Chapter 1 – Acquiring the Blessing

“I want that one—!”

Suddenly, Lily burst into the room and pounced on me, snatching away the blessing of light.

“Yay! It was such a pretty white light!!”

I stood there in the blessing room, dazed, watching Lily’s back as she ran off innocently—right alongside the tiny spirit that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Ehhh…”

The green-glowing spirit—presumably Lily’s blessing—was clutching its head in midair.

No way.

“Um… could I maybe have your blessing instead…?”

I suggested trading blessings, but it shook its head. “No can do. You don’t have the aptitude.”

Yeah, figured as much. I knew it wouldn’t work.

What do I do now…?

Then, a white light poured from the wall, and a beautiful woman appeared.

So dazzling…

My eyes stung; I could barely squint them open.

One after another, blinding red, blue, yellow, green, brown, and black lights burst from the wall.

All the goddesses had assembled.

Unsure if I was even allowed to be there, I held my breath quietly.

“I saw it.” “Me too.” “This is troubling.” “What on earth.” “Divine punishment.” “Unbelievable.” “What shall we do?”

They all started chattering freely among themselves. Maybe they couldn’t even see me.

To think even my blessing would get stolen…

I glanced down at the light blue dress I was wearing and recalled the morning’s events.

“I want that one—!”

My twin sister is always like this.

She always takes my stuff.

“No helping it, huh… Lily won’t listen once she digs her heels in. Just swap with her. Marie, you’re the big sister, after all.”

Mom looked at me, placating Lily like always.

Resistance was futile anyway. Lily would just cry and throw a fit, and I’d end up giving in like always.

“…Okay.”

At five years old, I’d already attained enlightenment.

I handed over the brand-new pink dress made specially for today and put on Lily’s light blue one.

We’d even said we’d get the same color when buying the fabric.

“Mooom! Marie’s mad at me— She’s so mean!”

Guh.

No, no— deep breaths, smile, smile.

I didn’t want to sour this once-in-a-lifetime blessing day with bad memories.

Mom scooped Lily up and mouthed an apologetic “Sorry.”

Lily has this illness where she craves anything I have.

Whining wins, persistence pays off, or maybe whoever seems like more trouble takes it—something like that.

We have the same face, but Lily could make even this unfairness look innocent. Honestly, as the one always forced to yield, I envied her.

Lily, all cheery in the pink dress; me, a little grumpy; and Mom and Dad— the four of us headed to the tiny church at the far end of the village.

In this world, everyone heads to the church on their fifth birthday to receive their blessing.

Aptitudes supposedly reveal themselves by age three or four at the latest.

The blessing of the Light Spirit is extremely rare—hadn’t appeared in decades.

It grants purification, healing, detoxification, and more, so the recipient is hailed as a Saintess and cherished under the church’s protection.

Green covers everything plant-related, from herbs to forestry and farming—super versatile. No trouble finding work.

Most folks in the kingdom have the green blessing.

Aww, I had the Light Spirit’s blessing…

At this rate, am I headed for a “no blessing” hard-mode life?

Even just reincarnating as Lily’s twin sister from another world was hard enough.

This stuff’s better off staying in fairy tales.

I don’t want this anymore. I’m so frustrated I could cry.

I never want to see Lily— who stole my blessing— again.

As I turned to leave the blessing room in defeat, a voice called from behind. “Wait right there.”

I froze, and the Goddess of Light enveloped me in a soft hug. “To you, I give my love.”

The Green Spirit, told “Enter her,” floated gently into me.

The other goddesses took turns comforting me. “Wipe those tears.”

Thank you, Goddesses. Sorry for the trouble.

After a while, their presences vanished entirely, plunging the room into sudden darkness.

I peered around to confirm I was alone, steadied my breathing, and left the blessing room.

“Took quite a while, huh?”

“…I think it’s green.”

“Then Marie can grow herbs and support Lily on her path to becoming a Saintess.”

My parents patted my head with smiles, but my feelings were still a mess. I plastered on a grin and numbed my heart.

A White Priest from the nearest town would trek all the way to our remote village to verify the light blessing.

Until then, it was provisional—don’t breathe a word, the church official from the guildhall had warned.

Luckily, they’d only scanned both our aptitudes with a magic tool at the office. Even the official didn’t know which twin was which.

First time I’d seen a letter tied to a dandelion puff and sent flying.

I watched it drift away, staring blankly into the distant sky.

On the way home, I picked up the Provisional Determination Document and handed it to Mom.

At dinner, Mom and Dad were thrilled about Lily becoming the Saintess. Lily bounced around excitedly, not fully getting it.

They shook my shoulders— “Isn’t it an honor to be the Saintess’s sister?”— but my heart just grew colder, more detached.

Mom, worried about my lack of appetite, invited me for a walk.

From inside the house, Dad’s joyful laughter and Lily’s excited squeals leaked out.

First time I’d ever seen Dad laugh like that.

Haa… the cool night breeze feels nice filling my lungs.

“The green blessing’s super handy in this village. No sense moping by comparing yourself to Lily, who’s set to become a Saintess.”

She was right, but her comforting missed the mark entirely. I could feel myself starting to resent her for it.

She didn’t know the full story, so it couldn’t be helped— but right now, I was like a wounded beast. Sorry.

My mind raced with words, but only hurtful ones surfaced.

I get it.

Mom didn’t do anything wrong… nothing wrong. But.

Steadying myself to avoid trembling or getting emotional, I forced out my voice calmly.

“Why did you let Lily into the blessing room while I was receiving mine?”

My accusatory question made Mom blink in confusion. “Because she suddenly yanked her hand free and dashed inside…”

Then her face shifted to realization.

That’s right.

She pulled it off again.

I nodded silently. Mom looked skyward and let out a heavy sigh.

“I see… This time, it wasn’t a dress she stole. It was your life…”

Her voice tiny and sad, Mom sank to her knees and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“I can’t live with Lily anymore. I’m going to Grandfather’s.”

Thank you for reading.

I’ll start writing from today.

Please take care of me.