Biare, attending the Monterio Literature Club meeting, was conversing with members while holding a book to her chest.

Usual greetings, brief introductions of the books they brought. Her heart felt at ease in this calm and warm atmosphere, unlike what she experienced in social circles.

Before her regression, nineteen-year-old Biare had been confined to her bedroom, almost completely cut off from the world.

As a result, her current life felt new to her, as if experiencing it for the first time.

There were changes in the Monterio Literature Club compared to before, one of which was that Dension was no longer a member.

For some reason, he neither became a member of the literature club nor visited it now.

And another change was that the newest member was none other than Rosalyn.

Having joined last year, she seemed to adapt quickly to the club, probably due to her existing interest in books.

Gaizen also wanted to join the literature club, but after failing the entrance test multiple times, he eventually had to give up.

It was likely due to his busy work schedule, which left him little time to read.

“Young lady, shall we go now?”

“Alright, young lady.”

As the meeting concluded, Rosalyn approached Biare and spoke with clear, bright eyes.

On club meeting days, she would stop by the duke’s mansion and accompany Biare, always having secret conversations with Gaizen during those times.

Biare would smile kindly, thinking that Rosalyn probably wanted to see her fiancé’s face even just once more.

Having grown close, they often spent time together after meetings, and today they were planning to head to the square.

As they boarded the carriage together as usual, Rosalyn suddenly looked at her as if remembering something she had forgotten and said,

“Oh, young lady. Have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

“They say Marquis Verdeum attended the Central Government Council meeting.”

“The Central Government Council?”

Upon hearing this news, Biare’s eyelashes trembled faintly.

The Verdeum Marquis family had stopped attending these meetings since withdrawing their long-standing loyalty to the imperial family.

So, the news of him attending the meeting was tantamount to saying he would pledge loyalty again.

‘In other words, it means he’s officially joining the central government.’

Biare felt bewildered by the situation unfolding differently from before, with a family that had withdrawn loyalty to the emperor suddenly pledging allegiance again.

‘Sion, what are you thinking?’

While worried about Dension’s actions, Biare felt frustrated not being able to understand his intentions.

Rosalyn mentioned that articles about Marquis Verdeum would likely appear in the newspapers by tomorrow.

She also seemed curious about Dension’s appearance, as he hadn’t shown his face at social events until now.

“They say people who’ve seen him once call him this.”

“How?”

‘Could it be…’

“They call him the Silver Owl, they say.”

A smile escaped Biare’s lips for a moment.

His nickname remained the same, then and now. Although he didn’t like it himself.

In the Verdeum family, where silver hair was genetically inherited, he was particularly handsome and was given the title of Silver Owl. The owl was the symbol of the Verdeum family.

In the past, she too would occasionally tease him by calling him the Silver Owl.

“He must be quite handsome.”

“Yes, that’s how the noble young ladies who’ve seen him react, they say.”

Even to Biare, Dension was certainly on the handsome side. Extremely so.

Yet Rosalyn added with a slightly haughty shrug of her shoulders,

“But who knows. The face a man sees and the face a woman sees are different.”

As they conversed about him, the carriage had already arrived at the square in the capital of Arkan.

The place they visited was a café with delicious desserts, somewhere Rosalyn had been wanting to go.

As they planned to have light refreshments, Biare instructed her attendants to spend time outside.

“Let me return the favor for the gift you gave me before.”

Rosalyn, looking quite excited, insisted on the opportunity to repay despite Biare saying it wasn’t necessary.

Embarrassed by her joy over what wasn’t such a grand gift, Biare went ahead and settled the bill.

She felt somewhat uncomfortable receiving anything from her brother’s fiancée.

“I was going to order…”

Hearing her dejected voice, Biare looked at her with warm eyes and replied,

“You enjoying the food is repayment enough for me.”

Soon, a cup of coffee, a cup of Earl Grey tea, and desserts on a three-tiered tray were placed on the table by the staff.

Even the usually mature Rosalyn seemed to become a bright-eyed girl in front of the desserts.

Being well-informed, she was knowledgeable about various topics from social gossip to the empire’s political situation.

Biare had an idea where she obtained such information.

‘The Elmada Social Club.’ Rosalyn must have become a member there.

It had been a while since Biare received information about Elmada from Gaizen, so Rosalyn might have become a new member in the meantime.

Biare had only sent a reply to the Elmada Social Club so far, unable to set foot there until the appointed day.

Thus, she was grateful to be able to obtain information through Rosalyn.

As they were chatting, losing track of time, a figure was reflected in the window behind Rosalyn.

Thinking her attendants had already arrived, Biare looked towards the window and was slightly taken aback.

‘Gaizen?’

Though his words weren’t clearly audible through the glass, his lip movements were distinct.

‘Elder sister, can I come in there too?’

It seemed Gaizen wanted to join his fiancée but was too shy to properly ask.

‘He doesn’t need to be shy.’

Unlike in the past, the two seemed to get along quite well now.

Before, they hardly conversed, but lately, it seemed a lot of dialogue passed between them without her noticing.

Wanting to help the couple, Biare asked for Rosalyn’s understanding.

“Young lady, it seems Gaizen wants to be with his fiancée.”

“What…?”

Rosalyn turned her head in surprise, and upon seeing Gaizen, she slightly furrowed her brow before adding with a knowing smile.

“Well, I can’t neglect my fiancé.”

Gaizen, who entered the dessert café, tried to sit next to his sister as if it were natural, to which Biare glared and said,

“The young lady is sitting over there.”

“What…?”

“Please sit next to me, young lord.”

The two stared at each other as if in a staring contest, and finally, Gaizen sat next to her with a shallow sigh.

‘Did they have a fight or something?’

Biare was worried as they all wore similar expressions.

“By the way, young lord. Isn’t it your work hours now?”

At Rosalyn’s somewhat sharp voice, Gaizen clicked his tongue and looked at her, saying,

“I was on my way back from an afternoon business trip and saw a familiar face.”

“Oh my, so you stopped by here even though your work isn’t finished?”

Gaizen frowned at her exaggerated manner and replied in a somewhat irritated voice.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of my work. But…”

Gaizen’s expression, with the corners of his mouth pulled up, overlapped with the time he prepared for a counterattack in chess.

“That’s an unfamiliar handkerchief, isn’t it?”

“Oh, this? It’s a handkerchief the young lady personally made for me.”

As it sounded like she meant ‘You don’t have one, do you?’, Biare felt unnecessarily embarrassed.

“Ah, perhaps you mean this?”

Not to be outdone, Gaizen pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and looked at Rosalyn triumphantly.

“…How does the young lord have one?”

“Wouldn’t I have one since it’s a gift from my elder sister? Surely you didn’t think. You. Were. The only one who received it?”

‘It’s not even that special, why are they acting like this?’

Didn’t Gaizen also think he was the only one who received the gift?

Biare was about to say that it would be best to end this childish love quarrel here.

“Young lady, is what the young lord says true?”

Rosalyn, her face turning red at Gaizen’s words, looked at Biare with trembling eyes.

This wasn’t why she had prepared the same gifts, and Biare glared at the grinning Gaizen and stepped on his foot hard.

“Ugh—”

A groan escaped his lips as if his foot hurt, and tears even appeared in his eyes.

Feeling awkward for causing such a misunderstanding, Biare smiled sheepishly and answered,

“Yes, it was a gift I prepared thinking it would suit both of you.”

“…I see. I just remembered a forgotten appointment, so I’ll take my leave first.”

After a brief farewell, Rosalyn hurriedly gathered her things and went outside.

Before he could stop her rushing out, Gaizen burst into laughter while watching Rosalyn leave.

“Take care on your way home, young lady!”

Seeing him even waving his hand, Biare shook her head.

“That’s not good, Gaizen. Why are you teasing your fiancée?”

“Elder sister, whose side are you on? I’m your brother.”

Looking at his sister as if dumbfounded, Gaizen shrugged and added,

“You saw it too, elder sister. I just corrected a misunderstanding.”

‘I wonder when he’ll ever grow up…’

Biare let out a shallow sigh at her brother’s childish prank and could only look at the door through which she had left.