I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

Benson looked at Ercia with a puzzled face and cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

 

“Lady Lawrence has left.”

 

“Well, you had a very sad expression on your face.”

 

Benson stuttered in embarrassment. Is Ercia standing on her shoulder making this kind of expression? The one who was unilaterally kicked out was Lawwrence, but Ercia looked up at him with a distressed face that looked like she was about to burst into tears. If Ercia was not the object of her protection, if she was not someone she had to protect but a woman in an equal position, she would have wanted to pat her on the head and offer her comfort, telling her to be strong.

 

“…Benson.”

 

“Yes-yes?”

 

Despite Benson’s embarrassed voice, Ercia slowly opened her mouth as if she was unimpressed.

 

“Let me ask you something.”

 

“What…?”

 

“What is family?”

 

“…yes?”

 

Benson’s eyes widened at her unexpected question. What is family? He looked at Ersia in surprise as she asked him about the concept of a word he had never thought about before. Are you kidding me? However, Ercia asked in a very distressed voice. She was too serious to just dismiss it as a joke. Benson looked at her quietly, then lifted her head, glanced at her ceiling, and spoke to her a beat later.

 

“Family is family. The most precious people who cannot be replaced by any words, people who must risk their lives to protect, and people who are willing to sacrifice themselves if they can be happy through my sacrifice. Isn’t that family?”

 

As a former mercenary, he defined family in a crude way. It was such a poor explanation that if other people heard it, they would laugh and ask what kind of family it was. Just protecting, how is this any different from knights risking their lives to protect their masters? Benson realized that his explanation had been extremely poor and he wanted to pat the man on the head. He wanted to slap this guy’s tongue. I wonder how pitifully Ercia looks at herself. Benson squeezed his eyes shut and slowly opened them. I was curious about Ersia who remained silent. However, what Benson saw when he raised his eyes was her quietly looking down at the ground.

 

“Miss?”

 

Ercia pondered over the definition of family he had mentioned.

 

“Is protecting… sacrificing enough enough to call us family?”

 

Why do I react like this? What was the conversation inside that made this spiteful woman so downcast? Benson thought for a moment and thought of his younger brother. What kind of person does his younger brother, who experienced life as a hostage rather than a hostage for a long time, exist to him? The only blood relative, the one who must be protected. A child more precious than my life. How can we combine those words? How should I explain it properly? Nothing really came to mind. I just want to protect it. I want to protect you. This was it.

 

“I don’t know the details. What does family mean?

 

“Is Benson protecting his brother without even knowing what it means?”

 

“Haha, it just so happens. Is that how it happens??”

 

Benson smiled lowly and pressed his lips together several times. His eyes seemed to be looking into the distance.

 

“But isn’t that family?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Benson lowered his head and grinned.

 

“Isn’t it enough even without thinking about it or defining the concept of the word? The people I see when I open my eyes after being born into the world, the people who protect me next to me, and the people I protect. In my case, beings born with the same bloodline are just that. I think family is something worth sacrificing my entire life for.”

 

He scratched his head and burst into laughter.

 

“Haha, I don’t really know what I mean by saying that. I haven’t learned much, and the only family I have is my younger brother. But, Miss Ercia.”

 

Ercia lifted her head and looked at Benson. The beautiful green eyes, unlike Laurencia’s, were shaking with uncertainty. Benson lowered his eyes slightly.

 

“Miss, aren’t many of the people around you family?”

 

“…What people?”

 

“Lady Lawrence, Viscount Ajstain, as well as many others who have entrusted themselves to the Ajstain family, are proud of this family. The Ajstain family deserves to be called a true noble family that does a lot of good things to the world. I feel the same pride.”

 

“It’s pride…”

 

“If the Ajstain family disappeared, I would also feel very sad and distressed. Instead of feeling a sense of loss from losing a good place, I would feel pain as if my mother, who had cared for me and embraced me, had disappeared.”

 

It was the loss of her mother. Ercia closed her eyes and opened them. Benson was laughing. It was unfamiliar to me that Benson, who had a stern expression on his face and was often criticized for looking fierce, was smiling heartily. But on the other hand, she liked it and Ercia smiled softly as well. While Benson froze, Ercia opened her mouth.

 

“Then are you family to me too?”

 

“Uh, yes? Ah… Is that so? Haha… How could I be so presumptuous…”

 

“No?”

 

Unable to bear to see Ercia with her sullen expression, Benson nodded her head vigorously.

 

“Oh, it’s family! It’s family. Since you’re the same age as my younger brother, I’ll think of you as my younger brother. Haha, what do you think?”

 

Ercia chuckled at the awkward manner in which she spoke in a flustered manner. Her bright smile was unfamiliar to Benson. Was she a woman who could laugh like this? As Benson watched her in fascination, Ercia gradually suppressed her laughter. Her eyes were smiling, but her pupils were sunken. She seemed to be looking into the distance, her eyes wandering in the air as she had no where to go.

 

“I wish I could make decisions like Benson.”

 

Benson couldn’t bear to answer that question. She could only turn around and close her eyes, pretending not to see the weakness of her young master, buried in her deep anguish, into which she could not intervene.

 

* * *

 

“Wake up… oh?”

 

When morning comes, Yuli, the diligent little maid, opened the door and comes in. She opened the door to ventilate the water and prepared it for her to wash. Then she brought a simple meal and served it to my mouth. This was her routine to start her day. Probably the most difficult part of the day is waking up someone who has a habit of sleeping late.

 

“Hello, Yuli, good morning.”

 

But today, unlike usual, Yuli woke up early in the morning and saw me tying my hair. Ollie, who was blinking his big eyes, came inside as if he was embarrassed and changed the drinking water on the table.

 

“…Where are you hurt? Miss?”

 

“Yes why?”

 

“Why? Your face is lifeless, like someone who will go into a coffin tomorrow and close the lid.”

 

Wasn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? No… it can’t necessarily be seen as an exaggeration. Because I spent most of the night with my eyes open.

 

“Anyway, what’s going on with everyone today? The castle feels busy.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“There are a lot of guests who came in from the morning today. His Excellency the Grand Duke Berdian, who was a guest, was anxious to meet them.”

 

Customer? The haziness seemed to disappear in an instant. I held my head and moved my legs quickly.

 

“Oh? Where are you going, lady?”

 

“I think I should meet those people too.”

 

“Hold on, girl!”

 

What about patience? It’s an important issue that I need to listen to, so what if I put up with it? Yuli looked up.

 

“It’s something I have to go to.”

 

“You know that, but just calm down.”

 

Yuli sighed and extended her finger and pointed toward my lower body.

 

“If you go with your legs exposed like that, all the men in this castle might have to cover their eyes.”

 

Because I had finished changing my clothes, my legs were bare and exposed. Trying to go out with only your top on… that’s crazy.

 

“Come in. And what’s with that hair? If anyone sees it, they’ll think it’s been torn off. If other people see that, even if they don’t curse you, they’ll curse me for serving you.”

 

“…haha.”

 

It was often possible to see Yuli raising her voice energetically among the workers of this fortress. It felt like I was trembling with fear and being hugged by a little bird that said it would protect me… I wonder if this is how a mother feels. She looked at her blankly and grinned.

 

“Okay. Please do it quickly.”

 

“Wash it first. I’ll prepare it for you when you get in the warm water.”

 

“Huh.”

 

As I was taking off the clothes I was wearing and entering the bathroom, I heard Yuli’s new request from behind me.

 

“You can’t sleep in the bathtub! You’ll catch a cold!”

 

Long like her mom.

 

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Translator Note: