Chapter 139
“…….”
“It’s true. Absolutely top of the line… hmm! Anyway.”
The twins didn’t answer at all, not even a little.
Yet, they stared at me with wide, unblinking eyes.
‘Why are they staring at me like that? It’s not like they’re about to say “let’s be family now” or something, right?’
It was a feeling I couldn’t quite describe.
I wondered if my teacher back then—the one who picked me up the day I fainted while sipping strawberry juice—felt the same way.
I found myself quietly lost in thought.
“……I’m sorry, Iris.”
Noah, who had been staring at me silently for a long while, suddenly grasped my hand with a determined look.
As if on cue, Cordelia, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood up and continued where Noah left off.
“You’re the second applicant, so you won’t have a chance until the first applicant, who volunteered to become family first, gives up.”
“Second…… applicant?”
Just a moment ago, didn’t they say there would be no one else to become family, and from now on it would just be the two of us?
‘Then why were they sulking before?’
I blinked blankly, shifting my gaze between the two children.
Still, I got the answer that left out the crucial part.
“Yes. Among those without Chester blood, you’re the second.”
Who’s the first?
But the clever little rascals, who seemed almost ghostly sharp when needed, didn’t give me the chance to ask.
“Come over and read this!”
“From the middle here!”
The two kids leaped onto the bed like little troublemakers, grinning mischievously at me.
Maybe it was because some of the earlier confusion and gloom had lifted, but somehow they didn’t seem as irritating as usual.
‘Yeah, who cares who the first applicant is.’
More importantly—
“……I told you, right? My acting is amazing. If it’s too realistic and you can’t sleep, just let me know.”
As expected, the two kids were tougher than I had thought.
Of course, pretending not to notice, smiling teasingly, I let myself ignore the slight trembling at the corners of their mouths, which was far too mature for their age.
A gentle breeze drifted through the bedroom.
Their bright, clear voices, with not a trace of sleepiness, rang through the warm room.
“Here! We read up to here, right, Ria?”
“No, here!”
The twins tilted their heads and flipped through the pages of the storybook.
Thanks to that, memories of the story I had sneakily glanced at before came back to me.
‘The hero’s warm heart embraced the girl’s blue breath, and the girl gave her heart, made of snowflakes, to the hero… something like that, right?’
The twins, now dressed, held the book open to somewhere in the middle and looked at me.
“From here!”
“Shall we? Let’s see… hmm hmm!”
I cleared my throat and began reading the storybook aloud, bringing the story to life as I had intended.
“After returning from his adventure, the hero was asked by the old tree, ‘Can you now open the treasure chest buried beneath me?’ The hero nodded confidently.”
Reading the book, which was written in a stiff, storybook-like style, as if telling a tale, the twins gradually began focusing on me as if entranced.
“The hero began confidently answering the riddles the old tree had posed. The first riddle, said to be carried by the wind, had the answer…”
“The voice of the heart carried by the wind!”
“It was the voice of the girl with the blue breath!”
Far from feeling sleepy, the twins’ eyes shone brightly.
“Oh, that’s right. The blue breath was the girl’s voice, the heart she held.”
“Is that all? Hehe.”
“I remembered too, you know?”
The twins looked at each other proudly.
Meanwhile, I flipped through the storybook and continued reading the next part slowly.
“……The hero answered that the second riddle’s solution was the warm heart he possessed.”
“Was the snowflake’s wish the hero’s wish?”
“It’s the hero’s heart, dummy.”
“Hmph. A wish or a heart… it basically means the same thing, right?”
Noah and Cordelia argued over who got it right first, but I, lost in the story, simply turned the page.
The next page had illustrations showing three riddles posed by the old tree and the answers.
‘……The blue breath is the girl’s heart, and the snowflake’s wish is the hero boy’s heart, right?’
“The twins asked me what the star’s promise, the snowflake’s wish, and the blue breath each meant.”
Then what about the star’s promise?
My mind kept replaying the secret conversation I had with Edwin.
The twins, having stopped their playful argument, pressed me eagerly for the next part, clinging to my side.
“What’s next, Iris?”
“Ah.”
I instinctively moved my hands to turn the page.
“When the hero correctly answered the last riddle, the old tree, which turned out to be a tree with a dazzling light, began to sparkle and shine brightly.”
“Wow! The old tree was actually a star!”
Cordelia clapped her hands, completely excited.
Noah joked that he had already predicted that much.
‘Then the star’s promise must be the promise the old tree made to the hero.’
The next page finally delivered the romantic content the twins had been waiting for.
“The tree left behind the promised chest, became a star in the sky, and the hero gave the chest to the girl while confessing his love. At last, the two fell in love.”
“Kyaa! What do we do, what do we do!”
“What do you mean, what do we do? They’re dating!”
“Kyaaa!”
While Noah and Cordelia enjoyed the story’s climax in their own ways, we reached the last page.
“Eventually, this gift left by the old tree became a symbol of love between the boy and the girl.”
Cordelia buried her face in the pillow and bounced around like it was her own story.
Noah, pretending not to care, flushed red as well—it seemed the kids considered this a highly stimulating romance story.
‘So, to sum up…’
The old tree, who had actually been a star, told the hero to return after solving three riddles if he wanted to open the chest it held—
‘In the end, the hero got both the chest and the love the tree held… that’s the gist of it.’
In short, it was a perfectly classic fairy tale.
At some point, I realized I was more immersed in the story than the twins, and felt a bit deflated.
‘……It really is just a fairy tale. But how did they ask Edwin about the star’s promise and snowflake’s wish if it’s their first time reading this book?’
The question lingered briefly, but curiosity that couldn’t be resolved immediately scattered as usual.
Just when I was about to give up on what I thought was the crucial clue, the twins’ reaction brought me back.
“What? That’s the end?”
“Huh?”
“Why doesn’t it say what was inside the tree’s chest?”
Noah had snatched the book from my hands and was flipping through it, muttering.
Cordelia tumbled over and joined him, wide-eyed at the storybook.
“Really? There’s nothing else?”
“Doesn’t seem like it……”
After flipping through the book carefully, the twins realized it really was the last page and couldn’t hide their disappointment.
‘……Then what was in the chest the tree held?’
Curious, I picked up the book again and opened the very first page, which the twins hadn’t seen before.
[Dedicated to the clumsy adults still growing and to the lovely children who have waited patiently for my story.]
‘Author’s note?’
The tiny letters, which kids probably wouldn’t notice, ran down the page.
‘Wait, this…’
All the puzzle pieces scattered throughout the story snapped into place in an instant.
Something I had missed while focusing solely on the riddles with the twins.
[……I wrote this story hoping everyone I love could find their own answer. A child finds the child’s answer, and an adult…]
The blue breath, the snowflake’s wish—
‘What matters more than those fragmented answers.’
Yes, what truly mattered to me was—
“……You know, the person who gave us this storybook.”
The one who posed the riddles to the twins long ago, and only recently conveyed the answers through this book.
The hidden message that person wanted to convey to me.
[……On the day when the blue breath and snowflake’s wish meet under the eastern moon. The symbol of love that appears that day—wouldn’t it be the most precious jewel in the world?]
‘The real answer to the riddle for adults.’
If it’s connected to the star of India, then—
“Could the person who gifted the storybook possibly be connected to the star of India as well?”
