“What is it?”
Joshua looked at her with a benevolent expression, as if willing to grant anything in this mood.
“I think our relationship among the three of us needs to change a bit from now on.”
“Keep talking.”
“I feel like we need a cover story. Until I take you both to your destination, I’ll be your guardian and mother.”
Joshua frowned.
“Mom is kind of a no-go.”
Yeah, I knew you’d give me that kind of pushback. Eugenia forced a smile and brought out the second relationship option she had prepared.
“Then… how about a tutor?”
“A tutor? That’s no good either.”
What on earth is good then?
Just then, Selmia—who had seemed asleep all along—suddenly opened her eyes wide and, with a clear voice, interrupted their conversation.
“I like ‘big sister’! I want you to be my big sister!”
“Sherry? When did you wake up?”
Joshua was surprised and looked back at his younger sister, but Selmia didn’t glance at him and instead looked at Eugenia with sparkling eyes.
“Big sister…?”
Eugenia slowly repeated the word, then clapped her hands once.
“That’s also a very good idea. It’d be nice if we made it a brother and sister with a big age gap.”
“Well, that’s not so bad.”
Joshua agreed, and Eugenia secretly lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Since you also agree, I’ll start speaking informally to you both from this moment.”
“…What?”
Joshua asked in disbelief, like he’d just been punched.
‘I bet you don’t like me talking down to you.’
Eugenia chuckled as if she already fully understood the little old man’s feelings and continued.
“We agreed on siblings, didn’t we? Who has a sister that speaks formally to her younger brother? Right, Joshua?”
“What? Joshua? Ha!”
The boy huffed repeatedly, clearly stunned, but Eugenia didn’t flinch at all.
“Ah, that feels so good.”
She had almost gotten tongue-tied from using honorifics to a kid she didn’t want to.
“Now, Joshua.”
“Huh…?”
“Try calling me ‘noona’ (older sister).”
“Why would I…? Never!”
Joshua turned his face away, looking annoyed.
At that moment, Selmia raised her voice again.
“I’ll call you that! Big sister!”
Joshua’s eyes sparkled sharply as he scolded his sister.
“Sherry! Don’t you have any sense? How can you be so quick…!”
Selmia tilted her head.
“Shushu, what’s sense?”
“Sense is…”
“Shushu talks too complicated.”
Selmia pouted. Joshua was dumbfounded, just moving his lips like a fish, so Eugenia took the opportunity to cut in.
“If you don’t call me noona right now…”
Lowering her voice ominously, she said seriously and fearfully:
“I’ll call you Shushu too. What will you do then?”
“…”
“Huh? No answer? Then it’s okay to call me Shushu, right? Shu…”
At that moment—
“…Noona.”
Joshua reluctantly squeezed out the requested term.
Eugenia lifted the corner of her mouth in satisfaction.
Annoying but cute guy.
“Call me often from now on. So it doesn’t look awkward in front of others.”
“Tch, you’re like a demon old woman.”
“No damage taken. Hmph.”
Eugenia snorted and spoke to the twins.
“We’ll leave here immediately. So, you two, each bring one important thing.”
But even after Eugenia finished, the twins didn’t try to find anything.
They just held each other’s hands tightly.
Seeing that, Eugenia felt a sting in her nose and tears welling up but held back.
“…Nothing? Then shall we go now?”
The children nodded heavily.
Eugenia lifted Selmia in her arms again. Joshua stood close beside her.
“You have to follow well, Joshua.”
“Who do you think I am, an idiot?”
Not a single word lost.
Eugenia smiled lightly and started moving; Joshua quickened his pace to keep up.
Chapter 2
Four days later, Eugenia arrived with Joshua and Selmia at a village near the border where they could cross from the Harland Duchy to the Aisa Empire.
By then, the twins’ appearances had changed considerably.
“Eugenia, is this really how hair dye fades?” Joshua asked, grabbing his now very darkened bangs with his fingertips.
It was a dye job they had done on purpose.
She thought about changing their names but stopped. Their names were fairly common, so it seemed okay if they didn’t use their surnames.
‘They’re called more by nicknames anyway.’
In the original story, assassins recognized the twins at a glance and attacked them. Why or who gave the order was unknown.
‘Because of that, Eileen died.’
Eugenia was wary not only of their appearance but also of their travel methods.
To get to Eileen’s hometown, in the original story, they took second-class train tickets.
Although their destination was different, Eugenia didn’t want to use the same transport, so she paid for seats in a cheap carriage and traveled uncomfortably.
‘Also because we didn’t have much money…’
To avoid suspicion, they had to switch carriages every day, which was physically exhausting.
Thanks to her efforts, they hadn’t met assassins by the time they reached the border village, unlike in the original story.
‘Can I at least be relieved of that?’
Selmia whined like a child, but the mature Joshua seemed to understand their situation and kept his mouth shut without complaints.
Except when it came to dyeing.
“What if we have to live like this with black hair? I don’t like this color.”
“Haah, Joshua. I told you several times that the color will fade eventually. Even if it doesn’t, don’t worry. New hair will grow.”
Joshua frowned as if displeased with Eugenia’s casual tone.
The boy puckered his lips like a duck but Eugenia ignored him and pulled her robe tighter.
At that moment, Joshua’s gaze sharpened.
“Where are you going?”
Despite having signed a contract, Joshua watched Eugenia’s every move.
He seemed to think she might abandon them and run far away if he looked away for even a moment.
Feeling sorry for the boy, Eugenia tried to ignore her own emotions.
‘Don’t get attached.’
Her role was just to take the twins safely to the Heres Duke family in the Aisa Empire.
So she answered gruffly.
“Going to work.”
“Work?”
Joshua frowned.
“Didn’t you sell the jewel ring I gave you? Or did you already spend all that money?”
Why would he think that was a lot of money, kid…
That was nothing but a glass bead…
‘I can’t say that, it’d just disappoint him.’
Sighing, Eugenia answered bluntly.
“Fool, the more money you have, the better.”
Joshua’s surprised expression turned into admiration.
“Wow, Eugenia. You really are so greedy for money.”
Seriously!
How can someone talk so annoyingly?
‘I’m so unfairly treated…’
But the longer she argued, the more complicated it got, so Eugenia just nodded roughly.
“Alright, let’s just leave it at that. Anyway, Joshua, try not to come outside too much.”
“I know.”
As Eugenia nodded and pulled her hooded robe over her head, someone suddenly hugged her waist tightly as she reached for the door handle to leave the inn room.
“Noona!”
It was Selmia. The girl had dyed her hair just as black as Joshua’s, with twin tails tied with yellow ribbons matching her eye color.
“Noona, where are you going? Can Sherry come with you?”
“Selmia.”
“Sherry feels so trapped here. Shushu keeps telling me to be quiet…”
“Sherry! When did I do that?”
“Shushu won’t even let me open the window.”
She seemed to have a lot built up, and Selmia complained.
‘No wonder she feels trapped.’
They had to wear robes the whole trip and be careful.
That would be hard for a little kid.
Understanding and feeling sorry for the girl, Eugenia lowered herself to Selmia’s height.
Gently holding her small shoulders, she started soothing her with a kind voice.
“Selmia. I know it’s frustrating, but can you hold on just a little longer?”
“Ugh… But Sherry wants to go outside with Shushu…”
“Instead, noona will work hard today and bring back candy you like.”
“Candy?”
Selmia’s eyes lit up.
She couldn’t buy expensive things—just cheap 1 shilling snacks from the market—but Selmia would like it.
“Sherry likes lemon flavor.”
“Okay. Noona will get lemon-flavored candy.”
“Okay! Then Sherry will wait quietly until noona comes back!”
“Good girl, our Selmia.”
Eugenia smiled gently and stood up, looking at Joshua.
After exchanging a brief nod like a signal, she left the room.
“I wonder if I can find some work today…”
She sighed deeply, having held it back in front of the kids, and began walking with heavy steps that felt as heavy as her heart.
Leaving the inn, Eugenia walked to find a job placement office.
Since it was a border village, commerce was quite developed, and there were as many knights as merchants on the streets.
‘Maybe because it’s a border…’
Thinking it was better to be careful, she tightened the front of her robe more.
Fortunately, the job placement office was easy to find.
“This is it.”
Looking up at the sign, Eugenia stepped right inside.
