“But why clothes?”

“Oh, don’t even get me started. Her clothes are so old-fashioned. If it weren’t for that, she’d look exactly like a princess. If Miss Kyla had proper dresses, she’d probably end up marrying a prince—just like Cinderella.”

Though she was grumbling, Riona began enthusiastically praising her new teacher to Silas.

“Her face is so pale, and her eyes are blue—like jewels. You’ll be surprised when you see her, Brother. Oh, but you mustn’t fall for her. Miss Kyla has to marry a prince!”

Riona had clearly read far too many fairy tales about princes and princesses.

Silas had just started to think that he should probably stop her reading so many of those stories when he suddenly realized something.

The way she described the piano teacher sounded remarkably similar to that woman.

That couldn’t be possible.

It made no sense.

Yet, despite knowing that, he found himself asking, as though under a spell.

“Do you… happen to know the piano teacher’s last name?”

“Of course I do. It’s Feiling. Mother said it’s quite a famous family. Do you know them too, Brother?”

Silas stopped walking.

Riona halted as well and looked up at him.

“What?”

He doubted his own ears.

The idea that that woman had come here as a piano teacher was completely unbelievable.

“I said it’s a famous family. Do you know them or not?”

“No, before that. Did you say…Feiling?”

“Yes. Why? What’s wrong?”

Seeing his face stiffen, Riona tilted her head in confusion.

“Riona, go back to your room.”

“Huh? Now? Do I really have to?”

“I need to speak with Mother.”

“Tch. Fine.”

Riona was clearly reluctant to go, but she didn’t protest any more. Instead, she returned to her room with Mrs Hamilton.

At the very least, Silas was a generous older brother to his sister. However, Riona knew that throwing a tantrum wouldn’t work on him.

After knocking on his mother’s door, Silas entered without delay.

Adelaide, who had been quietly reading a book, looked up and smiled brightly.

“Silas, you’re back.”

Silas sat down in the chair across from her.

“Mother, I have something to ask.”

“You’ve returned home after several months, yet instead of greeting me, you go straight to business?”

Adelaide laughed as though the situation were absurd.

“My apologies.”

Silas remained silent for a few seconds with an expressionless face. Then, making his earlier apology feel almost meaningless, he went straight to the point.

“Is it true that the person hired as Riona’s piano teacher is Miss Kyla Feiling?”

“Oh my, you found out already. That was quick. Yes, it’s true. But is it really so important that you bring it up the moment you arrive home?”

Adelaide lifted the corners of her lips slightly—half indifferent, half curious.

“Mother! Even though she is adopted, she is still part of the Feiling family. It would be inappropriate to employ her as a piano teacher.”

“I’m not sure this is worth making such a fuss over. Lady Feiling readily agreed, and Miss Feiling herself accepted. What could possibly be the problem? As you said, she’s only adopted, so she’s not really part of the family, is she?”

Her words were not wrong.

Although Kyla had been born the daughter of a count, if she were cast out of the Feiling family, she would become nothing more than a penniless orphan — no longer a noblewoman or a young lady of high society.

Yet she still carried the name Feiling.

“I didn’t expect you to oppose that young lady. Since you’re acquainted with the son of the Feiling family, I thought you might actually feel relieved entrusting Riona to her.”

Closing the book she had been reading, she looked at Silas with a puzzled expression.

“In any case, send Miss Feiling back.”

“She hasn’t even been here a month yet. I cannot say something like that to her. And what would we tell Riona? She seems quite fond of Miss Feiling.”

Seeing the troubled look on his mother’s face, Silas spoke firmly.

“If it’s difficult for you, I will speak to her myself. It would be better for her to leave now, before Riona becomes any more attached.”

“Is there a particular reason you oppose that young lady so strongly? Perhaps Miss Feiling has some sort of problem that I don’t know about…?”

“That’s not it.”

There were countless reasons why she had to leave. But the most important one was simple: She was Count Snowdon’s daughter.

It was best to avoid any involvement with her. Yet things had already gone too far.

On the night of the graduation ball, he should have pretended not to recognize her. But he hadn’t.

He had asked her to dance.

Later, when she stepped out onto the terrace alone, he followed her. When she tried to return to the ballroom, he stopped her and showed her the fireworks lighting up the sky.

He took the trembling woman’s hand, too.

Silas clearly remembered that moment, and how unsettled she had made him feel.

He did not regret what he had done.

But that was where it had to end.

No further.

He believed there was no reason for him to feel guilty about what had happened between his parents. After all, it had been nothing more than business.

It was no one’s fault.

If blame had to be assigned, it would lie with Count Snowdon, who was fatally naïve and ignorant about the steel industry.

But would his daughter see it that way?

After learning the full truth, would she still be such a kind teacher to Riona?

Rather than viewing the Lester family as friends, she might come to see them as enemies.

Allowing her to remain in the house as Riona’s teacher would never be permitted.

“When are you planning to tell Miss Feiling…?”

Adelaide asked quietly.

“Now.”

Silas stood up, leaving his mother behind. She watched him with a worried expression.

She might not have given such matters much thought, but what on earth had Lady Feiling been thinking when she sent Kyla here as a piano teacher?

For a young lady of high society, such a thing should have been unthinkable. It was akin to the Feiling family declaring that they no longer considered Kyla their daughter.

Unable to comprehend what had happened, Silas’s face remained tightly drawn.

Just then, he encountered Mrs Gerald in the corridor.

“Mrs. Gerald, please ask Miss Feiling to come to the study.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Shall I prepare some tea?”

“…Yes. Two cups, please.”

“Shall I prepare your usual?”

“Yes. And please choose something suitable for Miss Feiling.”

“Very well.”

While Mrs. Gerald called a maid and gave her instructions, Silas headed toward the study.

To think that such a troublesome matter would be waiting for him the moment he returned home.

Frowning slightly, he sank onto the sofa and leaned back deeply against the backrest.

‘Let’s think about this simply.’

Whatever had happened to the woman, and whatever reason the Feiling family had for sending her away, it was none of his business.

Jayden, who despised her intensely, would deal with it himself.

All he had to do was send the young lady away.

He folded his arms and closed his eyes.

Soon, his eyes began to sting and he was overcome with fatigue. He had risen at dawn and spent hours travelling in the carriage.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

How much time had passed?

“……”

A faint sound reached his ears.

“Your Grace?”

It sounded like a woman’s voice.

Silas slowly opened his eyes.

At first, he could only see the hem of a dress. It was only when he looked up that he could see her face.

Kyla Feiling.

She was still beautiful.

Even her faintly displeased expression had not changed. It was the same look she had worn at the graduation ball when he danced with her.

If anything had changed…

it was her clothes.

Silas let out a quiet chuckle.

Riona’s words suddenly returned to his mind.

“If it weren’t for her old-fashioned clothes, she would look just like a princess.”

As he laughed softly to himself, Kyla’s eyes widened.

She stared at him as though he were a madman.

“Ah, my apologies, Miss Feiling.”

Kyla frowned as she looked at Silas, who was quietly laughing to himself.

She had already heard from Riona that he had returned that day.

Now that she was living in the same house as him, it was inevitable that they would run into each other, but she had hoped to avoid it if possible.

The man who had once been her brother’s friend was now her employer.

It made her feel small and insignificant.

The moment they had once shared while watching fireworks together now felt like nothing more than a distant dream.

So, when Mrs Gerald informed her that the Duke, who had just returned to Chatsworth, had summoned her, Kyla was taken aback.

It couldn’t possibly be just to exchange greetings.

What possible reason could he have for calling her so urgently without allowing himself time to rest?

Still feeling uneasy, she went to the study, only to find him leaning back against the sofa with his eyes closed.

Kyla cleared her throat softly to announce her presence.

But his eyes remained shut.

‘He called someone here only to fall asleep?’

She was left speechless by how absurd it was.

She waited for a moment, assuming he would wake up soon. However, he didn’t stir at all. In fact, he seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

His face was handsome and chiseled.

His arms were folded across his chest.

His long legs were stretched out.

Everything about him irritated her.

“Your Grace. You summoned someone here—how long do you intend to leave me standing?”

Just as she was about to ask if she had been called there only to watch him sleep, he moved his eyelids.

He slowly opened his eyes. Then he raised his head and looked at her silently.

Kyla reminded herself of her position.

She had to greet the duke respectfully. Trying not to glare at him, she clenched her fists and pressed her lips together tightly.

Suddenly, however, he started laughing.

‘Has this man gone mad?’

She stared at him with wide eyes as he stifled his laughter and gestured for her to sit down.

Kyla carefully sat down in the chair opposite, feeling strangely uneasy.

Whenever she was around him, her chest felt tight.

His expressionless face.

Those eyes that seemed capable of piercing the very depths of her soul.

Without realizing it, her fingers began to fidget.

She clasped her hands together tightly and waited for him to speak.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A maid entered, placed two teacups on the table, and quietly withdrew.

“Please, Miss Feiling.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Kyla lifted the teacup to her lips.

The tea was warm.

It was strong Darjeeling, generously sweetened with sugar.

“I regret having to bring this up the moment we meet.”

Silas said calmly, though his expression showed no sign of regret.

“I don’t know why Miss Feiling was hired to teach Riona. This kind of work is not suitable for a young lady from a high-society background. I’ve also heard that you’re an exceptional pianist. Teaching Riona would be a complete waste of your talent.”

He paused briefly before finishing his words.

“So let us say that your work teaching piano in this house ends today.”

Silas appeared out of nowhere and told her that she was dismissed with immediate effect.

And what was all that talk about high society? Wasted talent?

Kyla was utterly dumbfounded.

She felt a deep sense of injustice rising within her.

She hadn’t come to the ducal estate of her own volition. Did he not realize that if she had been the Feilings’ biological daughter — a young lady of high society — she would never have come all the way out here to work as a piano teacher?

Talent hardly mattered to her.

She had simply loved the piano since she was young.

When she played, she could lose herself in the music and forget everything else. That was why she practiced every single day.

“Your Grace, it was the lady of the house who hired me. I teach Miss Riona. Neither she nor Miss Riona has said a word about dismissing me until now. I don’t know why you seem to dislike me, Your Grace, but I find it hard to accept being told to leave so suddenly.”

Kyla spoke each word deliberately, as if biting them off one by one.

Her clenched fists trembled faintly.

“The final decision regarding every matter in the Lester household is mine.”

His arrogant voice pierced her ears.

“I assume this is not something that requires further explanation.”

Tilting his head slightly, Silas moved with unhurried ease—as though Kyla’s opinion held absolutely no importance to him.