Jayden had arrived.

Kyla smiled briefly when she saw him, but the smile faded almost immediately.

Although she was happy to see him, nothing would change. They were no longer family. Now they were little more than strangers.

He had been her first older brother. All the memories they had shared were now nothing more than memories of the past.

When Kyla remained seated at the dressing table, showing no sign of standing up, Riona ran over, took her hand and tugged insistently.

“Teacher, you have to go downstairs quickly! The prince is waiting for you!”

For a ten-year-old young lady, Riona was surprisingly strong. Pulled to her feet by the girl’s enthusiasm, Kyla couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes, Miss. I’ll go down now.”

After showing the inquisitive Riona back to her study, Kyla went downstairs to the drawing room.

Jayden and Silas were sitting on opposite sofas, deep in conversation.

Kyla had expected Jayden to greet her with his usual radiant smile.

But he wasn’t smiling at all.

He stood up and strode towards her.

Without saying a word, he examined her face closely.

“Brother. You came all the way here to see me? You really surprised me.”

Kyla smiled brightly.

Though her lips trembled slightly, she tried her best to keep the corners of her mouth lifted, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“Kyla.”

Jayden’s voice sounded strained.

A sudden unease gripped her.

“What… what’s wrong, Brother? Nothing bad happened at home, did it?”

As she studied his expression more carefully, Jayden quietly reached out and brushed the loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

Then he shook his head.

“What bad thing could there be? The worst thing is that you’re here instead of at home.”

“Jayden, perhaps that tearful reunion is enough for now. Why don’t you sit down? Miss Feiling, please have a seat as well.”

Silas’s voice, which had remained silent until now, rang out quietly from the sofa.

“Yes, of course. Brother, let’s sit.”

Kyla guided Jayden to a seat and sat beside him. Then she smiled at him, though he continued staring at her.

“I was really surprised that you came all the way here. Did you come to see me?”

“I came to take you home. Let’s go back together today.”

Jayden spoke with a smile, but Kyla thought his eyes were unsteady.

“Brother…”

“Packing your things won’t take long, right? It looks like you left most of them behind.”

“Brother. I’m not going back.”

Looking straight into Jayden’s eyes—eyes that seemed determined not to hear her—Kyla spoke firmly.

Jayden then turned his head toward Silas.

“Silas, is there any reason Kyla can’t return home?”

“No, none at all.”

Silas crossed his legs and watched the conversation between the two siblings—who shared not a single drop of blood—with quiet interest.

Kyla did not want to expose the entirety of her situation in front of Silas.

“Your Grace, may I show my brother the lake?”

At her request, Silas’s gaze shifted between her and Jayden.

“Of course. Please go ahead.”

The smile on Silas’s face looked detached, as though he had no interest in whatever she was trying to conceal.

***

Jayden followed Kyla.

They passed flowerbeds filled with white irises and orange poppies as they crossed a wide lawn, and a large lake came into view.

The afternoon sunlight had disappeared behind thick grey clouds gathering in the sky, and a cold wind began to blow. Ripples spread across the lake’s once-calm surface.

Jayden stopped and turned to face her.

“What did you want to say that you brought me all the way out here?”

“Brother, I’m really happy to see you again like this.”

“What kind of thing is that to say? Did you think we would never see each other again?”

“Not exactly… but I didn’t expect we would meet again so soon.”

A faint smile appeared on Kyla’s lips.

“You’re wrong about that. No matter how far apart we are, there will never be a time when we go too long without seeing each other.”

“Until now, Brother, I was still young. I needed adults to raise and care for me. Thanks to the Feiling family taking me in, I experienced more happiness than I ever deserved. But now I’m an adult. It’s time for me to return to where I belong.”

Her words made Jayden’s chest ache.

She had said the Feiling family.

Not Mother and Father.

She spoke of returning to where she belonged.

But where exactly was that?

Jayden had always thought that living away from her would only be temporary while he was at university.

He could never imagine being with anyone other than Kyla.

Had she thought differently all along?

“Kyla. Let’s go home first. Working as a piano teacher—it’s absurd.”

She looked straight into his face.

Then she smiled gently.

“Brother, did you get Mother and Father’s permission before coming to Chatsworth?”

Her calm question was accompanied by an unusually clear gaze.

Jayden found himself unable to answer.

She already knew.

She knew that their mother didn’t want her to come back.

And that their father felt the same way.

But did she know why their mother had sent her so far away?

She probably had no idea how he felt about her.

“I can’t leave you here. If you dislike Orland, then let’s go to the Ashton house instead. We can live there together until the social season begins.”

He took Kyla’s hand.

Her dry hand felt fragile and painful in his grasp.

Born into nobility, she had been raised as the Feiling family’s cherished daughter.

The idea of her earning money as a piano teacher was unthinkable.

But Kyla shook her head.

“I can’t live alone with you, Brother. I’m truly grateful that you’ve always cared for me like a real sister. But… you know this. I’m not a child anymore.”

“Kyla, that’s not it. I….”

‘I don’t care for you like a sister.’

‘Just holding your hand like this makes my heart race. How could you possibly be my sister?’

“How long do you think we could continue living together as siblings under the same roof? I’m happy enough that you come to see me from time to time like this.”

Kyla lowered her gaze as she spoke. Her dark eyelashes rested gently against her cheeks, making her look so painfully beautiful that Jayden could feel his chest tightening.

Perhaps this was the best solution for now.

If it was Silas, he could trust Kyla with him.

Silas was a duke through and through. He could be cold and ruthless at times, but he was not the kind of man to treat women carelessly.

The Silas that Jayden had known for years had always been indifferent to everyone: Women or men. Nobles or commoners. Beautiful or plain.

None of it seemed to matter to him.

Jayden liked that about him. That was precisely why he had made the effort to befriend him.

Then another thought occurred to him.

If Kyla stayed at the Lester estate, he could visit him whenever he wanted and use Silas as an excuse.

Maybe keeping some distance wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

It might even give Kyla the chance to see him as a man rather than as family.

When she finally accepted his feelings, he would marry her.

At that point, their mother would have no choice but to accept it.

Jayden tightened his grip on her hand.

***

Silas was replying to the towering pile of invitations in front of him in the study when Jayden came in.

Judging by his expression, things had gone reasonably well with Kyla.

Silas gave a faint, bitter smile, thinking that the woman who had acted as though she would never return to the Feiling family had finally been persuaded by Jayden.

In any case, it was a good outcome.

Instead of sitting on the sofa, Jayden took the chair opposite Silas’ desk and sighed deeply.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to take Kyla back.”

“What?”

Silas set down his pen and looked at him, his brows drawing together.

“Please look after Kyla. I know you’ll handle it well.”

“What are you talking about? You’re just going to leave her here as a piano teacher?”

“For now, there’s nothing that can be done. In the end, it’s no different from Mother having driven Kyla out of the house.”

So that was it.

Lady Feiling had cast her out.

But why?

“Did your sister do something wrong?”

“I’m the one who did something wrong. Everything is my fault.”

Jayden’s bitter smile gradually faded, and his expression darkened.

“You probably noticed already… I like Kyla. Not as a sister, but as a woman. And Mother found out. The problem is that she absolutely refuses to accept Kyla as my future wife. She sent Kyla here just to separate us.”

Jayden lowered his head and rubbed his face with both hands.

Watching him, Silas felt a slow, unpleasant emotion begin to rise from somewhere deep within him.

“Does Miss Feiling know about this?”

“She probably doesn’t know that she came here because of me. But Mother suddenly sent her away to work as a piano teacher. She must have realized that it’s no different from being cast out.”

She must have believed that she had been abandoned. That was why she refused to return to the Feiling family.

Silas felt a surge of anger.

He was furious with the Feilings for expelling an innocent woman. He was also angry with the foolish man sitting before him who had fallen in love with his adopted sister.

He was also angry at the woman who had told him it was none of his business when he asked her if she would go back to the Feilings.

Most of all, he was angry with himself.

He was angry with the man who had told a woman with nowhere else to go that teaching piano was a waste of her talent.

“How long are you planning to leave her here?”

The words came out of Silas’s mouth with a sharp edge.

“Until I marry her.”

Jayden looked desperate.

“And when exactly do you plan to marry her?”

Silas forced himself to calm down, struggling to regain his usual composure.

Allowing emotions to control him—being swayed by feelings—was something he despised above all else.

There was no reason for him to feel anger over the romantic troubles between Jayden and that woman.

“It won’t happen right away. I’m not planning to rush into it without a proper plan. The most important thing is that Kyla doesn’t get hurt.”

“Jayden. Even so, we can’t just leave that young lady here indefinitely as a piano teacher.”

“It’s not that difficult for you, is it? Silas, I’m asking you.”

Jayden looked more serious than Silas had ever seen him.

But that didn’t mean Silas had to grant his request.

Above all, he no longer wanted to keep bumping into her while living under the same roof.

He slowly rubbed his furrowed forehead.

His chest felt uncomfortably tight.

He should have refused the request.

Yet not a single word of refusal came to mind.

Instead, one image kept returning to him: Jayden brushing Kyla’s hair behind her ear.

The two of them standing close together.

Jayden’s fingers lightly grazing her face as he tucked her hair behind her ear. And Kyla’s clear eyes, fixed entirely on him.

No matter how many times Silas tried to push the memory away, it continued to surface before his eyes.