Chapter 41 - The Seraphim Twins P2
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I plopped down on the sofa in my private residence in Arslade. One long day of storytelling took a lot out of me and I just wanted to relax for a while. Joey and Kaede were with Luma, Lux, Lana, and Lane on Elea, Alethea and Lanti went to the living world to visit Mabel and Velarus. I half expected Lanti to go visit the Gallia Royal Family, too.
She probably will.
Luma broke her oath, then we found out the oath was not only forced on her, but she was brainwashed by the Valentines.
That angered me enough that I truthfully considered merging with Fia and returning to Eden to stamp out that problem on the spot. Fia had the same idea, but we decided against it. After all, Elise would be very angry with us for making such an impulsive decision.
She even said as much from our mind scape.
We relived the first week and a half of our school life on Gaia, and there was still so much more to go through. Athy asked why I created Elysium. In truth, Elysium was created long before that, but it was not properly set into motion. The living souls from every world simply existed in Purgatory until I founded Alexandria on Gaia.
Lady Luna even came to visit us after her appearance in the story.
And we also discovered that Liliana and Aliana are in fact Transcendents... the very same twins I grew up with and held an unrequited crush on for so long. They always kept their distance, and I was never sure if I should say anything.
But things are different now.
They followed me from Eden... and not like the others. They kept their memories from day 1. And they followed me every step of the way. They're here, right now... serving me tea.
And that annoyed me very much.
I could tell Fia was just as annoyed. She hid it better than me, but we're the same person. I can tell.
Lily placed our tea and Ally placed our snacks, then actually sat down to join us. I couldn't take my eyes off them.
They had boyfriends in our first year and had children. But they did not get married. Those boys ran away from them. I chased them down and gave them a good scolding. I told them right then...
"If you can't take responsibility now, I won't allow you to try in the future."
They raised Luci, Leo, and Leti like siblings, and those three grew close with the rest of the children, too. It seemed like they were all just a big group of siblings.
Is that how it's going to be? Am I hoping for too much? Lily and Ally have their own desires, but they've been all but bound to me since we were babies in Eden. Is it romantic love that I feel for them? Or platonic? Or is it an unhealthy attachment?
I worry the answer is the latter, but desperately hope it's the former. They've always been there for me
Always.
Is it wrong to want their affection? More than as their princess?
"Princess?" Lily said. "Your thoughts are loud."
I shook my head. "It's okay. I've never hidden anything from you. I won't start now."
"But... Princess, until now... your thoughts have been about others." She wasn't looking at just me. She was looking at both of us.
Me and Fia.
"It was much easier to stay composed when your thoughts were about Maya or Luma or Adele or Adara. You have so much love in your heart, but I never once dared to imagine that I might receive that love."
Both of them were blushing enough that the redness in their cheeks spread to their ears.
"Princess," said Aliana, "you are having misgivings. Both of you are. You question whether your feelings for us are genuine or gratuitous. Mine are certainly not gratuitous. But I am hesitant. If this line is crossed... you can never be just my princess again."
"If we cross this line," Lily continued, "we can never go back to the other side of the line. We can never be just your attendants again. I am hesitant to act on my feelings. I want to be impulsive. I want to receive the same that the others have. But I'm also afraid."
"Afraid of what?" Fia asked.
The twins exchanged glances again, but struggled to put it into words.
"Are you worried about breaking up?" I asked.
Both nodded their heads and Lily said, "Yes. If we follow our hearts but find out that path is only a fling... we would be treating you no differently than any other relationship in our past. And you are so much more than that."
As if on cue, both of us stood up, walked around the table, and hugged a twin each. "You'll have to try really hard to get rid of me. I'm pretty stubborn with who I give my heart to."
Fia jokingly added, "It's hard to refund something that's not refundable."
"Pfft."
The twins giggled and hugged us back.
"Besides, you already confessed," I added. I was being completely serious.
They froze.
"That's right. You said a lot when you asked us to take you somewhere else away from the others tonight. You said you wanted to be impulsive. Well, I want to be impulsive, too."
"My other half and I were bouncing ideas between us while the last memory was playing out earlier."
We grinned at them together and said, ""Get your bikinis out! We're going to the beach!""
"Huh?" Lily jumped up from her seat while Ally remained frozen in place. "But, Princess! Our first date is to be at the beach? Where our entire bodies will be on display to each other?"
I shrugged. "We've seen every inch of each other's bodies."
"But that's different! Before it was as master and servant... this time it would be as... as..."
"Lovers." I smiled. "Your white hair framing your red face is quite beautiful, Lily."
"Pr-princess..." She stepped back from me, but I wasn't going to be deterred. I took a step toward her, she took a step back. I kept getting closer to her until she backed herself into the wall.
I slammed my palm on the wall next to her face. I got close enough that I could taste her breath. "This is your chance to stay on the other side of the line. Do you want to keep serving me tea, or do you want to serve me... you."
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Revision: 2025-7-29