As the wind blew and the clouds gathered in the sky as if it would rain anytime soon, a young girl was looking out of the window in a blank state. She felt a warm sensation draft on top of her upper shoulder to her back. She turned around to see her focused brother wrapping a warm white shawl on her.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?"

He turned back and slowly brought a white fluffy teddy bear and bunny next to her.

She grabbed the big bear and hugged it to her chest. She breathed in and out and looked out once again.

"It's just... Aren't we supposed to have the twins' memories installed into us after being transported into their bodies, or is the system of reincarnation different? Shouldn't we have been reborn as babies?"

She suddenly looked down and stared at the teddy, sadly.

"I don't feel right in taking their lives away even if they will die at a young age... Whenever I think about what happened to them and why we suddenly got into the novel..."

He stroked her hair softly and looked down at her bowed head.

"Don't worry about anything for now. We just need to wait and take our time to adjust our surroundings before thinking so deeply!"

"Really?"

She looks up at him and stares at him blankly.

"It's strange enough as it is!"

Edwin looked at her with a big grin.

"Plus, I'm sure we will find answers to our questions as we dig more deeply into this world's creator or creation."

Linda looked at him in a daze. She calculated the plan she was thinking about and found a lot of holes in her unanswered questions.

He chuckled dryly.

"Hah... We just need to gather information and look around to see who is our friends and enemy. After we do all that we can think of a plan on how to survive as villains and live a quiet life if possible."

"Brother..."

Linda looked at him, bewildered, at how wise her brother became, and mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm not alone. We have each other."

"We just need to accept our identity even if it seems hard for us to do that easily."

Edwin looked at Linda calmly and continued to stroke her soft hair and thought.

'The duchess seems to care about the twins seeing her doting actions. And the older brother... He is the second male lead interest, Maverick, in the novel. According to the novel's plot, he wasn't in a healthy relationship with the twins and was the one to get rid of them after messing with the main character.'

'It didn't explain much about what the twins took from the main character, but it must be something she held dearly to.'

He stretched his other hand and suddenly pinched Linda's soft cheeks. Startled by his sudden action, she looked up to see her brother smiling cheekily at her. She started having an ominous feeling watching his calm eyes with a smile plastered on his face.

"What?"

They just started accepting their new identities and surroundings. She didn't want any trouble while they were still adjusting to the new world so she looked at him warily.

"Shouldn't we first start dealing with our precious maids who have such biased views, Linda~"

He gave her a sweet smile with a soft carefree voice that somehow made her flinch.

She stared at him silently as he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room. They had stayed locked in for a few days so they could adjust to their new small bodies.

He suddenly stopped and looked at the maid who had scolded her friend previously and said.

"Mira, we would like to go to the garden and have snacks there."

The maid, Mira, looked at the twins with an expressionless face and gave them a nod while bowing towards them.

"Yes, young master."

As she led them to the garden, Linda gripped her brother's hand with her right hand and looked around the hallways. She was astonished at how clean and grand it was. The halls were decorated with luxurious jewels of different kinds.

'We rarely hear any movements outside of our room...'

Linda looked at the clean and empty halls with wide eyes.

Edwin was also wandering his eyes as he held Linda's hand in amazement at how rich they were. Out of habit, he turns his head to see his sister's reaction.

'Ah, I should've known...'

Her eyes shone brightly at the addition of their golden pupil. Her eyes were so burdensome that you couldn't help but imagine stars shining within her eyes.

'I wonder how much money we could get from selling one or two of these jewels...'

That was Linda's only thought running through her mind.

"We have arrived."

Mira turned towards the young twins looked down and bowed.

"I shall go get your snacks, please do sit down as I come back with them."

She turned back to the halls. She gracefully walked in the hallways with silent footsteps.

The two looked at the departing back of the maid and turned around to look at the garden. They found to see the sight of the mansion's magnificent garden.

There were rows of roses and different colored anemone flowers and a maze that spread ahead of them. You could play within but might get lost easily if you don't know your directions. The gardeners compose a beautifully crafted, lavish garden that is still healthy against the chilling weather.

From the cooling fountains that sprinkled, a statue of a man with handsome features holding a sword upwards. What attracts them most is the addition of the amber gems on the statue's eyes.

"How pretty..."

Linda mumbled as she stared at the gems in awe.

Edwin nodded in agreement at her words and continued to stare at the statue for a while. He didn't want to turn around and see his sister's reaction again, shivering.

He shook his head to focus somewhere else and find a spot for them to settle down in the garden of flowers. He slowly walked around holding Linda's palm.

Feeling her brother's slow movement, she also searched around where they could sit down until Mira brought their snacks. They found one not that far from the fountain and sat on the bench in comfort.

"I will pluck some flowers and make a flower crown!"

Linda jumped out of her seat and ran towards the bushes full of white anemones.

Edwin smiled at her energetic sight and stretched his arms before lying his back down on the bench, looking up at the clouds.

He still wondered how his other friends were doing or whether they were like Albert. He tried to ignore what happened but he couldn't help but feel depressed at his close friend's betrayal. He never intended to be born good-looking, it was just God who decided on ours, humans...

He also wondered about his aunt. Will she be able to find their bodies in the river they fell in? If she did, how downcast must she be to see her friend's only children dead in front of her eyes?

He couldn't help but feel even more down at how their life ended and not being able to repay all his aunt's kindness that she had given us, orphans. She must even feel responsible for our deaths.

He heard footsteps coming in their direction. Thinking about Mira who might've arrived with their snacks, he raised his body upwards and returned his face to neutral. He looked at the directions of the footsteps he heard from.

Before he could realize it wasn't Mira who came but someone else, there was a sudden grip on his hand. As he turned around to look at the source, he found Linda staring in the direction of the footsteps with horror.

A steady tone unlike a child suddenly spoke.

"What are you both doing out without Mother around again?"

He turned around and looked at the child in shock. A boy was looking at them so calmly, unfitting for a child, with his silky silver hair brushed out neatly and deep amethyst-colored eyes shining.

It was the second male lead of the novel, 'Noble Love of the Hero,' no, a gained older brother in this world, Maverick Bernstein.

 

 

AKS