Freyr and Freyja's Debut Party

"Freyr, aren't you nervous?" Freyja asked as she grabbed Freyr's hand.

"A bit. But it will be okay," Freyr said with confidence.

Well, Freyr excelled more than Freyja in etiquette and mannerism due to his calm nature, so it was understandable how confident he was.

"There, there, just consider the others as carrots and you'll be fine," I gave an advice as I patted their backs.

"Uu...," Freyja held on to the hem of my dress tighter.

"Yes, we'll be fine, right, Nee-chan?" Freyr asked with a smile.

"Of course, who's your big sister after all?" I smiled back at him.

"Well, Lyra-nee has been praised from when she was young, so as her little brother and sister, we'll be fine," Freyr answered.

"...but, but, wouldn't I be made fun of if I'm not as good as Nee-chan? Wouldn't I make you ashamed, Nee-chan?" Freyja was still nervous.

I was about to open my mouth to give a long and heartfelt advice when...

"Freyr, Freyja, it's soon your time to shine!"

Alt-nii's voice could be heard. He was in charge of seeing the situation at the stage.

"Uuuuu," Freyja tried to straighten her posture.

With the limited time we had, I patted her back once more as I said, "Don't worry, just do your best. No matter what, you're a little sister I'm proud of. If anything happens, I'll be there for you."

Perhaps my encouragement worked as I saw her little back was straightened even more. Her timid body posture now seemed to be more confident.

"Good luck," I whispered to Freyr who quickly went to walk by his sister's side.

The pair of twins hooked their hands together as they walked to the stage of their debut.

Good luck, you two! ...Time flew by so fast, huh?

I still remember perfectly when they were first brought to the house.

As I sent off their backs like this, I thought to myself, 'Is this how a parent feels when they send off their child to school or to a new stage in life?'

Not wanting to skip the twins' introduction, I quickly went to the front of the stage, where Alt-nii and Rurune were waiting.

***

"Thank you for coming to my... our debut party. I'm Freyr Arcturus Hartmann, pleased to meet you. Please guide me and my twin sister well," Freyr seemed to have turned timid as he stood there looking at the eyes of the nobles which were on them.

As someone who had spent roughly 2 years with the twins, I could tell. I could see the subtle signs of their nervousness. Freyr's speech was so fluid (just one mistake was made) yet his eyes sometimes wavered. But still, he did a great job!

Next, Freyja stepped forward.

"I'm Freyja Artemyscha Hartmann... Pleased to make your acquaintances. And thank you for coming!" Freyja timidly said. Even her gesture was quite reserved and shy. When she was talking, she tried to take a glance at the nobles, but she couldn't help herself from casting her eyes downward for a while.

Even so, I could tell from the others' comments that they did well.

"Whoa, the twins of the Hartmann family are so cute!"

"Look how shy the girl is!"

"Even so, she still managed to introduce herself properly without crying or trembling! As expected of a duke's daughter!"

"The boy is so cute as well! The Hartmann family sure is blessed."

"Which one is the older one, I wonder?"

Yep, it seemed that their performance was still good in the eyes of the public. It seemed that some of the children couldn't hide their nervousness in their debut. From my experience as Reinst, I remembered seeing some haughty children as well, that it gave off bad first impression.

And ah... I tried to hold my laughter when they commented about how bashful Freyja was!

Right~! In public, she's usually quieter and shy--to put it simply, she's still retaining her former personality when she first arrived. Thankfully, she's less submissive and more of a hardy person instead. She is loud around those close to her but still a quiet girl otherwise.

This makes me and my family, and also those close to her feel quite special.

After the twins' introduction, I quickly went to their side in order to accompany them receiving the nobles' greetings. Freyja especially asked for my company, so I should accompany them—at least for this debut party~

For Freyr, Alt-nii promised that he would teach Freyr all the necessary stuff that a duke's son should remember.

I was a bit worried leaving Freyr in Alt-nii's care because Alt-nii was kinda mischievous even to other nobles, but since he never had any problem so far... I guess it should be fine. Besides, I feel like Alt-nii's changed and he's becoming less mischievous as time passes by.

Moreover, I couldn't guide Freyr well because I believed there would be differences in guiding a male noble and a female noble. I only learned a female noble's rules and etiquette so far and imposing them to Freyr... I'm afraid he'd seem like a girl instead.

In the middle of accompanying the twins receiving the nobles' greetings, I met my past self's family once more.

My former mother only took a short glance at me—with eyes that seemed to be assessing me.

"Well well, such cute twins we have here. They still have a lot to learn, so be sure to give them good example as a big sister, okay?" She advised me.

"...Of course, thanks for your advice, Dahlia-sama," I bowed a bit to her.

"My youngest child—although he was only with his big sister for a short while, he had such an exemplary example that he could look up on. I believe that he was able to do better with his well-mannered and sensible big sister as an example," she said as she put her fan in front of her mouth. A gesture that she liked doing, to add to her elegance.

I was surprised to hear that—so I reflexively turned to see Domi who was standing behind Mother. He grew up to be a fine young man—still with his straight face.

I became an example that Domi could look up to?

Did that mean... he grew up in my shadow?

Being compared to his big sister and had to live up to others' expectations... I guess he wasn't leading such a pampered and easy life, after all...

I swallowed my saliva when I imagined how he might have felt growing up.

"Oh, he is Reinst's little brother? I'm sure he has amazing etiquette!"

"Is that all you can do? Your big sister can do well, so you must be able to do it as well."

I imagined such sentences being thrown out to young Domi.

In the past, little Domi was so timid and he liked tailing Mother the best. He was so different from me when I was around his age, doing my best since I was little—to make Mother happy.

Now I'm quite curious about what Domi feels towards the big sister he never had the chance of getting close to. Did he resent me? Did he hate me because I set some standards he had to chase?

But seeing how Domi grew up to be similar to me—I mean, Reinst... I guess he really did his best, but... I didn't want him to lose himself like I lost myself.

"Anyway, I���d love to see how well you've trained in your upcoming birthday. Little Freyr and Freyja, once again, congratulations on your debut and happy birthday."

Mother Dahlia's voice brought me back to reality.

Domi and Father didn't talk too much as usual, and I lost my chance to ask Domi about what Mother said before. Not like this was the best place and time to do it... right? The stars of the show were the twins. Let's not bother about myself for now!

"Happy birthday and congrats, Freyja and... Freyr, my rival! Don't you think that your debut party marks the official start to our rivalry?"

The voice full of confident was so familiar.

As I looked to the front, there came... three familiar figures on the way to me and the twins!!

Can you guess who they are?

Noble parties were always the perfect occasions for family reunions.