𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒║The Twin Siblings New Life x oc

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 29; Beginning to open up--oop, you're going back 🤪

Arien laid flat on her back, arms sprawled out on the soft fabric of the blanket and stared motionlessly at the ceiling blankly.

"Guys...I think we should get out of here."

Arjen peeked open his eyes and raised a subtle brow. "Are you sure?"

He looked down at the head of blonde resting against his chest. Fingers tighten their hold around his waist.

"I'm serious!" Arien shot up from the bed and punched her fists into the sheets.

"Well, I don't exactly think staying here is that bad."

"W-what are you even saying Arjen!" Arien sputtered.

"Imperial Princess..?" Ishian asked with confusion at Arien's sudden outburst of emotion

"Ishian, have you and the rest of the servants stand outside by the door until I call you back in," Arjen ordered with a wave of his hand.

Ishian narrowed her eyes hesitantly but bowed her head. "Understood, Your Imperial Prince."

As soon as the door closed with a click resounding through the silent room, Arien jumped closer to Arjen and stared at him baffled.

"What do you mean staying here isn't bad? Has Sora's insanity finally rubbed on you?"

"I—what no?" Arjen chuckled before shaking his head. "Does it really matter? It's a big improvement from our previous living situations."

"But—!"

Arjen raised a hand to stop Arien from continuing. "Let me finish. If all I have to do is put up with seeing the imperial family once in a while to stay here, why should I give up such a bountiful life?

Arien tried to speak but Arjen cut her off again.

"Arien." He said her name aloud with such fondness that Arien might melt. "Look at me."

And how could she not listen?

"Take a deep breath and tell me, what do you see?"

Her eyes trail down her sister resting peacefully on top of Arjen's chest.

"That's just Sora—oh..."

The steady rise and fall of her shoulders yet no sound was made. No panic and fastened breathing, no dilating pupils with the gaze of 'attack' implemented in them, no thrashing limbs wrapping around herself to shield from danger. Just silence. Pleasant silence.

Sora, for the first time in many, many years, was sleeping in peace.

Arjen's fingers brushed a few strands of golden hair against Sora's cheek and tucked them behind her ear, his touch leaving behind a trail of warmth against the cold.

"Ha...look at her, Miss. sleep-is-for-the-weak." The amusement in Arjen's voice was more than evident with the small tug on the corner of his lips.

"Yeah..." Arien whispered blissfully. "Sora—she...she looks healthier...A miracle."

"A miracle, huh? That's one way to describe her."

Arien hands clenched the sheets in her fists. How could she ever go back to that haunting and abusive place, when right in front of her, here, a place owned by the very man who caused them a lifetime of misery, had gotten Sora to look...look alive? Her cheeks were no longer as hollowed out as before and skin looked less deathly - which wasn't much, but it was an improvement.

The crack in the air seemingly percinging her eardrum every time the whip made contact with soft flesh. The scene played out over and over. Arien could never forget. She had no right. It was a reminder, a reminder of her continued failures.

"If we leave now, our life would be much harder. You have to understand, Arien." Arjen slowly dragged his touch though Sora's scalp.

Arjen was right, he always was.

There were people out there who wanted to harm them. Arien knew this as it happened only one sunset ago.

People, power...magic.

Arien hated to admit it, but the imperial family was their best choice to stay safe.

Sora would, of course, protect them. She'd protect them from everything, with everything. But that was the problem. Sora didn't know how - more like her pride kept her from doing so - to accept help from anyone when she was at her limit.

She had a limit. She was human, surprisingly.

As strong as Sora was, she needed a break.

No way was she going to allow someone else to protect her, never in another lifetime, but placing some of that responsibility onto someone else's shoulder was enough - not really. She was lying to herself again, but it was getting there.

Arien delved into Arjen's eyes. Many said that the two were practically identical but with a gender swap, but Arien could go on forever about all the things where she and Arjen were different.

Their personalities, mindsets, how they portray themselves, how they control their emotions, their minds.

Their eyes.

While both inherited red eyes, seemingly the same color, they were far from a copy-and-paste.

Arien herself had her emotions practically out there for the world to see just from her eyes alone. Her thoughts and feelings, all displayed in the pool of honey covered red that were her two eyes.

Her eyes were the gateway to her soul, as people would say.

Arjen was more similar to Sora in this aspect. He kept his emotions intact and never outwardly displayed them. But whereas Sora locked her true emotions and thoughts down into a bottomless pit that she'd do everything to have never resurfaced, Arjen's were more like buried treasures, waiting to be unearthed by those patient enough to delve into the recesses of his soul. Each smile that graced his lips, each furrow of his brow, it was all genuine that came from his heart.

And right now, his eyes blazed with a fiery intensity that she could never reach.

"As long as you and Sora can live safely and comfortably, I can deal with the imperial family. I have put up with those types of hypocrites for two decades now," Arjen said with a dismissive wave. "Enjoy all these luxuries until we grow up, and we'll go—go out into this fascinating world. Together. But we have to be patient until then, okay, Arien?"

She could never deny her brother. How could she ever say no?

"Okay...idiot."

"How could you call your brother an idiot? I thought calling people names was Sora's thing?"

"I don't know, idiot," Arien mumbled.

Arjen was always very mature, even compared to Sora, the person who raised the two of them.

He is never impulsive or brash, rushing out and acting before he planned, do things without a plan. He was knowledgeable and always told her things she could never fully comprehend.

Arien wouldn't lie, she too, would rather stay here then go back to Delornina castle. Like Arjen said, they weren't getting beaten or starved (not like Sora would allow that to happen in the first place, but yeah) and no one really bothered them.

Still, she recalled the words she heard The Emperor said.

Arien would never forgive him, thinking he's doing the right thing for their sake, when he was the one who thought to kill his own children before they were even born.

She might lack awareness in certain areas and not possess the same level of knowledge and intellectual understanding as Arjen and Sora, she wasn't that naive.