Diane had a puzzled look on her face, which suddenly cleared.

“Are you talking about what happened at the auction?”

“Yes. A weakling like you doesn’t suit our family. You can’t even manage the territory, let alone subdue monsters.”

“Ah.”

At Daivan’s words, Diane pulled her bag closer and bowed her head. She looked utterly deflated.

‘That’s right, show yourself like that.’

Who does she think she is, calling my father ‘Dad’ and my brother ‘Bro’? Her deflated look was quite satisfying.

…No, actually, it wasn’t.

I thought I’d feel better once she showed her true colors, but I was still uncomfortable.

Upon pondering, it seemed like my discontent was because she couldn’t offer any sort of response.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you just standing there?”

“You’re right, so what can I say?”

‘This isn’t it.’

Kids her age would naturally resent someone openly hostile like me. Her calm response to my words wasn’t familiar.

“I am weak.”

But on second thought, her calm replies didn’t seem like she was beaten down either.

Daivan narrowed his eyes.

I thought she had lowered her head because her spirits were down, but she was actually rummaging through her bag.

Seeing this, Daivan asked cautiously.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh, one moment.”

The child continued to fumble through the bag.

Curious about what she was trying to pull out, Daivan crossed his arms and waited.

“Ah, found it!”

What Diane produced was a dried squid. It was beautifully wrapped in a pasteltoned ribbon.

The wrapping didn’t quite suit the contents, but it was clear effort had been put into it.

“This is a gift!”

“…”

Daivan silently accepted it, his eyebrows furrowing. Seeing this, Diane tilted her head.

“Don’t you like it?”

“What is this?”

“Dried squid! I heard it’s your favorite snack, so I prepared it. There’s also dark chocolate for Mikael, but I don’t see him.”

Daivan squinted his eyes and looked at Diane.

Seeing Daivan’s unenthusiastic reaction, Diane looked a bit disheartened.

“Is it because the quantity is too small?”

“No.”

“Or is it the wrapping…?”

“No.”

To all her subsequent questions, Daivan responded with a simple “No,” and stood up.

“I’m leaving.”

Soon, Daivan abruptly left the scene.

Watching his disgruntled expression till the end, Diane sighed deeply and thought.

‘I guess Daivan really dislikes me…’

At the same time, Mikael was enjoying his leisurely tea time alone in his room.

It was then that his door swung open without a knock.

Sighing at his rude siblings, Mikael said,

“Please knock.”

“That girl is really weird.”

The statement was fragmented, but Mikael knew instantly who Daivan was talking about.

“To my eyes, you’re weirder for following her around since morning.”

“That’s not it, look at this.”
Dayban tore a leg from the squid he had brought and chewed on it. Michael let out a deep sigh and asked.

“Why?”

“Do you know who gave this to me?”

“Do I need to know?”

“He gave it to me.”

Michael narrowed his eyes. He roughly figured out what Dayban was trying to say.

“He recognized me right away.”

Although he didn’t want to admit it, Dayban and he had nearly identical appearances.

However, they were only alike in appearance. Everything else, like personality, food and clothing preferences, hobbies, and so forth, was different.

Dayban’s favorite snack, dried squid, was the worst food imaginable for Michael, who was sensitive to its fishy smell.

In contrast, Michael, who liked fragrant things, was the opposite of Dayban, who detested food with a lot of spices even from a distance.

In short, if they confused their appearances and gave each other gifts, it would be the worst gift for both of them.

“Must have been lucky.”

At best, the odds were fiftyfifty.

Anyway, guessing one out of the two wasn’t a big deal.

Dayban, who had been talking about his younger brother with interest, changed his attitude quickly after hearing Michael’s words.

“I guess so.”

Dayban, who was tearing and chewing another leg of squid, suddenly stood up from his seat.

“Hey, can I borrow some clothes?”

Michael tightly closed his mouth without responding. He knew that it was not a question seeking his opinion.

Dayban ran to the wardrobe, quickly changed, and came back out.

“I’ll return them right away.”

“Are you kidding? Just throw them away.”

“Fine with me.”

Dayban, who answered casually, left the room in a hurry, leaving behind the squid he received as a gift.

Michael, who had already been bothered by the fishy smell of the squid, flung the windows wide open. He was about to throw that damned squid out if it wasn’t removed in five minutes.

However, the squid wasn’t destined to be thrown out so easily.

His twin brother returned exactly two minutes later, holding the dark chocolate he had received as a gift.

Seeing that, Michael understood why Dayban had changed into his clothes to go out.

“You couldn’t recognize it?”

Since Dayban received a squid gift, that dark chocolate must have been a gift that his brother had prepared for him.