“Sir Theo, it seemed like you were resting, and I know this is terribly rude of me, but please forgive me for coming unannounced like this.”
When I opened the door, Mirna greeted me with an apology. Since I was just reading, I shrugged, showing her my desk.
“You don’t have to apologize so much. I wasn’t resting, I was just studying.”
“Studying, Sir Theo?”
“If you could even call it that. It was just skimming through books about the Church’s history and the development of its doctrines.”
Mirna’s face, which had looked somewhat gloomy, brightened at my casual explanation.
“Sir Theo, that’s a commendable pursuit when it comes to faith. I’m glad I can talk to you about such topics.”
It seemed Mirna had misunderstood something. Explaining it to her would take quite some time and involve a fair bit of effort. Deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble, I opted to steer the conversation elsewhere. ṟ
“So, Lady Mirna, what brings you to visit me, going so far as to apologize?”
“Well...”
Mirna’s expression grew gloomy again. She seemed to have something she wanted to say, mumbling to herself.
“We’re close enough, Lady Mirna, so feel free to speak openly.”
It’s probably about Narmi.
“It’s about Narmi, actually.”
As expected.
It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. However, I couldn’t begin to guess what exactly she wanted to say about her.
A lengthy conversation lasting until midnight after getting off the carriage—what kind of stories would I hear? As I ran through possibilities in my mind, Mirna finally seemed to make up her mind and spoke.
“Do you have time tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? I can make time if needed. Why do you ask?”
“I’ll explain in detail tomorrow. It’s late tonight, and I should get some rest. What happened today is really...”
A lot had happened.
Creak, click.
After Mirna closed the door and left, I suddenly started to feel tired.
Should I just close my eyes for a bit?
Rustle, rustle.
Then, I felt a hand stroking my head.
When I opened my eyes, both Mirna and Narmi were looking at me. Seeing the same face staring at me twice, I thought for a moment it was a dream.
Then I remembered, even in my half-asleep state, they had been separated. This wasn’t a dream, it was reality.
“Theo, it’s already ten o’clock. Hurry and get up.”
Ten o’clock?
I was startled by Narmi’s words.
It felt like I had just closed my eyes for a moment, but had I overslept that much? I guess my body was tired from all the things that happened yesterday and being thoroughly drained by Stella.
I quickly washed up, dressed, and finished getting ready. I didn’t know where, but Narmi and Mirna wanted to go out together.
Narmi explained.
“Today, we’re going shopping for clothes. Now that we’ve split, it’s a good chance to try on things we each like and do what we want.”
It was a reasonable plan.
* * *
The Draco twins had shared many things throughout their lives, which was unavoidable due to their unique circumstances. But now things have changed.
“Theo, let’s go to the shoe store next!”
“Narmi, I told you, we need to buy hats before shoes!”
The problem was that their opinions had started to clash sharply. As a result, I found myself sweating bullets trying to mediate between them.
That’s when I noticed a pet shop.
“Why don’t we take a quick break over there?”
At my suggestion, both women glanced toward the shop. They both frowned at the cages hanging all over the place and the animals beyond them, but only for a moment.
“Sounds good!”
“Okay. Sir Theo likes cute animals, right?”
Miraculously, we all agreed and stepped into the shop.
Though there was a faint animal odor, it wasn’t all bad as the sisters brightened seeing the freely roaming animals inside.
It was then.
━Meow.
The sisters’ eyes landed on a black cat wearing a small bell around its neck, leisurely wandering through the shop. Was it one of the shop’s pets? Both sisters reached out towards it.
“Come here.”
“Come on over.”
The cat hesitated briefly between the two before finally approaching Narmi. It rubbed its side against her hand and legs, as if it’s marking her.
“This cat clearly likes me more than you, Unnie! Animals are always honest.”
Narmi chuckled smugly as if she’d claimed victory. Annoyed, Mirna let out a sharp scoff and retorted.
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