Kyla could sense that something was making Jayden uneasy.

But she didn’t know what it was.

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, brother. There isn’t any other reason.”

She lowered her gaze slightly, a faint smile touching her lips.

There were countless reasons for her to leave this place.

Being near Silas Lester made her feel uneasy.

She didn’t want to share a room with him.

She disliked his indifferent gaze.

She disliked the intensity in his eyes.

She disliked his kindness.

She disliked his coldness.

Kyla recalled the dull ache that had settled in her chest when she heard about his engagement.

Now that he was taken, she didn’t want to be affected by him anymore.

She didn’t want to get hurt by him again.

If it weren’t for Riona, she would have no reason to stay in Chatsworth.

“If that’s how you feel, then I’m relieved. Still, you should think again about the Royal Academy.’ Everything has its proper time. Once Silas marries Miss Rothermere, the lady of the house will change, and who knows how Chatsworth will change with it? Miss Rothermere may even be able to help Riona more than you can. After all, she will be family.”

“When they get married… wouldn’t they spend more time in Ashton than here in Chatsworth?”

Kyla found herself wondering whether she could endure staying here, at least if Silas was not around.

“Who knows.”

Jayden let out a heavy sigh as he watched Kyla, who seemed fully absorbed in tasting her veal steak.

She said there was no other reason, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was hiding something.

“Did something happen between you and Silas? Anything that made you uncomfortable?”

He spoke casually, as if it were nothing, and lifted his wine glass.

“Between me and His Grace?”

Kyla, who had been about to take another bite, looked up in surprise, her eyes widening.

Then she burst into laughter as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke.

“Brother, what are you even saying…”

She placed the last piece of steak into her mouth and chewed slowly.

“I know this might upset you, brother, but… His Grace is my employer, and I’m just his employee.”

Kyla took a sip of water, then picked up a small spoon and began eating her pudding.

“Of course, I’m not entirely comfortable around him. You and he are close friends, so you can speak freely, but you know what he’s like. He can be a bit sharp.”

She gave a brief laugh before taking another generous spoonful.

“But aside from that, what reason would there be for me to feel uncomfortable?”

“I see. Is that so.”

Jayden raised his wine glass, his gaze fixed on her face.

He was certain now.

There was definitely something between them.

Although Kyla seemed to be focused only on eating, she couldn’t actually meet his gaze.

She laughed too easily at trivial things and gave long-winded explanations that sounded like excuses.

It felt as though she had prepared her responses in advance.

‘What on earth happened between them?’

Jayden felt as though a heavy stone was pressing down on his chest.

***

“Silas, come here.”

“Did you call for me, Mother?”

“Yes. If I don’t call you, I hardly see your face outside of mealtimes.”

Silas approached Adelaide.

She was seated in the gazebo in the garden, surrounded by the scent of lavender, watching the shifting clouds in the sky.

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

Silas chose a seat a short distance away from her.

“How has your headache been?”

“Perhaps because it’s summer, it’s been better these past few days.”

Adelaide smiled softly, her eyes curving as she looked at her son.

“That’s a relief.”

“Thank you for worrying about me. And… I heard you proposed to Miss Rothermere. Is that true?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Congratulations on your engagement.”

“Thank you.”

Seated with the sun behind her, Adelaide studied Silas’s face, now cast in shadow, for a long moment.

“However… for a man who has just become engaged, you don’t look particularly pleased.”

“Marriage isn’t something especially joyful.”

“Do you truly think so?”

“Isn’t it?”

Silas asked in return.

“I suggested marriage because I thought Miss Rothermere would suit you, but it wasn’t a command.”

“I know.”

“Yes, you do.”

She let out a quiet, hollow laugh.

“You were never a child who did things just because someone forced you to.”

Silas followed her gaze and looked up at the distant sky.

The cloud-filled sky was slowly turning grey.

Although it was summer, Adelaide seemed to feel a chill and pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders.

“I wonder why you’re rushing into a marriage that doesn’t seem to bring you any joy, especially when no one is forcing you. You and I both know that a young, wealthy duke like you doesn’t need to get married at twenty-three, so don’t give me that excuse.”

“I wouldn’t call it rushing… I believe I’ve simply done it at the right time. I was concerned that the Rothermere mother and daughter might wear themselves out waiting for my proposal.”

Adelaide let out a soft laugh at Silas’s answer.

“You couldn’t possibly have been worried about something like that, could you? Unless you were perhaps uncomfortable with the mother and daughter staying in Chatsworth and wanted to send them away? Was that why you proposed?”

“Of course not.”

“If that’s not it… then what could it be?”

Adelaide lightly touched her chin with a slender finger and tilted her head, lost in thought. Silas gave a faint, mocking smile.

He knew exactly what answer his mother wanted to hear.

It had little to do with the truth, but the truth no longer mattered.

“After considering many women, I found that none would make a more suitable bride than Miss Rothermere.”

“Yes, that much is true.”

“If I am to marry anyway, then it is only rational to marry her. I believed it was my duty to marry as soon as possible and produce an heir.”

Silas spoke the words he knew his mother wanted to hear.

It would end this meaningless conversation more quickly.

“I see. If that’s truly how you feel, then that is a relief…”

Her gaze, which had been fixed on the now darkened sky, slowly shifted back to him.

“Then why does it feel as though that’s not the whole truth?”

“I wouldn’t know, Mother.”

Adelaide fell silent, deep in thought.

After a long pause, she drew a breath and spoke again, slowly.

“Silas… I know that you resent me. I won’t offer excuses now.”

A faint smile touched the corners of Silas’s mouth as he listened.

As she said, there had been a time — a long time ago — when he had resented her deeply.

He had simultaneously longed for, pitied, and hated the mother who had abandoned him; he was consumed by her love and pain.

But all of that was in the past now.

“Still… I worry that you might make an unhappy choice because of me, Silas.”

“No. There is nothing I’ve decided because of you, Mother. Whatever life I choose to live, it is entirely my own decision.”

‘So don’t carry guilt anymore. Live as you wish.’

He swallowed those final words and slowly rose to his feet.

“If you have nothing further to say, I’ll take my leave.”

What he said was true.

His mother had played no part in his decision to get married.

Although she had suggested Miss Rothermere, the final decision was his alone.

At this point, he didn’t care who he married.

After all, she would never be the one.

So what meaning did it hold?

Kyla could never be his.

If that was the case, then a proud young lady from the Rothermere family would be the most suitable choice.

Penelope desired the position of duchess more than anyone.

Now that she had obtained it, he could only hope that she would be satisfied.

If she wasn’t, that would no longer be his concern.

The wind stirred Silas’s hair before fading away into the distance.

Just like Kyla.

As he turned to head back to the manor, he suddenly changed direction and walked towards the lake instead.

On such a cloudy late afternoon, no one would be wandering along the lakeside at Chatsworth.

***

Riona’s piano playing improved day by day.

As the tension left her shoulders, arms and fingers, her clumsy, harsh notes were replaced by clean, refined sounds that flowed effortlessly from her fingertips.

In that sense, Wolfgang Moritz’s piece, ‘I Will Tell Mother’, suited her perfectly.

It was also a piece that Riona loved, and this likely made her practice with even greater dedication.

Seeing her young student devote herself to the music and spend more and more time at the piano filled Kyla with a quiet sense of pride.

When the lesson ended, Kyla was about to head to the morning room, but then she stopped.

Then, changing her mind, she decided to go outside instead.

She usually spent the late afternoon there with Jayden until dinner.

But now, she was afraid to face him.

When he had asked her if something had happened between her and Silas, her heart had sunk.

She had rambled, laughed too loudly and said things that made no sense.

It felt as though she had become someone else.

There hadn’t been anything between her and Silas.

Nothing at all.

In fact, they had only crossed paths once during their childhood.

By chance, they had once watched fireworks together.

At the racecourse, he helped her when she nearly collapsed, unable to breathe.

And beyond that, what else had there been?

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

There had been nothing between them.

Nothing that could be described as meaningful, at least.

And yet, she felt as though she were lying to Jayden.

The guilt weighed heavily on her.

Kyla couldn’t understand herself.

Why was she avoiding him and running away to a place where she would be alone?

Stepping out of the manor without a plan, she lifted her gaze.

The sky was heavy with grey clouds, as if rain might fall at any moment.

She considered going back inside to fetch a shawl or an umbrella, but stopped herself, afraid she might run into Jayden.

‘Where should I go?’

The lavender garden, complete with gazebo, might still be occupied by the Duchess or the Rothermere ladies.

She considered the rear garden with the fish fountain, but memories of encountering Silas there flooded back. He seemed to prefer walking there in the morning, but she couldn’t be sure.

After hesitating for a moment, she decided to go further afield to the lake.

If it started to rain, she could always turn back.

About ten minutes along the lawn path in front of the manor, the vast lake came into view.

Beyond it, on the opposite shore, an oak forest stretched out.

As she walked slowly along the lakeside, memories of her childhood in Snowdonia came flooding back: running through the forests.

A breeze swept across the water, rippling it gently, as a flock of swans descended and began to glide gracefully across it.

Kyla found herself absorbed in the peaceful scene.

She wanted to forget everything that had been troubling her, and why she had come all this way.

She stood there absentmindedly for so long that she lost track of time.

It was only after watching the swans take flight again and vanish into the distance that she thought to return.

As she slowly turned—

Tap.

A cold raindrop touched her cheek.

And then, a short distance away, she saw someone standing there, watching her.

That man.

Silas Lester.