Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Day and Night #9
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I gave Narmi a bouquet of flowers.
Moonflower.
A delicate bloom with pale green stems clinging to its yellow petals. Its language is "waiting," and it's a plant wrapped in many fairy tale-like stories.
Narmi, who received it, fidgeted awkwardly.
"Theo, this sounds like you're saying you like me or something..."
Narmi was a smart woman.
She couldn't possibly not know what it meant for a young man to give flowers to a woman his age. In fact, she must have received countless proposals and flowers from many men.
Blink, blink.
Her ruby-red eyes, framed by long lashes, flickered anxiously this way and that. Soon, Narmi ran her finger across the wooden table.
"It's the first time I've ever gotten flowers from a guy. So, I'm a bit flustered. It might lead to misunderstandings."
"You've never received flowers before?"
"Well, technically not the first time, but that gift was actually meant for my sister. It was given to me because they thought I was her—"
Narmi rambled incoherently. Soon, she let out a short sigh, as if organizing her thoughts.
"It's so annoying that I have to explain every little thing like this. This constitution of mine is really inconvenient. What I'm saying is, you're the first person to give flowers to me, Narmi Draco."
"Ah."
It clicked immediately.
Narmi was a beautiful woman who had received many proposals and flowers.
But those had been confessions and suitors aimed not at Narmi herself, but at the mask she wore: Mirna Draco.
Aside from her family, Narmi's true identity had been mostly secret. So, to others, she must have appeared as Mirna as well.
Narmi continued, her finger tracing the grain of the wooden table.
"What if this is meant for my sister too?"
"No. This is truly just for you, Lady Narmi. The one sitting in front of me right now isn't Lady Mirna, but her younger sister, Lady Narmi."
"......"
Instead of replying, Narmi chose an awkward silence. Was she gathering her thoughts? Taking the opportunity, I sank into my own brief reflection.
Mirna and Narmi were similar yet different.
Each had a distinct personality, allowing them to perfectly complement one another.
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Name: Mirna von Draco & Narmi von Draco lv. ??
Occupation: Female Warlord lv. 6 → 7
Necromancer lv. 8
Dark Priest lv. 9
Refined Lady lv. 5
[Locked] lv. 3
Talents: 《Double Face》 《Noble Blood》 《Innocence》
Disposition: Chaotic-Neutral.
Sisters of a great house who can stop a crying child with their reputation alone.
They are two as one. One as two.
Two different people become one, complementing each other's weaknesses.
At the same time, they envy and compete for what the other lacks. - New!
[Locked]
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Two as one. One yet two.
They were like Lego pieces that fit snugly together through the parts the other lacked. But people naturally want to fill their own deficiencies.
The newly added line:
「At the same time, they envy and compete for what the other lacks.」
Just like that, Narmi and Mirna relied on each other to live while envying each other's strengths and growing through rivalry.
Brothers and sisters might inherently be like that. For Narmi and Mirna, born with double faces in one body, that bond was even stronger.
In fact, Mirna envied Narmi.
And the younger sister, Narmi, seemed to believe in her own way that everything her older sister had shone beautifully and happily like sunlight.
That likely extended to the happiness of romance that beautiful girls dream of.
Mirna had once said that all men would prefer Narmi over her.
From stories of their long times together in seclusion, men who approached because they fell for the self Narmi was acting as would recoil in awe at Mirna's dignified demeanor.
━Narmi smiles so easily. Men like that. Whereas I don't smile much. They probably got confused by the sudden change in attitude.
━I see.
Indeed, women who smile easily are appealing. Life with a woman who laughs at my words would be full of colorful reactions.
And such smiles were something Mirna lacked. That's why she harbored a subtle complex toward the cheerful Narmi.
But lately, the younger sister Narmi seemed to feel great envy toward her older sister as well.
From living bright days, handling tasks effortlessly amid crowds, to various elements I didn't know—. Surely, the sisters' feelings for each other were complex.
But that wasn't what mattered now.
"What matters now isn't Lady Mirna. It's that Lady Narmi is here in front of me. Others might see Lady Mirna. But I'm only looking at Lady Narmi."
Narmi's red eyes turned toward me.
The restless anxiety from before had calmed a bit, but they still glistened with a hint of tears.
"Do you really see me?"
"Yes. Living while acting as someone else must be exhausting. I understand that well. And how you come to wish someone would see the real you."
I could empathize with Narmi's feelings.
After all, I wasn't much different if you thought about it.
Everyone looks at me and thinks of Theo Gospel. But inside that half-fairy is just an ordinary man, neither the monk nor the Demon King Angmar.
No one knows that.
Honestly, it doesn't matter if they don't. It's not important right now.
But if someone looked into my inner self. If they recognized my true face and reached out, I would be deeply moved by that person.
If she were a beautiful woman, I might even fall for her. My "Lothario" occupation trait seemed to whisper then.
The opportunity is now.
So, I opened my mouth and rolled the dice.
"I'm right here—."
* * *
"I'm right here in this moment, looking only at you, Lady Narmi."
The half-fairy said that. At that instant, Narmi's mind flooded with distant memories from long ago.
Narmi von Draco.
She had grown up receiving much love.
That was back when her cousins and family were still alive. Many relatives and family members cherished and praised Narmi. That love was for the true, whole Narmi, not Mirna.
But now, with her family all taken by that inexplicable plague—Professor Ballan's scheme—those in the world who liked and recognized Narmi herself could be counted on one hand.
No, even that was just her sister. But that sister was so busy and overwhelmed with her own duties that she barely had time to talk with Narmi.
━Groooar—.
━Again, rise!
Narmi was busy too. Every night, she had to tend to the graves where her family slept, catch fireflies, gather venomous insects to make venom, and even throw stones into the air.
Boring times.
During the nearly thousand sleepless dawns guarding the graves alone, one day Narmi found a book. Nothing beat reading to pass the time.
The book told stories of ordinary people living normal lives. Of happiness in days basking in ample sunlight.
Stories distant from Narmi. Purely novel-like tales. Everyday days she could never have. Noisy yet languid afternoons.
But closing the book always revealed the same gloomy, pitch-black graves before her.
As those days stretched nearly a thousand long, one moment Narmi suddenly felt her life was unfair. An improper thought, but she felt her sister had stolen her life.
Then one day, Narmi met a peculiar man. A man whose eye level matched hers, but unlike her, with clear blue eyes.
Those blue eyes were so pure that they never seemed to tire no matter how long she looked. Even more astonishing, he recognized her.
━You're not Lady Mirna. Narmi, right? Lady Narmi Draco.
It was miraculous. But she soon accepted it.
The man before her was said to see the future: the monk with the mystic eyes. If he was a futureseer, it wasn't surprising he knew her.
From that day, a special relationship began between Narmi and the half-fairy. A secret even from her sister Mirna—just Narmi's own.
She learned then how thrilling it was to have something solely hers, even between sisters who shared everything.
And that man told her:
He was looking only at her.
He empathized with the life of having to act as another.
Narmi knew men sometimes used their tongues like weapons to seduce women.
But sincerity rang in his words. A soul's vibration, confessing only truth.
Right now, his eyes truly saw only Narmi—herself. Not the brilliant older sister, nor the facade of the Draco house's female warlord, just ordinary girl Narmi.
The moment she felt she could live the normal life she'd longed for in this man's gaze, Narmi realized she had already fallen for him.
No, truthfully, she'd known for a very long time.
From that moment he collided with her on the moonlit temple steps. The instant he recognized Narmi first without introduction—everything had ended then.
But how should she respond?
She had no idea what to say in this situation.
Rustle.
Narmi glanced around subtly. People coming and going here and there. Among them, many couples sat paired, laughing and holding hands.
Ordinary people.
People loving ordinarily.
If she were an ordinary girl, what would they say here?
She seemed to have thought of things beforehand, but her head wouldn't turn—maybe from the unfamiliar situation, or the beer she was trying for the first time. Had she drunk too much?
But she knew what the man wanted.
She wondered if she could decide that without consulting her sister.... No, was her sister's input necessary? No no, this was important....
But the man smiled.
"Then let's head back."
Head back.
Did that mean their time alone was ending? Narmi's heart pounded like never before in her life.