Reforming the Villain Family - Chapter 61

Diane had a puzzled look on her face. Then suddenly, she seemed to realize something.

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

“Yes. A weakling like you doesn’t suit our family. You look like someone who can’t even properly inspect the territory, let alone subjugate magical beasts.”

“Ah.”

At Daiban’s words, Diane hung her head low while hugging her bag in front of her. She looked quite deflated.

‘That’s right, that’s how she should react.’

How dare she casually call father “daddy” and elder brother “oppa”. Her deflated appearance was quite satisfactory.

…No, actually, not quite.

I thought I’d feel better if she reacted like that, but it left me feeling rather unsettled.

Thinking about why, it seemed to be because she wasn’t responding at all despite me pressing her like this.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Huh?”

“I asked why you’re just staying quiet.”

“Well, everything you said is true.”

‘This isn’t right.’

Kids her age would normally resent someone openly antagonizing them. Her calm response to my words felt rather unfamiliar.

“It’s true that I’m weak.”

But now that I look at it, her calm response doesn’t seem particularly deflated either.

Daiban narrowed his eyes.

He had thought she lowered her head because she was dejected, but it turns out she was just busy rummaging through her bag.

Seeing this, Daiban asked with a sour expression.

“What are you doing now?”

“Oh, just a moment.”

The child continued digging through her backpack.

Curious about what she was trying to take out, Daiban crossed his arms and waited.

“Ah, found it!”

What Diane pulled out with a flourish was dried squid. It was wrapped in clear packaging with a pretty pastel-colored ribbon tied around it.

Though the wrapping didn’t quite match the contents, one could see that care had been put into the packaging.

“This is a gift!”

“…”

Daiban accepted it without a word. Diane tilted her head as she watched his expression, furrowing and unfurrowing his brow.

“Do you not like it for some reason?”

“What is this?”

“Dried squid! I heard it’s Daiban’s favorite snack, so I prepared it. And for Michael, it’s dark chocolate. But I don’t see Michael around.”

Daiban narrowed his eyes and stared at Diane.

Seeing Daiban’s not-so-pleased reaction, Diane became a bit downcast.

“Is it because the quantity is too small?”

“No.”

“Then is it because the packaging isn’t good enough…?”

“No.”

After answering “no” to all her other questions as well, Daiban stood up.

“I’m leaving.”

Soon, Daiban stormed off and disappeared.

Seeing Daiban’s displeased expression until the very end, Diane sighed deeply and thought.

‘I guess Daiban really doesn’t like me…’

[This is the timeline separator]

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

It was then that his quiet room door suddenly burst open without a knock.

Seeing his brother who had apparently swallowed his manners along with his soup, Michael sighed.

“Please knock for once.”

“That kid is really weird.”

Though the statement was abrupt, Michael immediately knew who “that kid” referred to.

“In my eyes, you who’ve been following her around since morning are weirder.”

“That’s not it, look at this.”

Daiban tore off one of the squid’s legs and chewed on it. Michael sighed deeply and asked.

“Why are you eating that?”

“Do you know who gave this to me?”

“Am I supposed to know that?”

“She gave it to me.”

Michael furrowed his brow. He roughly guessed what Daiban was trying to say.

“She recognized me right away.”

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Daiban and he had identical appearances.

However, they were only alike in looks. Their personalities, food and clothing preferences, hobbies, and everything else were different.

Dried squid, Daiban’s favorite snack, was the worst food for Michael who was sensitive to fishy smells.

On the other hand, while Michael liked foods with deep flavors, Daiban hated even being near foods with lots of spices.

In other words, if their appearances were confused and gifts were given to the wrong person, it would be the worst gift for both of them.

“You just got lucky.”

Even so, the probability was fifty-fifty.

Anyway, it was just a matter of guessing one out of two, so getting it right once wasn’t a big deal.

Daiban, who had been talking about his sister with interest, quickly changed his attitude upon hearing Michael’s words.

“I guess you’re right.”

Daiban, who had been chewing on another squid leg, suddenly stood up.

“Hey, can I borrow some clothes?”

Michael kept his mouth shut without replying. He knew it wasn’t a question asking for his opinion anyway.

Daiban ran to the closet, quickly changed clothes, and came out.

“I’ll return them soon.”

“Are you kidding? Just throw them away.”

“That works too.”

Daiban, who replied casually, left the room briskly, leaving behind the squid he had received as a gift.

Michael, who was already bothered by the fishy squid smell, threw the windows wide open. He was planning to tell someone to throw away that damn squid if it wasn’t gone within 5 minutes.

However, the squid was not destined to be thrown away so easily.

His twin brother returned to the room exactly 2 minutes later. With the dark chocolate he had received as a gift in one hand.

Seeing that, it was clear why Daiban had bothered to change into his clothes before going out.

“I guess she didn’t recognize me?”

Since she gave the squid gift to Daiban, that dark chocolate must be the gift his sister prepared for him.

It seemed she had given him the gift thinking Daiban wearing his clothes was him.

“So it was just a coincidence earlier.”

“That’s not it.”

Daiban shook his head. His expression was a bit confused, but also like that of an eccentric who had discovered something interesting.

“She asked me to give this to you, saying it’s hard to meet you.”

Then Daiban tossed it in front of him.

“She said you and I look different.”

Daiban’s eyes sparkled as he spoke. That was Daiban’s unique expression when he found something interesting.

When did he change from being so eager to get rid of her to now being interested?

Seeing this, Michael rolled his eyes.

“As soon as she saw me, she asked why I suddenly changed clothes.”

“…”

“She said she’s 4 years old. Well, for such a weak child, she speaks quite well. We communicated easily.”

“…”

His attitude towards that child changed as soon as she recognized them. Michael let out a short sigh.

Regardless, Daiban continued speaking with a snicker.

“Isn’t it funny that she thinks we’ll look favorably on her just because she gave us these snacks?”

‘Well, she seems to have succeeded in getting on your good side at least.’

[This is the timeline separator]

After giving Daiban the gift, a strange thing was added to my daily routine.

“Who am I?”

“Daiban?”

“…Hmph.”

Daiban picked up the book he had placed upside down on his knee and went back to his room.

‘I guess he’ll come out and ask again later?’

Ever since I gave Daiban the squid as a gift, he would come out at least twice a day to ask who he was.

At first, I didn’t know why he was doing this, but thinking about it now, it seems he found it fascinating that I could recognize him.

‘Well, the two of them do look very alike.’

They had the same appearance, the same height, and the same voice.

If Michael wore Daiban’s clothes and Daiban wore Michael’s clothes, even the Duke and Clemens would have a hard time telling them apart.

‘But then I might get a bit confused too.’

Anyway, despite my nervousness, I got along well even after the twins arrived.

‘Though I haven’t seen Michael since the first day.’

You’d think we’d have run into each other by chance at least once by now.

And soon after, I realized that I needed to be careful even with my thoughts.

Today, as usual, I headed out to the garden with my bag on my back, only to find Michael had already claimed the spot in the cool shade under the tree where the sunlight was best.

‘Did my thoughts come true…?’

It was too late to turn back now, and too close to pretend I didn’t see him and walk past.

I had no choice but to slightly raise one hand.

“Hello, Michael.”

Michael, who had been focusing only on his book, raised his head. After staring at me for a moment, he muttered in an indifferent tone.

“It’s really you.”

Soon after, he returned his gaze to his book. Taking this positively, I relaxed a little.

‘Michael was calmer than Daiban after all.’

Managing both twins was the job of Clemens and the Duke. However, managing Daiban, who was especially unpredictable among the twins, was Michael’s responsibility.

‘Should I try to make a good impression on Michael too in advance?’

Actually, as soon as I saw Michael, I was going to leave immediately, but seeing him respond to my greeting made me not want to do that anymore.

Well, strictly speaking, it’s hard to say he really responded to my greeting, but still.

‘It’s something that he’s not openly hostile.’

“Is it okay if I play here?”

I asked carefully, but Michael just glanced at me briefly before turning his gaze away again. Taking that as silent approval, I spread out my walking blanket a little distance away from him. I sat on the blanket and just did some coloring for a while.

Occasionally glancing at Michael in between was a bonus.

‘By the way, what book is he reading?’

The title of the book was ‘Efficiency of Magic’. From a quick glance at the cover, it seemed to be a book about how to efficiently handle magical power.

Does Michael need to handle magical power efficiently?

The twins’ magical power was like an endless well that never decreased and kept flowing.

If you have a well in your house that never dries up, there’s no need to worry about methods to conserve water efficiently.

‘Is he just reading it because he likes books?’

Perhaps sensing my gaze, Michael raised his head.

“Is that book interesting?”

“Can you read?”

I silently nodded. Michael let out an annoyed sigh and closed his book with a thud.

“Hey, squirt!”

Just then, Daiban shouted at me from afar.

“I was wondering where you went, so you were hiding there!”

Despite his snippy tone, Daiban ran over with an excited face. Upon belatedly noticing Michael, he furrowed his brow.

“Ah shit, what? You were here?”

Daiban suddenly got irritated. Michael made a dumbfounded expression at his brother’s out-of-nowhere outburst.

‘Oh, come to think of it…’

My gaze went to the clothes Daiban was wearing. Black dress pants with a navy vest and a light-colored dress shirt. His overall style of dress had changed.

‘He’s dressed similarly to Michael now.’

It seems Michael noticed too, as he scrunched up his face.

“Aren’t those my clothes?”

“They are.”

“…I’m sure I told you not to touch my things without permission.”

“What could I do when you weren’t around?”

“How many times is this now.”

That you’ve touched my things without saying anything. Michael muttered quietly to himself while counting on his fingers. His expression didn’t look good.

Meanwhile, I nervously rolled my eyes back and forth.

‘The thing Michael hates most is others touching his things.’

The problem wasn’t that he wore the clothes without permission. It was simply that he touched his things without his consent. For Michael, that was like touching a sore spot.

Michael abruptly stood up and strode towards Daiban.

And then Michael threw a punch straight at Daiban’s face!