Chapter 4

At the end of the spacious common room, a table was placed in front of a brightly lit window. Two chairs were facing each other. On one of them, a boy was sitting down on a comfortable chair without moving.

'Aron Pietro, the male protagonist. Having a shy and weak personality when he was young.' She recalls the story in the novel, and walked towards the boy.

As she got closer, his appearance was getting more vivid, black hair just like his eyes, sharp chin with a prominent jawline, and a teardrop-shaped mole under his eyes.

He was handsome, as expected of the protagonist.

But now that he's about sixteen years old, he still has the face of an immature boy.

Citrina sat in a chair across from him. She had her eyes on the boy, but his eyes were focused on the floor.

Citrina looked at him and spoke first, "I am Citrina Foluin from the House of Baron Foluin. Starting from today onwards, I'll be friends with the two young masters, including young master Aron."

He was hesitating as he bit his lips, thinking this may not be a good idea.

"...Citrina Foluin?"

"Yes. You can call me Citrina."

Citrina looked at him with an expressionless face. His eyes are as dark as the chess Go.

He opened his red lips and said his name, "I am Aron Pietro."

When he heard her seemingly unfamiliar voice, he cast a quick glance at her.

Inside the quiet common room, the ticking of the clock is the only thing that could be heard.

"Okay, Aron."

Citrina replied and leaned her body back on the chair.

'It's so quiet. We've been here for quite some time, the atmosphere is very uncomfortable.'

It seems like working properly will be easy for her. In her memory, the male protagonist at this age would easily open his heart with showing a little bit of goodwill. She thought it would be easier to open his heart to her than the villain.

Citrina, who was sorting out the information in her mind, said unhesitatingly, "It's my job to accompany Aron for an hour each day."

When Aron heard this, he was shocked. He raised his head and asked, "Uh, you want to have a conversation with me?"

"Of course."

"Yes. Um, then, then you too... Curse, you'll be cursed."

Aron did not hide the surprise in his voice. When he said the word 'curse', his face sank just like his voice.

Citrina just shrugged without a change in her expression.

"Well, I'm not such a superstitious person."

If the twins were sinister, they would never have been born.

Citrina's mother and aunt were identical twins.

'Citrina's mother concealed the fact that she has twins, but...'

The boy's eyes swung open when he heard the words Citrina said.

"...What?"

"It's okay since I don't believe twins are ominous."

"Eh? Really?...Ha?"

He slowly leaned forward, the complete opposite at his attempt to lengthen the distance between them.

'Still a kid.'

Citrina smiled and nodded.

"Yes, really, young master. Then, why don't we get to know about each other?"

"Uh..."

Aron's eyes wandered aimlessly, not knowing what to say.

She was convinced that the young masters don't have a history in socializing in society or even just to a friend. Only when she was able to get the job can he have a proper conversation, even only for a little while.

'I think I should lead the conversation since he doesn't know what to say.'

Citrina thought of a topic and smiled as she thought of one.

"Aron. Do you like flowers?" she said as she looked at the flower on the vase on top of the table.

You can't have an in-depth conversation on the first day of the meeting. It's a good start to start with a light topic.

"That's... I don't know. But I think it's good, maybe."

"Is that so?"

Aron looked awkward as he smiled. It was the kind of face that seemed to not have smiled for a long time, but Citrina seemed to be happy when she smiled.

"I love roses too."

Just like that, they talked mainly about flowers. The one-hour long conversation felt short as Citrina got a little closer to the male protagonist.

'Aron is nice. I can work a little more comfortably.'

She appreciated the man who shared love with her sister. Aron Pietro was such a simple man.

An hour passed, and it was already evening. Aron was troubled by the fact that Citrina seemed to be stuck in her room with little work to do. From what he heard earlier, she didn't go outside her room unless something unusual happened.

'I want to have dinner with Citrina. It's not troublesome, is it?'

He stood in front of Citrina's room but ended up eating dinner alone.

'But... dad is not home today.'

Aron was aware of the fact that the duke had gone out. It appeared to be a habit. So he came out of his room carefully, took out a small baguette bread, a cup of water and bandages. He quickly checked the hallway on the outer residence.

His destination was clear. A space that looked like it was a suitable underground room or even a dungeon, attached to a separate building.

The door, which has not been oiled, clearly not being maintained well, opened slightly.

When the heavy door opened, Aron walked in.

"Brother!"

On top of the dismantling bed, there was a boy that resembled Aron, who looked colder and a little more matured. He seemed devoid of emotions with a lot of bloodstains on his body.

As if he was accustomed to it, Aron sat on the bed and spoke lightly, "Brother, I met a playmate today!"

Unlike Aron, who got excited, the other boy had no change in his expression nor even answered.

"Towel," he said.

Aron urgently passed the towel he was holding. His older brother wiped the bloody wound on his body.

"Desian, it will hurt."

The boy with bruises and wounds was the brother of the male protagonist and the villain of the novel, Desian Pietro.

Aron anxiously looked at his brother's body. However, Desian doesn't seem to care even if the hot towel hurt his wounds.

"Is there anything you want to say?" He asked indifferently, and wrapped the towel to his wound that was slightly bleeding.

While watching, he said, "Desian. It's that. Um."

"Say it," Desian said without fluctuation in his voice as he looked at his brother.

Aron was in a daze, but still answered courageously.

"I met a friend today. She said she didn't care about the curse of being twins! It's the first time I've seen someone like that..."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Brother, I've been with her for an hour. I'm telling you, it's the truth."

"I'll soon reveal her nature."

The boy with a cold face told Aron, who was a soft man, "Don't have too much faith."

He didn't answer back. Instead, he carefully put down the bread near Desian.

'Tuk'

"Brother, I'll be back tomorrow."

There was no reply.

Aron closed the door and left. He couldn't eat well as Aron's footsteps gradually faded until it completely disappeared.

"...Different," the boy in the basement whispered.

Different. Funny to have faith in such words.

Desian closed his eyes.

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