“Miss. It’s past time to get up.”

I heard Bitty’s voice. She continued to shake my body, which was inside the quilt.

“……I want to sleep a little longer.”

“You can’t. You have to have breakfast.”

“I don’t want to eat.”

“Oh dear. Everyone is waiting. The mistress has asked you to come out quickly.”

My eyes flashed open at the mention of Isabelle. Seizing the opportunity, Bitty threw the quilt I had been clutching tightly into the corner.

My face was revealed along with the change of pajamas. I tried to hide my face in the pillow belatedly, but Bitty caught me.

“……You didn’t sleep?”

“I’ll be out soon. So please leave for a moment.”

My voice cracked. Bitty picked up the quilt she had left in the corner without waking me further.

As Bitty said, I stayed up all night with my eyes open. I bit my lips hard to avoid crying, and my lips were torn apart.

I struggled to get up. I had many questions to ask Isabelle. Although I was afraid to face the woman, my feet moved slowly. After changing into comfortable clothes, I looked in the mirror to tidy my disheveled hair.

‘I want to dye it…….’

Dyeing is impossible in this world, so should I wear a wig?

Silver hair like Yurik and Yune was fine, and black hair like Roger was good. Or how about blonde like the other brothers? Anything but red would do.

Staggering down the stairs, I did not go straight to the dining room, but only poked my head out a little.

Fortunately, the woman was not there, and the twins, Felicia, and Bernard were sitting as usual. The middle seat was occupied by my father, who was reading the newspaper, as he did not go to work due to the holiday.

“What are you doing here, Lise?”

“Playing hide and seek alone?”

Swel and Silke also came down the stairs, whether they had overslept. They looked suspiciously at me, who was hesitating at the entrance, and went straight into the dining room.

It was a wasted effort to hover at the entrance after being caught by the twins.

No one paid attention to me as I entered the dining room. Isabelle did not even look at me and sipped her water. It was an unremarkable breakfast. The dishes came out, and everyone picked up their forks without speaking.

No conversation was exchanged, and everyone quietly cleared their plates.

Only the taste was not felt. I could not tell if the food was going through my mouth or my throat. There was no scent at all. Unlike me, my brothers enjoyed the freshly baked bread, spreading plenty of jam on it.

‘Where did that woman go?’

Did Isabelle send her away early in the morning?

I was afraid the woman would come to my room at midnight and listened carefully all night, but I did not hear the sound of her footsteps or the front door opening.

“It was a little noisy last night.”

My heart dropped as my father spoke.

“A guest came.”

“A guest?”

“Yes, they wanted to see the Earl.”

Isabelle spoke with an indifferent face.

“Me? Who would come looking for me at dawn?”

“You’ll know when you see the face, sir. It’s an important guest. They came in the early morning, so it was strange to just send them away, so I put them to sleep in the guest room.”

Sure enough! The fork in my hand stopped. The tip of the fork trembled without even piercing the food.

My father looked up at the news that a guest was in the mansion. Without time to prepare mentally, someone was coming down the stairs.

The unfamiliar sound of footsteps made everyone at the dining table turn their eyes outside the dining room.

“……!”

I gasped. The woman appeared.
Yesterday, unlike her dirty appearance, she was wearing a clean pink dress and shoes. Her face and hair, which had been a mess, were now neat, accentuating her beauty. At a glance, she was more beautiful than Isabel, but not welcome.

Beauty was secondary, she resembled me. Even the hair color… even the appearance.

“……You.”

My father could not close his mouth at the sight of her.

It seemed he could not forget her stunning beauty, even if she was a woman from the pleasure district he spent the night with. My father’s face was not just pale but ashen, as if remembering that night.

I turned my head to look at her next. The woman, who I assumed would naturally be looking at my father, was looking at me. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Where on earth is this place!”

My father raised his voice at the woman, and all my brothers stopped their forkfuls. Even the timid Bernard’s body trembled at the sudden ferocious atmosphere.

At this place, only Isabel was cutting the meat with a comfortable expression.

“You, you brought this woman here?”

“Of course not. As I just said, she came to the mansion herself.”

“So you just let her in? Even giving her clothes and shoes?”

“I couldn’t just send her away, could I? Her situation was quite dire.”

While Isabel and my father were talking back and forth, the woman never took her eyes off me. My head stiffened, and I could not avoid her gaze. I had to watch the woman, who was terribly shedding tears, drop by drop.

She seemed to want to hold my hand right away.

‘I hate it. I say I hate it.’