Behind the Mirror
“Haa.”
Once Anak had gone, Julian sank into a seat as if collapsing, letting out a short sigh.
It was true that meeting Anak after so long had filled him with joy—his old friend was still the same as ever, and the urge to leap with happiness had been real. Yet that same friend pushing him away at the decisive moment still hurt like a blade to the heart, no matter how many years had passed.
No need to be heartbroken, Juli. Anak doesn’t treat only you that way.
Yet something strange had happened. Just moments ago he had confirmed he was alone in the tent, yet another voice now spoke. The voice was almost identical to Julian’s own, only a little lower, carrying a slightly rougher edge.
“You really don’t understand anything, Brother. It’s not that he treats me the same as everyone else that hurts—it’s that he treats me exactly like everyone else.”
Strangely, he spoke to the voice without any surprise, as if it were an old friend, even calling it “Brother.”
The voice came from an ordinary mirror standing against one wall. Though it bore an elegant, antique pattern befitting the Cruse Merchant Guild’s prestige, it was nothing so rare that one couldn’t find its like in a small city’s furniture shops. The reflection within it, however, was far from ordinary.
“Besides, he tried to hide it, but there was even fear in his eyes.”
…I’m sorry. I thought it was the best way to keep people from finding our switching strange.
Another Julian stood inside the mirror, his posture and position completely unrelated to the real one, speaking toward him.
“It was the worst. I should have stopped you the moment I realized what you were doing. Leaving it alone was the biggest mistake of my life.”
Watch your words, Juli. You may not have known at first, but you figured out what was happening a few seconds before Anak woke up.
“…I’m not pressing the switch.”
He drew a necklace from deep within his clothes. A round ruby encircled by a golden band sat at its center. He thrust it forward as though it were a weapon. The figure in the mirror only smiled, clearly amused.
Very well. That works too. You’ve already had the wine, so watching how you handle the washroom should be entertaining enough. While we’re at it, why not change into your nightclothes without switching? You can manage that on your own, can’t you?
“……”
Julian’s face flushed crimson; he could find no reply. Tears welled in his eyes, and at the sight the other finally wiped the playful smile from his face and lowered his head.
…All right, all right. I was wrong. But are you truly never going to tell him?
“What would I even say? That I’m not a man at all, but a female ghost sharing her brother’s body?”
Juli, I’ve told you again and again—you are not a ghost.
“Of course. My body is simply sealed inside a barrier and encased in ice.”
Julian del Cruse. He was the first heir of the Cruse Merchant Guild and the academy senior of Rowell and Anak. Strictly speaking, however, the name Julian del Cruse did not exist anywhere in the Cruse family register.
The names listed beneath Krabat del Cruse, current head of the house and master of the guild, were only two: Demian del Cruse and Juliana del Cruse—twin brother and sister, born on the same day at the same hour.
Both twins had been the pride of Krabat and the entire Cruse family from a young age, blessed with striking beauty and extraordinary talent. Unfortunately, the younger sister, Juliana, had been born with a rare and terrible illness.
No renowned physician or priest could cure it. The disease slowly devoured Juliana’s life, bringing agony to her and to everyone around her.
In the end, the Cruse family sought the aid of the Mage Guild’s Tower of Sages to slow the illness’s progress by sealing her body inside a magical barrier.
But that was no true solution.
Even sealed by spell, time did not stop completely. She would continue to age within the barrier, and the disease would keep gnawing at her life. Until a cure was found—or until the illness finally claimed her—she would lie unconscious inside the barrier for an unknowable span of years. That could hardly be called living.
Thus the mages and Krabat del Cruse decided to use an artifact kept by the Tower of Sages—Laplace’s Eye—to transfer her consciousness into the space that existed between mirrors and other reflective surfaces.
That way, limited though it might be, she could still communicate, and through any reflective surface near Laplace’s Eye she could even see the outside world.
Her family, and Juliana herself, accepted the arrangement. The problem was Demian. He could not bear the thought of his sister spending her life trapped between mirrors.
He locked himself in his room and refused food. At first everyone thought it was merely a child’s stubbornness, but when he lost consciousness for the third time from malnutrition, the mages and Krabat could no longer dismiss it.
They explained the one method they had previously withheld, hoping it would make him give up. Instead, Demian embraced it without hesitation.
Using the strong soul-link unique to twins, two consciousnesses would share a single body. Thus was Julian del Cruse born.
When one twin used Demian’s body, the other would shift their consciousness into the reflective space via Laplace’s Eye. That was how they had lived for the past sixteen years—without privacy, without any normal relationships outside the family.
“I’m grateful to you, Brother, but my real body may not last much longer. I’m nothing more than a ghost borrowing your body.”
Juli, you are not borrowing my body. I’ve told you how to think of it—we’re simply always together, like any other close siblings. Besides, I can dump all the troublesome work on you whenever I like.
At his brother’s playful final remark, her expression softened a little.
“Is that why you always enter the Amusbian under my name?”
Of course. And when it’s over, the hunting trip will be under mine.
A faint smile returned to her lips.
…Next time we meet, let’s tell Anak. He’ll understand. And he’s tight-lipped enough to keep the secret.
“What difference would it make? In the end, this body still belongs to you, Brother.”
He might wait. Honestly, if it’s Anak, he’d wait as long as it takes.
She lightly rubbed the ruby on the necklace she held. At that moment the playful figure in the mirror changed into a more refined, graceful one. She no longer wished to speak.
I’m a little tired. Could you change into nightclothes for me?
“Yes, yes, as you command.”
The girl in the mirror turned away. He walked over to the wardrobe with practiced ease and began removing his skirt.
“By the way, Juli—what exactly do you like so much about Anak?”
Even you, Brother?
“I know he’s a good kid. I also know he’s far more capable than he thinks. He’s a fine junior, and I like him too. But I still can’t understand why you’re so taken with him. You’ve never been like this before. You didn’t even blink when you saw Rowell.”
I told you—love needs no reason.
“But there has to be a trigger, doesn’t there? I’m always with you, yet I can’t recall anything that would have sparked this.”
After changing his trousers and snapping his fingers lightly, the girl who had been facing away finally turned around.
Oh my. I liked him from the very first moment I saw him. And the more I learned about him as time passed, the more I liked him.
“Don’t just say that. Come on—try convincing this brother of yours. What exactly did you like about him the first time you met?”
Looking at Demian’s curious face, she wore a peculiar smile and murmured softly.
Well… if I had to name it, I suppose it would be a sense of kinship.
* * *
“Will you be all right?”
At the cautious question, all he could do was smile.
When he arrived following the guide, he found not a cart but a small transport carriage already hitched and waiting. Three barrels of what looked like Antares and a crate overflowing with pelts had been loaded aboard.
He wouldn’t refuse the load, of course, but seeing a single horse burdened with so much made him feel oddly guilty.
“Should I bring another horse…?”
Under normal circumstances that would have been necessary. At this rate the horse would never manage any real speed, and would eventually tire before covering any real distance.
“No, it’s fine.”
It didn’t matter to him. No matter how much or how heavy the cargo, all he needed was to reach a place where no eyes could see.
“I have a stop to make along the way.”
“Ah, I see.”
Leaving the man behind, he mounted the horse with ease. The animal seemed entirely unconcerned by the heavy load trailing behind it. Most warhorses or untrained carriage horses would have grown skittish at the unfamiliar weight, yet this one was clearly experienced and well-trained.
If only we’d had a horse like this when we first started traveling, he thought. That sluggish, ill-tempered beast had tormented him the entire journey. He should have either fed it to a summon or eaten it himself instead of merely swapping it at another village. The regret still lingered.
“Then I hope you’ll visit us again.”
The man offered a polite farewell and even escorted him as far as the road lined with ordinary stalls. He remained standing there until Anak had nearly vanished into the crowd.
By any personal standard, the man had shown every courtesy.
Yes—by his personal standard.
The one who had guided him here and paid the price was not from the Cruse Merchant Guild. Anak didn’t know the guild’s exact name, but he remembered that the tents Cruse used in Amusbian were pink. Since he had deliberately sought out a green tent at the start, this man clearly belonged to a different guild.
Even after learning his identity, only a single purchasing agent had handled the transaction to its end.
At the Cruse camp the vice-leader herself had met him face-to-face and even gifted him three barrels of Antares; on the surface they had done everything they could.
But this guild? He hadn’t expected special treatment, yet they had shown no reaction at all—only the same man who had first approached him had concluded the deal.
Though his name carried less weight than those of the other hero’s companions, and though he had received far worse treatment before, a bitter taste still lingered in his chest.
He had seen it countless times since childhood: how merchants in any decent-sized nation reacted to high-ranking nobles, let alone the companions of the hero.
…Well, unlike this guild that was merely trying to sell a few horses, the other side could offer all sorts of benefits and financial advantages. Perhaps it was only natural.