At that moment, a clattering voice abruptly jumped in.

“What are you gossiping about?”

With curly hair puffed up on both sides, Sisi’s cheeks were swollen. Whether she couldn’t find her handkerchief or something else…

“Ariante! You’re so beautiful! Like an angel!”

Following directly behind Sisi, Crony entered, tapping his feet and pretending to clap. Before Ariante could express her gratitude, Sisi sealed her lips.

“You didn’t say I was that pretty just now.”

Crony widened his eyes in an unjust manner.

“I did say you were pretty, Sisi.”

“You didn’t say I was like an angel!”

Luzian interjected.

“Well, an angel with your personality wouldn’t exist in the world. Do you have a conscience?”

“What’s it got to do with it!”

When the two cousins started bickering, a man as tall as Swan walked in with a slightly handsome expression. Ariante’s face brightened when she saw him.

“Sylas! Long time no see!”

As Ariante hugged Sylas tightly, Luzian and Sisi, who had been tattling, looked at each other with resentment and turned their heads, feigning disinterest.

“Didn’t I see you two months ago, Ariante?”

Sylas said. Like Swan, his voice was completely different. It had a soft tone like when he was young, slightly husky and resonant. It sounded very charming.

He had started attending the university in the capital since last year, returning to the estate only once every few months. When Sylas, who had been inseparable during childhood, left, Ariante had been quite depressed for a long time.

Not only because he was her boyfriend, but also because Swan had left for the capital. After losing both of them, Ariante felt a sense of emptiness.

“Isn’t Umbrose coming?”

Ariante asked as she turned to look outside the door, and Crony replied.

“He came. But he got dragged away by the younger siblings who wanted to show him around. Ariante, can I take a closer look at the dress? Wow! It’s really gorgeous. I hope I can wear such a beautiful dress next year.”

Crony, who had not yet turned sixteen, regretted not being able to debut with Ariante and Sisi. He even whined about feeling awkward and embarrassed alone among the unfamiliar daughters of the capital’s nobility.

“Don’t worry, Crony. Your dress will be the prettiest at next year’s debutante ball.”

Crony looked down with a sulky expression.

“I’m old-fashioned. Even if everyone laughs at me, I don’t mind.”

“What are you talking about? Who would laugh at you? Try saying that. I’ll beat you so you won’t be able to laugh twice. I’ll rearrange the position of your jaw.”

Luzian exaggeratedly mimicked a threatening gesture.
“Good heavens, can such a kid really govern the Duchy? If I inherit the marquisate, I should seriously consider moving to another territory. Sylas, how about going with me?”

Upon hearing this, Sylas playfully wrinkled his handsome eyebrows and rolled his eyes.

“Sorry… I’ll go alone.”

Luzian, with a shocked expression, opened his mouth wide. Then, he grumbled that having friends was useless anyway, and he would become a duke, and that’s what mattered.

Swan remarked, “You might break up in the middle, and why already refer to yourself as a duke?”

At that moment, Ariante, who was hugging Sylas tightly, whether or not it was because of the friends’ comments, chuckled softly. Sylas, too, looked at Swan with a somewhat ridiculous smile.

“Swan, have you not awakened from the dream that I might break up with Ariante? I’m really disappointed.”

“Can’t give my sister to someone like you.”

“Well, what’s wrong with me?”

With a mischievous expression, Ariante poked Sylas’s chest with her fingertips.

“I heard it all. You’re so popular at the university, claiming there’s a line forming. I want to hear it from you.”

“What? No way! Swan said that? It’s a lie, Ariante!”

Swan sang a little tune in a teasing manner.

“If I lie, hives break out all over my body. But look at me now, clean, right?”

“Don’t make me laugh. A few days ago, you stole my pie and ate it, and when I caught you, you said you didn’t eat it. You didn’t get a single pimple, let alone hives.”

Ariante watched the two men’s fight with great interest. Swan, who was as determined as a big brother could be, and Sylas, who casually raised a flag saying, ‘Ariante likes me anyway,’ made for an entertaining spectacle. However, if there was one thing Ariante didn’t know, it was that Swan’s embrace wasn’t just about taking care of a little sister. Of course, Sylas had known that fact for a long time. That’s why, when it came to raising Swan’s spirits, he was skilled enough to flatten Luzian’s momentum.

“I guess I don’t like this earring after all,” Sisi said with a blunt voice. Sisi, wearing a white dress adorned with pearls, mainly used pearls for accessories, and the largest one was the earring.

“Why? It looks beautiful to me.”

Even with Crony’s words, Sisi’s expression remained unenthusiastic. Then she glanced at Ariante.

“I should have just let my hair down like Ariante. It looks too childish, doesn’t it?”