Picnic with the Brothers.

Tell me, why am I in this garden again? The garden that made my life miserable, the garden that led me to this situation, and the garden that will forever be etched in my mind. 

The Callisto Garden. 

I am here with my three brothers, and this is all the idea of Aelius. Why are we here, exactly? It's to have picnic and get to know each other better, referring to me and my brothers since the three of them already know each other very well. Yes, I don't even know why they should bother themselves to have a picnic with this illegitimate child of the Emperor. Well, even if I am not the Emperor's child, I am still Iliana's daughter, so that makes these three my half-brothers, right? I wonder how my family in the Kingdom of Hecate are doing? Come to think of it...Alina's family in the Hecate Kingdom were never introduced in the story, the book only mentioned that Alina's father is the King of that Kingdom. 

Huh...

I wonder why?

"Wooow, the wind here is really refreshing ~" I said as I close my eyes and tuck some strands of my hair behind my ears. 

"This isn't the first time you're coming here, right?" Diellzain asked. I nod my head at him and offer him my hand. He accepted it without hesitation though, and that made my heart leap in surprise. I wasn't expecting he would actually hold my hand. Also, it's because he's the only one among these three who can actually hold my hand without bending his body that I offer my hand to him.

"Right! I remember meeting Brother Heli here a few days ago!" Let's act as if their meeting with Alina two years ago never happened. Alina never realized it was them after all because their eyes were different, so let's pretend that I don't remember their faces because we only met once before. It's not like someone can remember someone's face for a long time when they only met once, right? Right. 

"Is that so? Unfair, I think I remember meeting you here as well years ago," Aelius lined up with me as he pretend to think about something. 

"Eh? Really? I'm sorry, Brother Aeli, I must've forgotten about it," Is he going to chop my head off because I forgot about our encounter years ago?!

"Haha, it's alright. I'm sure you're not aware it was us," He smiled at me and then reached for my hand as well. Now, I'm between these two princes. It's scary...

That's right. I'm a wall, I'm a rock, let's calm down. Don't breathe---wait, breathe, you're going to die!

"Hah!" The three of them turned their head to me with widened eyes and confused expression when I took a deep breath and inhale loudly. I just gave them a smile.

"Hehe, I'm sorry...I was nervous because this is my first time strolling with my brothers," How come we're not reaching the pavilion yet? Please just come to us so we won't have to walk so far and I can finally let go of their hands! 

I feel like tearing up. Why did this third prince even accepted my hand? No, why did I offered him my hand in the first place?! I was just trying to act nice and I never expected he would actually take my haaaand!

"Are you happy about this picnic idea, Ali?" Helios asked. I repeatedly nod my head to him without removing this smile on my face. Because I need this if I want to keep living. 

"Hmm! Yesterday was my first meal with Dad and Big Brothers, today is a picnic, I'm really really really happy!" Quite the opposite, sire!

My heart won't even stop racing fast because y'all are here with me! Additionally, they chased Themis away because they said it's a sibling day...I feel like tears are going to escape my eyes. They even spoke rudely to her, and it also hurt me! Why are these kids hating on my Themis?!

Nevertheless, Alina in the novel never even experienced this kind of 'sibling day', because her siblings never treated her as one. Hmm, that's why something's really strange about these guys right now. Maybe I should keep observing first. 

"We're glad to hear that," Diellzain smiled at me as he look ahead. Is this really Diellzain? I mean, the Diellzain in the book? Even the way these two hold my hand is so careful, as if my hands are going to break if they hold me any tighter. 

"Yes. It'll be embarrassing for Brother Aeli if their little princess don't enjoy our picnic," Did Aelius really just used a third person way of talking? The heck? Am I actually just dreaming?

"There's the pavilion, I believe this is where you and your maids had picnic few days ago?" Helios asked. I almost cock a brow when he relayed that question. Did this guy actually followed me when I was running back to the pavilion? 

"Yep! I had a tea party with everyone! We had uhm...chocolate cupcakes, cookies, candies, and we also had a milk with honey! Oh, and I love chocolate cupcakes!" I even had to fold my fingers and raise my three fingers one by one while mentioning those food we had when we were here. 

"Good thing we brought chocolate cupcakes with us," Aelius said. I just giggled as my reply as we walk towards the pavilion.

When we reached it. Diellzain made the picnic basket float and it didn't took even a minute to place all the stuffs on the pavilion's clean floor! Dang it, magic is really amazing, I want to learn it! It's super convenient too!

"Wooow! That's really cool, Brother Zain!" I spoke cheerfully. Aelius and Diellzain chuckled at me while Helios just smiled. It's so strange how they're giving me those laughs and smiles. Is this for real? 

But, I can't trust them yet. It's only been two days after all. 

"Who knows? Maybe you're going to be even more cooler than me in the future?" Wow, how humble. Diellzain in the novel was never like this to Alina. If it's Amara, I wouldn't be surprised, but to Alina? Strange, really strange. 

We all sat down on the picnic blanket, and I roamed my eyes to all the snacks in front of me. I gulped as I prevent myself from drooling. I'm in heaven right now with all these food in front of me! I've never, ever, ever got the chance to eat these kind of food in my previous world, but right now I can eat it everyday and whenever I crave for it!

Ahh, I can still experience happiness despite being with these three, huh?

"Haha, I can tell that our little princess really loves sweets, huh?" I nodded my head repeatedly at Helios as I put my fingers across each other with a huge smile on my face. 

I just realized how good I am with acting. Why didn't I just pursue being an artist in my previous world? Maybe I would've lived a happy life, away from my trashy family, and not being transported to a world where I am also destined to die!

"Well then, shall we start with our picnic?" 

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