Chapter 303 - Extra: The Children Of Seri X Dante

On one fateful night, two children were born with unique multicolored eyes. It didn't take long for the two children to show their distinctive personalities despite being twins. 

Seri and Dante leaned in the crib cooing to their children. Seri spoke in a gentle voice, "Come on~ Say mama!"

Dante shook the rattle with an expressionless face, "Say Dada."

Luther giggled beaming with a goofy smile. He had soft dark hair just like his father. He held his hands to the rattle, "Dada!"

Seri's face twitched, "Mama! Say Mama!"

Luther turned to her with a malicious grin. He spoke in a mocking tone, "Dada~"

Seri clenched her jaw, "How dare you! Did you forget who birthed you?!"

"Dada! Dada! Dada!"

Seri shouted in irritation as her own child continued to tease her. Dante chuckled thinking to himself that they were both too similar. She turned to Anais who watched them both with an apathetic expression. Anais had light brown hair that flipped up and always wore an expressionless face.

Seri grinned, "Anais… You will say Mama, right?"

Dante looked at her, "Say Dada."

Anais watched silently as her two parents continued their war to get their child to call them first. Millie walked in and giggled at the sight, "You two are at it again?"

Seri held a fist, "I am determined to have Anais's first word be Mama. I won't let Dante have this win."

Dante chuckled, "She will say Dada first."

"No way Mama!" Seri argued back. They both turned to Anais and began to pester her more.

Anais finally opened her mouth, "F*ck."

Everyone froze at her first word. Millie and Dante turned to frown at Seri. Dante spoke in a low tone, "I wonder where she heard that from…"

Seri turned pale, "I… That's…"

Millie shook her head, "Oh, Seri…"

As they got older, it became clear just who they took after. They were both extremely smart and learned to speak and walk before other children of their age. However, Anais rarely spoke and rarely showed expression. Luther, on the other hand, was as expressive as he was lazy. It was clear which parent they took after.

Anais took after her father.

Luther took after his mother.

As such, it wasn't long before the two began to cause trouble. Luther was always the mastermind, while Anais was the muscle. Luther wasn't interested in anything while Anais was obsessed with learning the sword. Luckily, the two twins never fought with each other and got along splendidly. 

Seri sighed, "These two are so hyper… They never seem to take a break."

Dante spoke in a tired voice, "They take after you."

Seri frowned, "Me? No, they take after you."

Millie's face twitched, "They take after both of you. Plus, why are you both acting so exhausted? I am the one who takes care of them every day. It's a miracle I am still alive."

They looked away feeling guilty. It was true that Millie was the unofficial nanny. While Seri was at work, Dante was at the gambling den making sure her underground society kept functioning. That only left Millie to care for the children. They had once offered to pay for an actual nanny, but this made Millie extremely angry. Thus, they decided to leave it be.

Seri sat up, "Oh! Mary was begging to introduce Merigold to them. We should give Millie the day off and take the kids to the palace."

Dante agreed quickly, "Good idea."

Millie giggled, "I actually get a day off? Wonderful! There are some errands I need to run."

So, the next day they took the children to the Palace. William ditched his duties which both angered and relieved Seri. The four of them brought the children together. Mary pushed a small girl in front of her, "This is Princess Merigold." 

Merigold had tight blonde curls and bright blue eyes. She was dressed in an expensive frilly dress as she stared at Anais and Luther with an innocent expression. Anais stared back into her eyes without expression while Luther gave a yawn.

William smiled at his daughter, "Go on. Introduce yourself as we practiced."

Merigold looked up at him and nodded with a large grin. She grabbed the hem of her dress and went to curtsy, "My name is-"

She fell forward on her face having been knocked off-balance by her own curtsy. William panicked immediately, "Ah! Are you hurt?!"

Luther burst out into laughter, "BAHAHAHA! SHE FELL! SHE FELL!"

Seri grabbed his ear with a frown, "Don't make fun of her!"

"Ow ow ow ow! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Anais stared at the fallen girl. Her mouth opened slightly before closing again. She stepped forward and helped Merigold up. Merigold sniffled pitifully and looked at her with bright blue eyes, "T-Thank y-you…"

At the sound of her frail voice, Anais's eyes sparkled as if she had found a valuable treasure. Her voice was low, "….Cute."

Seri and Dante looked at her in disbelief. Seri cried out, "Did you just call her cute?!"

Anais turned to her parents with a determined look in her eyes, "Mama. Dada. I have decided. I am going to serve Princess Merigold as her personal Knight for the rest of her days."

Everyone: "…"

They all turned to Dante with deadpan expressions, "She's her father's daughter."

Dante looked at Anais with pride, "Then make a knight's vow."

Anais gave a determined nod. She turned back to Merigold and held her hand gently. She took a knee and spoke in a firm voice, "Princess Merigold… Please accept me as your Knight. I vow that I will never leave your side and I will always serve you dutifully."

Merigold blinked in surprise. Then, Anais leaned forward and kissed the back of her hand. Merigold's face flushed red bashfully, "W-Wha…"

Anais looked into her eyes with undying devotion, "Do you accept me?"

Merigold felt as if her heart had been pierced by an arrow. She nodded hastily, "I-I do! You're mine! AH! I mean! You're my knight and only my knight! You can't belong to anyone else! AHH! I-I mean-"

Seeing Merigold flustered from the sudden kiss, Anais gave a rare tender smile. Seeing this smile was like a gift from god. Merigold couldn't handle the overwhelming beauty and fainted.

Mary and William: "Meri!"

Thus, the three of them quickly became friends. They attended the same school together and became well known. Luther would come up with brilliant plans to have fun, Merigold was the sidekick who wasn't too bright, and Anais would follow them without saying a word. 

The teachers at the school would soon get a headache whenever the three were near. They feared angering the King by complaining about Princess Merigold. Furthermore, dealing with the twins was far worse. The teachers had a saying about the twins:

Luther, the son who could talk his way out of anything. Anais, the daughter who could fight her way out of anything.

If it wasn't bad enough with their mouth and strength combined, then it was even worse knowing who their parents were. Seri: the King's personal Knight and one who could ruin your life with a snap of her fingers. And Dante: his skill in swordsmanship was so frightening that no one dared challenge him.

The teachers tried to stay as far away as possible from getting in trouble with their parents. Luckily, Merigold and Anais were well-behaved. They did their homework, made excellent grades, and were model students. However…

Luther was a different matter.

He was charismatic and skilled in math like his mother; however, he was like her in another aspect. He constantly fell asleep during lessons and was disinterested in schoolwork. He only wanted to have fun. He never wanted to sit still and study.

The teachers really didn't know how to deal with the twins so they just tried their best not to get involved.

Their fellow students were another thing.

Once, a poor soul made fun of Princess Merigold for having a commoner as a mother. They soon became cannon fodder under Luther's and Anais's firm fist. After that, no one dared to make fun of Merigold because it would spurn the ire of Luther and Anais. 

Anais would act calm until someone antagonized Merigold. Then she turned into a demon. She would beat the person senseless until Luther had to step in and pull her off the poor soul. One would think they had been spared. However, they had no idea that Luther had something even worse planned.

While Anais beat them into a pulp, Luther would destroy their reputation and torture them to the point where they begged to just be beaten up by Anais. It was clear that Luther would be the one to take up the mantle and run the underground society established by Seri.

Eventually, no one dared to make fun of Princess Merigold again. Thanks to her being an airhead like her mother, she never even realized just what Anais and Luther were doing to those who were mean to her.

One night, after Anais finished her sword training, she skipped off to find Millie. She ran to her side with bright eyes, "Aunty Millie~ Aunty Millie~"

Millie put down her book with a smile, "What is it, Anais?"

Anais tilted her head acting cute, "Can you tell me how to kill someone and hide their body?"

Millie chuckled lightly, "Why would you want to know a thing like that?"

Anais responded innocently, "Just in case someone tries to steal Merigold from me."

Millie laughed at her innocent look and pinched her nose, "You are turning into your father. You can't just go around killing people."

Anais blinked, "But what if someone tries to hurt her?"

"Oh. Well then it's okay." Millie recounted a fond memory with nostalgia in her eyes, "A person once told me it was okay to hurt someone if they were a bad person and deserved it."

Anais nodded, "Ahh. I see. Okay. I will only hurt someone if they are bad then."

Millie patted her head, "Good girl."

Anais looked under the table, then turned back to Millie. "Aunty Millie, where's your doggy?"

"Ah. Doggy peed on the floor so she's being punished."

"I see… Then… Can I watch you go punish some mutts?"

"Go ask your mother." 

Unbeknownst to Millie, a small hand slowly reached up from under the table to grab the book. Anais spoke ignoring the small hand which quickly pulled the book under, "But Mother will say no… Can't you just let me tag along without telling her?"

Millie smiled gently at her expressionless face which didn't match her pleading tone, "Your mother will get angry with me. I wouldn't dare upset her. Now run along."

Millie escorted Anais out of the room. Under the table, Luther read the erotic book giggling under his breath like a madman. Millie looked under the table with a frown, "Luther. I know you are under there."

"AAH!" Luther jumped, smacking his head against the table he was hiding under. He rubbed his head painfully, "What is this!? Mahogany!?"