Chapter 12

The news of Diana and Alan’s engagement swept through the Duke of Gazard’s household like a tempest.

While the engagement was generally met with favorable reactions, there were those upon hearing the news who wept in response.

Most of them were knights who had secretly harbored affections for Diana, but aside from them, there was one person who simply could not genuinely rejoice in Diana’s happiness as a young lady of noble birth.

Her twin sister, Cordelia.

“Lady Cordelia, have you heard? They say Lady Diana and Lord Alan have finally become engaged…!”

The moment she heard her maid’s buoyant voice, Cordelia felt a sharp pang in her chest.

(My sister, engaged to Lord Alan──?)

The instant she heard those words, Cordelia felt as though her vision had gone completely black.

She hurried back to her private room, locked the door, and retreated into solitude.

Her twin sister.

Diana, who had been by her side ever since the day they were born.

She was, quite literally, the other half of her soul.

And now, that very sister had successfully fulfilled the feelings she had carried for so many years.

As her younger sister, she ought to offer her blessings above all else──reason told her so, yet her emotions refused to keep pace.

(Why… why?????)

Diana and Cordelia had fallen in love with entirely different men.

Both of the men the twins had fallen for were members of the royal family.

Diana had fallen for the king’s younger brother, Alan, who was seventeen years her senior.

Cordelia had fallen for Crown Prince Lawrence, who already possessed a fiancée.

Both had spent long years brooding over their unrequited affections, unable to confess their feelings.

And yet.

(Why must only Sister have her wish granted…?)

Their father had given his blessing, and the two of them were now officially betrothed.

Before long, they would formally notify the royal family and set the date for the wedding.

An engagement with the one she loved. And marriage.

A happiness she desired with every fiber of her being, yet could never attain.

And yet it had fluttered down right into her older sister’s hands.

(Why, why only Sister?!)

Lying facedown on her bed, she beat her fists against her pillow.

With no other way to release her churning emotions, Cordelia had nowhere else to direct them.

They were twins, born of the same mold.

Both had endured years of unrequited love for as long as she had.

Both of their beloveds belonged to the royal family.

So why—why was it only her sister who grasped happiness?

Why was she herself unable to find it?

Tears spilled from her eyes in an endless stream.

She felt utterly pathetic, and horribly, intensely ugly.

Even now, a part of her told her she should celebrate her sister’s happiness, but she simply could not muster the heart for it.

Her heart felt as though it were tearing apart at the seams.

She, too, wanted to find happiness with the Crown Prince, whom she had adored for so long.

Yet that wish could never come true.

Because he already had someone chosen for him.

Why was she born so much younger than His Highness the Crown Prince?

By the time she was old enough to understand the world, when he was eight years old, his engagement to Lady Kayley of the Duke of Eldred’s household had already been decided.

If only she had been born the same age as the Crown Prince.

Even if not that, if she had been just a year or two closer in age, wouldn’t her name have at least been raised when they were choosing a fiancée?

Wouldn’t she have had the chance to meet the Crown Prince before his bond with Kayley was sealed?

No matter how much she pondered it, the age gap could never be bridged, and an engagement once settled could never be overturned.

Kayley was steadily mastering the rigorous education required of a crown princess, making all the preparations necessary to become a member of the royal family.

There was simply no room for Cordelia to squeeze herself between the two of them.

And yet.

(Why did Sister get to have her wish granted all by herself──?)

“Ah, damn it all──!”

Cordelia grabbed a pillow from her bed and hurled it with all her might against the wall.

The light cushion struck a vase, shattering it with a harsh, jarring crash.

Even that sound seemed to rub salt into her wretched emotions, fueling her irritation all the more.

“Lady Cordelia, is something the matter?!”

Having heard the noise, a maid knocked on the door.

The doorknob rattled back and forth, but the lock remained firmly engaged.

“It’s nothing, leave me be!”

Tossing her disheveled hair, she raised her voice.

She could not possibly let anyone see her looking like this.

The Moon and the Sun.

Though she lacked her sister’s exceptional talent, Cordelia had grown up deeply cherished by everyone.

Even if the only man she desired would not look her way, the number of men courting Cordelia was countless.

Why, then, must someone like her endure such a wretched feeling?

Why?

Why?

No matter how much she pondered it, an answer was never going to appear.

With her suffocating, gloomy thoughts kept entirely to herself, she spent a sleepless night.

The following day, Cordelia sat idly in her private room, gazing out the window.

Though she had managed to regain her rationality somehow, she still lacked the energy to do anything at all.

She stared blankly at the drifting clouds, simply waiting for time to pass.

──And that was when it happened.

“…Oh.”

A horse and rider galloping toward the ducal mansion suddenly leaped into Cordelia’s field of vision.

A striking, tall stature and a stalwart figure.

Clutched tightly in his arms was a large bouquet of flowers.

──It was Alan, the king’s younger brother who had become her sister’s fiancé.

Was the horse moving slower than usual because he was mindful of the bouquet in his hands?

It was the day after their engagement was decided; it wasn’t hard to guess who that bouquet was meant for.

Suddenly, a wave of mischievous impulse welled up in Cordelia’s chest.

Though their personalities differed greatly, Diana and Cordelia were identical twins.

The only one who could accurately tell their appearances apart was their birth father, Wesley.

With a buoyant gait entirely different from the night before, she stepped out of her room.

Descending to the first floor, she headed toward the mansion’s foyer.

When she pushed open the door and stepped out into the front courtyard, she spotted Alan dismounting his horse and handing the reins over to the gatekeeper.

“Good morning, Lord Alan.”

Wearing a bright smile, she called out to him.

The gatekeeper, let alone anyone else in the estate, could not tell Diana and Cordelia apart as long as they were careful with their attire.

As long as she wasn’t seen by their father, no one could possibly tell which twin was which.

Keeping the smile plastered across her face, she approached Alan.

She would pretend to be Diana and accept the bouquet with an innocent, unbothered expression.

Those large, full-blossomed flowers he had prepared for his fiancée.

How would Diana feel if her younger sister received them instead of her?

It was meant as nothing more than a petty act of retaliation against the sister who had snatched happiness all for herself.

──And yet.

“Pardon me, Lady Cordelia. I’ve prepared these for Lady Diana.”

Wearing a gentle smile, Alan shook his head and took a step back to put some distance between them.

Cordelia’s body froze instantly as she tried to sidle up to Alan while playing the part of Diana.

“Ah—”

Beside Alan, the gatekeeper’s eyes widened in surprise.

Judging by her attitude of trying to approach Alan, he had undoubtedly assumed she was Diana.

She had fooled the gatekeeper just fine.

So why hadn’t it worked on Alan?

“Lord Alan, um…!”

Her agitation slipped into her voice, and she couldn’t manage to string her words together properly.

(Why did he see right through me?! Up until now, only Father has ever been able to tell us apart──!)

She wanted to voice the question aloud, but actually saying the words was out of the question.

Swallowing down her bitter inner turmoil, Cordelia forced a sweet smile onto her face.

“How did you know I was Cordelia?”

“Well, you see.”

Unaware of Cordelia’s scheming, Alan chuckled with a hint of bashfulness.

“Lady Cordelia doesn’t hold any particular feelings for me, does she?”

The moment those words hit her ears, Cordelia’s entire body went ice-cold, as if she had been doused in freezing water.

“Your appearances are certainly alike, but your demeanor, the way you look at me—everything is different. Even a fool would notice.”

Alan’s words pierced straight through her chest.

Just what kind of ardent gaze had Diana kept directing toward him all this time?

Just how much of her feelings had Alan truly accepted?

If the twins swapped places in front of the Crown Prince, he likely wouldn’t notice a thing.

The trust they had cultivated, the emotions they had built up—the gap was simply too vast. It was far too different.

(Lord Alan never even bothered to look my way properly until now, yet he can tell us apart?!)

The thought flashed through her mind, and a sudden realization hit her.

She had done the exact same thing, never truly looking at Alan properly either.

She had always cast cold, detached glances at Diana, who constantly chased after Alan.

She had never once gazed at Alan with the fervent devotion her sister showed.

That’s right, even right now…

(Ah… Of course. It’s only natural he saw right through me.)

Sadness and humiliation mingled together, stealing the air from her lungs.

Her chest constricted, and her heart let out a silent scream.

She felt so utterly pathetic that she desperately fought the urge to collapse right then and there.

“I shall head to Lady Diana first. Lady Cordelia, until later.”

Raising one hand, Alan walked into the mansion.

Tucked firmly in his grasp, the bouquet meant for Diana remained clutched in his hands.

Left all alone in the front courtyard, Cordelia bit down on her lip so hard that blood began to seep through.

As the taste of blood slowly spread across her tongue, a dark, pitch-black emotion began to slowly seep into Cordelia’s heart.