The Younger Twin Sister
My name is Ruby. I'm the younger twin daughter of Baron Xiao Long, and I'm called a failure.
In the pitch dark of the morning, before the sun arose, I got out of my crude bed. I put on my tattered old clothes, and exited the rundown shed on the outskirts of the manor. Making sure not to make a sound, I got to cleaning the manor.
I would think that the daughters of lesser noble families would help clean, but my family wasn't that poor. The other members of my family had personal maids who took care of them, and even their own chefs. They wore nice clothing, ate delicious-looking food, and had fun.
Why was it that even though we were all family, I was the only one wearing rags, being starved, and made to clean?
Once, I tried asking my mother, and she gave me a twisted smile before responding, "You're an ugly failure, unfit for the house of Xiao Long. You'll never get married off to anyone, so I'm having you learn how to be a maid early. You didn't even know that? I'm going to have to get even stricter with you."
Ever since then, I had been told to call my mother "Lady Raven" and my elder sister "Lady Yang." I also began getting whipped as punishment for the slightest mistake. In addition, it had been years since I'd seen my father. He was frequently away on work, only returning every so often. Even when he was home, Lady Raven would order me to stay in my shed, so we never saw each other.
Since the manor had been built in a period when my family was very wealthy, there were a lot of rooms. It always took me until near noon, when the sun was high in the sky, to finish cleaning them all. After finally finishing my cleaning, I headed straight for the kitchen. Because I'd been working since before dawn without anything to eat, my stomach was growling loudly. But though the chef was there in the kitchen, he shook his head at me.
Lady Raven had ordered the chefs not to make me any food. They used to make me a little something in secret, but I was punished when she found out. The chefs couldn't bear to see me being punished alone, so they stopped making me food altogether. Instead, they would give me anything that was left over. That way, they wouldn't be making things for me, so I wouldn't be punished.
What the head shake meant was that there were no leftovers today, which meant I wouldn't eat at all. Haah... I'm so hungry... Sighing to myself, I drank water until my stomach was full and left the kitchen.
"Eww, what are you doing in here!?"
As I walked through the halls, I heard a hysterical shriek from in front of me. It was my elder sister, Lady Yang. She was staring at me like I was garbage.
Lady Yang had inherited Lady Raven's beautiful, long hair. Her skin was pure white, with not a scratch on it. She had told me that people likened her eyes to lilacs. But in comparison as her younger twin sister, my hair was originally black with red tips, but just looked grey through all the filth and grime. My eyes were big, buggy, and silver, while my skin was rough and covered in bruises, cuts, and scars from the whip. I was also a full head shorter than her.
Lady Raven's personal maid and chef had told me that twins were supposed to look similar. Lady Yang and I were twins, but we looked nothing alike. Why? Were we really twins? I wanted to ask, but I was too afraid of the whip to let myself.
"Oh, you're right. What is this hideous failure of a baron's daughter doing here?" Lady Raven walked out into the hall, seemingly after hearing Lady Yang's voice.
I immediately moved to the edge of the hallway, kneeling on the floor. I was never allowed to look up at Lady Raven. If our eyes met, I would be whipped.
"Ah, that's it. You, weed the garden. My lovely little Yang and I will be in the sunroom studying manners," she told me, before heading there with Lady Yang. She seemed to be in a good mood today, because I wasn't whipped. I was honestly relieved.
I felt worse and worse as I peeked up at their backs. According to the maids, chefs, and the old gardener, I wasn't as ugly or useless as Lady Raven said. But my sister Lady Yang was treated like a proper noble, while I was worked like a maid.
Why just me? I knew that if I asked again, I'd just get whipped without getting an answer.
Biting my lip to stop myself from crying, I headed to the garden. The weeds were out of control. There had been an old gardener up until last year, but he died during an epidemic. He'd taught me lots of things that he said I'd need to know to survive.
Using the same scythe he'd used, I started carefully cutting the weeds near the gate. As I eventually reached near the entry hall, I heard footsteps and hid behind some bushes. It seemed that we had guests. There was two woman in a white robe with a blue stole. There were also four knights, each with a short yellow cape on one shoulder. They were heading from the gate towards the hall.
One of the hooded woman stopped in her tracks, looking towards the bushes where I was hiding.
"Garbage like you should never dirty the eyes of guests." Lady Raven had always told me that. I knew from experience that I'd get whipped even worse than usual if I was seen.
I squeezed my eyes shut, clutching my hands in front of my chest in prayer. Please, don't see me... As I prayed, I heard a woman's voice, and fading footsteps. Opening my eyes, I could see that the hooded woman wasn't looking my way anymore.
The group made it to the door, while I breathed a relieved sigh. The second hooded woman adjusted her robes before knocking on the door.
The knock was immediately answered by Lady Raven's personal maid, "May I ask who you are?"
"We've been sent by the Royal Research Institute as per the Lady's request."
"Please wait one moment while I confirm with Lady Xiao Long." The maid headed back into the manor before appearing a moment later with Lady Raven.
"Oh, we've been expecting you! Please, come in," she beckoned the guests inside, plastering her best smile on her face.
What did they mean by "her request?" I wanted to know, but I couldn't go inside. I just kept on weeding, since I'd be whipped for slacking off otherwise.
Finished with around the entrance, I moved towards the manor itself. Since the guests would probably be brought to the parlor in the east wing, I decided I could probably work unseen if I started by the sunroom in the western wing.
But just as I started on the weeds near the sunroom, I saw the guests moving. Wondering why they were going to the sunroom instead, I quickly hid behind another bush.
I managed to conceal myself, but I could hear everything they said from my hiding spot. If I was found, I'd definitely be whipped for eavesdropping. But since I couldn't hide anywhere else now, I just tried to stay as small as possible.
"Thank you all so much for coming all this way from the capital. I am Raven, the wife of Baron Xiao Long," Lady Raven introduced herself. You could tell from her voice that she was nervous. The guests must have been quite high in rank. "This is my daughter, Yang. She just turned fifteen."
"Hello, my name is Yang, daughter of Baron Xiao Long."
I sighed to myself. It was like there was only one daughter. Lady Yang is my twin sister, and Lady Raven is our mother... We're related by blood, but I'm treated as if I don't exist. I could at least give up if she hadn't been my birth mother...
"Congratulations on your fifteenth birthday. I am the Aide, Neo, and this is the nationally-recognized Appraiser, Lady Weiss."
I peeked between the leaves to see inside as Lady Neo gave a proper noble introduction. Following her, Lady Weiss just gave a nod, still not lowering her hood. I could see the corner of Lady Raven's mouth twitch, while Lady Yang looked very obviously annoyed.
After all the greetings, the four sat down on the sofas, with the knights standing still behind the two guests. Lady Raven's personal maid nervously began setting out tea and snacks on the table between them. There were six guests in total. If there are that many, then there might be leftovers after! My empty stomach gurgled at the thought.
"Allow me to explain things for your daughter," Lady Neo began, completely ignoring the tea and snacks.
In our world, every person awakened to a special ability known as a Skill at age fifteen. There were all sorts of Skills, ranging from useful to useless.
The useful ones were divided into four categories—Martial Arts, Magic, Technical, and Unique—before being further divided by five levels. The higher-level the Skill, the harder it would be to control. Without special training, users would run the risk of harming others by unintentional use or rampage.
To avoid such incidents, each child's Skill would be appraised as they came of age, and they would be sent to the Royal Research Institute for special training if necessary. Because nobles usually awakened to higher-level Skills, having their Skills appraised by a nationally-recognized Appraiser was mandatory.
"Now that explanations are out of the way, we'll have you appraised," Lady Neo said, pulling a thick book and a ledger from her bag before giving Lady Weiss a nod.
Giving her a small nod back, Lady Weiss tented her fingers, staring straight at Lady Yang. After a while, she tilted her head slightly, whispering something into Lady Neo's ear. She nodded, and began flipping through the ledger.
The only sound you could hear was the flipping of the pages. I could see Lady Yang getting more impatient by the second, while Lady Raven watched excitedly.
Unable to wait another moment, Lady Yang leaned forward, asking Lady Weiss directly, "Ahem, excuse me! What is my Skill?"
"Your Skill is Upper Level [Fire Magic]. You must go through special training," she answered curtly.
Hearing the results, both Lady Raven and Lady Yang's eyes widened in shock, before turning to each other in glee. The reason why they were so happy was because being sent for special training at the Royal Research Institute was a status symbol for nobles. But while they rejoiced, Lady Neo furrowed her brows, pointing something out to Lady Weiss in the ledger. After waiting for them to calm down, she gave them a blank look.
"It seems that you have another daughter who just turned fifteen as well,"she said.
The moment the words left her mouth, Lady Raven and Lady Yang grimaced at the same time.
"Lady Weiss tells me that her Appraisal lists Lady Yang as the first daughter of Baron Xiao Long. We also have records of the existence of an younger twin sister who has yet to be Appraised in the Noble Registry," Lady Neo said, holding out the ledger that she had shown Lady Weiss. "Noble births and deaths must be reported within ten days. Any fraudulent information will result in punishment. Has the younger daughter passed away in the last ten days?"
"N-No... My other daughter is very sickly, and cannot leave her room," Lady Raven replied, shaking her head.
Your other daughter is actually hiding outside the sunroom in the bushes...
"Could it be that you do not realize how much information an Appraiser can see?" Lady Raven's face went pale at Lady Neo's cold words.
Did that mean she could see that I wasn't given food or clothing, was being worked like a maid, and also being whipped? Lady Raven seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she was staring off into the distance.
"Where is your other daughter?"
"...It's out weeding the garden," Lady Raven replied, looking away. Lady Weiss stood up, exiting the sunroom through the door to the garden, while Lady Neo and the knights followed. It seemed that Lady Yang was tagging along too.
They're gonna find me... I didn't have a chance to run. Lady Weiss walked straight towards the bush where I was hiding, stopping right in front of it.
"I know you're hiding in there. You can come out," she said in a gentle voice.
I was told never to be seen because I'd dirty guest's eyes, so I couldn't come out. If I did, I'd get whipped badly. My hands and feet would be bound, and I'd get hit in the spots where it hurt most. It'd keep going, no matter how much I cried or screamed, and I wouldn't be able to move the next day. I never wanted that to happen again.
I was scared. I hugged my knees close to my chest, shaking.
"It's okay. Come on out, dear." Her voice was even gentler this time, but I was too terrified to move.
But then, she pulled her hood down, so I could see her face from between the leaves. She was smiling softly, more beautifully than anything I'd ever seen. Her hair was pure white as the snow in winter, and her eyes were so blue they sucked you in. Her features made her seem like an angel from a storybook.
"...Pretty." The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
While I sat still, just staring, Lady Weiss slipped her hands under my arms and lifted me from the bush before putting me back on the ground. Then, she put a hand on my head, whispering, "...Clean."
Suddenly, my body was shining. The filth coating every bit of me dripped off onto the ground, disappearing.
"That was magic to make you all clean. Since it isn't a Skill, anyone with mana can use it if they practice enough," Lady Weiss explained when I tilted my head in confusion.
Holding my hand out in front of me, I saw that while I was still covered in cuts and bruises, I was clean. My hair had even gone back to its true black and red color.
"Thank you..." I murmured as I bowed. She patted me on the head in response.
That might be the first time anyone has ever patted my head!
While I stood there blinking in shock, Lady Neo came over to me, kneeling so we were eye-to-eye. Why did she look like she was about to cry?
"May I ask what your name is?"
I could hear the tears in her voice, so she might have cried already. "I'm Ruby." Since I didn't know how to respond like a noble, I just lowered my head, like the old gardener used to.
After looking between me and the Noble Registry in her arms, Lady Neo gave Lady Weiss a nod.
"I'm Weiss, a nationally-recognized Appraiser. I'm just going to check out your Skill, okay?"
After giving me a kind explanation, Lady Weiss stared at a spot just above my head. Is that where her Appraisal showed up?
"Ruby's Skill is [Seed Creation]. She can create any seed she wishes for."
Lady Neo's eyes went wide when she heard the Skill name as she opened the thick book and looked through it. After a while, she shook her head. "It isn't in the Skill Dictionary."
"Didn't think so," Lady Weiss nodded. "Yes, it seems to be a new Skill."
Kneeling down like Lady Neo, Lady Weiss took my hand. "Please, would you allow us to examine and research your Skill at the Royal Research Institute, for the sake of our country?"
At a loss for words, I just nodded.
"I can't believe this!" The moment Lady Neo closed the Skill Dictionary with a thump, Lady Yang screeched, rushing at me. "Garbage like you shouldn't be allowed to attend the Royal Research Institute!"
I flinched as she raised her hand, closing my eyes as I waited for impact, but...it never came. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Lady Weiss had caught her by the wrist.
"Are you saying that I, a nationally-recognized Appraiser, am lying?" Her quiet voice seemed to echo through the garden.
Frowning, Lady Yang took her eyes off me, turning towards Lady Weiss. But instead of complaining more, she looked shocked. It seemed she was just as surprised by her appearance as I was.
"Oh, Lady Weiss, you're so handsome..." Lady Yang covered her cheeks with her hands, glancing back at her. Rather than surprised, she might have been in love. Sighing, Lady Weiss let go of her wrist.
"P-Please excuse Ruby's carelessness..." Lady Raven finally hobbled out towards us, apologizing.
"Ruby didn't do anything. It was your other daughter," said Lady Weiss with another sigh.
"Yang?" Confused, Lady Raven looked between Lady Yang and me.
"Ruby will also need to go to the Royal Research Institute, so make preparations."
"Her too...!?" she screeched, baffled.
And so, both Lady Yang and I were instructed to go to the Royal Research Institute in the capital. I'd never left the manor grounds before in my life. All I knew was what I could see from the garden. The old gardener told me that the capital was where the King lived. It was a place where all the roads were paved for the carriages, with lots of streetlights and stores... He said that it was bright, bustling, and fun!
I couldn't believe that useless trash like me could ever go there! While part of me was excited, the rest of me was scared. I might still be whipped for mistakes there. I hope it's at least better than here at the Xiao Long manor...