I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

Benson couldn’t tell what her intentions were, so he put it aside after seeing it. In the meantime, Lawrence went to the center. As soon as she heard the news, she became contemplative and could not understand Ercia’s attitude as she went up to the top floor of the castle and inspected Laurencia’s carriage. Didn’t she harbor her animosity towards Lawrence?

 

As he was staring blankly at her back, lost in his thoughts, Ercia’s voice penetrated him. Benson lifted his head.

 

“Yes.”

 

“My sister received a summons and left?”

 

“From what I heard, yes.”

 

“…What is the reason for her summoning?”

 

“The reason is that the seal used to purchase large quantities of sulfur and titanium is Lady Lawrence’s seal, and all the gold coins paid in transactions concluded using that seal are counterfeit money. Of course, we do not know if this is true, but the Aztain family “If you consider that you do not have enough funds to use counterfeit currency, I think there may be a misunderstanding.”

 

As soon as Benson finished speaking, she made a sound like she was holding her breath. Benson looked at Ercia with surprised eyes. Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Are you scared? Are you afraid that the gate will fall?

 

“Don’t worry. Who is Lady Lawence? She is a natural fighter. She doesn’t make decisions that will likely result in her winning or losing. Moreover, they do not even pay attention to cases where the risk is extremely high. I don’t think Lady Laurencia would have done something like that. So, she will resolve it without any problems and come back.”

 

For no reason, that shoulder looked pitiful, and Benson’s words of comfort made the room roar. Ercia held her breath and followed her carriage as it disappeared from sight, then she let out a loud breath. She closed her eyes.

 

“Benson…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You said this was home.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“So where will you go when this house disappears?”

 

She was asking something strange. Benson quickly opened his mouth to her question without much hesitation.

 

“If I’m with my family, I can always get my house back, right? I don’t really care. As long as I’m with my family.”

 

“…with family.”

 

Ercia quietly mumbled his words, thought about it, and then shook her head. Then she turned and walked past Benson and out of her room. Benson followed behind her. Her very heavy face and slender shoulders did not collapse. Smiling at himself for her cheeky thoughts of wanting to pat her, he made sure that Ercia went back into her room, then stood still in front of her door and relaxed her posture a little.

 

“Anyway, what really happens?”

 

If, as Ercia said, this matter did not go well and the Ajstain family became extinct, what would happen to her own future? He was now living here with his younger brother and living his satisfactory life. The pay was quite good and the work itself was not difficult. More than anything, his younger brother really needed this castle. If his home and sanctuary were here, he could take care of his younger brother and at the same time take full care of his younger brother’s education, which he lacked. What if he leaves the Ajstain family? He didn’t want to think about it, but he concluded that if he left, it would probably be difficult to find a place this good again. So, he just desperately hoped that Lawrence would come back without any trouble.

 

* * *

 

“…The imperial family issued a summons? To Lawrence?”

 

The old butler calmly nodded his head to Ian, who asked in confusion. He was frustrated, like a grandfather telling him about dinner’s side dishes. Ian wrinkled his face.

 

“What are you talking about, Grandpa?”

 

“That’s literally it. The central government and the imperial family charged Lady Laurencia Ajstain with distributing counterfeit currency. It is said that the seal used when purchasing large quantities of sulfur and titanium is Lady Lawrence’s personal seal.”

 

Sulfur and titanium? Obviously that…

 

“What happened to Lawrence?”

 

The old butler took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to him. Butler Noh, who manages all correspondence, had already read the letter written by Lawrence. Ian read the contents of the letter from top to bottom and then laughed with an expression that made no sense. Then he raised his head, thought for a moment, and then looked at the butler again.

 

“It was not the Ajstain family that purchased the sulfur and titanium. The Piero clan, led by the Alpensia family, and the group associated with it, Lawrence, have already completed their investigation into this matter, and there is evidence, so it is no problem.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Despite the old butler’s calm answer, Ian still spoke with a flushed face.

 

“What do you think about it?”

 

“Well…”

 

After thinking for a moment, butler Noh nodded his head once and added.

 

“Typical.”

 

“Yes?”

 

Ian frowned for a moment, then sighed.

 

“Does Lawrence know?”

 

“She probably knows to some extent that she is going into a wolf’s den. And she probably prepared accordingly. However, if the trial that will be held there is a military trial rather than a basic trial, they will start with arrest. I don’t know if she knows that.”

 

“Do you think it’s possible? To open it as a military trial right away.”

 

“Do you think it’s impossible? We are talking about someone who is truly capable of destroying an empire’s economy. Nothing is impossible.”

 

It couldn’t be helped. Ian put down his letter and considered the time. Considering the time the letter arrived here and the time Laurencia left for the imperial palace, he tilted his head.

 

“Where is Duke Safeldrick?”

 

“He must be in the capital.”

 

“Send a letter to him as quickly as possible and ask him to personally hand over Lawrence’s new soldiers. If you tell him it’s my request, he will grant it no matter what happens.”

 

“All right.”

 

“And tell the entire army currently in the territory to stand by armed, with the exception of the minimum number of troops required to maintain security, so that they can depart for the capital when the time comes.”

 

“I will deliver it to them.”

 

Ian sat down at his desk, rubbing his chin, and remembered Laurencia’s innocent face.

 

“Anyway, I think I’ll have to give Lawrence a lecture on basic disease law when I get back from there. Since she is spending her brains on business, I don’t think she can think about this at all.”

 

“It can’t be helped. Even if it were someone other than Lady Lawrence or even an older noble, you wouldn’t expect it.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

Ian answered briefly, then got up from his desk and walked straight to his room.

 

“Grandpa, tell Captain Oria to dress lightly and prepare for departure, and have him wait inside the castle gate within two hours.”

 

“All right.”

 

Ian’s steps were hurried as he passed the old butler who was bending over. The enemies’ movements were faster and more irregular than expected. He never thought he would send a summons from the imperial family. It was something that even Ian could not have predicted. It’s probably possible because there’s a crown prince.  It occurred to him that the things happening around Lawrence recently were unusual. Is it something that catches up with her, or is it something that she causes, or is it not…

 

‘Is this something that happened because of me?’

 

He felt uncomfortable at the thought that the conflict between two groups that had been fighting each other for a long time was triggered by a small woman named Lawence. He didn’t want to involve her in the dirty, dirty politics. At least for now. The pressure on the ducal family, which began immediately after the Crown Prince was appointed to his position, became more severe day by day. In fact, it almost collapsed. That is, if Laurencia hadn’t shown up. Looking at it that way, it became easier to understand how cumbersome and uncomfortable a woman named Lawrence was from their perspective, and how easily she could become a weak point. She fell in love with him by chance, and it felt like the personal stories between her and Beralt, which were completely different stories when viewed separately, but were ultimately connected by a single thread, were colliding uncomfortably.

 

“I hope nothing happens.”

 

He had to quickly catch up with Lawrence.

 

* * *

 

It could have been boring given the distance, but it wasn’t. Even while on the move, I imagined various scenarios and thought of ways to deal with unexpected incidents or accidents. It could be that the seal was actually copied in detail, or that the seal may have been changed without my knowledge, and the manager in charge of the Ajstain family’s business may have purchased it. There may also be managers who have betrayed you. After thinking about all these things and thinking about it, we arrived near the capital. As I moved along the desolate plain and entered the road near the capital, I could hear people’s voices coming from all over. How long have you been to the capital? Not that many came. Memories of coming with my grandfather, and of stopping by briefly for business, flashed through my head. I never stayed here for long. The Ajstain family, whose main industry was mining, had no reason to set foot in the mountainless capital. I came here occasionally to manage financial assets, but even for that I just had to send an agent. When word spread that the owner of the Ajstain family had arrived, opportunists would line up and ask for investment, so it was easy to become a nuisance. It was difficult to refuse if someone had a higher title or power than our family. That is why we wanted to block out the surrounding noise from the beginning.

 

I slightly lowered the window and looked around the village where people lived. The villagers looked at the sight of a carriage with a pattern they had never seen passing by, as if they were amazed.

 

“I guess I was surprised by how big the carriage was.”

 

Wasn’t it? The size of the carriage was large.

 

“People here are probably used to carriages.”

 

“But this is my first time seeing a carriage of this size. Look at it, it looks like a small house moving.”

“Oh no. It’s not that big.”

 

I looked at Yuli, whose eyes were sparkling, and smiled. When I was bored and crying from a headache, I could laugh at Yuli’s fuss. As young as she was, she still had some innocence left in her, making her a country girl. He’s fourteen. If you think about it, he’s four years older than me. What was I like when I was 18? I thought about it for a moment. Umm…. Was I innocent too? I don’t remember very well, but Laurencia was the worst at that time. I was foolish and tried to sublimate my grief over losing my family into work.

 

Every day, I grew tired from fatigue, and when I could no longer stand under the weight, I returned and fell asleep. It was a repetition of those days. I had been foolish in the past for not taking care of myself. Memories of the past that I don’t want to look back on. The past, with its numerous traces remaining, comes to mind again.

 

“Miss?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I think we’re almost to the capital. I can see the big city walls in the distance.”

 

Hearing Yuli’s words, I turned my head and looked out the window. She turned her gaze away from the scenes around her that were quickly disappearing in her rapidly changing field of vision. In the distance, a huge castle wall stands firmly in sight.

 

‘Even then…’

 

It was the same back then. It was the summer when I was 18 that I first came up to the capital by myself. Unable to escape the darkness of her grandfather’s death, she visited the imperial palace to prove that she had taken over all of the Ajstain family’s business.

 

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