I Don't Trust My Twin Sister

Phut!

She hit the desk and got up from her seat. Then, I stared at the pupils following me in a straight line. Showing my teeth, I vomited my voice at Ersia as if growling.

“Is it safe to assume that this means that my personality is not good enough for you, Ersia.”

“What…!”

“You think that as your escort, your sister gave you someone to beat you up, harass you, and do all kinds of crap. I can only understand that as a sign that you don’t trust me.”

Ersia frowned at her. Seeing that, my laughter broke out. Yes, that expression, I wanted to see it once. I was wondering when she would reveal her true self to me.

“The reason I gave you that person is because you’ve become such a decent young lady that there are rumors of having a man. Do you think I’ve assigned a man to do evil to my sister as an escort? Do you believe me, brother?”

“Sister, I believe in you. But I don’t think this is so. No one attaches such a mercenary to a young lady who has just become an adult. I… I think this is nonsensical.”

“Nonsensical?”

Laughter flowed out. It’s not even funny that the word ignorance comes out of her mouth.

“Go away.”

I spoke in a weak voice. Ersia pressed the desk and leaned her body, but I turned away. It was an expression of intention that I did not want to talk anymore.

“…”

Ercia’s short voice rose as if to call me, but as soon as I didn’t turn my back, her back words were pushed inside and swallowed. Eventually, the door opened with a creaking sound, and the presence disappeared. I looked around the room again and bit my lip.

“What nonsensical?”

It’s not even funny, Ercia, if you knew what you did to me, you shouldn’t say such things. It’s nonsensical…

“I didn’t mean to say something filthy.”

I tried to calmly accept it, but the atmosphere and voice that strangely stimulated me raised my emotions. Biting my lip, I surrendered myself to the thoughts that rushed in for a moment, then got up from my seat.

“You’ll know what’s more absurd once you see it.”

* * *

The man was sitting alone in a large empty gymnasium, taking off his shirt and quietly meditating. His dark golden hair gleamed beautifully in the flickering candle light. Despite the chilly air of winter, the man did not move much, slightly lowered his eyes and enjoyed the silence.

Time passed. He was telling me that time was passing by moving the pendulum of the clock, but he didn’t even roll his eyes once. As time passed, the man’s eyes slowly opened. The red eyes, shining in the dark, were red as if they had blood in them. These eyes, unique to a descendant of the Berdian family, were infamous for being like the blood of a maddened person. But the rolling of her eyes was so beautiful. It looked like a ripe carnelian or ruby.

Sigh, he heard the door open. The man sat down and bent his neck slightly upward.

“What’s going on, Butler?”

“A letter has arrived.”

“Letter?”

Since there was no one in the huge gymnasium, the voices of the two resounded as if they would fill the room. The man straightened up again and rose from his seat.

“Who are you from?”

“Can I explain that the lovely fiancée of Ian, the owner of the Berdian family, to whom I have dedicated my life and will continue to devote my life?”

A low-pitched laugh leaked out as he closed his teeth. The sound was gloomy, but his face was very cheerful with the corners of his mouth raised as if he was happy.

“Lawrence wrote a letter?”

“Yes. It looks like the letter you wrote four days ago.”

“Why did you write the letter, my princess?”

Although he was a seasoned butler who has a knack for dealing with family members as he ages, he had yet to get used to Ian’s cocky tone. So, his expression was strangely crumpled. But whether or not the butler said so, Ian hummed a ‘lulu lala’ song and picked up his coat that was scattered in the corner and put it on his body. Then he went up to the butler and patted him on the shoulder.

“The butler is also very old. You know how to make that kind of expression.”

“Sorry. I’m still lacking in training.”

“Phil, please do your best for the next 20 years.”

Considering that the butler was 80 years old this year, Ian’s request was almost unreasonable. The housekeeper sighed as he gently rubbed his wrinkled eyes.

“…Let’s do that.”

Ian smiled. He spread his palm and held it out to the butler. The butler unfolded the folded paper from his bosom and handed it to him. As if to prove that it hadn’t been opened yet, the envelope was sealed with the Ajstain family’s wax seal. He saw the beautiful writing written on the outside.

Lawrence Ajstain.

This name made him laugh out loud. Ian approached the wall with the torch attached so that he could see the letter clearly, opened the seal, and opened the letter. His eyes moved from top to bottom. As if slowly, very slowly, over and over again over two letters in total, his eyes finally reached the last sentence. The corner of his mouth crumpled softly.

“May I dare ask what it is about?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

He folded the letter, put it back in the envelope, and kept it in his arms. Right after that, he tilted his head, as if lost in thought for a moment, then looked at the butler. The butler forcibly played down his anxious mind, wondering what the eccentric owner would say again today. But anxiety always became a reality.

“Butler, how many knights do you currently have left in the palace?”

“Three of the knights belonging to the principality are undergoing training. Others entrusted by the imperial family…”

“Except them.”

After cutting off the butler’s words once, Ian opened his mouth again.

“Then, which knights are the fastest and most skilled?”

Knights who were fast? Why was that again? The wrinkles deepened between the butler’s eyebrows. However, the diligent and loyal butler answered calmly.

“The Knights, led by Oria Knights, are known to be very talented. In fact, I heard a lot of compliments during this training period.”

“Ok, fine.”

He clapped lightly and stood up.

“Can I ask why you’re asking that all of a sudden?”

“Oh, nothing special, I just thought of going hunting.”

“Hunting…?”

“Huh.”

Ian frowned. The butler looked at him with anxious eyes. The master made such a face that was no different from being pretty angry. What happened to the eccentric master? As if to answer the butler’s concerns, Ian’s mouth opened.

“Everyone change into casual clothes and call tomorrow morning, it doesn’t matter if they wear a little loose clothes.

“Uh.”

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“Well, to put it simply, it seems that our princess is planning a very classic strategy, so I’d like to cooperate.”

“A classic operation?”

Ian replied curtly with his slightly sunken eyes.

“Operation princess in danger!”

“…?”

What else was that person saying? A sigh escaped the butler’s mouth.

* * *

The New Year of the Ajstain family was quite hectic. Basically, because the accounting and financial documents are so voluminous, it took a lot of time to organize them. After spending the day in the castle, covered in piles of papers, I took it when it was so puzzling that I wondered if this was human life. But that wasn’t the only reason the castle was in disarray.

After finishing the paperwork with a thump, he handed it to butler Piebel, who was waiting next to him, and lightly cleared his throat. Fibel took a look at the papers handed over and nodded.

“I think this should be enough. I’ll summarize only the most necessary documents for two days.”

“I’ll leave it to you, that part.”

I got up from my seat with a smile on my face, and Fievel looked at me blankly.

“What happens?”

He tilted his head in puzzlement. Fiebel put down the stack of papers in his hand, then came over and said excuse me for a moment, then he carefully raised his arm and patted my shoulder.

“Aren’t you going to see your parents after a long time? If it’s dusty, they’ll be sad.”

The New Year of the Ajstein family coincided with the death of their parents. Of course, it’s not a perfect match, but I used to go to see the graveyard for the first time in the new year on the date.

In the Lyrus Empire, there was no custom of visiting and greeting ancestors every New Year, but it was treated as an etiquette to honor ancestors or those close to them and to visit the graves on the anniversary. It has been 10 years since I visited the graves of my parents at the beginning of each year. When I was young, I used to come here quite often. My grandfather often visited this place, and I also often visited because I wanted to be with him. However, after my grandfather passed away, I was busy living to fill the vacancy, so I forgot about these things.

“If you think about it before returning to the past, it’s been almost 10 years.”

It was difficult to determine the exact number of years, but the fact that it had been a while hadn’t changed. After leaving the office, she went to her grandfather’s room, opened the door, and smiled brightly.

“I’m ready. Grandpa.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of my grandfather wrinkling his nose as he corrected his glasses. He could talk without taking it off, but taking it off was annoying, so he always had a habit of talking with a wrinkled nose.

“You’re pretty.”

“Is it so?”

I looked down at the dress I was wearing. It had a distinct bright color, so I thought it would suit me well. Grandpa’s praise for recognizing this made me happy.

“My parents will like it too, right?”

“Well, for those guys, just the fact that you’re coming is enough. Clothes are not so important.”

“Is that so?”

I smiled and went over and put my hand on my grandfather’s shoulder. Then my grandfather straightened his back and lightly covered his palm over the back of my hand.

“As I said last time, Ersia and I will have to go to the fields this time.”

“Don’t worry. We’re not kids, so we’ll take care of ourselves.”

“Breath…”

Grandpa let out a serious moan and looked at me blankly. I thought he was worrying for nothing, so I laughed as if the fan was not good, so my grandfather smiled slightly and nodded his head. It was nice to see Grandpa’s smooth lips.

“Yeah, you’re an adult now, so you’ll take care of yourself. Be careful on your way back. You know it’s going to take a while, right?”

“The preparations are complete.”

“Roa will take care of herself, but what I’m worried about is…”

Without thinking deeply, I could tell that my grandfather’s voice was not directed at me but Ersia, a sickly woman who always receives sympathy and attention. Would she be able to withstand her two-day schedule of traveling in the carriage?

But my grandfather didn’t have to worry about that. With a click, the door opened and Ercia appeared. When her eyes met mine, my sister’s pupils fluttered. She pulled the corners of her lips.

“Are you here?”