Perhaps if you were to grab a passerby and ask them to choose between a gift from Elona or a gift from Letie, ten out of ten would choose the latter.
But Kishian accepted my gift.
He was saying that mine was more valuable than Letie's.
'I wish you would like me like this, even though you know that I am Elona and not Letie... That would be impossible.'
I was in his arms with a slightly bitter smile on my face, and he gently stroked my hair.
"I don't know why you're so anxious. If it were your gift, any ordinary Item would be special to me."
Is there anyone else who can tell me that what I have given you is more special than Latie's?
I thought it would not be.
I knew that this kindness was also a misunderstanding, but I felt that it didn't matter.
After all, the Kishian will live with me as Letie for the rest of his life, and he will never find out the truth.
If so, he will continue to value me as he does now.
'It's okay if it's a false relationship. And now... I want to stay like this.'
The affection that poured out on me was sweet.
There was no way to refuse.
I slowly stroked his cheek and pulled his head toward me.
Sensing what I meant, he bent down and pressed his lips together.
Like when I found a small bonfire in the cold on my skin. I clung to the warmth he gave me for a long time.
***
After spending the night with Kishian, my sullen heart had calmed down.
The first thing I did after I calmed down was to visit Latie.
It seemed like I had to ask her to go back.
She had brought a lot of luggage as if she was going to stay for a long time, so I tried to leave it alone, but after hearing Kishian's words yesterday, I changed my mind.
"If you don't want a guest, you can throw them away at any time. This is your home."
After meeting each other until dawn, he hinted at me.
At the dinner table, he noticed that I was still reluctant to let Letie go, so he invited me again.
"It means that you can do whatever you want without looking at others."
After hearing that, I made up my mind. As soon as the day dawns, I will tell Letie to leave.
So I made up my mind and went to see Letie, but I heard something unexpected.
"Are you sick?"
Lying on the bed, Letie, covered with a blanket down to her neck, shook her head.
"I think it's because I've been having a hard time getting here, I've been feeling dizzy since the morning, and I'm not feeling well..."
Letie's face didn't look particularly painful.
I gently touched her forehead with my hand.
"You don't have a fever..."
"But I still feel bad. I think I need to rest for a while."
"..."
It was embarrassing.
I tried to ask her to go back, but I couldn't force her out because she was sick.
"Is it hard for you? Elvin... Shall I call a doctor?"
"Nope. I just need to rest."
"But you'd rather take medicine-"
"It's not so much that I need to take medicine. I have more questions for you..."
I nodded to tell her, and Letie spoke straight away.
"When will the Grand Duke have time?"
"..."
It is also a question about Kishian.
Until now, I had tried my best to ignore it, but there was something strange about Letie's interest in Kishian.
I asked her in a slightly sharp tone.
"Why is that?"
"Just curious. I wanted to eat with him this morning, but he said he was busy again. I think he works too hard."
A sigh came out.
It seemed that the time had come to bring out the words that had been silenced in my heart.
"Letie. Don't think badly, listen. I honestly don't think you're so interested in him... I think it might look a little weird to others."
"...Yes? What do you mean by that?"
Letie's face hardened at once.
It had been a long time since I had seen such a cold expression.
Since I had given up everything according to my father's orders, there was no quarrel between us.
But.
"It's not that you don't understand what I mean."
"It sounds like I'm having some strange feelings for the Grand Duke."
"..."
After affirming with silence, Letie finally got out of bed.
"Are you serious? How can you think of me that way?"
"Don't get excited, it's not that I think of you that way. Your behavior seems a little strange enough for others to misunderstand."
"Hah."
Letie smiled in bewilderment.
However, the only thing that smiled was her lips, and her eyes were shapeless.
"Stop playing with words. In the end, in your eyes, I look like a woman who does such terrible things."
I didn't deny it.
I tried to say it back, but it turned out to be weird.
"I think you're weird. How could you think of such a thing against your own sister... No, I think I know why."
With a fishy sneer, Letie took a step closer to me.
"Aren't you anxious?"
"What?"
"What people always wanted was me, not my sister. You were worried that the Grand Duke would want me more, so you came up with such a ridiculous idea."
"..."
"My sister is fake after all..."
Before she could finish speaking, my hand moved first.
Match! A cheerful sound of blows rang out.
It wasn't until I felt a tingling sensation in my palm that I realized that I had slapped Letie.
With her head jerking, Letie didn't move for a while.
I didn't mean to do this.
Even though it was nothing new to me that I was fake, it was hard to endure the moment I heard it through someone else's mouth.
It was like cutting through a wound that would never heal with a knife blade.
"...Letie."
As I called out in a low voice, Letie, who had turned her head to the side, slowly looked back at me.
There was a smile on her face.
"Yes, that's my sister's true intention. You pretend to be okay, but in fact, you feel inferior to me. You don't even think about how heavy the burden I carry, and you don't even try to understand it. You just pay attention to the attention and affection that is showered on you."
"...Stop."
"Actually, you have to be grateful to me."
It was not difficult for me to grasp the meaning of the last words.
Everything I enjoyed as Grand Duchess was obtained by impersonating Letie's name.
So don't write about fake topics, but be grateful for your real self.
My fingertips trembled...
My heart was filled with anger and misery, and I felt like I was about to burst.
I couldn't bear the misery of being in a position where I couldn't even refute a single word while suffering from the words that flowed from between her lips.
I managed to calm myself down so that my voice wouldn't tremble and opened my mouth.
"I'm sorry I hit you. But I don't think I can make you stay longer. Take a day off today and hurry up and get ready to leave tomorrow morning."
"..."
"I don't know later, but now... It's really hard to talk to you face to face like this."
I was really tired.
The patience I had gathered from the bottom was coming to an end.
I felt like I couldn't hold on if I continued the conversation any longer, so I said that as if to inform her and left the room.
The tears I had been holding back flowed unstoppably all the way to the office, wetting my cheeks.
***
Late evening time.
After a long day of work, Kishian was cleaning up his seat to go back to his bedroom.
A familiar voice sounded along with a weak knock.
"Can I come in for a while?"
It was the voice of the Grand Duchess.
We'll meet in the bedroom soon, but why did you come all the way here?
Puzzled, Kishian opened the door himself.
When he saw the face of the woman standing outside the door, he felt his heart sink for a moment.
"Wife? Face... What the hell is going on?"
The wife, whom he had brought into the main building and cherished so that no one dared to touch her, had a clear handprint on her face.
Who else raised their hand? Who dares?
It was a moment when he was overcome with shock and anger and was about to raise his voice.
"No, I'm not the Grand Duchess."
They had similar voices like twins and were hiding the marks between the crossbones, so he was mistaken for a moment, but when he looked closely, the person in front of him was not his wife.
"Princess... What's going on?"
Sensing that it was not his wife who was standing in front of him, but her twin sister, he asked in a slightly calm voice.
Immediately after that, the clear water droplets from the corners of the Princess's eyes ran down her cheeks.
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