Chapter 28: A Twin Sister’s Contempt

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the door my father and Anna had just disappeared through.

The room felt quieter without her in it. A month ago, that would have been normal, a time to get stronger.

Now it just felt... empty.

Strange how quickly that had changed. At the academy, Anna never gave me a moment’s peace. She was always there, waiting after class, sitting beside me in the library, pressing a towel into my hands after P.E., her voice filling every silence.

And now, sitting here alone, the effects of that constant presence were making themselves known.

I’d expected this, of course. When I decided to romance the most possessive women this world had to offer, I’d signed up for exactly this kind of entanglement.

I wasn’t about to start complaining now.

Still, it was interesting to think about.

’She’s definitely going to do it.’

The thought amused me more than it should have. Anna had already declared her intentions to Gavian without a hint of hesitation.

My father was a different beast entirely, a man who’d spent decades navigating court politics, who’d seen through every scheme and manipulation his disappointing son had ever attempted.

But Anna wasn’t me. She was a daughter of House Rose, a healer with an impeccable reputation, and someone who had absolutely no reason to lie on my behalf.

If anyone could convince my father that I’d genuinely changed, it was her.

I leaned back onto the mattress, folding my arms behind my head.

Tomorrow, the rankings would be announced. King-class mana capacity. A perfect duel record. Top marks in every supplementary test.

The academy’s worst student was about to become its best.

And the woman who’d helped make it possible was currently in my father’s study, probably telling him exactly how she planned to marry me.

’What a life.’

I closed my eyes, letting the passive mana training hum through my channels. The Fey Core pulsed steadily in my chest, still drawing ambient mana from the air.

Even now, I was getting stronger.

Then a knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts.

"Come in."

I expected a servant. Maybe a maid sent to check if I needed anything.

Instead, Gavian stepped inside, his briefcase nowhere in sight.

"Father’s talking to Lady Rose."

"I know."

Gavian crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, studying me with the same suspicious expression he’d worn since the day I woke up in this body.

"She’s serious about you."

"Seems that way."

"You’re not nearly as surprised by this as you should be."

"Of course I’m not. I’ve known her for a month now."

Gavian chuckled, surprised that his idiot of a brother was now capable of actually holding his own in a verbal bout.

But that wasn’t all. To a master of magic like him, my sudden and impressive display of basic social competence wasn’t the only thing he had noticed.

"While Father and Lady Rose are talking, how about a duel for old times’ sake?"

I searched Reyn’s memories when Gavian made the offer, and I found five specific moments of what he meant by "old times’ sake."

Each time, I was completely destroyed and left curled up on the training room floor while he looked at me with disgust, spouting heroics about being a better son and brother.

"Old times’ sake? Are you planning to beat me up again?"

"Unlike you, Reyn, I actually care about our family line. I don’t just duel anyone so I can bully them."

Right. Gavian wasn’t like the students at the academy who’d mocked me because it was easy. He was a Brimstone first, and Brimstones, whatever their flaws, looked after their own.

He’d beaten me down because he wanted me to stand back up stronger. I’d just never bothered to stand up at all.

Until now.

"Fine."

I said, swinging my legs off the bed and rising to my feet.

"I’ll accept."

✧ ✦ ✧

We arrived at the training room after Gavian had told a servant where we were going, just in case Father or Anna asked.

As expected of a ducal house that had produced generations of elite mages, the room was impressive. It was also, as it turned out, already occupied.

Yuria Brimstone stood at the center of the room, a practice sword in her hand and sweat dampening the collar of her training clothes.

My twin sister.

Basically Reyn if he were genderbent, stripped of all his lasciviousness and laziness.

"Brother, here to train again—?"

She stopped when she saw me, grip tightening on her sword and regarding me with a contempt that could rival anyone’s at the academy.

Unlike me, Yuria was a Brimstone who wasn’t gifted in magic.

She relied on her swordsmanship to make up for it, and while she was skilled, practically a prodigy, it didn’t stop her from hating the twin who had inherited all the Brimstone family’s best genetics and chosen never to use them.

"Hello, Yuria."

"Shut it, Reyn."

The words came out like a reflex. She was already moving toward the door, apparently deciding that my presence was enough to make the training room uninhabitable.

Like I was some kind of contamination she couldn’t get away from fast enough.

"Yuria."

Gavian’s voice stopped her mid-stride.

"I’d like you to stay. Watch."

She turned, her brow furrowing.

"Huh...?"

"I want you to see Reyn and me duel."

Gavian turned to me, and we exchanged a silent look. This wasn’t just curiosity.

He also wanted to see whether I was strong enough now that our duels, once a way to humiliate me even further, could instead become something that did the complete opposite.

I guess Gavian is something of a saint in his own way...