Chapter 69

I'm late!

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The day after attempting to poison the crown prince of this country, Cecilia leaned back on a bench in the courtyard, gazing up at the blue sky, and sighed deeply.

"What should I do from now on..."

Not only had she failed to make a decent pudding, but she had also caused trouble for her friends, and she had no clear prospects for the future. She had yet to meet Ein and Zwey properly, and her favorability with them was at rock bottom.

For now, she was banned from the kitchen, so she couldn't even make pudding anymore.

"Besides, I got Oscar wet too! Gil will be angry! This is just terrible!"

She stretched her limbs and yawned.

There had been various issues with Oscar, but her head was about to explode, so she decided not to think about it for now. Besides, this wasn't a problem she could solve by thinking about it alone. It wasn't a simple matter of likes and dislikes; there were also positions and situations to consider.

As she was thinking, something fluffy suddenly rubbed against her feet. She looked down to see the cat she had seen before.

"Meow!"

"Oh, Coco"

"Coco!"

Cecilia called the cat's name almost simultaneously with a voice from behind. She turned around to see—

"Zwey?"

"Oh, the other day..."

It was one of the twins. The one with the braid on the left side was definitely the younger brother. When their eyes met, he twisted his face, which looked exactly like his brother's, in a guilty way and suddenly bowed his head.

"I'm sorry for the other day! Even though you helped me, Ein did such a thing! ...Did you get hurt or anything?"

He asked with a face that looked like he was about to cry. Cecilia rotated her shoulder, which had been kicked.

"I'm fine! I'm completely okay! I didn't get hurt."

"...Is that so? I'm glad."

Zwey sighed in relief, looking relieved.

Actually, the pain was so intense that her expression had stiffened, but she managed to get through it with a forced smile.

Cecilia gestured for Zwey to sit next to her on the bench. Zwey, who initially looked confused, sat down next to her more straightforwardly. Coco, who had been at her feet, jumped onto Zwey's lap as soon as he sat down.

While petting Coco, who began to nap contentedly on his lap, Zwey bowed his head to Cecilia again.

"I'm really sorry. I tried to get Ein to apologize, but..."

Since then, Zwey had apparently tried to clear up Cecilia's misunderstanding. However, Ein's attitude was stubborn, and he wouldn't listen to Zwey at all. He even suspected that Cecilia was being threatened by someone.

"He wouldn't listen no matter how many times I told him. Ein can be a bit stubborn... "

"That's a misunderstanding! The situation was what it was! It's okay. I'm not at all bothered by it!"

"Thank you. ...I'm glad you're a kind person, Cecilia."

He smiled softly, still looking down. His cute face was so well-featured that it could be mistaken for a girl's. No wonder he was a target to be pursued.

(...Wait, I just realized! This is actually a pretty good situation, isn't it!?)

She was surprised and slow to realize it, but this could be a great opportunity to boost favorability.

If she could get the conversation going and boost Zwey's favorability, and then get introduced to Ein and boost his favorability too, this would be the only way!

(But, I need a topic. Maybe I should talk about Coco. No, but...)

There was something else she wanted to ask him more than that.

Cecilia turned to face Zwey and opened her mouth.

"By the way, does that kind of thing happen often?"

"Kind of thing?"

"Something like bullying?"

Cecilia recalled her encounter with Zwey. It didn't feel like it was the first time for either the bullies or the bullied. It felt more like they were used to it, almost habitual.

Zwey's eyes widened at Cecilia's words, then he nodded deeply.

"Yes. Not every day, but..."

"Why?"

"It's because... we're twins."

His voice became smaller, and his gaze dropped. Cecilia tilted her head even more at Zwey's expression.

"What do you mean? Why would being twins lead to bullying?"

"...You don't know?"

"Know what?"

Cecilia tilted her head in confusion. Zwey hesitated for a moment, then answered in a voice just loud enough to be heard.

"Twins have been called 'children of the devil' and have been shunned since ancient times."

"Children of the devil?"

"Yes. There's a popular belief that the devil, who is said to have been defeated by the goddess, was actually a twin devil. People in the northern territories, where the temple is located, are very religious and many believe in such things."

So, the three bullies were from the northern territories and were bullying Ein and Zwey, who were twins, as "children of the devil."

It was an incredibly unjust situation.

"What? You're bullied just for being twins!?"

"I don't think it's that rare. I don't know about other regions, but in our territory, there was a lot of trouble when we were born. Our parents were even told by the villagers to kill one of us."

"Such..."

Cecilia was speechless at Zwey's words.

While strong faith was a good thing, how could they think that killing a newborn baby was in line with the will of the gods?

"Ein is strong and can stand up to the bullies, but I can't say anything. Ein always comes to my rescue like that."

"Like that" referred to the incident with Cecilia. Indeed, he seemed to be used to helping.

Cecilia stood up and turned to Zwey.

"Let's go and say something!"

"Eh?"

"Let's go and protest to those bullies! It's wrong to be treated like that just for being twins!"

Bull-headed. Cecilia was about to run off, and Zwey hurriedly stood up.

"Wait, wait!"

"It's okay, I remember their faces! If it comes to it, I'll talk to them with my fists!"

The muscle-brained noble daughter, Cecilia Silvy. The phrase "talk to them with my fists" was more fitting for her than "silence them with my fists."

Zwey, seeing her determined stance, became even more flustered.

"It's okay!"

"If you're scared, you can hide!"

"No, it's okay!"

"It's fine to be more casual!"

"No, it's okay now!!"

"Eh?"

Seeing him cling to her arm desperately, Cecilia realized he wasn't being polite. She lowered her raised fist and he sat back down on the bench, sighing in relief.

"Actually, it hasn't happened recently."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes. For some reason, a protest letter from the Silvy family was sent to their parents."

"Huh? From the Silvy family?"

Surprised to hear about her own family, Cecilia's eyes widened.

"Yes. Something like, 'The twins from the Makias family are friends with my son, so stop bothering them'... That's what the letter said. ...I've never been friends with anyone from the ducal family, though."

Zwey smiled wryly. There was a hint of relief in his expression.

(Maybe Gilbert did it?)

If Gilbert had asked Cecilia's parents to send the letter after hearing her story, it was entirely possible. Indeed, he had been quite upset at the time, and this was something he could easily do.

"But, still. I'm still ignored. The bullies have warned the other kids, so no one talks to me. My only friend is this one."

He petted Coco as he spoke. It wasn't clear whether he had brought Coco from home or found him at the academy, but Coco was very attached to Zwey.

Cecilia stood in front of Zwey.

"In that case, why don't you be friends with me?"

"Eh?"

"Is that okay? I wanted to be friends with Zwey! Of course, with Ein too!"

"With Ein too?"

"Yes!"

Cecilia nodded firmly, and Zwey's gaze wandered. He was probably hesitating or being cautious.

She sat down in front of him and looked up at him from a slightly lower position.

Then, she extended her right hand.

"Please, be friends with me."

"......Okay."

After a moment's hesitation, Zwey shook Cecilia's hand. At that moment, Cecilia's face lit up with a smile.

"That's great! I was worried you might say no! I look forward to working with you, Zwey!"

"Okay. Nice to meet you."

Zwey responded, bewildered by the swinging arm.

"By the way, you don't have to use formal language. I'd be happy if you could talk to me more casually!"

"Okay."

As Zwey nodded, the large bell in the academy tolled, and Cecilia looked up, gasping.

"Oh no! I was supposed to be called by Reine after this!"

"Eh?"

"See you later, Zwey!"

"Ah, yeah. See you later."

As she heard his amused voice, Cecilia took a step towards the classroom where Reine was waiting.

..◆◇◆

"Haa..."

Watching Cecilia leave, Zwey sighed. His sharp gaze returned with a single blink, and he ran his fingers through his left braid. He also moved his part to the right with his hand.

Then, with an attitude that was far from the Zwey she knew, he leaned back on the bench and crossed his legs. Coco jumped off his lap at the same time.

"Hmm. ...A naive little prince, huh?"

Ain, who had been pretending to be Zwey, watched Cecilia's direction with a smirk.

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