“You haven’t forgotten that the horse race at Royal Ascot is tomorrow, have you? Silas, you should go with Miss Rothermere.”

“Yes, Mother. I will.”

Silas, who had been quietly cutting his lamb, replied briefly with a faint smile before lowering his gaze back to his plate.

“Miss Rothermere, that’s acceptable, isn’t it?”

“Of course, Lady Lester. I never imagined I would go with anyone other than the Duke. I’m very curious to see which horse will win this year’s race.”

Penelope smiled brightly as she looked at Adelaide.

Her smile was fresh and radiant.

Adelaide could not understand why such a beautiful and charming young woman had failed to capture Silas’s heart.

‘Then again… if I had ever known what kind of charm could truly conquer a man, I wouldn’t have spent my life without my husband’s love.’

Swallowing a bitter smile, Adelaide turned her gaze toward Kyla.

Kyla had given such a wonderful performance for her sake. Adelaide felt she ought to give her a small gift in return.

“Miss Feilding, an invitation to the race must have been sent to the Feilding household as well. You could attend with your brother. It might be nice for everyone to get some fresh air and enjoy the race together. What do you two think?”

Adelaide looked from Jayden to Kyla.

“Yes, thank you for suggesting it first, Lady Lester. I had been thinking the same thing.”

Jayden smiled gently before turning his attention to Kyla.

“Kyla, I’ve always regretted that I never took you to a race before. Let’s go together this time. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

Seeing the anticipation on Jayden’s face, Kyla hesitated.

Until now, she had always managed to find excuses to avoid polo matches and horse races.

“Ah, Brother… I…”

“There is no need to force someone to go if they don’t wish to.”

Silas, who had been silently listening, suddenly interjected and cut her off.

“Jayden, it isn’t necessary for Miss Feilding to attend the race with you, is it?”

A look of clear alarm crossed Lady Lester’s face.

“Silas, what kind of thing is that to say? When did Miss Feilding ever say she didn’t want to go? She must simply feel reluctant to miss Riona’s piano lesson.”

Lady Lester forced an awkward smile as she turned toward Kyla.

“Miss Feilding, don’t worry about Riona’s lesson. Please go and enjoy yourself.”

“Ah… yes.”

Kyla had actually felt relieved when Silas said she didn’t have to go. But it seemed his words had sounded rude to Lady Lester.

“I truly want to go with Kyla, Silas. I trust you understand.”

Jayden’s voice was gentle but firm.

“If my understanding is required, then you have it.”

Silas answered briefly, his expression perfectly blank as he raised his glass of water to his lips.

“Kyla, you’ll come with me, won’t you?”

Jayden looked at her with steady, affectionate eyes.

Faced with that gaze, Kyla could not bring herself to say she did not want to go.

“…Yes, Brother. Let’s go together.”

With complicated feelings weighing on her heart, Kyla slowly nodded.

***

After lunch, Silas walked to the study with Jayden.

Silas sat at his desk, checking through the letters that had arrived for him and writing replies one by one, while Jayden quietly read a book on the sofa.

Silence filled the room.

The air gradually grew heavy.

The only sounds were the scratching of a pen and the turning of pages.

After a long while, Jayden broke the quiet tension and spoke cautiously.

“Silas, you didn’t mind Kyla coming with me, did you?”

Silas looked up and glanced at him.

“What do you mean?”

He frowned slightly.

“I mean the horse race earlier. When you said someone shouldn’t go if they didn’t want to. You were talking about Kyla.”

Jayden closed his book and looked at him seriously.

“That’s right. It seemed like Miss Feilding didn’t want to go.”

“So you didn’t dislike the idea of me taking Kyla to the race?”

“No. Not at all. Why would I?”

Silas folded his arms and stared at Jayden, silently urging him to speak his mind.

“I don’t know. Maybe… you didn’t like the fact that Kyla is a piano teacher.”

Jayden hesitated as he said it.

‘Ah, so that was it.’

Silas almost laughed in disbelief.

Jayden had been worried that he might look down on Kyla simply because she was a piano teacher.

At the same time, Silas felt a strange sense of relief that Jayden had not guessed the truth.

Even he himself could not clearly define what he felt toward her.

Was it pity?

Possessiveness?

Or simply physical attraction?

Whatever it was, one thing was certain, he could never show those feelings openly to Jayden.

Silas rose from his seat and walked slowly toward the sofa where Jayden sat.

“Jayden. I understand what you’re worried about, but that will never happen.”

“I figured as much. I know you’re not the type to discriminate against people. I just wanted to be sure.”

Jayden sighed with relief and smiled.

Silas sat down on the sofa across from him.

“Forget about that pointless worry and tell me something else. When are you planning to take Miss Feilding out of this house?”

“That’s the problem… it won’t be easy. My parents’ opposition is stronger than I expected. I can’t understand why they’re so determined to oppose Kyla. There’s clearly something behind it, but neither of them will say a word.”

Jayden rubbed his forehead with one hand, then looked up at Silas.

“Have you heard anything?”

“Well…”

Leaning back into the sofa, Silas began to recall the various rumors and pieces of information he had heard about the Feilding family and the House of the Count of Snowdon.

It was widely known that the late Count Snowdon and Andrew Feilding had been close friends in their youth.

Yet at some point—no one knew exactly when—the Count of Snowdon cut off all contact with Andrew Feilding, left the capital of Ashton, and secluded himself in the Snowden estate.

When the Count fell into bankruptcy and ultimately chose to end his life, Andrew Feilding had clearly known nothing about it.

Silas began to suspect that the reason the two friends had drifted apart might somehow be connected to the reason Kyla and Jayden’s marriage was being opposed.

“I’ll look into it.”

“Thank you, Silas. I appreciate it. I should be going now.”

Jayden rose from the sofa and lightly patted Silas on the shoulder. With a casual wave, he left the study.

‘If you could see what I’m really thinking, you’d never thank me.’

Watching Jayden’s departing figure, Silas let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

He should have told Jayden firmly that it was impossible—that Kyla must not remain here any longer.

But he could not bring himself to say it.

***

The sky was slightly overcast, with patches of gray clouds drifting slowly overhead.

A four-seat landau carriage with a folding canopy rolled toward Royal Ascot Racecourse.

Inside the carriage sat four young people, two on each side facing one another.

Silas mostly gazed silently out the window, occasionally answering a question from Jayden beside him or nodding at something Penelope said from across the carriage.

Jayden and Penelope were deep in animated discussion about which horse might win this year’s race.

Last year, one of Her Majesty the Queen’s horses had taken the victory, but since that horse was not competing this year, both of them agreed that the competition would be far fiercer.

Kyla, meanwhile, had been forced to squeeze herself against the far side of the carriage.

Penelope’s wide skirt kept pressing against her.

Penelope’s pale green dress was tightly fitted at the waist, but the skirt ballooned outward to an enormous size.

According to Riona—who considered herself something of an authority on dresses—this style was the very latest fashion.

Though the fashionable dress caused Kyla considerable discomfort, it had at least distracted her for a while from her anxiety about going to the racecourse.

Truthfully, she had wanted to avoid the horse race at any cost—even pretending to be ill if necessary. But Jayden’s persistent persuasion had eventually worn her down.

Of course, if she had explained the real reason she didn’t want to go, Jayden would surely have understood.

Yet explaining it would have meant speaking not only about witnessing a horse being euthanized but also about her mother’s death and her father’s s*icide.

Kyla did not want to burden Jayden with those memories.

Even now, he already worried about her far too much.

More than anything, she wanted to free herself from the memories of that day.

Not being able to ride horses was one thing.

But not even being able to watch a horse race or a polo match made her feel pitifully weak.

After all, the man who had stood beside her when the horse had been euthanized—

the horse’s own owner—still rode horses and attended races without hesitation.

Kyla clenched her resolve.

‘Face it. Maybe when it actually happens, it won’t be so terrible.’

She repeated the thought like a quiet incantation inside her mind.

By the time they arrived at Royal Ascot, it was past noon.

The cloudy sky had cleared completely, and the sun blazed down from overhead.

After enjoying a light lunch of fresh seafood paired with the finest champagne beneath a large tent in the Royal Enclosure Garden, the group moved to the VIP viewing stands.

The buildings of Royal Ascot Racecourse had been constructed recently and were enormous in scale.

When they reached the fourth-floor gallery reserved for the upper class and looked down over the racecourse, Kyla felt a sudden dizzying sensation.

Silas, Penelope, Kyla, and Jayden took their seats one after another.

Soon afterward, the horses carrying their jockeys began entering the track one by one.

“Your Grace! I can see one of the Queen’s horses over there. It’s not the same horse that won the Golden Cup last year, is it?”

“Yes, I believe you’re right.”

Silas replied briefly as he looked at Penelope, who was pointing excitedly at a brown horse.

“You can recognize the Queen’s horse at a glance by the jockey’s uniform.”

Jayden explained kindly to Kyla, who was attending a horse race for the first time. He told her that the jockey wearing a purple jacket with orange sleeves and gold fringe, along with a black velvet cap, was the Queen’s rider.

“I see. I had no idea.”

Kyla nodded slowly at Jayden.

Then she clasped her trembling hands together like someone in prayer, trying to calm the growing tension inside her chest.