did he just—"

"Shhh!"

Alver Crossman curtly replied, "Yes, father-in-law. I hope we get along in the future."

Real meaning: I'll surely meet your expectations, count.

Rok: That cretin and his father looked similar.

Cale: We just got into a whirlpool of misunderstanding, and that's your issue?

Rok: we have?

Cale: *internally rolls his eyes* You're unreasonably stupid for a genius, Hyung-nim.

Rok: Thank you very much. *replies sarcastically*

.

.

MEANWHILE:

Zed Crossman: What father-in-law? He's seriously going to marry the twins?

Deruth Henituse: *misunderstanding* How dare this bastard to call me father-in-law?! I won't give him my little peas!

Alver Crossman: *smiles innocently and as holy as possible.*

.

.

Ron in the background: What did I even expect?

Vicross following the twins: Should I prepare some torture tools?

Author: poor prince.

TBC