“Miss, the Duke is in the reception room……”

“Ah, I’ll change into different clothes and come down shortly.”

Although I had discarded the cloak I had worn on the way, the smell of alcohol and tobacco might have permeated my clothes.

Halfway up the stairs, I suddenly stopped.

“Make sure to empty one jewelry box completely. A lot of new pieces will be coming soon!”

Elena’s clear voice penetrated my ears. She seemed quite cheerful, as if something good had happened.

“Oh my, Miss. Did you receive gifts again?”

“Mmhm. ‘He’ prepared a surprise gift for me. He said he’d have jewels made for me at Pierre’s, no less.”

Elena sang a little tune, putting a strange accent on ‘He’.

“Pierre’s? My goodness! Isn’t that place famous for handling only expensive items?”

“Hmm, I guess he thought that level was fitting for me.”

“Oh my. You’re truly amazing, Miss!”

I resumed my steps that had momentarily paused and finished climbing the stairs.

Elena, noticing me, hesitated for a moment before a deep smile spread across her face.

“Hello, sister. Where have you been?”

Elena asked with a relaxed smile.

It was quite different from yesterday when she was seething like a dog that had lost a fight, she seemed to have fully regained her composure.

“You went out without saying anything, so the Duke came unaware and almost wasted his time. Ah, don’t worry. I entertained him sufficiently, so he won’t be angry.”

Elena chirped, stretching out the word ‘sufficiently’ in a peculiar way.

I turned to look at her and slowly smiled.

“I see, thank you.”

Elena’s eyebrow twitched slightly. She seemed to find my calm reaction uninteresting.

I was about to turn away but instead took a few steps towards Elena.

“But be careful from now on, Elena.”

“…What? What do you mean be careful?”

“An unmarried maiden being overly familiar with her sister’s fiancé might cause gossip.”

“What? Oh my, sister. What are you talking about?”

Elena’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“The Duke and I are going to be family soon. What’s wrong with family spending some time together?”

Elena’s personal maid also stared at me with bulging eyes.
As if looking at a patient with paranoid suspicion. Sally was her name, wasn’t it?

There was not a hint of hesitation in Elena’s eyes as she looked straight at me.

“Besides, my future brother-in-law and I also have a singer and investor relationship.”

Elena said, gently shrugging her shoulders.

“You know, sister, how much he treasures my talent like a jewel. Time flies when I’m with someone who understands my artistic world like him. So even if you were uncomfortable, please understand, sister.”

Elena had often said such things before.

As if there was an untouchable, special relationship between them. As if there existed a more noble and artistic bond between them, not just a simple man-woman relationship.

“Artistic world, huh.”

I curved my lips slightly.

“Have you memorized all the tempo markings yet?”

“…What?”

A crack instantly appeared on Elena’s smooth face.

For someone pretending to have her own artistic world, Elena’s musical knowledge was terribly poor.

It might sound like an exaggeration to say that just memorizing all the note names was a miracle, but it was the truth.

I maintained a kind smile and whispered.

“What moderato means, what vivace means. Your sister can’t always explain everything to you one by one.”

The step-sister who used to guide you every time you looked at sheet music is on strike as of yesterday.

“You’re all grown up now, Elena. If it becomes known that you lack basic musical knowledge, your fans might be greatly disappointed, so it would be better to start studying from now on.”

As I gently warned her, Elena’s shoulders trembled slightly.

As I was about to turn away, I looked back at Elena as if I had just remembered something.

“Oh, and my advice was sincere. Of course, I think it’s desirable for ‘family’ to get along well.”

Elena frowned as I placed my hand on her boldly exposed white shoulder.

“Still, public opinion tends to be particularly harsh on women. If you’re not careful about your behavior, you might end up with a reputation as a frivolous woman.”

“What did you say?”

Elena’s mouth fell open as if caught off guard.

“What did you just say? Fr-frivolous? Ha! Are you saying I look cheap?”

“I didn’t go that far. I just told you because you seemed unaware, so don’t get too excited. Of course, neither I nor the servants of this house will spread strange rumors, so it’s fine at home, but……”

I smiled as I looked into her blue eyes, quite similar in color to mine.

“A pot that leaks inside usually leaks outside too, you know.”

Elena’s eyes expanded rapidly.

Biting her lip tightly, she exclaimed in an agitated voice.

“Huh, I can’t believe this! How dare you speak like that?! I’m so upset right now!”

As I wasn’t rich enough in time to indulge Elena’s hysteria, I simply withdrew.

Then I turned my steps towards the dressing room, which was my original destination.

Confirming the direction I was heading, Elena’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“…Well, it seems you’re in a bad mood today, sister? Calm down and come down slowly.”

A voice that seemed to have quickly regained composure.

Ignoring the strange tone, I opened the door to the dressing room.

As I was about to approach the wardrobe, I suddenly raised an eyebrow.

‘This is…’

The long sofa placed in front of the dressing room.

There, I saw strands of hair of different colors intertwined.

A bright red hair, and a platinum blonde hair clearly longer than mine.

“Ha.”

A short, hollow laugh escaped my lips.

‘What is this now.’

Now the puzzle pieces roughly fit together.

Elena, who seemed strangely excited.

Her eyes that shone mockingly when I tried to enter the dressing room. Even the jewelry talk I heard on the stairs.

“…Interesting, really.”

I smiled faintly as I picked up the hair.

Yesterday, despite clearly giving subtle hints, these beasts didn’t back down at all.

I closed my eyes and took a breath for a moment. A nauseating feeling welled up almost unbearably, but now was the time to suppress it.

A few seconds later, I opened my eyes again and slowly ran my hand over my face.

‘I’ll have to ask for the sofa to be replaced.’

The cream-colored sofa I had quite liked now looked as dirty as if it had been buried in a pile of filth.

As I went down to the reception room, I heard a clear singing voice.

Opening the door, I found Elena perched on the windowsill singing like a nightingale, and Lucas looking at her as if she were adorable.

“Oh my, Elena. I think that part is a bit off-key?”

“Oh, no it’s not! Don’t tease me, really.”

After confirming that her delicate fist lightly hit Lucas’s shoulder, I made my presence known.

“Oh, Ari!”

Lucas turned to me with a smile spreading across his face and approached.

“Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting.”

A nauseating perfume smell came from him as he got closer.

Barely managing my expression, I smiled back at him brightly.

“I went out for a bit.”

“Did you go alone, sister? Why didn’t you call me, someone who doesn’t even have friends to go out with! I would have followed right away.”

“Haha, our future sister-in-law is so caring. It’s so nice to see sisters getting along so well.”

My ears felt like they were rotting from this unfunny banter.

Instead of answering, I raised my hand to Lucas’s eye level.

Lucas looked puzzled when he saw my hand.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Ari?”

“Please look at this, Duke.”

A red hair was hanging from my index finger.

Red hair is not very common. Lucas’s eyes widened as he immediately recognized it as his own.

I smiled as I looked into those eyes.

“I found it on the sofa in front of my dressing room.”

For a moment, silence fell in the reception room.

Elena rolled her eyes and watched my reaction. The smile also disappeared from Lucas’s face.

Looking at their expressions, I was certain.

‘I thought maybe Elena had deliberately left traces to mock me.’

It was just a mistake made by beasts blinded by lust.

As the improbable became reality, a sense of emptiness and contempt washed over me like a tidal wave.

Swallowing a bitter smile, I cast out my bait.

“Did you perhaps visit my dressing room, Duke?”

“…Ah, yes! That’s right!”

Lucas bit the line I had subtly thrown out without any suspicion.

With a face that suddenly became relaxed again, Lucas nodded.

“I was so bored while waiting, you see. I took a little peek at our fiancée’s wardrobe.”

“My wardrobe? Why?”

When I asked, tilting my head, Lucas replied with a good-natured smile.

“Why, can’t I be curious about the wardrobe situation of the woman I’m about to marry? Well, Ari. I know you’re modest, but this is a bit too much! It’s going to be our wedding soon too, so I should get you a nice dress, right? And some jewelry would be nice.”

Lucas tried to persuade me in a subtle voice.

His intention to entice me with the sweet connotations of words like ‘dress’ or ‘jewelry’ was clearly felt.

I clasped my hands together, wearing a bright smile across my face.

“Really, Duke?”

Lucas looked surprised as I had never reacted so enthusiastically before.

Soon he grinned and gripped my shoulders. An instinctive nausea welled up, but I managed to swallow it down.

“Of course. You’re the future Duchess after all, shouldn’t you receive at least that much as an engagement gift?”

“I’m so happy that you think of me that much, Duke.”

“Ahem. Well, this much is nothing-”

I said with a wide smile.

“So the reservation at Pierre’s jewelry shop was for me too, wasn’t it?”

At those words, Lucas’s smooth smile faltered slightly.

“Uh, yes?”

Crash!

From behind, I heard the sound of Elena dropping a teaspoon.

Turning my head at the loud noise, I met Elena’s gaze.

Her wide-open eyes were completely distorted with bewilderment and disbelief.

“Wait. That’s……”

Elena opening her mouth and the sound of the doorbell ringing happened simultaneously.