I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

“You can just come in, why are you knocking on the door?”

 

It was a blunt voice. We looked the same, but our voices were different. That was the only way to differentiate me from her. She grinned. I could see Ersia flinching at that smile.

 

“You didn’t react.”

 

Ha, by the way, I looked into the eyes of Ercia who was looking at me while snorting. She looked me up and down and then turned her body around.

 

“Come in.”

 

She walked past Benson and into her room. As I closed the door, pitch black darkness enveloped me again. My younger sister was alone in a dark room where he couldn’t see an inch in front of him. Even though no one told him to stay there, it was as if the darkness was his family.

 

“What happened? Suddenly?”

 

“I came here because I have something to tell you.”

 

Stuttering, she stretched out her arms and walked over to where a chair might be. There was nothing under my feet, but I wasn’t used to the darkness yet, so it would look funny. Ersia’s sneer could be heard from somewhere.

 

“Is it because of the sudden wind? Normally, I would have turned on the lights as soon as I came in, telling them to stay bright.”

 

Yes, that’s right. It’s always been like that. I told Ercia to stay bright and turned on the game console first. But was it the right thing to do?

 

“You are the owner of this room.”

 

The sound of her lips quivering was heard as if she was trying to stop her from saying something. Leaving the silent Ercia behind, her hand wandered around looking for her chair, and she was able to safely sit her body down by holding the backrest of her chair in her hand.

 

“Hehe…”

 

She exhaled briefly. She heard Ercia sit down opposite her. As I got used to the darkness, like the sound of her chair being pulled and her regular breathing, I could see the new type a little bit.

 

“Sister Lawrence.”

 

“Huh.”

 

“Why did a sudden wind blow and bring you here? You must be tired after completing important work and traveling a long way.”

 

A comment mixed with ridicule was heard.

 

“I guess you had enough time to worry about other things that you thought of me?”

 

It’s time to worry… I’ve never really thought about it like that. It just occurred to me. Many things passed through her mind because of this incident, but the thing that stuck in her mind the most was Ercia. One thing came to her mind, and thoughts followed her accordingly.

 

“No, there is not.”

 

“Ha. But why…”

 

“But I want to talk. That’s why I came… I came here because I was curious. I wanted to ask.”

 

“What?”

 

She slowly opened her mouth, observing her sister’s reaction as her voice became quieter.

 

“I want to ask what you are thinking in this room.”

 

“…what?”

 

“It’s dark, a lot.”

 

She put her hands on the table. And closed her eyes. It was the same world as it came and went. It’s dark, quiet and desolate. A world where the sound of my breathing is everything. What is Ercia thinking here?

 

“Ershia, my younger sister.”

 

I felt my breathing becoming shaky in the darkness.

 

“You did that to me before. You said you hated me.”

 

“I did.”

 

Ercia answered as if it was no big deal, but her voice was like a cold knife. She closed and opened her eyes in response to her clearly defined answer.

 

“You said you hog all the love and that you hate me, yes?”

 

“Yes. My sister also said that I was annoying and bothersome. Well, since we are both common people, I don’t complain too much.”

 

“If you look at that, it seems like we look alike…”

 

“Because we are sisters. We are also twins.”

 

Yes, twin sisters. Twin sisters born in the same litter. But twin sisters who hate and hate each other. I let out a low breath.

 

“Ercia.”

 

“Speak up, I’m listening.”

 

“I want to ask you something.”

 

“What is it?”

 

A blunt question. In response, I asked a sincere question.

 

“We’re still family, right?”

 

“We’re still within a group that can be called family, right? You think so, right?”

 

“That…”

 

“Ercia.”

 

I called my sister one more time to which he had no answer, then reached out her hand and gently grasped her brother’s arm. It’s been a while since I touched my sister’s arm. It was so unfamiliar that it felt awkward. Ersia’s hard skin meshed with my courage. I let out my voice once again.

 

“I want to know.”

 

“What?”

 

“Are we still family?”

 

Am I still maintaining my position as your older sister? We hate and hate each other, but I wonder if there’s still a way back. I hope I didn’t realize it too late. So Ercia. Please answer me, my brother. If you still think of me and the rest of Aztain as family in this dark room… then please say so. The silence was long and Ercia had no answer. But she waited. I waited for Ercia’s answer just as I waited for the door to open. No answer. Ercia’s trembling flowed through my hands in a place where there was no voice. I closed my eyes while listening to Elsia’s agitated breathing.

 

I needed to look back at Ercia. Whatever the reason for returning to the past, there were many options before me. I could move forward, run away, or avoid it. However, regarding Ercia, they pushed it as if there was only one option. Without even trying to figure out why she did that, she just hated her and turned her back on her. I tried. To run away, to make myself stand out and live a better life than before. owever, during that process, Ercia was nowhere to be found. She just pushed him into her back like an abandoned child.

 

“Is that…?”

 

A low voice flowed in. Opening her eyes, she looked towards where Ercia was. Although I couldn’t see it clearly, it was clear that Ercia was looking at me. The voice came a little clearer.

 

“Does…is that important?”

 

“Ercia.”

 

Her slightly trembling voice indicated her agitation.

 

“If I say I’m your sister’s… if we say we’re family… well, is that important?”

 

“Er…”

 

“I don’t have any options anyway…”

 

“Why don’t you have a choice, Ercia?”

 

“No. I didn’t have a choice. The only thing that was forced on me since I was young was that I had to be worse than my sister.”

 

“Ersia?”

 

Not knowing what she was saying, she slowly called her sister’s name.

 

“Ha…”

 

Was she crying? Why…?

 

“I think my sister will be comfortable. She has no memory.”

 

“Ersia, what is that…”

 

“Ever since she was little, she’s always been like that. She often gets sympathy, and she gets rid of difficult things. She doesn’t even know what sacrifices were made afterward.”

 

“No, Ercia. What is that….”

 

“Please go back.”

 

“Er…”

 

“Go back!”

 

The chair fell backwards with a clatter. Ercia’s heavy breathing could be heard as she stood up from her seat. Why… Biting her lip, she got up from her seat and hesitantly approached Ercia, but she walked away from me.

 

“She doesn’t remember anything and she doesn’t want to say anything.”

 

“Are you family? Yes, you are family. If that’s the case for you, then that must be the case. Did you get the answer? So, go back. Just like before, I can live in the dark, and you can live in the light.”

 

If I just leave this room, the darkness will disappear and light will surround me. As has been the case since the beginning, the light does not surround Ersia. She drew her line and stopped in front of her, leaving my brother alone in her darkness.

 

“Because that was the decision I made, and the decision her family made for her sister.”

 

I was pushed away as if I was being chased by Ercia’s voice, looking at me with her horribly distorted face. The feeling of being disconnected is heard once again through the closed door. Benson’s voice came from next to me.

 

Lady Lawrence…

 

There was a deep chasm between us sisters that could not yet be bridged.

 

* * *

 

Ercia, who returned to the darkness, closed her eyes. The darkness that never left her side was familiar to her, but she was so lonely. Her heartbeat was pounding so hard that it threatened to gnaw at her sanity.

 

“Why…”

 

Her eyes were tightly closed. Laurencea’s voice flowed through the pounding sounds in her head. Are you sure this is her family? What is the point of suddenly asking such a question, Lawrence? Ercia bit her lip. She kind of knew. At some point Lawrence’s attitude changed. She could feel that her sister knew who she was. That’s probably why the sisters fought each other in front of her parents’ resting place, saying they didn’t like each other. I don’t regret it. Because she knew that she hated herself as much as she hated Lawrence.

 

Nothing changed. As always, she hides herself in the dark. That was it. She said this is all she can do. The house she carried as a child constantly pressured her. As if to say that it was the fate given to him. But it didn’t matter. Since it was a life I was used to, it was a problem I could just accept. It was a problem that could be dealt with like that. Like that, like that, like that… But at some point, there was an opportunity that made him reflect on what the fence called family meant to him. Ercia slowly opened the door again. At one point, Benson, the man guarding himself at her door just like me, caught my eye.

 

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Translator Note: