"This is Princess Oribia."

Oribia entered the room and curtsied. She was robed with her classic aureolin yellow sleeveless dress with a white long sleeved-shirt under that. Her dress had an acorn brown stripe on her waist. She was also wearing acorn brown boots and leggings. Her blond hair went down to her center back, and her golden crown always fell in front of her bangs.

"So sophisticated..."

"She's really pretty."

"Such an adorable Princess!"

Oribia walked out of the room. The people at the table were there for a little family reunion and so they could meet the twins.

"And this is little Prince Ori."

Ori hid behind his father more and shook his head. He was really shy...

"Ori-kun?" Peter asked. "Are you alright? Do you want to come out from behind me?"

Ori shook his head again and clinged to his father's leg.

"Ori-kun..." Peter picked up the child and put him in the center of the room where all the visitors could see him.

"Oh...he's not that nice."

"He's so shy...pathetic."

"He's smaller than Oribia. Isn't he the elder twin, may I ask?"

That always happened to Ori. Everybody always liked his sister more. Was it because she was extroverted? Was she actually that much prettier than him? Was it because they thought Ori wouldn't be a good King...?

"Ori-kun, it's time to tell us who you would like your Royal Guards to be." Peter said, coming downstairs.

Ori looked at his father, then pointed at his arts-and-crafts supplies on the table. There lie some colored pencils, a bag of rubber bands, a hole punch, a roll of tape, a pair of scissors, and a stapler.

"Oh, Ori...back to your make-believe again, I see." Peter said sadly. "Look, you may like them, but they do not live for real, Ori-kun. Please get your head out of the clouds, Ori-kun. We can't have an always absent King, can we?"

Ori shook his head.

Peter pat Ori on the head. "Please choose some...real people by tomorrow, okay?"

Ori nodded.

Peter stopped on the top of the stairs. "Your coronation is in two days. Don't disappoint the people, okay?"

Ori nodded once more.

"Goodnight, Ori-kun." He turned off the light as he left and closed the door behind him.

Ori covered himself up with his boysenberry blankets. Oribia turned to face her twin brother.

"Psst, big brother." She whispered. "Brother!"

"...what is it?"

"I know how we can make your Royal guards come to life without our father knowing!"

Ori rolled over in his bed to face Oribia. "Really? How so, sister?"

"There's a witch in the outskirts of town. You know, the Mistress of the Forest?"

Ori gasped lightly. "But we are forbidden to leave the palace! What if we are seen?"

Oribia sat in silence for a bit. "Let's leave now!" She sat up. "We only have to worry about the nightly guard routines, but I memorized which halls they go down at what time!"

"Why?"

"Because, I wanted to make you feel better!" Oribia exclaimed, kicking off her sheets and coming over to her brother. "If we leave now, we should be out of this hall before a guard passes our bedroom." She smiled. "Pleeeaseee, Oniisan?"

Ori sat up. "Alright. But we need to be quiet, okay?" He held out his hand.

"Okay!" Oribia nodded and accepted her brother's waiting hand. "Let's get you your Royal Guards!"