I Don't Trust My Twin Sister

“As long as there is no special event in the future, this welfare project will continue to be implemented.”

“No, that’s ridiculous! Our annual budget is about 90,000 gold coins. This every year… can’t it be?”

“That’s right.”

He was also a smart man.

“All the money we earn through Count Nemir will be used for this welfare project.”

“Ah, lady! What the hell…!”

Leaving him behind, I slightly closed my eyes.

“What will he think, Butler Fiebel?”

“He?”

I pictured the man in my head. I kind of laughed. Would he like to praise me saying that I did well this time too. I wanted to brag. I wanted to be acknowledged by him for my hard work.

“Butler.”

“Yes.”

“Could you please send a quick letter?”

“Where…?”

Where?

“To the territory of the Duchy of Berdian.”

* * *

As the New Year approached, the mansion of Ajstain became very busy. Reports and incidents from various places piled up like a mountain. As the number of documents waiting for approval increased, I almost got busy as well, but I didn’t hold on to the documents stupidly like I used to.

I created a separate department and instructed Butler Piebel to assume the position of aide and to summarize and report only important documents. Thanks to this, I had more time than before, so I was able to clean up the interior and cut off annoying buds at the same time.

“The Marquis of Akpensia has come to visit us.”

I thought it had calmed down, but lately, I laughed at Beralt’s attitude of sticking the fishing rod in again. When the welfare project was criticized for being reckless, the family of the Marquis of Akpensia also raised its voice. However, there has been a strange wave recently in connection with the welfare project. It was nothing but a donation. There were definitely people who were meaningful and good in the world. It’s because they were hidden by evil people, but good rich people and good nobles weren’t just in fairy tales. Thanks to that, unexpected donations began to accumulate. The units were also large, and as soon as they began to gather in units of tens of thousands of gold coins, they had no choice but to create a foundation to manage them. Even at this moment, the amount of donations was growing day by day.

The Marquis of Akpensia, or Beralt, was the first human to move and step in after looking at this situation quietly.

“Send him to Ersia.”

The moment I saw him fart and come to him with a bag of presents in his hand, I coughed in disgust. It was said that humans were not rewriting. I strongly believed this word, so I kicked him out as if I was treating him badly. How refreshing it was to act evil. After that, he visited several more times, but I was consistent with the same attitude.

“What would happen if I, the twin sister of Ercia, met the man who was her partner at her coming-of-age ceremony? Ercia op…”

“You don’t have to make that misunderstanding. Young lady!”

I didn’t even ask to come in, but he rudely opened the door and I could only look at the man who came in with frowning eyes. Beralt was dressed to the fullest. It was like this before. He always spent a lot of time and money on his appearance. Would the future have been a little different if he had worked on the inner side of even half of that effort? I looked at him with a clean appearance and turned my head. It couldn’t be. 

“Eject him. Butler Fiebel.”

“Young lady!”

“Marquis, if you stay here…”

The office turned into a mess as they quarreled in front of the door. What a fuss this was from the morning when it should be calm. I sighed.

“It’s okay, Butler Fiebel. Leave it alone.”

Without being able to do this or that, I got up from my seat while holding back Butler Fiebel, who was suffering in the middle. I walked out with a calm face and faced Beralt. He opened his mouth, straightening his ragged clothes and trying his best to maintain a polite mask.

“…”

“Okay, let’s get to the point.”

I didn’t want to hear that voice for a long time. I didn’t want his scent to waft through the room I was in, or his voice to resonate. My face contorted for a moment as he cut off his words and crossed his arms. However, with his excellent facial expression management skills, he was again fitted with a soft mask.

“First of all, from this”

It was a fairly large gift envelope. Maybe it’s a picture he liked. I looked at Butler Fiebel, and he hurried over and took the present and disappeared. Beralt put on a blank expression. Did you really think I would accept it myself?

“Sigh. Well, the weather is cold so even a cup of warm tea…”

It was an obvious trick, a trick to clear up misunderstandings by talking to me over time. But sitting face to face with Beralt, talking and tipping a teacup? I didn’t want to.

“Go and ask Ersia for that. Did you come to get a cup of tea for New Year’s Eve? Then go home now. I don’t intend to give you tea, but I’ve accepter your gift, so you’re done.”

Other people might say that I was too cold-hearted, but I felt that even this much was not enough. Wasn’t it too much to just mix words and use honorifics?

“Stop that, let’s talk for a minute.”

“Have you forgotten how forceful you were with me at the banquet at the Grand Duchess of Berdian? That’s why I don’t want to talk to you face-to-face. Please inform me in writing. Go away.”

I didn’t want to hear his disgusting voice any more, so I quickly finished the conversation and lifted my body. Then I saw Beralt utter a puzzled voice and reach out to me. A ‘tap’ sounded. I quickly stepped back and squeezed his hand away, squinting my eyes. His frozen hands turned red. It didn’t hurt, but the reddish back of his hand made his eyes dizzy. Twisted wrong.

“What are you doing, young lady?”

Beralt, who had been grasping the situation for a moment, seized the opportunity and quietly entered with his eyes shining. It was funny to subtly set the mood, but if I responded wrongly, I could give an excuse, so I turned around and faced him.

“It was a mistake. The Marquis tried to touch my body without my permission, so the hand went out without my knowledge.”

“Are you saying that now?”

“If you want treatment, I’ll call a therapist. If you want a detailed examination, I’ll contact the temple. And if it’s not enough, I’ll compensate you accordingly.”

“Ha ha ha.”

He laughed softly and shook his head. He slowly removed the polite mask he had shown earlier.

“Are you deceiving me?”

“…what?”

He took a step in and closed the open door. I glanced at the closed door with a thunk. Coincidentally, Fievel had just disappeared with a present, so he and I were the only ones in the room. I bit my lip lightly.

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Yeah, it’s been like that since the mansion. You suddenly avoided me and looked at me like a very mean person. When we met and talked the other day, did you look it up?”

It was a tough look. Why did I suddenly change? Was he asking because he didn’t know that? Ask yourself. I scratched my chin.

“You don’t need to know.”

“I don’t need to know? You’re so bold. Is it because the young lady is close to the Grand Duke of Berdian?”

At the mention of Ian’s name, I frowned.

“Why is that story coming out here now?”

“I thought the young lady liked me.”

“Me? Ha!”

A snort of laughter came out. Yeah, I didn’t say anything about liking him. I never would have liked him if I had known he was such trash.

“The misunderstanding is also an oil fountain, so you have a lot of self-love. I’ve never liked the Marquis.”

“Then what was that?”

“That?”

I furrowed my brow. What was he talking about?

“I mean, what the hell was it that made you smile at every word I said?”

There’s even an axeman. Wasn’t this mental illness? God, I couldn’t believe that he thought I liked him just because I smiled once.

“It is an illusion. I laugh at others as well. If so, does everyone who smiles at you like and love you? I think it’s nonsense.”

He frowned and took a step closer. I also took one more step back. The frown and angry expression on his face seemed to represent his emotions. I hoped he didn’t do anything strange or play nonsense. This was the home of the Ajstain family.

“No.”

Beralt’s words shortened. I also narrowed my brows at his resolute voice.

“What do you mean?”

“The young lady likes me, right? That’s right.”

“It’s bullshit. Why would I want you to…”

“Now you’re fooling yourself!”

He came to me screaming wildly. I hurriedly backed away, but something hit my back and I couldn’t go further. It was none other than the desk used for work. After glanced back, I returned my gaze to Beralt. He seemed pretty angry.

“You love me, don’t you? Did you lie with that person to make me jealous?”

“You mean Ian?”

“Don’t mention that bastard’s name!”

His boots kicked the desk violently. My body trembled. The chimes echoed and quarrels broke out, but the knights who were entrusted with my escort were not visible. I rolled my eyes to check the door, then looked back at Beralt. I bit my lip. He said that a madman couldn’t tell the difference between front and back, so I thought what would happen if he suddenly stabbed me like this. It was scary. But I didn’t want to lose, so I tried to keep my voice as relaxed as possible.

“His excellency the Grand Duke…”

Beralt answered with very vulgar words.

“Grand Duke? Ha, that’s not even funny. It’s absurd to call the head of a ducal family the Grand Duke, who is trying not to be ostracized from the imperial family, but it’s not even funny that you’re defending such a person.”

The imperial family rejected him? I frowned. Somehow, it seemed that important information had been leaked out. I stared at Beralt, who was quite red, and his eyes shone.

“…What does that mean? Are they rejecting him?”

“I guess you didn’t know? Well, it’s only natural that only the imperial family and high-ranking officials know about it.”

He gave a sneering sneer and reached out his hand and pressed my chin. I was getting goosebumps from the displeasure, but I held it back.

“As the previous Grand Duke of Berdian broke his engagement to the emperor’s only daughter at the time, the relationship between the imperial family and the Berdian family was completely at odds. They continued to put pressure on the Berdian family as an excuse, such as passing over the budget related to the northern border guards or reducing support.”

Suddenly, the face of a man buried in papers and scratching his head came to mind. He was doing his best. He tried to find a way out somehow for the sake of his country, family and people.

“Well, he suddenly paid off all his debts from where the money came from recently, but it doesn’t matter. Since the Berdian family is only the imperial family, it’s obvious what will happen in the future, right?”

“What do you think will happen?”

“It’s simple.”

As he lowered his gaze, his face came closer enough to give me goosebumps.