I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

Why was that? When the topic suddenly changed from the honor guard to Lawrence’s dress, Ian looked at him with a sullen expression. The adjutant continued to look embarrassed.

“I know because I’ve been married, but isn’t the wedding dress that brides dream of a pure white dress?”

“Yes.”

“No matter how mature and considerate Lady Ajstain is, I don’t think she would want to give up her pure white wedding dress.”

“There’s no reason to give up.”

“So that’s what I’m saying, Your Excellency the Grand Duke.”

He placed the document in his hand on the desk, pushed it forward, and opened his mouth thoughtfully. Ian also lowered his eyes and looked at the document he was pushing. There was no writing on the paper, only colorful drawings. A soldier wearing the traditional uniform of the Verdian Principality Honor Guard.

Ian’s eyebrows rose.

“Wait a minute, our honor guard uniform is…”

“…Even if you bury just one, it is a fatal whiteness.”

“Ah…”

Ian covered his eyes with his palms. A sigh naturally flowed from his mouth. A memory that he had put away in a corner due to his busy schedule crept into his head. 

“How can I not change that?”

“There is no major problem in changing the honor guard uniforms, but as you know, the fabric used in the honor guard uniforms is not produced in the empire…”

“It came from true potash.”

It was a fabric made by processing the wool of sheep grown in Trucalom using a special method. Fabric that only produces a few pieces a year… There was no particular practicality. Because the color of the fabric is good and other impurities come off easily, it has become common to use it as a dress uniform.

“If I make it in a hurry, I could make a new outfit using a different fabric, but I’m not sure what color to use. As you know, aren’t the elders a bit picky?”

“…Those old men don’t even die.”

The elders of the Verdian family, which was made up of distant relatives rather than direct descendants, often argued about unnecessary things. All major decisions were the responsibility of the immediate family, but minor matters were under the authority of the Senate, so they were a little annoying.

“First of all, get an outfit in a different color in advance, and try to find a similar fabric. If you can’t decide, just use regular fabric.”

“What color should I have?”

That’s a problem too. Ian rolled his head and thought for a moment. What color would be good? He rolled his eyes slightly, pondering, then finished thinking and nodded his head.

“Let’s go with light green.”

“…yes?”

“Make it light green and black.”

“Now, wait a minute, Grand Duke? What…”

Ian hit the desk with a very satisfied expression. He seemed to have already made up his mind.

“That color is the color of Lawrence’s hair and eyes. The adjutant, who was looking at Ian’s face in bewilderment as he shook his head as if he had done a great job, suppressed a laugh.

“…I never thought that in my lifetime, I would hear an order to match the color of the honor guard clothes to the eye and hair color of the person who would become my wife. If I had told her that I would be such a loser, I would have scored more points with Lady Ajstain, no?”

“It looks like it suits you very well. I think it will go very well with Lady Ajstain’s appearance.”

“What?”

“Now, how about combining light green and black in the family flag?”

“Is that so?”

Ha ha ha.

‘I don’t want to be beaten to death by some old senator. Please take me out.’

However, the lieutenant, full of ambition and desire for success, did not bother to stop Ian. Then, with a smile on his face, Ian sped up and did all sorts of things.

“How about I add black and green jewels to my robes? Like emeralds.”

“…haha.”

‘Do whatever you want.’

But the adjutant could not bear to say those words.

* * *

A leisurely afternoon, an ambiguous time in the afternoon when it is okay to just hang out as much as possible with nothing to do or organize. It is too early for the sky to accept the sunset, but it is too late to say that it retains only the coolness.

As I was hanging out in that vague, indistinguishable time, a very ambiguous time to do something, a thought that suddenly occurred to me continued to follow me. 

“…Ersia.”

“Yes, sister.”

I glanced at Ersia, who answered politely. Ercia, who was leisurely drinking her tea and reading a book, turned her head to look at me and smiled.

The gray dress matched Ercia very well. It was surprising to see that even though she looked exactly like me, those clothes didn’t fit me. We are twins, so how could something like that be different?

“Why are you doing this?”

As I said nothing, I tilted my head and looked at Ercia’s eyes as she studied me, then lowered her gaze slightly and glanced over my sister’s body. I checked Ercia, who hesitated at the sight of my eyes moving back and forth and slightly curled her body, and raised her eyes slightly.

“Ercia, how much do you weigh?”

“Um, me?”

Ercia, who was rolling her eyes as if she thought it was a sudden question, instead of answering her, gave her a look asking why. Why is that? As she narrowed her eyebrows slightly again, taking in the look in her younger sister’s eyes, Ercia slowly came out with her answer.

“Now, forty-five?”

When it comes to forty, what is an interrogative sentence? To anyone else, that question would have seemed like it meant that he might go further than this, but to Ersia, it was quite the opposite. 

‘Just about forty-five? It seemed like an expression, I don’t think so, but…’

I looked into Ercia’s eyes as she looked at me with an awkward expression, then turned her body and lightly pinched my stomach.

The world was unfair.

* * *

“Sister, why are you suddenly saying you’re going on a diet?”

While cutting a veal steak for dinner, Lesia opened her eyes wide. Even at that moment, she was using her tongue and teeth to help her deliciously chew and break down the tenderloin of veal, marinated and grilled in her wine, before passing it down her throat.

I, who had been eating the same menu until yesterday, just looked forlornly at the basket full of green and red vegetables. I picked up a cherry tomato with a fork and pushed it into my mouth. He chewed it and swallowed the red juice that came out and answered bluntly.

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

Ercia stared at me while sharpening her knife. I also repeatedly doused my salad in diet dressing with my fork.

“I don’t think we are twins.”

“Why, suddenly?”

“Why? I work every day, handle external affairs, and move around so busy… sometimes I even skip meals.”

“But?”

“But you work while sitting still, and you eat a lot more than me, and you eat meat every day.”

When she saw Ercia pushing meat into her mouth with innocent, incomprehensible eyes, she wanted to squeeze a chestnut into her mouth. I hate you for no reason

“So why am I gaining weight?”

“Hey, you’re skinny too.”

“Do you feel that way when you look at this belly fat?”

“Sister, how can that be belly fat? Normally, you gain a little fat there. I have it too, right?”

The sight of her tilting her head while gently rubbing her stomach was so disgusting. You’re kidding me, right? Can I hit you?

“Besides, I haven’t been able to eat much in the past, so it’s a lot to begin with…”

“For that matter, don’t you know that those are two plates?

“…I don’t think so, but I’ve been eating a lot lately, so it’s just not noticeable yet.” 

“No. I guess it’s unfair.”

Anyone could see that we were identical twins, but did it make sense that the one who ate less gained more weight? In the past, I thought it was because I ate because I was stressed and the work was hard, but now I can’t even eat properly, let alone drink, so why am I gaining weight?

“Isn’t it because you’ve been so stressed these days?”

“Work stress is fun….”

“Not that one.”

Ercia narrowed her eyes as she slightly raised her fork and pointed at me. Ercia, who was looking at me with her open eyes, quietly opened her mouth. 

“Marriage preparation stress,”

“Huh?”

“It is said that women usually feel a lot of stress before getting married. What should the wedding dress be, what should the rings and wedding favors be? Where and how should the ceremony hall be decorated, who should be invited! What is the order of the ceremony? What is the design of the wedding invitation? ? More than anything!”

Ercia’s fork moved underneath her and pierced her meat. Her last words slipped out. 

“Now the stress of being a married woman.”

Something didn’t seem right to me. Was I stressed out about that? I didn’t think I received it. Moreover, most of the wedding matters were handled by Ersia. Ercia would sift through and bring me a list of her favorite designs and jewelry, and all I had to do was select them. And what was lacking was filled by Ersia. It seemed like it was taken for granted so much that I believed it was Ercia’s wedding and not mine, but it looked like it was fun, so I didn’t stop it. So I didn’t think it was stressful before marriage.

“Probably not. I’m more stressed right now. I suddenly gained weight… What happened?”

“I don’t usually eat much, but is there a reason why I gain weight?”

“What do you mean?”

“There are a lot of snacks often.”

“There is no such thing. Instead…”

“Instead?”

I slightly avoided Ercia’s eyes as I tilted my head. I spoke quietly, forcibly avoiding Ercia’s gaze, which was persistently following my gaze.

“I tend to have a late-night snack in the evening.”

“…Night snack?”

It’s embarrassing. Actually, I also thought this was a problem, but I expressed my resentment as much as I could, saying that the amount of late-night snacks was really small compared to the total intake.

“I can’t help it. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done by tomorrow, but I can’t make progress on the payment documents right now. If I stop, tomorrow’s work will be difficult, so I have to force myself to work in the evening. Then, I’m hungry, so I end up eating late-night snacks. “

“…I heard that Aunt Mesha came here from the mansion on Porral Hill some time ago. She couldn’t believe it was her sister’s request?”

“Aunt Mesha’s apple pie is a luxury product. You like it too, right?”

“Of course, I like it. Not only me, but my grandfather likes it, and Nar, the guard dog, also likes it. That nutty, sweet smell and crunchy, soft taste. It would be hard to find someone who doesn’t like it, right?” 

Right! That’s what I meant.

“If you eat a piece of apple pie for dinner and go to work, you feel like you have everything in the world. But it’s only one piece. So this shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hmm…”

Despite my firm words, Ercia snorted and narrowed her eyes. This time, as she confidently met Ercia’s eyes, her younger sister smiled and immediately opened her mouth to me.

“Don’t you think that’s a problem?”

“No way… sister.”

“Huh?”

Her eyes looked very uneasy, with some sinister purpose in them. As soon as I took my eyes off Ercia’s face, who was looking at me with her meaningful eyes, her voice followed suit.

“Is it because you’re worried? That the dress won’t fit?”

“I think it’s a little worse than that. If you’re skinny and I’m chubby, what will people think? Don’t they think I’m a bad older sister who steals from her younger brother?”

“I think that went too far.”

“Anyway! So I think you need to lose some weight. Or you’ll gain weight.”

“That’s a little…”

Seeing Ercia’s hesitation, she lifted her chin as if asking him to look at her. Ercia looked at me with her worried eyes and carefully opened her mouth.

“But sister, on the outside she looks thinner than before, she doesn’t look fat at all.

“Come here.”

When she called lightly, Ercia came over to her. She held her hand and prepared her mind and then she moved to my lower abdomen. Ercia wiggled her fingers and widened her eyes.

“Sister, did you eat a lot today?”

Should I hit you? In the end, when she gave me a squeeze of honey chestnuts, she returned to her seat muttering, and the words she spoke to comfort me were spectacular.

“But doesn’t your body look better? You don’t look fat on the outside, but your body seems to have curves, so the Grand Duke will like it.”

“Hey!”

When I was startled by Ercia’s remark, I shouted, Ercia shouted, as if asking if she was surprised by something like that.

She covered her mouth with her mouth and laughed… It was a smirk, it was a conversation that ended up only being hurtful.

 

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