With his hands behind his back, he tilted his upper body sideways and looked up with a mischievous expression. A radiant smile still lingered on his smooth nose bridge.

“No.”

Johannes let out a small laugh. It wasn’t particularly born of resentment. He had already given up everything anyway. He just found it amusing that his sister, who was now pretending to care about her brother’s feelings, looked so pretty even to his own eyes.

Though he knew his sister was skilled at giving pain and then comfort, he still found himself swayed like this every time. She must know well how pretty she is too. Well, in such a dark inner room, alone yet as bright as midday, how could she not know?

“You’re angry. You’re angry.”

His sister approached, teasing him as if talking to herself. Johannes turned away from her, shaking his head.

“I told you I’m not.”

“Aren’t you angry?”

“You’re secretly hoping I’ll be indignant, aren’t you?”

“Doesn’t it bother you at all?”

“No… ugh.”

A short gasp escaped Johannes’ lips. The reason was that his sister had suddenly burrowed into his arms.

His sister was like a gentle breeze. There was no hesitation in her motion of embracing him. Her slender arms wrapped around his side to his shoulders. She squeezed lightly.

Johannes, losing his balance for a moment as their similar builds pressed together, had to prop himself up on his elbows on the table. His spine touched the edge of the table with a thud.

Johannes looked down at his sister, leaning back diagonally. A smile as white as if soaked in water was visible. Above his chest, his sister’s heartbeat was transmitted intact. It was fast and delicate, like the beating of a hummingbird’s wings.

In fact, since his sister’s unexpected charge was routine, there wasn’t a hint of a smile on Johannes’ impassive face. However, the saturation of his complexion was clearly changing. Like white cloth unable to hide the moisture seeping into it, he brightened faintly.

To be honest, he had no intention of hiding it. Why bother hiding? He was purely glad for his sister’s body heat touching his entire body. In the end, he reached out one arm to embrace his sister’s shoulder in return. His sister nestled into him as he pulled her. He could feel her round shoulder blade in his palm. Johannes muttered, half-mixing in a laugh.

“How could I possibly be angry with you? I’m not.”

“It doesn’t seem that way though?”

However, his sister pretended not to see his completely relaxed expression. Johannes let out a short laugh and rested his chin on the ear of that obstinate one, looking ahead. Then he was a bit surprised. He had discovered a pair of wide, upturned eyes.

The smallest child among the playmates was standing stiffly like a startled kitten, staring at him intently. Maybe four years old? Judging by the unfamiliar appearance, she seemed to be a newcomer. He wasn’t sure which knight’s illegitimate child she was. Johannes watched that child while tilting only his face down.

“Giovinetta.”

“Hmm?”

“That child is staring.”

He whispered quietly against his sister’s ear. The head nestled in his arms tilted slightly outward. The new child seemed startled anew, perhaps having made eye contact with his sister. His sister called to the child.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“What are you staring at so intently?”

“…Ah.”

“Are you here for a show? Go away.”

His sister stuck out one hand and flapped it up and down as if shooing away a bird. The child, who had turned bright red from head to toe as if a can of paint had been dumped on her, finally turned around awkwardly. Her footsteps, taken as if being torn away, were clearly filled with embarrassment. Does it still look strange? Johannes felt somewhat dazed as he briefly surveyed his surroundings.

While the siblings were bickering, the playmates had already dispersed. Some were gathered in the center of the children’s room, laying out new toy dishes. Except for the child who had stood blankly before him, they were all kids who had long been accustomed to the Valdemar twins’ unusual affection, so they now showed not a hint of curiosity at the two’s behavior.

And Griselda, sitting in a chair near the entrance, was merely sending a rather tired gaze into empty space. She too seemed uninterested in the twins, her eyes half-dead as if another layer of ink had been added.

Is she perhaps worried about Winfrid, alone in the sick room? I heard he was very ill again last night. I don’t know. In any case, since there was nothing he could do to help, Johannes quickly withdrew his attention from Griselda.

Only after confirming that the child who had been watching the siblings’ reactions had finally joined her playmates did he press his sister’s back of the head firmly against his body again. Then, as if the current situation were separate, he admonished her with just his words.

“From now on… try not to embrace so recklessly if possible.”

“Why?”

“No matter how much we’re siblings, they say men and women should be kept separate, don’t they? You never know. Some guy might criticize you.”

Johannes was subtly worried that his sister might be scolded. However, his sister, looking up at him, seemed flustered for a different reason. With one eyebrow strangely distorted in a puzzled expression, she finally raised her eyelids widely and retorted to him.

“What criticism? I don’t understand.”

“What.”

“What’s there to criticize about me embracing what’s mine? Why bring up separating men and women here?”

“Hmm….”

Johannes was at a loss for words. Of course he was glad for his sister’s reckless sense of possession, but he didn’t know where to start explaining. No, he himself didn’t understand the reason, so there was no way he could easily explain it. That damned separating of men and women….

He frowned slightly, knowingly or unknowingly. He focused anew on the sound of his sister’s heart coming over his chest. His own heart seemed to resonate, matching the beat thump-thump.

Now, look at this resonance, not different at all between us. From limbs and body to internal organs, haven’t we been fitted with all parts exactly the same? So why on earth should we be different? Isn’t it such an absurd separation? Moreover, we are siblings. Not even ordinary siblings at that.

“You’re right.”

Johannes nodded slowly. If his sister didn’t mind, there seemed no need for him to add more words. And at that moment, the arms wrapped around his torso tightened. A clear light returned to his sister’s blue eyes. A voice full of new laughter asked him.

“So. Are you still angry, Johannes?”

“Ah, here we go again.”

Johannes shuddered briefly.

“You’re especially persistent today. I told you I’m not angry.”

“Your tone is exactly that of an angry person though.”

“How so?”

“Hey, are you going to keep being angry even like this?”

“What….”

He couldn’t finish his words. Suddenly his sister stretched out her neck and pressed her lips firmly to his forehead. With a smacking sound, his sister kissed him and then began to stare at him as if urging a reaction. It seemed this was the reason she had been provoking him all along. Such a sister who loves dramatic productions. You like it, right? Her excited expression alone seemed to make even non-existent sounds audible.

“…You rascal.”

Johannes muttered, as if grumbling on purpose. How does she always do this? He lowered his face and pressed his forehead to his sister’s shoulder. His cheeks were hot. He felt blood rushing to his entire face.

At that moment, as he shifted his shoulders, he stepped on a fallen chess piece on the floor but just kept stepping on it. Lest his sister break away. Of course, his thick-skinned sister probably wouldn’t care whether he was hurt or not….

A pleasant laugh burst from between his sister’s lips. It poured onto his nape. Soon a small hand came up and made a tiny cave by his ear. His sister, putting her lips to the entrance of that hand-blade cave, whispered as if making a momentous confession.

“You know, Johannes.”

“Mm.”

“This is a secret…”

“Mm.”

“……”

“What is it?”

“I know too.”

With that sly confession, his sister’s hand fell away. What does she know? Johannes was about to ask back but stopped. Only when he saw the smile stretching her eyes so long that the blue irises were barely visible did he realize. Ah, right. You’re saying you know well that you’re a rascal?

“Still, I only do this with you. Would I do this with others?”

His sister, resting her cheek on his ear, added an excuse in an extremely proud manner. Ah, aah… I really can’t handle this. Johannes burst out laughing. He was going crazy with how hateful and lovable his sister was. He stood up completely and pressed his body against his sister.

A chattering voice was completely muffled against his neck. A closeness allowing no other gaps. He didn’t know how long they had been embracing like that.

The siblings, excited for reasons only they knew, shared various idle talk for a long time, matching their toes or pressing their foreheads together. They needed no toys, whether wooden dolls or toy soldiers. The air around them began to flow in a different time.

The siblings’ voices, which had been quite boisterous, gradually subsided like the sun sinking outside the window. Slowly. At some point it became a silence draped in crimson sunset. Though there was no one listening, they shared their voices in low tones into each other’s ears.

Johannes was first. Embracing his sister’s waist, he whispered quietly. That to his eyes… she was the most beautiful. That he was dying from how beautiful she was….

He poured this newfound confession into his sister’s small ear again and again. His tone was soft and calm. His eyelids were half-lowered, drawing long curves. It was a tone that would be believable even if he were a boy or young man rather than a child, and at the same time an atmosphere that would be believable even if he were her lover rather than her brother.

Are you sincere? his sister asked, and I am sincere, he answered, drawing on all his sincerity. He liked the feeling of his sister’s platinum sideburns fluttering near his lips.

Unaware of the strange aura he had created, he merely whispered to his sister a few more times as if engraving it. You must know, pranks like earlier must only be played on me, if you turn away from me how could I look at anyone else… he said.

“You said I’m yours.”

He impressed upon his sister’s ear with his breath.

“Of course.”

His sister laughed like a bell chime. Her thin shoulders, as if about to crumple, shook faintly. Light shatters with that small motion alone. It was as if spring sunlight had been powdered and draped over her entire body. He thought. You are beautiful. You can’t help but be beautiful. And we are perfect mirror images of each other.

A subtly proud smile shone on Johannes’ face as he gazed at his sister. He could not be happier about the fact that this brilliant and interesting child was his blood-related sister.

Johannes, who had been sincerely offering his hand to his sister as she fiddled with the tips of his nails for no important reason, only then noticed Griselda’s gaze. When he glanced at her, Griselda turned away from him first. That avoidance, though not familiar, was not completely unfamiliar either.

Perhaps the nanny was also going to ‘reproach’ us?

I don’t know. Their nanny was a woman whose inner thoughts were very difficult to read. Johannes turned his head away. He focused his gently raised nerves back on his sister. On the back of his hand resting lightly on her tiny palm.

“I think a light blue chalcedony ring would suit you well. Shall I talk to Father about it?”

“Go ahead. Will you put it on for me?”

“Yes, I should do it. Who else would?”

He smiled as he watched his sister handling his body as if it were a doll. He liked her childish interest probing and caressing between his fingers. His slightly sunken eyes were quite soft. Eyes uninterested in outside matters, as if asking when had anyone seen them.

There was a reason for this indifference.

“How can those two be so beautiful? It’s like seeing two precious jewels in one place.”

“And they’re jewels of the same shape, aren’t they? For twins of different genders to resemble each other so much, it’s truly a rare sight…. God acts only according to His predetermined will, but we mere mortals sometimes cannot fathom that will, so it’s just mysterious….”

When the slightly older Valdemar siblings stood side by side somewhere, such exclamations were often heard murmuring. Sometimes strange gazes followed without words. Those gazes, looking down or stealing glances at the siblings who were as alike as if stamped from the same mold, with even their bloodline being precious, belonged to knights encountered on the training ground or maids passing in the corridors.

His sister, who was always sensitively aware of the family’s interest, would nod to herself with a grin, saying “Ah, we’re special siblings,” seemingly satisfied with something.

“The two of you are exceptionally close…. Exceptionally.”

However, some would always add such words of caution. Keep your distance from your sister. It must have been reproach with hidden intentions. Johannes quickly grasped the concern they hid under their tongues, but he did not understand the meaning of that concern at all.

“Tell me why we should distance ourselves from each other.”

Whenever he commanded, unable to bear it any longer, vague answers came that men and women should be kept separate. Johannes pressed in an exasperated tone.

“No, what is the reason for distinguishing gender….”

Unfortunately, no proper answer came to that question. After evading with “It’s still too early for you,” they would turn their eyes to distant mountains like thoughtless clams and firmly shut their mouths.

“…Ah, I see.”

After that, Johannes did not respond to the roundabout advice of some of the household members. In any case, the number of worried gazes was small, and he had no intention of accepting unreasonable control without explanation. He was not of a status to be oppressed by others who were not his parents in the first place.

Our sibling relationship was already connected from birth. As special siblings who shared one womb, we can’t help but cherish each other.

Even when someone occasionally came out startled like today’s new child, he tried to dismiss it casually, saying it was because they did not understand our specialness. It was a peaceful time of only a few years in their lives, so he even went so far as to be confident about the future. That they would be like a pair of unsetting suns.

In short, the devil had not yet realized his true form until then.