I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

Everything was as it was. The Porrel Hill she loved, and Aunt Mesha, who baked her apple pie and gave her a sweeter smile, were still alive. Nar, the guard dog I once played with, also clung to me. All of these were memories of the past that I thought I would never have anymore.

“Let’s go in. You’ll catch a cold if you stand there blankly.”

After gently stroking my hair, I watched my grandfather’s back as he approached the mansion door with a cultured gait. It was full of warmth and a soft, sweet scent. At the end of a quiet day of visits to Porrel Hill, my grandfather would always dry his mouth by praising the apple pie that Aunt Mesha had made.

When I recalled the memories of the past that I thought would continue forever, the painful years when I had no choice but to reach out and struggle in the distant past, it was as if I was dreaming.

“Roa, come in. The night air is cold.”

However, the reality unfolding before my eyes was clear and long enough to be called a dream.

“Yes, Grandpa.”

It was a sweetness I didn’t want to break. Warmth enveloped my body as I opened the door my grandfather entered first and I followed him.

The big stove in the kitchen, which stopped after Aunt Mesha died, was the best ingredient for Auntie’s apple pie, the secret itself. Uncle Robert, who was fanning himself with firewood underneath, was also a hidden helper of the sweet pie.

“Is this enough?”

“Ahhh! Add more! How many times have I told you that we have to make more food because we have guests coming over today? Are you smoking nonsense now because you don’t want to chop wood tomorrow?!”

“Oh no! It can’t be.”

Uncle Robert’s flustered voice as he put in the firewood with a brusque face and Aunt Mesha’s voice as she handled him skillfully were always pleasant to hear. Compared to the size of the mansion, the number of residents was disproportionately low. This was the residence of the Viscount Ajtain. Contrary to the imagination of people who thought they would live in a luxurious palace, my grandfather and I took care of a lot of business here.

“Let’s see.”

As soon as I got home, I naturally sat down at the desk next to my grandfather, who was fiddling with his monocle and examining the pile of papers. And likewise, I checked the papers piled on my desk.

Laughter came out of nowhere. When I was young, I called my grandfather, struggling with these papers. The calculations were difficult and the difficult letters written on the contract made my head hurt. At times like that, he always explained things in an easy way, but I turned my head slightly and looked at the clean grandfather’s face. My grandfather, who took over as head of the household after my parents who passed away after giving birth to me early. I couldn’t believe that his age was sixty this year. People used to joke about my grandfather never getting old, and that he was in fact not a demon or werewolf. At some point, I thought that was normal too. But the day after my grandfather’s death, I couldn’t say anything in front of his body, which had turned white.

Grandpa, who seemed to always be by my side, turned into a cold corpse. It was also the appearance of a person who is 20 years older than his own age.

“Roa?”

I turned my head to the voice calling me. Grandpa took off the paperwork he was fiddling with and the monocle glasses that hung over his nose and looked at him with a worried look.

“Is there something difficult about it?”

Hearing my grandfather’s voice, I examined the papers in my hand. Ah, oh my, my hand was straining involuntarily, and I was holding a thin piece of paper.

As soon as I put the paper down and scratched my head with an awkward smile, my grandfather asked again in a lower voice.

“What’s wrong? Ever since you woke up earlier, I’ve been silent and quiet all along, but you’re lost in thought, it’s not like usual.”

“Ahaha…”

Oh, it’s been like this since before. In fact, the biggest problem was that I couldn’t manage my facial expressions well, so my emotions were revealed openly on my face. If the person running the business couldn’t manage his expression, the contract had side effects.

“Tell me.”

“Ah, there’s nothing like that.”

I shook my palms and smiled as if it was okay, but Grandpa didn’t let go of his worried gaze. I was only weak to my grandfather, so I couldn’t bear to ignore it and slowly opened my mouth with a sigh.

“Actually, I had a nightmare.”

“Nightmare?”

“Yes.”

With a rattling sound, I got up from my chair and looked at my grandfather who was slowly approaching. Grandpa stroked my hair with his big, broad hand and gave me a warm smile.

“What kind of nightmare was it?

“…It was a very sad nightmare.”

With my eyes tightly closed, I recalled memories that seemed to have lasted less than a day.

“It was a dream in which I was betrayed by the people I trusted the most. Because of that, I couldn’t keep the property and last will left by the person I respected and loved the most. “

Yeah, maybe I’ve gone crazy. It was a pain that was not enough compared to any loss or pain. To be betrayed by the person I trusted the most. 

Once again, the despair of that time came and squeezed my chest tightly. As if saying, “Can I get away from this?”, the feeling of despair that gripped and opened my heart made me close my eyes tightly, and the ridicule that came again made my heart ache.

“…”

“I see.”

The hand that had been stroking my hair came down and rubbed my cheek lightly. Moist tears, unknown when they had flowed, were wiped away by my grandfather’s hand. When I raised my head, my grandfather greeted me with a soft and benevolent face and smiled.

“It’s better not to think of such nightmares any more.”

“Grandfather…”

“I’ll get everything sorted out for today, so you can go and rest.”

“But…”

“There will be guests soon, so this is not the time to be like this. You have to go and organize and dress up. Shouldn’t you meet that gentleman again?”

“…That gentleman?”

With that one word, the waves of emotions were calmed down and overflowed. My stomach rumbled as if I had met a storm. However, I couldn’t bear to show it, so I forced myself to smile, left the room, closed the door, and exhaled slowly.

“…Brother.”

The name of Elcia, a twin sister who looked just like me, a younger sister whom I loved, cared for, and protected so much, who had always reached the edge of compassion, remained a hatred for me.

The mansion seemed busy today. Come to think of it, this business was somehow familiar. It was clear what had happened in the past. I moved my steps thinking about what happened today. Elcia’s room, who could not live upstairs because of her ill health and had to climb her stairs, was always in the corner of the first floor. Every time I entered that room, I saw the haggard look of my younger sister. I always felt sorry for her. But not now. Now, Elsia was no better than anyone else. Unless this was a dream.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door slowly.

“Yes.”

She revealed that inside there was a person similar to her with her same voice. I held my heart firmly and opened the door. A strong smell of medicine, and a darkened room, a slender woman sitting quietly on a bed. Elsia, a younger sister who looks like me but has almost no life in her.

“Sister, are you there?”

I had no doubts about that smile, that smile that greeted me with warmth. In the past, when I couldn’t pursue my younger sister despite seeing countless evidence, I lost everything in the end. Dummy.

“Yeah. It’s getting chilly now.

But that doesn’t mean that I could deal with Elcia immediately. Anyone in the world could see that Elsia was a pitiful and delicate girl. Despite being twins, she runs out of her room because of her ill health.

She seldom went out, and she had to live with the drug taken. She was, but she was a bright child who smiled and told people to cheer up and not to worry. She was sick and difficult, but her caring personality makes her endearing to everyone. So it was clear that I would get a lot of scolding if I was mean to my poor little brother. And my grandfather’s disappointment would follow. I didn’t want to disappoint him.

I slowly approached and looked out of the window. I stared at the deep darkness, then turned around and put my hips on her window sill before I smiled softly.

“Wasn’t it hard today??

“What can be difficult? Rather, big sis is having a hard time.”

I used to be teased by that voice full of her kindness and warmth…

“How have you been today?”

“I think it was unusual.”

“It’s normal…”

I flicked the tail of her horse and looked at her face. I couldn’t imagine how vicious she could become with that innocently smiling face. So I believed her to the end.

“Ah! More than that, I heard that a guest is coming today.”

“A guest?”

“Oh, my sister told me then. A very special guest is coming today.

“Did I?”

I don’t remember. I remember having some kind of guest, but I guess it wasn’t that important.

I didn’t come up with anything in particular, so I tried to pass it over, but Elsia held her hands tightly with her ecstatic face.

“To think that she was acquainted with such a wonderful man… I’m sure he must be a really cool person out there. I’m proud of you.”

I couldn’t stand the twinkling face. Once heard, all of that seemed pretense. Curses barely restrained the urge to escape from her mouth. I turned and approached the door.

“Are you going to eat outside today? Should I prepare in advance?”

“Yes? Ah yes…”

Elsia answered in a voice full of doubt, perhaps sensing that I was different from usual. Without even looking at her, I closed the back door to greet her and left her room.

“Sigh…”

It got worse and worse. It seemed like I was going to vomit at any moment. I couldn’t smile while looking at that face, and I couldn’t even give her a warm word. But all of this was tantamount to hard work, as a good sister has to do.

“I’d rather meet a kinky inspiration and get the contract signed.”

I pressed down on my mouth and swallowed my voice inside. By the time I leaned against the wall to calm my emotions, I heard the sound of the front door opening and people greeting me Were there guests? Who were you to say hello to everyone?

I walked along the wall, turned the corner, and approached the entrance. Five or six men dressed in fancy clothes greeted me warmly, holding what seemed to be gifts in both hands. It was a familiar landscape. However, I couldn’t remember whose visit it was, so I looked at the situation blankly. First, my grandfather who came out the front door greeted a man with a warm smile.

“Nonsense…”

I saw him again. That face, yes, it was today. I forgot. The day the man who started interfering in my life met Elsia

“Here you are! Miss Laurencia, thank you for inviting me today.”

A man who captivated the hearts of many women with his good looks, wry smile, manners, and sophisticated hand gestures. And the one who cursed me.

“The Marquis of Akpensia…”

The man who said he loved me and promised to give me everything. And the man who turned my long-established trust into a piece of paper and led me and my sister to ruin. Before long, the man who looked down at my collapsed back in frustration and laughed at me. It was today that he proposed engagement to me.

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