Designing the integration, or entanglement, between Microservice-based (MS-based) systems and Digital Twins (DTs) poses a challenge due to the lack of established design approaches. To bridge this gap, we present a qualitative study of grey literature in conjunction with Straussian Grounded Theory, which analyses patterns and approaches reported by practitioners. From twenty sources, we have identified four architectural design decisions (ADDs), twenty-four decision options, their relationships, and twenty-two decision factors, and summarised these in a UML-based ADDs model. The results bring overlooked aspects, in particular, data modeling and persistence as a central dimension, to light and underscore the importance of the DT execution platform. We also report on a qualitative evaluation involving six practitioners from two leading technology consulting firms. The results show that the model provides structured guidance for architectural decision-making and forms a basis for further empirical validation across various industry sectors.

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