That’s how Edward drove away from the Averitt mansion, as if he was fleeing.

Louisa was left alone in the garden with numerous gift boxes.

It was something she had often experienced before. The large boxes pouring into the mansion and all kinds of luxuries filling the dressing room.

However, they were all just money given instead of debt.

A huge debt that he couldn’t clear from his heart even after returning everything his father had run away with, and even after creating an even greater fortune.

And money in the name of ‘expensive gifts’ that he had placed next to himself instead of himself to repay it.

But strangely, today was different.

Was it because the memory of that day when they went together came to mind? It felt more like a normal affectionate gift rather than money given indiscriminately.

‘A gift chosen while thinking of me and taking time for me…’

She looked up at the pile of boxes stacked like a mountain behind her.

Something invisible welled up in one corner of her heart, as if a mirage was rising.

Louisa was reminded of the dress from the previous king’s birthday celebration.

A miserably pathetic dress that was chosen and given by the hand of another woman who adored him, while he spent time with her.

Amid her current feelings and past pain, she continued to ponder absentmindedly.

However, as her desire to protect herself was still greater than her desire to chase hope, she finally set her lips firmly.

At that moment, the butler approached from behind and said:

“Mrs. Allen, I will have the luggage moved inside for now, but it seems it will take until tomorrow afternoon to sort everything out.”

“There’s no rush since I don’t plan to wear them right away. You can prioritize the mansion’s affairs and organize them slowly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

She wasn’t ready to face what was contained in there yet.

Late at night.

Daniel returned on the night train.

Since he came back earlier than expected, she thought it wasn’t as big a deal as she had worried about, but the area under Daniel’s eyes was dark and lifeless.

He looked quite tired, constantly rubbing his eyes. Louisa asked with a voice full of concern:

“Elder brother. You look very tired, are you alright?”

“Of course. This level of fatigue is quite common for me.”

Daniel took off his hat and coat, handing them to the maid. Instead of going straight up to his room, he asked her:

“By the way, Louisa, there’s something I’d like to ask as well.”

He pointed to the pile of boxes stacked in one corner of the mansion’s central hall and asked:

“Would you mind explaining what all of this is?”

He was clearly smiling as he asked, but the atmosphere felt completely different.

The servants who hadn’t finished organizing all the dresses that had suddenly arrived in bulk looked anxiously at Daniel.

Louisa also watched her elder brother’s expression as she spoke:

“Ah… My husband said they were dresses he sent for me.”

Although her elder brother had never directly mentioned it before, she felt that he had intentionally avoided the topic of Edward since she became hard of hearing.

Moreover, considering what she had heard from Edward, it was clear that the relationship between the two men was not very amicable at the moment. She decided to keep the promise Edward had made when he left.

As expected, Daniel frowned with great displeasure and scanned the pile of boxes up and down with a cold gaze.

“That bastard doesn’t listen to a word I say and causes such trouble. He’s no longer your husband or anything else now, right?”

“Well, it’s not officially processed on paper yet. If we’re being strict, we’re still married, so I suppose there’s a matter of keeping up appearances.”

She answered with a forced smile. Daniel didn’t say much more than that.

Perhaps it was out of consideration for her.

‘But elder brother, I’m not sure anymore either.’

Why does it feel different now, when it’s something I’ve experienced several times before?

In fact, when thinking about it simply, the reason was obvious.

The words saying he came because he wanted to see her. The time spent talking about things they didn’t know about each other. The gaze looking at her longingly, as if he were a man in love.

Because her husband had changed from before.

“I’m excited thinking about trying on each one.”

Louisa told a white lie for her elder brother’s sake. Daniel then made an uncharacteristically bold suggestion.

“Let’s throw away these dresses later. If you really can’t bear to, just try them on once each. If you’re up for it, would you like to go out with me tomorrow?”

It seemed he was quite disgusted at the thought of them being gifts from Edward.

However, Louisa, who couldn’t bring herself to do that even out of a sense of waste, said:

“No, elder brother. You look tired too, so get some rest.”

In fact, something even greater was scheduled to arrive, but she decided not to think about disasters that had not yet occurred.

For now, yes.

Even if the hope that had raised its head cried out in thirst, let’s not water it.

For the grown hope might strangle the heart, and finally burst it.

Morning dawned.

Ring-ring-ring―

The sound of the alarm clock ringing in her ears was particularly grating today.

Louisa reached out to the bedside table in her sleep.

Something large and cold was caught in her hand. She lowered the switch located on the back of the alarm clock.

Click.

The sound stopped and silence fell.

However, Louisa, who had already woken up, decided to get out of bed.

She pulled back the goose-down comforter that was warmly enveloping her body halfway. She stretched her arms high above her head.

Today was the day of the celebration for the much-talked-about return of the Duke of Portland.

Rather than sleeping in more, it would be better to get up early and prepare something with her elder brother. With that thought, Louisa unconsciously got up from the bed and walked to the door.

And as she grabbed the doorknob to leave, she suddenly stopped her movement and muttered in surprise to herself:

“I… heard the alarm.”

As Daniel was walking down the hallway, he faintly heard the sound of an alarm clock.

‘Louisa’s wake-up time is earlier than I thought.’

He raised his eyebrows up and down and headed to the study to take care of business.

His sister’s wake-up time was similar to his own, who went to work every day. It was exceptionally early compared to other ladies or wives.

Suddenly the sound stopped. She must have reluctantly gotten up, unable to bear the noise.

He could vividly imagine his younger sister still in bed, unable to open her eyes and looking disheveled. Daniel chuckled as he passed by his sister’s room door.

It was in the middle of taking a few more steps. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

Daniel’s eyes widened.

He turned right back around and walked briskly. He flung open the door to his sister’s room without even knocking.

His sister was standing blankly in front of the door. Louisa’s eyes met his.

“You, the sound―”

“I heard it!”

Louisa exclaimed excitedly.

Daniel shouted with a bright smile:

“My goodness, oh Lord!”

He hugged Louisa tightly.

“You really are recovering!”

Daniel exclaimed, jumping for joy.

It was the alarm clock that had been taken out to try hearing sounds once in a while since receiving the diagnosis that her hearing was gradually recovering.

They didn’t expect the day she would actually hear it to come so quickly.

Daniel said tearfully that she must have practiced well what the doctor had said about “maintaining a healthy life while minimizing stress as much as possible.”

“You’ve been through so much. Now it’s really just one step away.”

Daniel, who had tears in his eyes, promised her that he would never create anything that Louisa might worry about, and that he would always remain calm and gentle no matter what happened.

Of course, Louisa, who knew what was coming soon, just smiled silently.

The two went downstairs, talking in slightly excited voices.

And what greeted them was a dress with an amount of money slathered on it that was enough to make one faint.

“This… this…”

Daniel said, looking at the dress in front of him.

“This looks like something that should be a tribute to the royal family, ha, as if it had been stolen.”

He stammered. He seemed quite shocked. However, it was the same for Louisa.

The first thing that caught the eye was the layered navy velvet.

The fabric with its elegant sheen felt like an incredibly high-end product on its own, and the tiny diamonds embroidered on the dress shone transparently, elevating its class.

Detailed embroidery and laces further enhanced the luxuriousness of the dress, and the accompanying long gloves were made of the same fabric and diamonds.

There were even shoes and accessories that hadn’t been thought of at the time.

Daniel, who had been staring at the dress without saying a word, muttered:

“This… I don’t need to be told to know which scoundrel’s work this is.”

He said in a voice that was beyond dumbfounded and drained of strength:

“Edward Allen, this clueless bastard.”

To add insult to injury, the butler of the Averitt mansion approached the siblings.

“Here is a telegram that arrived this morning.”

He held out a small piece of paper.

Upon seeing this, Daniel burst out in anger:

“This bastard must have taken my words lightly!”

“Elder brother!”

Louisa stepped in to try to defuse the situation and made an excuse of sorts:

“Actually, I contacted him first. On the day you went back down for urgent business, I asked for a little help.”

“You did?”

Louisa nodded.

“I thought you might feel sorry and regretful if I couldn’t get a dress fitted…”

“Then you could have taken the people here with you, why on earth did you contact that scoundrel?”

He probed suspiciously. Louisa smiled awkwardly and said:

“I thought he would have a better eye for luxury items than the servants.”

It wasn’t entirely untrue, but Daniel was quite displeased. He pursed his lips.

‘Of all days, something had to come up that day.’

This disaster had occurred because of that.

He vowed to someday take revenge on the professor who had caused trouble and asked for his help.