When I turned around, drawn by a force that felt like an irresistible power, he was still standing there, as if rooted to the spot.

Perhaps it was because of the rain, but he looked as if he was crying as he watched me.

It was a strange feeling. I felt like I would never forget this moment.

But even as I turned my body and hurried my steps, even as the distance between us gradually widened until I could no longer return to him, I didn’t hear a voice calling out to me.

If he had called out to me one more time, would everything have been different?

…No, it’s just a useless thought.

In the end, Ansel and I will walk our separate paths. We have to.

As if we had never loved each other from the beginning.

“Eloise.”

As the gentle voice tickled her ear, two sapphire-like blue eyes suddenly opened.

“Time to wake up.”

Outside, the dazzling early summer was in full swing. The warm sunlight that seeped through the window by the bedside cast a slanted shadow across Eloise’s drowsy face.

Within it, her transparent light-dyed eyelashes slowly blinked.

“…Sister.”

“What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”

Sarah’s warm hand gently caressed her sister’s cheek. Eloise looked back at her sister with sleepy eyes. She suddenly recalled the voices of people who unanimously agreed that the eldest daughter of the Bailey family was the greatest beauty in Mayberry.

Eloise loved her sister Sarah more than anyone else, not only for her appearance but also for her gentle demeanor and angelic kindness. Of course, she also knew well that her sister adored her as her only sibling.

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her clenched hand, Eloise replied in a languid voice.

“No, sister. I dreamed of the old days.”

“A dream of the old days? What kind of dream was it?”

Sarah asked, smiling gently as she slowly helped Eloise sit up.

The answer that came back was somewhat abrupt.

“Lord Ansel appeared in it.”

“…”

“It was a dream where I was swimming in the lake with him. Strange, isn’t it?”

There was a moment of silence. Though brief, it was long enough to realize that she had said something unnecessary in her half-asleep state.

“…It’s just a dream, Elsie. Besides, swimming and playing in the lake is something from more than ten years ago.”

Sarah replied in a calm tone as she led Eloise by the hand to sit in a chair.

“Come, let me brush your hair. If you go downstairs like this, Mother will scold you.”

The sisters’ mother was as particular as any noblewoman when it came to her daughters’ appearances. She was especially so in this regard.

Mrs. Bailey’s scolding had been constant since her daughters were young children, but now that they had grown into proper ladies of twenty-four and twenty-two, it had reached its peak.

Since ancient times, the leisurely unmarried gentlemen of the kingdom had not shied away from the trouble of searching for suitable brides. So now that rumors were beginning to spread about how quite beautiful the Bailey daughters were, their mother believed it was the time to put the most effort into their grooming.

Of course, the two daughters willingly accepted their mother’s nagging. They understood well their mother’s wish for her daughters to marry “wealthy”, “prosperous”, and “affluent” men and live comfortably.

Above all, the Bailey sisters deeply loved their mother.

“We can’t upset Her Majesty the Queen first thing in the morning. Please do.”

Eloise replied in her characteristic playful tone, pulling her sister’s hand on her shoulder to rub her cheek against it. Soon, Eloise’s nightcap was removed, and her luscious wheat-colored hair cascaded down like waves.

“I don’t want to get married. Unless there’s a man as beautiful and kind as you, sister.”

“Don’t make such jokes in front of Mother. Understood?”

The sisters’ gentle laughter scattered throughout the room in the season of the softest, most fragrant breeze.

“Good morning, Mrs. Hurst.”

Sarah, who had left the room, gave a kind greeting. In response, a housekeeper with a gentle impression clasped her hands in ecstasy, pausing from her busy cleaning at the entrance of the stairs.

“Sally! Oh, my goodness.”

This passionate reaction was, so to speak, a typical morning scene in the Bailey household.

“It’s been well over twenty years since I first saw you, but I simply must say that you look more beautiful this morning than ever before. Just look at this swan-like figure and golden hair! If only a good marriage prospect would appear, it would be perfect.”

“She already has more suitors than she can handle.”

At that moment, Eloise, who had followed Sarah down with quick steps, intercepted the answer.

“There’s no one prettier than my sister in all of Mayberry, no, in all of Longfield combined.”

“…It has to be someone who can fully take care of the family too. So not yet…”

Sarah, who had started to stop Eloise, blushed and lowered her gaze. The housekeeper laughed, shrugging her plump shoulders.

“Of course. Sally will never rush into marriage. Not until a suitable partner appears that will satisfy Mrs. Bailey. By the way, did you sleep well, Elsie? Madam is already downstairs.”

“Really? I must say, our mother’s lack of a need for sleep is something to be admired.”

Eloise bounded down the stairs like a squirrel that had found an acorn. The laughter of Sarah and Mrs. Hurst echoed behind her.

On the first floor, in the center of the beautiful table placed in front of a large window, there was a fresh wild rose. Since Mayberry turned into a vast rose garden every early summer, each house would decorate their tables with roses competitively around this time every year.

Mrs. Bailey, dressed in an elegant green satin dress, was lost in thought with a teacup in front of her. Just then, the sound of a chair scraping broke her reverie.

“Mother, good morning. Where’s Father?”

Mrs. Bailey carefully tidied up the side of her daughter’s hair, who had sat down beside her. The wheat-colored curls, disheveled from running down the stairs, were quickly put in order.

“Your father’s absence at breakfast is nothing new, is it? He seems to have gone out far again, so he’ll probably crawl back late at night. Sarah, come and sit down. Let’s say our pre-meal prayer.”

As always, the lady quietly recited a prayer wishing for the health and peace of the family. Sarah, opening her eyes filled with the blue summer sky, spoke in a gentle voice.

“I hope he brings back good news this time.”

“Oh, my dear! Don’t even say that. I just hope he hasn’t been scammed again. We have no more fortune to lose.”

Mrs. Bailey sighed heavily, pausing from tapping a boiled egg with her silver spoon.

“It would be better if he just stayed at home instead of wandering around aimlessly.”

“Mother…”

Eloise was about to respond but quickly chewed and swallowed the piece of potato in her mouth. Unladylike table manners were sure to be followed by scolding.

“You don’t like Father being away from home often, do you?”

“How can you say such thoughtless things now? If your father hadn’t been caught up in scams, we would be living comfortably!”

Mrs. Bailey added, grumbling.

“To think we’re barely maintaining appearances. What a foolish man.”

Catherine Fairban, now Mrs. Bailey, was the daughter of a baronet, not strictly nobility but included in aristocratic society. Naturally, she could have married a nobleman and lived as a noble lady, and she had ambitions too, but…

“You love Father, don’t you?”

“…”

She ended up blinded by love and marrying a commoner.

In truth, the beginning was smooth. After all, her husband was a self-made businessman, and after having two beautiful daughters with eyes just like his, she couldn’t have been happier.

That is, until he lost their entire fortune.

It was fortunate that they had an estate purchased just before falling victim to the scam. Although it was a small piece of land, if it weren’t for the rent from it, they would have had to work without fail.

But that was it. A life where they didn’t have to work miserably, with just one housekeeper, a cook, and a coachman each. Moreover, due to the national law that estates and mansions belong to the family line, the heir of the Bailey family, who had no son, was set as a distant male relative.

In other words, the future of this family depended on the marriages of the two daughters.

Unfortunately, there was no way a family barely maintaining their current lifestyle could have a marriage dowry.

This was truly a big problem. Unless from a noble family, the only bait to catch a big fish in the marriage market was a large dowry. It was for this reason that Mr. Bailey, who had lost his fortune to fraud, was busily searching for new opportunities without time to despair.

“You always said, Mother. That you don’t regret marrying Father.”

Mrs. Bailey answered without hesitation to Eloise, who muttered while cracking an egg.

“Of course. You are my treasures.”

“…Don’t worry too much, Mother.”

Sarah, who had quietly moistened her lips with a glass of water, said. Her tone was gentle like a soft breeze, yet strangely firm.

“I’ll try harder to find a good marriage partner.”

“Oh, my good daughter.”

As Mrs. Bailey had expected, Mr. Bailey returned long after the sun had set. Obviously, he seemed to have no significant gains.

The evening passed as usual, from the affectionate reunion of father and daughter to the wife’s loving scolding.

Night invariably returned, and the sisters, changed into white chemises, lay down in their second-floor bedroom where moonlight seeped in, as always.

However, even after her sister returned to her bed on the opposite side after giving her an affectionate kiss, Eloise couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.

‘It was clearly a day no different from usual.’

Yes. If anything was different, it was only that dream.

“Sister, are you asleep?”

She whispered in a hushed voice, but there was no response. Eloise murmured, tossing and turning.

“You know. What I said about the dream this morning, it was actually nothing. I just spoke nonsense in my sleep.”

“…Mmm, I’ve already forgotten about it.”

Eloise’s eyes blinked blankly in the darkness, surprised by the unexpected answer. But soon, as steady breathing could be heard, she closed her eyes again. It seemed to have been sleep-talking.

“Sally, actually, I knew.”

This time, there was no response at all. Eloise let out a faint sigh.

‘That you liked Lord Ansel. Perhaps you still do.’

But sister.

I like him too.

Sister, can you really marry someone else for the sake of the family? I…

“Sister, what should I do?”

The faint sound of summer night insects mixed with the sound of Sarah’s peaceful breathing.

The day I first met him was also in a season just like this.