“Indeed. I almost died waiting while trying to maintain my dignity.”

“Mother was so curious…… as was I. That’s why I asked through Della. Were you very surprised?”

“I was surprised……”

She had expected just a local drive at most. When the car didn’t stop even after three hours, she thought they might be crossing a border.

Perry habitually adjusted her collar and added warmly:

“But I’m glad to meet you through this opportunity. Really.”

“My, she even speaks so beautifully……”

And she had barely said anything. The Bellium family easily showed their affection for Perry.

The elderly woman, slowly consuming grilled mushrooms, muttered while drinking wine:

“We should have arranged a meeting long ago! That Yuan, I’ve been subtly probing him all this time, but he just played dumb.”

“She has a somewhat cold side, Mother.”

“Oh, it’s not coldness so much as laziness. Yuan has always been that way.”

Della, who had been focusing on her meal, gently chimed in.

“He rarely makes contact unless it’s really urgent. And when he does, it’s just short answers. It’s hard to make plans with him. I don’t know what keeps him so busy……”

“Has he been like that since he was a student?”

“He manages well on his own. Unlike me.”

“We didn’t know how to handle it back then either. Well, the child is naturally austere. In this, he’s exactly like you and me, Mardan. Don’t you think?”

“Mother, please. How old am I now? I’ve improved a lot.”

The conversation between the three Belliums continued like a skilled rally.

Perry, who had been quietly listening, developed a small doubt. Cold? Lazy? Austere? Are they really talking about Yuan?

The adjectives and subject didn’t connect at all. Her lips, painted a light crimson, opened carefully.

“Um, but Yuan isn’t cold…… if anything, he’s almost too affectionate?”

It’s Yuan we’re talking about. Perry rarely made hasty judgments about people, but this person was the exception. Someone more familiar to her than herself.

Slow, deep breathing, surprisingly frequent laughter, a heavy weight that covered her waist even in his sleep.

Her round-cut nails folded one by one.

“He always tries to make time despite his busy schedule, and he’s so perceptive that he notices things without me having to say anything, and his voice is so gen…… Did I say something wrong?”

Having poor eyesight didn’t mean her other senses were dull. Besides, the gazes focused on Perry were quite intense.

Mardan Bellium, who had been listening to Perry’s defense that wasn’t quite a defense, let out a shallow sigh. The arrow had hit an unexpected target.

“Della, you should find someone as presentable as her.”

“Hey, I’m trying in my own way.”

“Trying what? You’re always flirting with this woman, that woman.”

“Why are you attacking me? I got my love for women from you, Mom!”

“You…!”

“And I like men too, just like Grandmother.”

Her well-tanned thumb stuck out proudly. The middle-aged woman sighed just as her mother had done.

“She’s my daughter, but really this…… ugh.”

“But you love me, right?”

“That’s the problem, that’s the problem. No, your problem is that you have too much love.”

The dining room suddenly became boisterous, as if the strange silence had never existed.

Mardan, who had been scolding her daughter sharply, peacefully started a conversation again as if nothing had happened.

“Anyway, I’ve heard a lot about you, Perry. You know the writer Milaina, right?”

“Of course.”

A big spender who gathers renowned artists every year. It all started when she once received an invitation from a mischievous pen pal and went alone.

‘That doesn’t happen anymore.’

It had been almost five years since she received a handwritten invitation from the host.

She no longer scurries around trying to strike up conversations with people like she did at first. She now knew many faces, and naturally got introduced to many more as a result.

“Milaina was really disappointed that you didn’t come to this year’s gathering.”

“Really?”

Perry recalled the small figure that had embraced her without formality. Gray hair with bouncy speech, always walking around in such intense outfits that she was relatively easy to spot……

‘Come to think of it, she did ask me to come this year too.’

She couldn’t attend because it overlapped with the final schedule of her production.

“Could you tell Milaina I’m sorry? I did send a letter, but……”

“Sure. That’s not difficult.”

“You must be quite close.”

“Not so much close as…… we’ve known each other for a long time. Just friends—”

“Friends? Listen, Perry. Actually, my mother and that—”

“Lips, lips, lips.”

“That’s enough small talk.”

The elderly woman, who had been silent for a while, opened her mouth. At those words, Perry unconsciously straightened her shoulders.

Saying “enough small talk” means there’s a main point, doesn’t it?

‘Wasn’t this supposed to be about getting to know each other slowly?’

Her speculation stopped there. The elderly woman didn’t give the guest time to think further and threw out a question.

“Well, Miss Perry. Let me ask first.”

“Please speak comfortably.”

“Do you know what kind of family we are?”

No, she didn’t.

Someone might say, “You’ve lived with him for years, how could you not know?” But truly. Perry really didn’t know.

‘They’re quite wealthy…… and seem to run a large business.’

Yuan never spoke about it first, and Perry never bothered to ask. It wasn’t some romantic notion of ‘Your background doesn’t matter at all!’—she simply wasn’t that interested. Besides, though not as extreme as Perry, Yuan also kept his distance from his family.

Anyway, they had plenty of more interesting topics than family history.

But if she had known things would turn out like this, she would have asked at least once in her life.

Her fine eyelashes blinked rapidly. Though better than her student days, Perry Humble wasn’t as skilled in social interactions as her lover.

Her gentle eyes drew a deep curve. There was no point in stalling further since no answer would come, so Perry vaguely glossed over it.

“An incredible family, of course!”

“Hmm…… Miss Perry is—”

“Come on, Grandmother. Why are you speaking so heavily as if it’s something so grand?”

A cheerful voice swiftly cut through the awkward atmosphere. Della explained brightly while twisting her red hair.

“Perry, it’s nothing special. We just run a small pharmaceutical company.”

“Small…… pharmaceutical company?”

“Have you heard of ‘Allneo’?”

Had she just heard of it? All the emergency medicines in Perry’s house were from that company!

‘Fever reducers, painkillers, medicine for sore throats too……’

As she counted each item one by one, Perry was secretly shocked. Even Perry, who was practically ignorant of news outside the theater world, knew that this “small pharmaceutical company” had received a royal medal 50 years ago for creating a vaccine against a certain epidemic.

There was a poster in every pharmacy in the neighborhood.

Allneo, recipient of the royal medal, medicine you can trust!

Perry adjusted her posture and tried to gauge the elderly woman’s intention. She was surprised to find out they were such bigwigs, but……

‘Are they going to tell me to break up because I’m not good enough?’

In her mind, she recalled a script she had received a couple of months ago. It was a melodrama where the protagonist, who had fallen in love with a rich man’s daughter, receives an envelope of money from her father. The man, displeased with his daughter’s lover, shouts fiercely.

Take this money and stay away from my daughter!

The elderly woman, who had been leisurely choosing her words, parted her lips.

“I’ve heard that you’re an excellent actor.”

“I don’t know about excellent…… but I’m doing my best.”

“No need for modesty. Even though this old woman has little interest in art.”

An envelope of money? Take this and break up? Not good enough? Can’t give you my well-raised grandson? No, he doesn’t seem that preciously pampered……

“Yes, as the child said earlier, our family runs a small business.”

“Yes.”

“Yuan naturally has some shares in that business too. He is my grandson, after all.”

“Yes……”

“Though I’m not entirely pleased with what this one and that one are doing……”

So it is about breaking up? Are you displeased that he’s dating some actor nobody? Her thin eyelashes fluttered chaotically. Though she couldn’t guess the wrinkled face, the emotion carried in the voice was quite clear.

Perry politely lifted her lips. Even if the elderly woman raised any objections, Perry had only one answer.

“So what I want to say is—”

Finally, the main point.

“Hold tight to Yuan.”

“I, I really love Yuan!”

“Yes, I’m glad to hear that.”

“What? I, um, just now…… what did you say?”

Though she asked again, she had heard the previous words clearly. Perry fell into mild confusion as she heard the elderly woman’s request again. But the other party didn’t let Perry dwell on her thoughts.

“There’s no profession as unstable as that of an artist. But now you don’t need to worry, Miss. Because you have us behind you.”

“Pardon…?”