The Male Lead’s Fake Sister

To be exact, it was a pair of earrings with the ability to alter one’s voice, but it was also a tool that could change one’s appearance momentarily if it was raised to its maximum capacity.

However, it only functioned for a couple of minutes upon activation even when the process to activate it took quite a long time.
Moreover, it was only possible if the user had a detailed image of the person he wanted to copy.

In fact, it was never used and was kept on display.
So, why would he want those earrings instead of getting tax money from Seirin Street?

“What the hell are you up to?”

“Come on.
Quit your nonsense.”

“I don’t think my dear partner is the type that would fancy these pretty earrings.
I wonder why these earrings are worth more than Seirin Street,” Herod asked.

However, Tidwell did not answer.
The gentle smile he always wore was nowhere to be seen.

He shut his mouth, avoided eye contact, and said, “I have something to take care of.”

That was all.

‘That’s why, just in case, I had people follow him..’

Herod did not expect that Tidwell would use that piece of junk to fool his sister.

Herod smiled despondently, and sat not too far from them.
He wanted to hear their conversation.

However, what he heard was really unexpected.

“I wanted to see you here because Velocio is the best place I can tell you about the spring user I know of, Herod.”

 

***

 

Completely unaware that she was being deceived, Ravia brought up the bait she prepared during the interlude before the finale.

“I wanted to see you here because Velocio is the best place I can tell you about the spring user I know of, Herod.”

“…Oh, is that so?”

He acted as if he had forgotten about the spring user I mentioned before, but perhaps she was simply overthinking things.
And so, Ravia decided to ignore it.

“I thought you’d bring it up first, but you didn’t.”

“I was planning to do so once the play was over.”

“You don’t seem like the type that has that much free time, do you? Both you and I.”

To be honest, Ravia was eager to sign the contract right away, but she shouldn’t be too obvious with her real intentions in front of him.

It was risky.
This contract would only be meaningful if she acted as though she didn’t care.
She had to behave as if she had nothing to lose if the contract fell through.
Because of that, she needed to make an appropriate excuse.

“I was grounded because I met you last time.
I have to return before anyone knows I sneaked out.”

“You managed to sneak out despite the tight security.
As far as I know, there’s no back door in the Leontine Residence.”

“There is.
But no one knows.”

She wasn’t planning to tell him the existence of the secret passageway, so Ravia answered his question in a rather sloppy manner.
Even so, it wasn’t important anyway.

“I’m here to settle my marriage with you.”

“Is it because you were grounded?”

“Can’t you see that I’m here right now despite that? That doesn’t matter to me.”

Ravia pointed to herself as if she wanted him to take a good look at her, and then she smiled bitterly.

“I’m sure you know who my brother is, so I will get to the point.
My brother wants me to get married quickly.
We don’t have to get married right away, but we should at least announce the wedding as soon as possible…”

“That’s not true.”

Her words were interrupted.
Ravia looked at him, wondered why he cut her off, and asked.

“How can you be so sure?”

“…That’s what he said.”

“Did he really say that he didn’t want me to get married?”

No way.

Ravia smiled and waved her hand in disagreement.
That was absolutely ridiculous.
Because if she doesn’t get married and flees to a foreign country, Tidwell would most likely send an assassin to kill her.

That’s how the novel described him, and what Ravia saw in Tidwell was no different.

“In order for me to live, I have to leave the family for good.
I should never leave room for myself to return.
Even if I get expelled, my life will be over if my father puts my name in the family register again.
So, if I want to leave the family completely, I have no choice but to use a different last name.”

Thus, marriage is the only way.
Ravia smiled after making that conclusion.
It was a somewhat lonely smile.

“That means it’s very likely that what you heard was false.
If he said positive things about me, please pay no heed to it.
He can’t possibly have such pleasant feelings towards me, who is a threat to his succession.”

“…Aren’t you being too conclusive? At least, he seemed sincere.”

“What? Was it because he called me sister every time? You’re too naive.”

Ravia looked down on the stage.
Compared to their conversation, the opera was running smoothly.
Since the opera was a solo aria, the actor who played the male lead was singing at the moment.

Suddenly, a thought came across her mind.
That this whole situation was just a play, and that she was one of the actors who performed on stage.
As she pondered about it for a longer time, she really felt as though she was in a world that’s inside of a book.

And so, Ravia silently placed her hands on her legs, and opened her mouth.

“It’s just an act.
In the residence, my brother followed me very closely…… Anyone would think that we’re close siblings.”

But I couldn’t believe it.
Ravia continued her words inwardly as she was staring at the opera stage.
Her eyes were fixed on the stage, but her mind was elsewhere.

As she looked at the stage, all she could see was her predetermined death in the book.
The miserable life of a supporting character who was deprived of everything.

“I need to get married so that he and I can be at peace.
At that time, perhaps…..
We can truly be siblings with a close bond.”

Even though we’ll only seem like one on the surface, at least our relationship will be less suffocating than it is now.

Ravia mumbled quietly, and as soon as she realized that she talked way too much, she turned her head to look at the wolf-masked man.

“In any case, this isn’t the point.
My situation has nothing to do with this—”

“…Thank you for your explanation.
I can see how cruel your brother is towards you.”

The man took a deep breath and continued.

“I understand your situation.
You seem to think that your brother is really good at acting.”

“Yes.
He must have plans regarding me.
That’s why I don’t think we are truly close or anything.”

“Even so, you’re being too conscientious.”

“That’s true.”

Their conversation about her situation ended satisfactorily.
For that reason, Ravia was able to smile much more pleasantly.

“Okay, now let’s discuss the contract.
I have two suggestions for you.”

“One must be the spring user, while the other must be money, right?”

“Ah, was it too obvious?”

“Yes.”

Ravia smiled lightly at his soft answer.
As opposed to the atmosphere turning awkward after what had happened, it seemed to be quite pleasant instead.
She didn’t have the rigid or artificial front she always put on whenever she was with Tidwell.

What’s more, she was able to laugh so easily at their conversation.
Her light laughter sounded similar to that of a lark’s chirp, and as she laughed, her rosy cheeks looked ever so lovely.

Because of that, Tidwell’s face became more distorted.

I expected this to happen, but Ravia seemed to be much happier without my presence.
Now that I’ve seen such a sight, I realized how big of a burden I’ve been to her.

Fortunately, he wore a mask, not because he wanted to deceive Ravia, but because he was able to hide his twisted expression underneath it.
However, Ravia, who was unaware of that expression of his, said softly.

“Since I’m a Leontine, it won’t be hard for me to split the dowry.
I’ll prepare the contract, and then I’ll give you information about the spring user.”

“How generous.”

“Do you think so?”

Tidwell nodded instead of answering.
It occurred to him, had it been Herod who was in his place, Herod would have easily accepted the offer.

But Tidwell wouldn’t come this far if he’d just let that happen.

“However, I don’t think it’s going to be easy for you to prepare a contract today.”

“Why?”

“I was told earlier that Duke Leontine would come to Velocio Theatre with his adopted son.
They are planning to watch (Aida), which is scheduled right after this play.”

T/N: Aida is the name of another musical.

Ravia’s face quickly turned pale at his words.
She must be very surprised because she didn’t know that Duke Leontine would come to Velocio Theatre.

Ravia sprang up from her seat, looked at her surroundings, and turned her head.

“Tidwell didn’t tell me when he left the residence, though?”

“It must have been a sudden arrangement.
It’s rather fortunate that I got notified just before coming here.”

I don’t want to get caught here.
Ravia agonized for a moment, and then, she eventually breathed a low sigh.

“I really can’t understand why it has to be today of all days.
They’ll use this box seat, so I need to leave before I get caught.”

“Alright.
Let’s talk about the details at a later time.”

After he said those words, Tidwell rose from his seat as well.
He did so because he always wanted to match Ravia’s rhythm to a certain extent.
Meanwhile, Ravia straightened her slightly wrinkled hem and pressed her lips with the end of her fan.

She seemed troubled, but it didn’t last that long.

“I’ll meet you here next week when Primadonna Laricia plays as Aida.”

“Alright, but I’m afraid I’ll have to see you in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?”

“I have another appointment next week.”

Ravia frowned at his words.
In the original novel, the Leontine family was annihilated by Tidwell shortly after the Duke returned from a business trip.

These two weeks of delay would make it impossible for her to finalize her engagement before the duke’s departure.
It was something that Ravia wanted to avoid.

‘I can’t help it.
Still, I know for a fact that there would be quite a bit of time before the Duke returns from his business trip.
So, I just have to make sure to get it done before that.
For now, I shouldn’t mess with the fruits of my labor so far no matter how anxious I am.’

“…Alright.”

Ravia did not forget to be courteous until the end.
She raised the hem of her skirt, said her goodbyes, and slipped out of the theatre.
He was extremely lucky that she was fooled until the very end.

As she was on her way out of the theatre, Tidwell looked at Ravia’s back until she was completely out of sight.
He then took off his mask and earrings.
At last, he didn’t need to act any longer.

“Why did you suddenly ask me to watch an opera, Tidwell?”

“I simply came to the conclusion that we should do such things more often.
That’s why I wanted to watch it with father.”

“Geez, this child.”

Tidwell smiled softly as he watched Duke Leontine smile proudly at him.