I Don't Trust My Twin Sister

“The profit is 10%, but the investment is 0, so in other words, the Ajstain family can see the effect of taking all of the profit.”

Instead of answering, I smiled again. Now, it was the time for the Duke to make his decision. From now on, every decision was in his hands. In fact, there was no certainty that the Duke would definitely accept this offer. I was also aware that there was a chance of failure in a business I was trying out for the first time, but I thought there would be a chance of success enough to compete with the Duke of Sapeldrick. Even if the Ajstain family took 10%, the country would benefit greatly. Logically, there was no problem, but the key was whether the
Duke could break the wall of consciousness. He stood up, staring at me, then glanced at Ian.

“Look, Ian.”

“Yes.”

Ian gave a short answer and raised his head.

“What do you think of that offer?”

“Are you asking for advice?”

Duke Sapeldrick laughed with his mouth wide open. He looked back and forth between me and Ian with a very amused look on his face. Ian shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.

“I will give strength to the words of Lawrence.”

“The reason is?”

“It’s Lawrence.”

“You mean you believe in that young lady, not the Ajstain family?”

“Yes.”

After Ian replied plainly, he lightly covered my hand and looked up at the Duke.

“The hand that the prince on a white horse holds out is always right.”

“The prince on a white horse? Who? Lawrence?”

Ian smiled silently and replied, and eventually, Bale laughed loudly and slammed his table down. Even as the papers fell, he knocked on the extension table and laughed before lowering his head. Then he took a moment to catch his breath and slowly opened his mouth.

“Two people, it’s so funny. One wants to make money on ridiculous terms, the other says that he can be trusted because he’s a prince on a white horse, and, my God, who describes a young lady as a prince on a white horse?”

“There will be none other than me.”

“Shameless bastard. Seeing your shameless face reminds me of your father, so it’s embarrassing.”

“My father would say that too.”

“Chew.”

Duke Sapeldrick clicked his tongue and shook his head before fixing his eyes on me. The Duke stiffened his body slightly, but he forced himself into a smile.

“Lowrence.”

“Yes, Duke.”

“I will answer bluntly.”

I was a little nervous and waited for his words. No, I tried to wait, but the Duke’s mouth opened sooner than that.

“I will accept your offer.”

My hands trembled slightly. At the moment when it was about to burst into laughter at the overflowing joy, the Duke opened his mouth again.

“However, there are conditions.”

“Conditions?”

Somehow it worked out well.

“Yes, it’s a matter of profit. It would be good from the state’s point of view to pay 10% to the Ajstain family, but from my point of view, it’s a bit bad. I want 30% in return.”

“Shall I…?”

It was quite a lot. His voice fell again over his slightly startled face.

“In exchange for 30%, I want you to advise not only on the military industry, but also on the other ancillary businesses of the Sapeldrick family. We pay 10% of the profits here.”

“…Why is it so…”

“Well, I can tell just by looking at your face. How confidently you rushed into this task. Besides, you’re the granddaughter of Viscount Ajstain, so you’re not incompetent. Anyway, the contract period is set for three years. I will decide whether to extend the period. I will prepare the details related to the contract and send it to you in writing. Do you have anything else to say about this?”

I shook my head. Once the route was decided, the Duke grinned as he opened his mouth slightly thinking that the speed of hitting and going quickly was no joke.

“Let’s get along well as business partners in the future, Miss Lawrence.”

* * *

After that, the conversation went on for a little while, and when I left the room, the Duke who called Ian, looked at me, and quietly whispered to him. What was he talking about? I thought he just asked for a favor. I couldn’t hear it properly so I tilted my head. Ian nodded his head with a low sigh at his whisper. The Duke also sighed and opened the door himself. Did he want to see us off?

Just then, I saw Nerdika with her ear pressed against the door. Startled by the sudden opening of the door, she stepped back. My eyebrows twitched at the appearance of Nerdika. What were you doing here, you idiot? Nerdika looked hesitantly at me and at Ian with a momentary surprise on her face. Then she cautiously approached and spoke slowly to Ian.

“U-Hey, His Excellency the Grand Duke… Actually, what I’m going to say o…”

Was that fire right now?! The moment Ian’s eyes were about to light up, Ian’s mouth opened first.

“Nerdika, can I speak first?”

“Yes… yes?! Ah, yes yes, you can say it first.”

She was a complete fool. She was almost crawling, wasn’t she the Nerdica from before that looked like a corpse except for her pride and jealousy? Her eyes were suspicious. Turning his head, the Duke was frowning like someone who knew the sky would fall the day after tomorrow. What?

“Nerdika, we’ve known each other for quite some time, and it’s true that you and I are comfortable talking to each other because of family ties.”

“Grand Duke, His Excellency…”

Her thrilled expression made me want to poke my finger into those eyes. Oh, so many complaints. I couldn’t understand what Ian was trying to say. What’s your reason for bringing that up?

“You know, Grand Duke. Actually, I… to Grand Duke…!

“No, there is not.”

“Pardon?”

“No”

What was he talking about? Like Nerdika looking at Ian with a bewildered expression, I blankly looked up at him. Ian brushed his bangs up with a complicated expression on his face that seemed a little sad. Ugh, if that guy looks sexy in this situation, was I the problem?

“Haha. I’m sorry I interrupted you, but Nerdika, I can’t accept your feelings.”

“what…?”

“And honestly, it’s a little uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s polite to say something like this in front of my fiancée, but I’ll make sure to nail it down because I’m going to get suspicious if I take you somewhere else and refuse and come out.”

Ian sighed softly as he reached out his hand and hugged my shoulder.

“I don’t need anyone other than Lawrence. That’s why I want you to fold that heart.”

Both me and Nerdika were silent. What was he doing now? What did this man say? What was this hand…?

“O…”

Nerdika, who had been in a daze for a while, wanted to open her mouth, but a voice burst out. After that, a tremendous cry filled the mansion.

“Aaaaagh!”

I closed my ears to the momentary groaning. Wow, that was very noisy. Ian also covered his ears, and her father, the Duke, also closed his eyes gently while covering his ears as if he was in quite pain.

“Become a eunuch, aaaaang!”

As I stared blankly at her back as she disappeared after uttering curse words, Ian removed his hand from his ear and let out a sigh.

“It was louder than a cannon.”

Fair enough.

* * *

After the meeting at the Sapeldrick family, which was like the night before the storm, I stepped out to get on the carriage. The Duke who was seeing us off from behind just stood still with his mouth shut. The expression on his face had sunk, and after a while he felt embarrassed. It’s all because of that immature Nerdika. Confused by something trivial, he clicked his tongue and looked at Ian. He shrugged his shoulders lightly and then approached the Duke and held out his hand.

“Duke Safeldrick, we are going.”

“Ah, that’s right. Okay, go carefully.”

The sight of Duke Sapeldrick receiving a handshake with his hands overlapped in a daze was pitiful. He wondered if his daughter would be sad, so he looked at her, and she turned his head away. Ick, they made eye contact. Somehow he felt like a sinner, so he laughed awkwardly. He rolled his eyes for a second, then came over to me and held out his hand. Shall we shake hands? I stretched out my hand too, and the Duke rang a small pendant on the palm of my hand instead of a handshake. What was this? When I raised my head at the slightly cool and cold feeling, he pointed to the pendant with a worried look on his face.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about whether to return it or not. It’s something Viscount Ajstain asked me to keep, and I also thought it would be better for me to take care of it.”

“What is this?”

“Open it and see.”

Following his words, I pressed and released the button on the top of the pendant, and the lid opened slowly. Inside the pendant was a small picture. A pretty old picture. At least it looked like a work I drew 30 years ago.

“This…”

The portrait, the little girl, and the boy standing next to it, their smiling faces, wondering what was so good, made the viewer smile. But I couldn’t help but smile. It was an old picture, but the boy’s eyes and hair color were clearly visible. Beautiful green eyes and dark black hair. And the girl’s purple hair, a color resembling the sunset, was a color reminiscent of the sunset.

“Your Excellency the Duke. This…”

“…Your parents. It’s a picture I drew when I was very young, have you seen it?”

“No, as for the paintings… I heard that not a single painting remains. I saw my grandfather burn them all because he was so sad.”

At my parents’ funeral, my grandfather burned all of my parents’ portraits. Ersia and I watched the scene together. I remember crying at the sight of my grandfather sitting on the floor and wailing. Grandpa hugged me and said that now I have to bury them in our chest. After that, the traces of my parents literally disappeared from the house. All that was left were the pink and blue ribbons that my mother gave me and Ersia on our birthdays. It was a special ribbon that my mother had given us as a gift because people couldn’t tell us apart. The ribbon was now worn out and could not be worn, making it the only keepsake lying dormant in the jewelry box. But the pendant was left…

“When Viscount Ajstain lost his son and daughter-in-law at the time, he was so desperate that he wondered if he was really going to get over it. I became a parent myself, so I can guess how it feels to some extent, but losing a child is something you mustn’t have to experience. Is it something you don’t know?”

“Grandpa.”

The Duke came closer. He looked at Ian for a moment, studied his eyes, and then quietly opened his mouth.

“Excuse me for a minute.”

After a quiet but gentle voice, the Duke stretched out his arm and gave me a light hug. I was slightly startled by the sudden hug. After that, a warm voice was heard.

“…The first time I saw you was at your parents’ funeral. A cold coffin was placed in the ceremony hall, and Viscount Ajstain was sitting in vain in front of it. With a broken face, he put his hand on the coffin and said two things right away. It was Miss Lawrence, you, who reached out to Viscount Ajstain, who looked like he would follow his son.”

It was a faint memory. I wasn’t even a four or five year old, but my memory of that day was as white as if it had been powdered. The only thing that vaguely came to my mind was the hot tears of my grandfather crying while holding me.

“He gave me this pendant as he burned all of your parent’s belongings. He said that he hopes that the images of his children will remain somewhere in this world, but that they are not in his hands. I thought so. But…” he let me out of his arms.

Like a father, his eyes looking at me were endlessly warm. It felt like I was getting warm inside.