"Onee-chaaan! Wake up, wake up!"I felt someone's small hands shaking my still-sleepy body. "Nnn... What is it... Freyja?" I groggily scratched my eyes to force myself to be awake, in response to this little sister of mine.Yup, I couldn't have mistaken this cute voice I got used to listening. Before, it was a much quieter voice. Within time, I felt like the voice turned more energetic. "Today is my debut party, remember? You have to prepare as well as my big sister!" Freyja continued to shake my body.I opened my eyes to glance at the clock, "Oh... Is it time alrea... WAIT, FREYJA! It's way too early!!"I quickly protested once I saw the time. What time was it? Let's say, the time when the birds first started chirping. Maybe not too long after the sun rose. Maybe it was the time the house helpers started their work. In other words, yep, way too early for me to be awake. "No way, it's morning already! Gotta go prepare, right?" Freyja insistently shook my body to prevent me from going back to my slumber again.Let me admit, I'm happy to have a little sister now, but there are days or times when I feel annoyed too. It's only natural to feel this way... right? And this time is one of the examples. "Freyja, did you even get enough sleep?" I groggily yawned."I did, I slept plenty-ly!"...Plenty-ly? Is that even a word? "But your big sister here hasn't gotten that plenty-ly sleep, so...," I said as I grabbed my blanket and just when I was about to pull it to cover myself..."Lyrnee!! You're my big sister! You should wake up earlier than me, then?" Freyja tried to stop me from covering myself in my one true love, the blanket."Well, older people get tired faster, which means I need more rest--," I tried to mimic a grandma."Lyrnee, come on!" Freyja pleaded as she giggled. I giggled as well.If I have to count my past self's age, I'm totally old then, considerably older than this little fellow here.I finally got out of my beloved (bed and blanket)'s warm embrace to follow this energetic little sister of mine. "Lyra? You're up early," Mom commented when she saw me going out of my room.I moved my sleepy eyes to the little figure who was dragging me by hand."Oh, so Freyja's the cause," Mom chuckled."Lyrsama and Freyjsama are so close, it's cute!" Niina also commented.Well, sisters bond sure is nice! "Have Alt-nii and Freyr woken up already?" I asked when I didn't see them here.I'm concerned they will be late or something... Ah, well, that's obviously a lie. I actually want them to wake up as early as I do!"Freyr is taking a bath now," Freyja answered with a smile.I thought so. Freyr and Freyja shared the same room, so Freyja would definitely wake Freyr up first thing in the morning."And Alt-nii?" I asked while concealing my *cough* evil *cough* smile. No way he could take his time slowly in the wonderful dreamland, right? When his little siblings were already up like this! An older sibling had to give a good example, right?...forget what I just said to Freyja this morning, hahaha! "Don't worry, I've already asked Rurune to wake him up!" Freyja triumphantly smiled."So, he should already be up now, right?" I asked."Yup!" Freyja nodded."But why hasn't he shown himself up?""...""Let's go to his room!" I threw away all my sleepiness to give the same "torture" to the eldest brother. Upon entering his room, I was left speechless.Alt-nii actually cast a barrier to prevent Rurune or anyone from waking him up before the time!"Ruruu!!" Rurune kept consuming the barrier only to have it regenerated back in no time.I tilted my head in wonder: wouldn't Alt-nii be more fatigued if he consumed his mana like this? What's the point of sleeping then? Could it be that his energy expenditure is equal to his energy regeneration from sleep?I could only shake my head in disbelief. "Alt-niichan! You can't be serious! Good grief!" Freyja sulked."Ruru~," Rurune seemed to be having fun eating Alt-nii's magic, though..."Rurune, let's cooperate!" I suddenly had an idea. I whsipered it to Rurune who then looked at me in agreement."Let's go!"As soon as Rurune damaged Alt-nii's barrier, I quickly cast my signature [Ice] magic and..."IT'S COLD!!"We've successfully awakened the devil. "That was totally hilarious, I tell you!" Freyja couldn't stop laughing as she narrated the scene of me waking up Alt-nii forcefully with my [Ice] magic.Freyr listened with great interest as he continued to eat his breakfast."Freyja, hands," Dad reminded Freyja to continue moving her hands to eat. Freyja took another bite before continuing her story."Haha, she's just too enthusiastic in story-telling," Mom laughed at Freyja's adorableness."Still, you should be careful especially when you're in front others, Freyja. Especially during the debut party after this," Dad kept warning Freyja."Got~ it~," Freyja said as she continued to munch her food.Dad sighed with an anxious expression on his face."Don't worry, Dad. She'll be fine. I'll be there to back her up just in case," I tried to rea.s.sure Dad."That's relieving to know. I know we can rely on you, Onee-chan," Dad smiled.Dad's form of oyabaka or doting was different in my and Freyja's case, although we were both his daughters. I guess it was because Freyja was so different from me when I was her age that Dad couldn't help but worry that she would get hurt. "Freyr, you're finished already? Want a second?" Mom asked Freyr after she gasped in surprise.Freyr s.h.i.+fted his gaze at Mom and shook his head after thinking for awhile."I'm full already. Thanks for the food!" Freyr said as he clasped his hands in front of him to give thanks for the food. It was apparent from his expression that he really enjoyed his food. After all, the food served were the twins' favorite."Well, well, Freyr silently beats us all!" Alt-nii chuckled."Alt, eating isn't a compet.i.tion. Besides, you're on your second serving," Mom reminded Alt-nii.Alt-nii only winked and stuck out his tongue for a while before he continued eating. Right. Time had pa.s.sed by so fast that it was already two years since we took in the twins. The formerly submissive and similar twins now have developed their distinct personalities.The older sister, Freyja grew up to be a very energetic and cheerful girl especially around those closest to her. Needless to say that she's the boldest of us all. Sometimes I'm worried about her as she's the one having most trouble in etiquette and mannerism, but she's trying her best. At least to the extent that she won't be a laughing stock in the n.o.ble society during her debut.On the other hand, Freyr remained a quiet and calm child--I believed he was one to think things very thoroughly before acting. However, he showed more expressions than before and could get excited or happy at the things he liked. *** "Onee-chan... I'm actually feeling nervous now..."The girl with a strong and energetic voice from this morning suddenly turned timid with a slightly shaking voice. She tucked the hem of my dress as she expressed her concern.It would be time for the twins' debut party to start soon.After the breakfast we had, we quickly started preparing everything for the party. As usual, the venue was the old Hartmann family's house. Our house wasn't that luxurious enough to be used as a party place, even after the renovation. No matter, maybe we could slowly build the house until it exceeded the old Hartmann family's house!Ooh, maybe it is my main quest in this life?Well, as long as we can accomplish it through good means! Anyway, Freyja was still quite excited when she was in the middle of her preparation. Her hair was put in a pair of twin low buns with her side hair flowing out in front. She looked really cute and it was way too apparent that she was Freyr's female counterpart. Red ribbons were used to decorate her pretty silver hair.The dress she was wearing was in match with the outfit Freyr wore. The dress had two layers--the inner one was a green-colored frilly part of the dress while the outer part was a pretty blue-colored part. The blue outer was like a coat that covered the upper half part of the green inner layer. The blue layer was longer than the green layer--to the extent that it created some sort of a "blue feather tail" part for the dress. However, she won't have troubles walking with the tail as it luckily didn't reach the floor.Meanwhile, Freyr was wearing a formal outfit that made him look like a little gentleman. His bottom was a pair of silky dark blue pants. His inner s.h.i.+rt had long sleeves with the base color of light blue. It was covered with a trendy verdant green vest. Both of them were wearing the Hartmann family's emblem on their chests. Anyway, the previously excited Freyja and the previously nervous Freyr were now gone. The closer we got to the beginning of the party, the more nervous Freyja got. Meanwhile, Freyr seemed to have overcome his nervousness and looked calm now. "Don't worry, Freyja. You'll be fine," Freyr tapped on Freyja's back as their positions were reversed.It was funny to see their occasional role reversals.It seemed to us that Freyja was now able to loosen up and be more spoiled after her position became the second youngest child in the family, and not the older sister out of the two.Freyr seemed to be calmer after he felt that he was safe with us, making him less dependent on Freyja. Just like this time, Freyr would occasionally cover his sister whenever she showed her shortcomings.
