I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

“Yes. Ah, it’s a little difficult to say this. Put simply, it means intolerance of injustice.”

“Ho Ho.”

Was she feeling good?

“Because I’m originally a righteous person…”

“You look like that.”

She smiled. Actually, this woman wasn’t someone I wanted to be open with. She had a bad reputation and was light-mouthed. According to the culture of the empire, where the family was passed on to the eldest daughter or the eldest son, it was true that the lady in front of me would eventually become the next Duke, but… I couldn’t believe this woman would be the head of household… She was going to be the Duke of Sapeldrick too. If this woman succeeded the Duke, there’s no way she wouldn’t know that trouble would arise. If I build up a friendship with a woman like this, it would definitely harm me later, and there was nothing to gain. What’s more, I didn’t like the reason she brought me to this place. I really didn’t want to get close to her if she was going to put a standard on me because of Ian.

Looking at Nerdika, who covered her face and laughed, I smiled again and continued.

“Originally, isn’t justice different for each person?”

I moved the corners of her mouth as she watched Nerdika harden as she smiled.

“Even if it doesn’t seem very fair to some people, if it’s justice to you, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“…What does that mean, young lady?”

I really liked her hard face and trembling voice. I brought my hands together and lightly brought them to my cheeks.

“For example, wouldn’t it be jealousy in a relationship between a man and a woman? Or obsession.”

The corners of her eyes lifted high and shook sharply.

“Do you know what? Where is the most consumed rooibos tea?”

“…Where is it?”

I spoke lightly.

“Originally, people only judge things based on what they know.”

I took a sip of the tea and her expression twisted. Not sure what I mean? I curled the corners of my eyes leisurely.

“Rooibos tea is the most loved tea by high-ranking officials in the imperial palace. Even for His Majesty the Emperor is one of his favorite teas.”

Looking at Nerdika’s face as she bit her lip, I could see why I had a familiar feeling of deja vu. The selfish, greedy, ignoring way of speaking, even the subtle facial expressions that do not reveal her true intentions. They look so much alike with my sister Ersia.

“In the imperial family, it means tea given to the most precious and important person, Lady Nerdika.”

She put the teacup down and erased her expression slightly. I really liked this look. It was the face shown to humans who played pranks on contracts based on trust. Simply put, a look that means “Are you messing with me right now?” But could this woman know that? It’s just her trembling. Only when time passes would you realize that you have been humiliated.

“Thank you, Lady Nerdica.”

For giving me an unexpected welcome and treating me like a beggar.

“Are you now…?”

She must be embarrassed. I knew the feeling of hearing words you didn’t even think of. Living in the world was not that easy. With a smile on my face, I leaned back in my chair and opened my mouth with my arms crossed.

“It’s not easy to be human, right?”

“Yes.”

She forced a smile.

There were usually two types of people like that. One was a person who was not good at acting and was not used to hiding his true feelings. Most fell into this category. And the other, like Nerdika, was a person who could be faithful to her emotions without much trouble. In other words, it meant that even if you did everything you wanted to do, there was no one to interfere or say anything. It was the possessor of great power. In fact, Duke Sapeldrick was a person at the center of power, so who would have said anything to Nerdika? Just like avoiding shit because it’s dirty, people must have forced themselves to turn around because they would be the ones who would get hurt if they faced it.

But I wasn’t on the nerves enough to ignore someone who was so openly hostile. What more? How old were we? There was no point in fighting at all.

“Come to think of it, is Lady Nerdika also 20 years old this year? Oh, her birthday is passing soon, so she is 21?

Eyebrows moved. Considering the average age of marriage for women, it wasn’t too late. However, she was a bit behind for a high-ranking aristocratic woman like Nerdika. High-ranking aristocrats usually had their weddings starting from their coming-of-age ceremony. The reason was simple. It is advantageous to have children first if you want to gain an upper hand in the battle for succession. But Nerdika, she has no children, and she was not even married. Of course, if she thought of herself as the heir to the duchy, there would be no problem, but in fact, the more she did that, the sooner she should get married. Because giving birth to a child meant that she was ready to formally inherit the current duchy. It was rare to succeed the title without an heir.

If you think about those things, Ian’s case was a little special. Even though the former Grand Duke Berdian was still alive, Ian took over the Grand Duke’s seat. And he wasn’t even married.

I thought the Berdian family was over after rumors of sodomy were spreading, but unexpectedly, as Ian was in love with me, the number of people who were secretly trying to re-enter the Berdian family was on the rise.

“Isn’t it time to think about getting married?”

“Ho-ho, I want to marry the person I love.”

“Oh, is that so?”

It must be. Since she was the incarnation of jealousy and greed, how could she be fooled?

“Do you have a crush on someone recently? As much as I run a business, I’m pretty good at counseling. Dating counseling is also welcome. Ah! Did you call me for dating counseling?”

Pretending I didn’t know, I clapped softly and her surprised face trembled at my pretense. I really liked the way Nerdika’s expression slightly distorted. For some reason, I felt like I was dealing with Ersia, and a strange pleasure was added to it. The more I did this, the more I had to be equanimous. The moment I acted on my feelings and mood, I was likely to fall into my own trap.

As I stared at her slightly surprised expression, Nerdika forced a smile, pulling the corners of her mouth with difficulty.

“Th-Can you do something like that? You’re more capable than I thought, Young lady.”

Ohhh, did I hurt her pride? There was power in the word ‘more than I thought’. Se even showed a relaxed smile as if he was trying to provoke me, but it was far from enough. Even if it looked like this, it was a mental strength that I had trained while carrying the family for 10 years and meeting all sorts of trash. Besides, as if I had prepared a bigger bowl to seal the bowl that had already been smashed once, this young lady was far from enough to deal with me, who had become a little more relaxed. I wouldn’t know if it was the work of the Duke of Sapeldrick, but she’s an immature child. A sigh came out of my mouth. To come to an important deal and fight for love. It was also a one-sided drama. I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded when she first pointed a knife at me, who had no interest in me, and provoked me. I wondered what kind of charm Ian had. What do you like about that guy who looks like he’s missing a screw?

“I’m called the all-around beauty.”

“I see. Then may I ask for a consultation?”

“As much as you like.”

With a grin, Nerdika took a few short breaths in her and opened her mouth with her steady face.

“There is a guy I like.

“Oh, who is it??”

It’s obvious. Is there another one besides Ian? I looked at Nerdika’s face. I was curious to see how she would react. Nerdika opened her mouth again, her eyes shining, and the name came out.

“Your Excellency the Grand Duke of Berdian.”

The first thing I thought was that it was bold. There’s no way you wouldn’t know what Ian and I showed at the coming-of-age ceremony, but to say openly that you like your man in front of that person. At this level, it was doubtful whether she had great courage or lack of awareness.

‘It’s either that or she is greedy…’

I nodded calmly.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Grand Duke Berdian and I have been growing up together since childhood. In the winter when I was six years old, he said he would take off his coat and cover me when I was shivering from the cold and protect me.”

It’s a long time… A kid who is still young did such a thing? The eyes glowed.

“It’s fresh? So what?”

It felt like I got to know the other side of Ian, so it was somehow interesting. When I asked while slightly lowering my upper body, Nerdika took out her words with a rather bewildered face.

“Once, while playing in the pool, he got a cramp on my leg and saved me from sinking. He was 13 years old and I was just 10 years old. I was moved by the way he saved me by giving me artificial respiration.”

“Artificial respiration?”

That part was a bit annoying. But well, it was a child and it was to save people, so I understood it and moved on.

“Yes. It was my first kiss!”

Usually artificial respiration was not called a kiss. Nerdika’s condition was worse than expected. To draw a strange conclusion after her delusion. I opened my eyes and quietly listened to the next story.

“Then it happened when I was 15. He had no partner for his coming-of-age ceremony. Then, he reached out to me first. He’s been asked to be a partner. Grabbing the hand that had taken my heart, we danced as a pair of beautiful canaries in front of everyone’s eyes. That’s how I made a promise to the future.”

“Huh…”

He reached out to be her partner? I didn’t like that a little bit, but it could have been because he needed a partner… logically. But somehow, I couldn’t stop the narrowing of my brows.

‘…Your partner was this woman.’

A feeling of displeasure flowed through my voice in a curt voice.

“And what?”

“Last time, on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, he first reached out his hand to become my partner.”

“Who did it?”

“Your Excellency the Grand Duke of Berdian.”

Were they talking about the same Ian? What was this man, pretending to be innocent and then being a playboy? What was I then? He reached out to me too. Unbeknownst to me, the corners of my eyes grew sharp.

“We performed a beautiful dance in front of many people and promised our future like that.”

“…Did you have an engagement ceremony?”

“No. There was no such thing.”

But what future did they have? Wasn’t this too much of an illusion? Of course, being accompanied as a partner during a coming-of-age ceremony was used in that sense. However, immediately after that, there should be an engagement ceremony or some mention of marriage, but the fact that there was no mention of it meant that there was no relationship in the end. I was not sure why Ian reached out to this worthless woman, but he had to put it off until later and let go of his beggar mood.

I spoke softly with a fake laugh.

“What else happened after that?”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, events that can be officially entangled or similar. For example, engagement ceremonies…”

“There was no such thing.”

“Have you been like that?”

“Yes. But I never doubted. He would soon build a future with me. He and I had a deep bond with each other for a long time, and we were partners at each other’s coming-of-age celebrations.”

Holding her hands, I pressed them to my cheeks and stared at the woman who was talking loudly with a thrilled face. The thought that she was quite a troublesome person crossed my mind.

“But…”

Her eyes, which had been in the midst of emotion, turned ferocious and glared at me blatantly. With her eyebrows twitched; I interpreted it as ‘it’s the moment to fight’.

—————————————————————

Translator Note:

Want to read more?