News of Diana and Alan’s engagement swept through the Gazard residence.
Most people received it warmly, though some wept when they heard.
The majority were knights who had secretly harbored feelings for Diana. Apart from them, only one person could not sincerely rejoice in the young lady’s happiness.
Her younger twin, Cordelia.
“Lady Cordelia, have you heard? They say Lady Diana and Lord Alan are finally engaged…!”
The instant she heard the maid’s excited voice, a sharp pain pierced Cordelia’s chest.
(Sister is engaged to Lord Alan—?)
Her vision seemed to turn black.
She immediately returned to her room, locked the door, and shut herself away alone.
Her elder twin.
Diana, who had been with her since birth.
She truly was the other half of Cordelia’s soul.
And now Diana had seen the love she had carried for years fulfilled.
As her sister, Cordelia knew she ought to be the first to congratulate her. Her reason told her so, but her emotions refused to follow.
(Why? Why—?)
Diana and Cordelia had fallen in love with different men.
Both were members of the royal family.
Diana loved Alan, the king’s younger brother, seventeen years her senior.
Cordelia loved Crown Prince Lawrence, who already had a fiancée.
Neither sister had been able to confess her feelings, and both had allowed their longing to grow for years.
And yet—
(Why is Sister the only one whose love has been returned…?)
Their father had granted his approval, making Diana and Alan formally betrothed.
They would now report the engagement to the royal family and set a date for the wedding.
An engagement to the person one loved, followed by marriage.
It was a happiness Cordelia could never obtain, no matter how desperately she wanted it.
Yet it had fallen into her sister’s hands.
(Why? Why does Sister alone get to be happy?!)
Cordelia lay upon her bed and beat her pillow.
She had nowhere else to direct her emotions.
They were twins.
They had both loved someone unrequitedly for years.
The men they loved were both royals.
Then why had her sister alone obtained happiness?
Why could Cordelia not be happy?
Tears poured from her eyes.
She felt unbearably pathetic and hideously ugly.
Even now she knew she ought to celebrate her sister’s happiness, but she could not bring herself to do so.
Her heart seemed ready to tear apart.
Cordelia wanted to find happiness with the Crown Prince she had loved for years.
But that wish could never come true.
He already had someone chosen for him.
Why had Cordelia been born younger than the Crown Prince?
By the time she was old enough to remember anything, when Lawrence was eight, his betrothal to Lady Kaylee of the ducal House of Eldred had already been arranged.
If only Cordelia had been the Crown Prince’s age.
Even if that were impossible, had she been one or two years nearer to him, perhaps her name might have been considered when his fiancée was chosen.
Perhaps she might have met him before his bond with Kaylee was formed.
No amount of wishing could close the years between them, and a betrothal once settled could not be overturned.
Kaylee was progressing smoothly through the difficult education required of a crown princess and preparing to join the royal family.
There was no space whatsoever for Cordelia between them.
And yet—
(Why did Sister alone have her love fulfilled—?)
“Oh, enough!”
Cordelia seized her pillow and hurled it against the wall.
The light pillow struck a vase, which shattered with an earsplitting crash.
Even the noise seemed to aggravate her miserable emotions, increasing her irritation.
“Lady Cordelia, is something wrong?!”
A maid, having heard the crash, knocked upon the door.
The handle rattled, but Cordelia had locked it securely.
“Nothing is wrong! Leave me alone!”
Her hair disheveled, Cordelia shouted in anger.
She could not allow anyone to see her like this.
The moon and the sun.
Cordelia did not possess her sister’s talents, but she had grown up loved by everyone.
The only man she desired might never return her feelings, but there were too many other suitors for Cordelia to count.
Why, then, did she have to feel so wretched?
Why?
Why?
No matter how long she thought, no answer would come.
She spent a sleepless night alone with the darkness festering inside her.
* * *
The following day, Cordelia sat in her room and stared vacantly through the window.
She had somehow regained her composure, but she still had no desire to do anything.
She merely watched the drifting clouds and waited for time to pass.
Then—
“…Oh?”
A horse and rider racing toward the ducal residence entered Cordelia’s view.
The rider was conspicuously tall and powerfully built. In one arm, he carried a large bouquet.
It was Alan, the king’s younger brother and her sister’s new fiancé.
He was riding more slowly than usual, likely because he was concerned for the flowers.
This was the day after their engagement. It was easy to imagine for whom the bouquet had been prepared.
A mischievous impulse suddenly arose within Cordelia.
Though their personalities differed greatly, Diana and Cordelia were identical twins.
Only their father Wesley could distinguish them perfectly by appearance.
In a vastly improved mood from the night before, Cordelia left her room.
She descended to the ground floor, passed through the entrance, and stepped into the front garden.
Alan had dismounted and was handing his reins to the gatekeeper.
“Good morning, Lord Alan.”
Cordelia addressed him with a smile.
Neither the gatekeeper nor anyone else in the residence could distinguish the twins so long as they paid attention to their clothing.
Unless their father saw them, no one could know which sister stood before them.
Still smiling, Cordelia approached Alan.
She would pretend to be Diana and accept the bouquet with complete innocence.
Those great blossoms had been prepared for his fiancée.
How would Diana feel if her younger sister received them instead?
Cordelia intended it as nothing more than a petty act of spite against the sister who alone had seized happiness.
And yet—
“I am sorry, Lady Cordelia. I brought these for Lady Diana.”
Still smiling, Alan shook his head and stepped backward, putting distance between himself and Cordelia.
Cordelia, who had tried to approach him while pretending to be Diana, froze instantly.
“What—?”
Beside Alan, the gatekeeper’s eyes widened.
From the way she had approached Alan, he had clearly believed she was Diana.
Cordelia had deceived the gatekeeper properly.
Why, then, had Alan seen through her?
“Lord Alan, I…”
Her agitation escaped into her voice, and she could not form the words she wanted.
(How did he know?! Father is the only person who has ever noticed before!)
She wanted to demand an answer, but could hardly voice the question so openly.
Carefully concealing her bitterness, Cordelia fashioned a pleasant smile.
“How did you know that I was Cordelia?”
“Well…”
Unaware of Cordelia’s scheme, Alan smiled with faint embarrassment.
“You do not have any feelings for me, do you, Lady Cordelia?”
The instant she heard those words, Cordelia’s body went cold as though drenched in icy water.
“You may look very much alike, but your manner, your gaze—everything about you is different. Of course I can tell.”
Alan’s words pierced her chest.
How ardently had Diana gazed at him all these years?
How much of her sister’s affection had Alan received?
If the twins exchanged places before the Crown Prince, he would never notice.
The trust they had cultivated and the emotions they had built were utterly different.
Far too different.
(Lord Alan never even looked at me properly!)
The thought crossed Cordelia’s mind—and then she realized.
She had never properly looked at Alan either.
She had always watched Diana chase after him with a cool, dismissive gaze.
Not once had she looked upon Alan with the same warmth as her sister.
Even now—
(…Oh. Of course he saw through me.)
Grief and humiliation mingled until Cordelia could scarcely breathe.
Her chest constricted and her heart screamed.
She felt so wretched that she nearly collapsed, but desperately forced herself to remain standing.
“I should go to Lady Diana first. I will see you later, Lady Cordelia.”
Alan raised one hand in farewell and entered the residence.
