When I told her my opinion, Ercia looked at me with an absurd expression and lowered her upper body.
“Sister, now is not the time to look at me and nod your head indifferently. What wedding in the world can be held in one month? The main character of the wedding is the bride. And you are that bride! Do you want to be a shabby bride?”
It’s better to be flashy than shabby.
“I’m frugal at weddings…”
“The coming-of-age ceremony was done with money.”
“…”
I did that with the sole intention of letting go of past resentments and showing you my power, and I was not a person who indulged in extravagance. Ercia looked at me with her arms crossed and shook her head.
“I can’t forgive you.”
“?”
“She cannot tolerate my sister becoming a shabby and frugal bride.”
She stared blankly at Ercia, who spoke out her voice quite forcefully.
‘It’s my job…’
The words were about to come out of her throat, but Ercia opened her mouth before they could.
“A month is not enough just to choose a wedding dress. How can you finish everything in one month? How about wedding rings? What about the wedding venue? What about other dresses to wear at the party and artists to invite? What about the list of people to invite? What about the design of the wedding invitation?”
I guess I was short-thinking. She was overwhelmed by Ersia’s spirit as she spoke more passionately than she expected, and when she stared at her without saying anything, Ercia narrowed her eyes.
“Sister.”
“Huh?”
“Please trust me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I will make her sister the happiest and most gorgeous bride in the world.”
“There is no need to do that…”
“There is. I can’t tolerate a wedding where my sister isn’t the star. So leave it to me. Yes, sister!?”
I slightly avoided the gaze of Ersia, who was rushing towards me with great vigor. Was she originally this strong a child? Now that a child like this had spent 10 years unable to come out of that dark room, it was somewhat understandable that he was askew. She felt sorry and pitiful, and looking at Ercia, who had a face similar to mine and was interested in a completely different field, she could feel that even though she was a twin, she was different. By the way, I had no idea if I could really entrust her with her wedding… I thought for a moment and looked at Ercia’s sparkling emerald eyes. She quickly nodded her head.
“Don’t push yourself too hard…”
Ercia smiled brightly at my answer.
“Don’t worry. Just trust me.”
“And report back often. I tried to be frugal, but there are ways I want to do it, so I’ll look at it and make a decision.”
“I will report every day.”
I smiled as I looked at Ercia, who returned to her desk with a confident expression, picked up her pen, and scribbled something on her blank piece of paper. Yeah, well, good things are good things. The moment I poured the rest of the tea into my mouth and was about to get up, someone knocked on the door. At the sound of her knocking, she turned her head and opened her mouth.
“Come on in.”
Benson, a man so large that the door through which other people normally entered seemed narrow, came in and greeted me.
“What happened?”
“I came to talk to Lady Ercia about her exercise, but you were with her.”
I nodded.
“We are doing office work together these days. By the way, exercise? What kind of exercise?”
“Ah, this is the opinion of the doctors. They said that Miss Ercia lacks stamina and has a significant lack of muscles because she has not used her body much for a long time. So, if you do light physical exercise with me periodically from now on, it will be good for your health. I thought it might be helpful, so I came to ask Lady Laurencia for permission.”
“Hmm.”
Well, it’s not a bad thing. She moved around a lot and there were no problems with her health, but Ercia seemed a little lacking in her stamina. No, a little too much. When I looked at Ercia, she opened her eyes wide with an astonished look on her face. You can see the answer just by looking at it.
“With a face like that? Besides, if you’re talking about something like that, shouldn’t it be told to Elsia, not me?”
“She thought she would make that kind of expression, so she tried to get permission from Lady Laurencia in advance.”
Right. If you think about it, Benson had a rather cunning side. No, should I say strategic. He wasn’t a regular bet anyway. I don’t think level 5 mercenaries are just good at skills. You have to follow your head too. She nodded and looked at Ercia. She immediately made eye contact with Ercia.
“What do you think, little brother?”
“I absolutely hate it.”
“But why don’t you exercise? It’s not about anything else, it’s about health.”
“Sister, I am already healthy. Look, where do I look sick?”
She looked distinctly sickly, with her overly pale skin not having been out and about.
“Miss Ercia, I will help you. It won’t be difficult.”
Ersia’s expression, which had been looking at me pitifully, changed to a vicious look.
“I don’t like it. Benson?”
“It’s no use if you don’t like it. I will definitely make Miss Ercia exercise.”
“Don’t get me wrong. You are my bodyguard, not my doctor. And you are not the one who can force me to do anything.”
Benson heard that and turned her head to look at me. What do you want to do when you see me? He slightly spread his hands. It’s not something I can do. What would happen if I, as your older sister, forced you to do something if you said you didn’t like it? It would only backfire. Benson sighed slightly at my gesture. Ercia continued without giving him time to speak.
“And why do you care about my worries? All you have to do is be a good escort.”
Benson answered with a calm expression, as if it was natural.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“What?”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
“…worry?”
Benson strangely looked directly at Ercia’s face as her expression changed and continued speaking.
“It’s natural for me to be worried and worried about Lady Ercia’s health. That’s why I’m asking you this.”
Ercia’s face, which had been distorted by his words, seemed to have relaxed a little, and her head was tilted.
“You were worried about me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to see you in pain.”
“Who is it?”
“Lady Ercia, it’s you.”
Benson spat out the last words with a steady expression.
“I don’t want to see you in pain because you are crying because of a wound on your hand. So, why don’t you exercise with me? I will help you one-on-one.”
Ercia quietly listened to him and nodded her head quietly.
“There is none.”
“All right. Even though I said that, I could feel it clearly when I saw Elsia’s face turning her head and Benson saying something meaningful to my younger brother from a third person’s perspective. Look at these?”
I put it up for surveillance and they see eye to eye? Beyond the absurdity, this situation just felt fun.
* * *
The deepening spring season always brings excitement to people. Spring was also a time when many lives were born and all kinds of things were busy looking for their mates, making one’s heart tickle. Of course, it was a story that had nothing to do with me, but if you go just a little bit away from Ajstain territory, you can see beautiful flowers in full bloom. But I didn’t have time to look at those things. Moreover, for the Aztain family, spring meant the beginning of things that had been stagnant. During the winter, mining work was halted due to the cold and the risk of various accidents, but now that spring has arrived, construction has to resume. In addition, Count Nemir’s pharmaceutical development was back on track, and the business that would generate enormous profits was just getting started, so it was so complicated and hectic that it was mind-boggling. In the past, my grandfather would have taken charge of external affairs and I would have taken on the issues related to the new business on my own, but not now. Thanks to Ercia’s help, things ended sooner than expected. Thanks to this, I was able to shake off all the documents piling up while the spring weather was at its peak.
“It only took two weeks.”
He muttered, putting the last document in the file and pushing it to the side. Ercia, who was already exhausted, was lying face down on her desk. She has been working out with Benson these past few days, so she has a rough schedule of working in the morning and lunch and exercising in the evening.
“Are you okay?”
“…sister.”
“Huh?”
Ercia’s face looked very haggard as she raised her head and let out a strained voice. Anyone who sees it will think that I made them work without letting them sleep or feeding them.
“We don’t have any vacation?”
“Vacation?”
I tilted my head, thinking, ‘Why am I looking for a vacation out of nowhere?’ Ercia peeked out the window and narrowed her eyes.
“It’s spring.”
“That’s right. It’s spring.”
“What comes to mind when you think of spring?”
“Om…tax?”
“Around this time, we conduct a full tax investigation. That’s why I’m so busy.”
Ercia sighed and muttered her words about her lack of romance. Why is it like that? Where does it hurt? As she got up from her seat and closed the curtains on her window to block the wind outside, Ercia’s voice came flying in from behind her.
“It’s festival time soon.”
“Festival?”
“Yes. In particular, it is said that there is a place not far from our territory where rape flowers are in full bloom. It is a place where many people come to relax… Do you know anything?”
“Where is it located?”
“Hmm…”
Ercia’s eyes lit up with her animated face and she took out her map and pointed to a place. It was a plain located between Aztain territory, the capital, and Verdian territory.
“Oh, there?”
There are definitely a lot of rape flowers blooming over there.
“Do you know?”
“You know. There’s also a villa in Ajstain territory there.”
I felt a light sparkle in Ercia’s slightly narrow eyes. Did I touch something wrong? When I turned my eyes away as if to avoid Ercia’s gaze, which was looking at me with dark and burdensome eyes, she followed my gaze and looked intently into her eyes. It wasn’t a burden to have eyes that looked like mine chasing me like crazy. In the end, she narrowed her brows slightly, took a step back, and nodded her head.
“Okay. So you want to go on vacation there?”
“That’s right! How did you know?!”
I sighed as I saw Ercia nodding her head while muttering that her magical powers were perfect. It’s strange that she looks at me like that and doesn’t know. Satisfied with her appetite, she looked at her map and then turned her head to look out her window. She realized that she was already in the middle of spring. Her smile had become much thinner and she felt that time had passed. More than half a year has passed since I returned to the past, and many things have changed. Her heart was filled with the mere fact that she saw the unthinkable scenery and met the person she missed once again. Moreover, I was satisfied with everything, including the other people who approached me. I rolled my eyes and glanced at the Berdian territory. It had been about two weeks since I had seen Ian, and it felt like a lot of time had passed. Should I invite Ian too?
“I’ll ask Grandpa. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to go on a family vacation?”
“Then there is nothing better.”
Seeing Ersia smiling round and round, she smiled and nodded. Well, there’s nothing wrong with taking a short break.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on May, 20.
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