Chapter 02 (1/2)

But the same thing happened a few more times.

After the swordsmanship class, when Felix and Adrian came out of the training center with towels on their heads, Lucy, who hesitated and approached them, correctly identified Adrian. It also happened during a heavy rain, and both Adrian and Felix were wearing raincoats with hoods that covered their heads.

Lucy Keenan was able to tell the Berg twins apart based on something other than hair length.

“Hey, Alec. Do I have any moles on my ears?”

“Mole?” Alec, puzzled at Felix’s outrageous question, willingly checks his ears. “You don’t have any.”

Then, this time, Felix bowed, showing Alec the top of his head.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Ignoring his bewildered friend, Felix pulled Adrian, who was sitting next to him. “Look at the location of Adrian’s hair whorl and mine. What do you think? Is it different?”

“… It’s the same.”

No way. Even the hair whorl’s position is the same. Felix looked at his twin brother. This bastard might actually be my doppelganger. It’s neither a mole nor a hair whorl. If so, there can only be one explanation.

“… Maybe I’m a little more handsome than Adrian, right?”

Alec was astonished as he looked at Felix, who asked with a face that was far too serious to be a joke.

“You two look the same, as if you’re looking at the mirror!”

Eventually, the semester came to an end without being able to answer any question about Lucy Keenan. The academy was on summer vacation, and Felix, upon his return to the duke’s residence, vowed to himself that he would no longer be concerned with frivolous matters.

He definitely made a resolution.

But he kept thinking about it. He kept wondering.

What’s the difference between us in her eyes?

It seemed that this useless worry would end only when he found out the difference between himself and Adrian that only Lucy Keenan could see. So, Felix cut his long blond hair the night before leaving the duke’s residence and returned to the academy. He stood in front of the mirror and examined himself; he looked remarkably similar to his twin brother. At this level, even Lucy Keenan would have a hard time telling them apart.

Felix had thought so.

* * *

It had been a week since the semester began. Felix, who had cut off his hair with enthusiasm, was slightly regretting his hasty choice. When Adrian complained, he just joked around and laughed, but now he was starting to get annoyed by people’s misunderstandings.

“Adrian!”

“I am Felix.”

“Adrian-kun!”

“This is Felix.”

“Adrian? No, is it Felix? ……Adrian, right?”

“It’s Felix!”

Felix, who gave up after being mistaken for an unknown number of times, walked down the hallway avoiding people. He was sick of explaining that he wasn’t Adrian. As he turned around the corner, he encountered a person walking by with the same face and the same expression as him.

“Adrian.”

The younger brother that people had been looking for. He also didn’t look as good as Felix.

“Hey, Felix,” said Adrian and his brows were drawn together as if he was tired of something. Before he had a chance to say anything, Felix quickly raised his hands and took a surrender position. He already knew enough of what his brother wanted to say.

“I’ll grow out my hair. And I won’t cut it again.”

“…That’s the wisest thing you’ve said all year.”  Adrian leaned against the wall, a helpless smile on his face. There was a dark shadow on his handsome face. The graduating class, the student council president, the library manager. His younger brother, who juggled a slew of responsibilities, looked exhausted in Felix’s eyes.

“Are you okay?”

At Felix’s question, Adrian slowly raised his head. He smiled when he saw his brother’s worried face. “Of course. I just didn’t get enough sleep.”

You foolish kid. If it’s hard, just be honest with me.