I went on, confirming Anasta’s arrival in the capital.

“Jeanne must be lonely with Sevi and you at the palace.”

“She’s fine on her own, she might even be glad I’m not nagging her.”

“Is that the case these days?”

I asked, startled. I wasn’t sure what Anasta had to nag Jeanne about, but Jeanne’s response was also unexpected. Anasta giggled and shrugged.

“Seriously, she’s all grown up. She used to try not to fall off my skirt.”

“Kids grow up fast.”

“I know.”

Anasta sighed, a little wistfully. Her eyes clouded over as if looking far away, then curved into a wry smile.

“I’m sure the Prince and Princess will grow up quickly… and I’m honored to have been allowed to be a part of it.”

“Then let’s finalize it, and sign it right away.”

Impatient, I pulled out the contract I had prepared. Was that too obvious? Anasta’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s suspicious that you’re in a hurry.”

“What do you mean? I just want to be sure.”

I excused myself, trying to sound nonchalant. Anasta smirked in that teasing way of hers and trailed off.

“Hmmm…. something like that.”

After much pushing and pulling, Anasta picked up a pen. Once I saw her signature on the contract, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, later, when Anasta saw what the twins had done, she would go on a rampage, accusing me of deceiving her, but so what, the contract was already written.

I smiled in satisfaction.

***

It didn’t take long for Anasta to realize the truth. In fact, it would not have taken long to figure out the situation because the twins were not old enough to have an accident while looking at the situation. Anasta gritted her teeth, feeling betrayed.

“How could you leave me in charge of those little monsters, calling them newborns?”

“Little monsters, they are still Prince and Princess.”

“Your Majesty made a bad appointment, you should have chosen a shieldbearer, not a healer, to train them!”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It’s that bad!”

Anasta shouted as she burst into my office. I smirked at her uncharacteristic outburst, as she was usually quiet and obedient to my every word, and excused myself.

“I told you they were accident-prone.”

“I didn’t think it would be this bad… I’ve got both hands and feet up, and I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to comply with Your Majesty’s request anytime soon. I can’t believe you’d put a trustworthy person like me through such a trial.”

I’m afraid I’ve done a number on Anasta’s trust.

But I can’t help it. Sometimes you have to give up something to get something important in life. I desperately clung to Anasta and pleaded with her.

“Anasta, if it’s not you, I have no one else to take care of the kids… Because even though they’re monsters because they look like Meyer, they still have my blood in them. So they get hurt, they get sick…”

I rolled my eyes, and Anasta sighed as if she couldn’t help it.

“They’re unusually maneuverable and strong, and I can’t handle the scope of the accident. I can’t do it alone.”

“I’ll get you someone. As many as you want!”

I grinned and grabbed Anasta’s hand and shook it. Anasta clicked her tongue as if she couldn’t resist.

It was then that she realized what Belle and Aistas had done, and heard the sound of the maids fussing over the door to the chamber. Anasta sighed in frustration.

“Ugh. Really. What a bunch of troublemakers.”

“They’re cute, though. Look at them.”

“They’d be cute in Your Majesty’s eyes, they look so much like Grand Duke Knox!”

Anasta exclaimed, her eyes watering. I don’t see what looking like Meyer has to do with being cute. I shrugged and asked back.

“So you don’t think they’re cute?”

“It’s not fair to talk like that.”

Anasta grumbled, but eventually, as if she had no choice, she headed for the kids. She didn’t forget to turn around and look at me, adding firmly.

“You’ll have to get somebody to watch them, someone strong and sturdy!”

“No worries!”

I smiled and waved Anasta off.

It wasn’t long before I heard Anasta scolding my children from beyond the office.

“Oh no, princess, prince, that’s not a toy…! Put it down!”

“No. It’s mine!”

“No. It’s mine!”

“You can’t be so insistent!”

As I listened to them slowly walk away, I swept my hand across my chest, afraid that Anasta really couldn’t do it. I was terrified that Anasta would say she couldn’t do it, but… I finally relented.

‘If it’s not Anasta, there’s no one else who can handle them.’

I thought, “What if, just in case, Anasta says no in a more forceful way,” and I started looking for a replacement. But there was no such thing as a role reversal. The reliable ones were busy, and the unreliable ones weren’t, so…

When Axion heard of my troubles, he insisted that it was all karma, rolling people as they are to favor efficiency. But to my ears, it sounded like a vain argument from a man who didn’t want to work.

All he wanted to do was stay in his lab and work on his magic, but his mouth was pouting because I had just given him the job of Grand Duke.

Of course, being a Grand Duke wasn’t all work. There was one person left in the world who was the most reliable, had the most time to spare, and had the stamina to handle the children.

The children’s father, Meyer.

‘But what can I do? He freezes up whenever he goes near them.’

I sighed. Even though I was busy with work, I tried to spend some time with my family.

But every time I did, Meyer acted like the kids were clay figurines that hadn’t dried. As if they would crumble to dust if he touched them.

If I forced him to pick them up, his limbs would tense up. He’s not a dog that can carry a raw egg in his mouth…

And I’ve given up on leaving them with Meyer for the time being. Maybe when they’re older, but it seemed to me that they’d have to get past his waist before he’d be able to hold them properly.

Whereas Meyer kept his distance from the kids, they purposely ran and clung to him as if he were a wall of hurt or a plaything.

I guess it makes sense that kids who have just passed their first birthday wouldn’t run instead of walking, but they really “ran.”

Every time that happened, Meyer would let out a strangled groan and turn to me, and I would pull them away from the frozen Meyer, who would then turn back to them, and they’d repeat the process, obviously recognizing it as a fun game.

Anyway, I’m glad Anasta didn’t quit. With that out of the way, I could finally concentrate on my work.

‘By the way, there was a recent report that caught my eye…’

After having kids, I cut back on quarterly meetings to once a year and replaced them with more frequent reports. It’s hard to get your mind off things when you’re face to face, and it’s an immediate exchange of information, but it was definitely a waste of time and money.

Of course, I had no intention of letting the local nobles think otherwise, so I set up a special organization to inspect the provinces. An inspectorate of sorts.

They would cross-check their reports against what they knew, verify them, and punish them for any omissions or false reports.

After shuffling through the reports for a while, I finally found the one I’d been craving.

“Found it. Pilgrims have been going missing near Arund…”

I tapped my fingertips on the desk. Count Arund was a man who had earned Meyer’s ire two years ago when he’d brought up the matter of his heirs at a meeting and used the opportunity to shove them in. I know he’s been living like a mouse under Meyer’s nose ever since, but I didn’t expect his name to come up again like this.

It might be nothing, but my senses were screaming at me that something was fishy.

All’s well that ends well. It couldn’t hurt to check, so I jumped on it.