Jayden led Kyla across the ballroom and out of the building.

A carriage, which he had arranged in advance, was waiting for them outside.

As soon as they had climbed in and closed the door, it set off.

“Brother… Mother will be alright, won’t she?”

Kyla bit her lip and clasped her hands together as though in prayer.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m sure Mother will be fine.”

Jayden gently patted her shoulder as she looked at him with a troubled expression.

“Kyla, it will take quite some time to reach home, so try to get some sleep.”

“Yes, brother.”

She answered, but it didn’t seem as though she could properly fall asleep.

As dawn approached and the first light of morning spread across the sky, the carriage entered the Feilding family estate in Orland.

As soon as the carriage stopped in the courtyard, Jayden and Kyla climbed down and headed straight for Lady Feilding’s room.

However, a maid quietly emerged from Lady Feilding’s bedroom and told them that she had only just fallen asleep and asked them to come back later. She then slipped back inside.

Jayden let out a soft sigh and looked at Kyla.

Fatigue and anxiety were clearly visible on her face.

“Kyla, you should go up to your room and get some rest for now. If Mother only just fell asleep, she probably won’t wake up anytime soon.”

“Yes. You should rest too, brother.”

“I will.”

Jayden gave a faint smile and watched Kyla’s retreating figure as she climbed the stairs, his gaze filled with quiet affection.

***

Melissa Feilding stood by the window, watching the carriage carrying her son and adopted daughter enter the courtyard.

“When Jayden comes to see me, tell him I had been unwell for a long time and only just fell asleep a moment ago.”

“Yes, madam.”

After giving the maid firm instructions, Melissa returned to her bed and lay down again.

The maid gently pulled the bedsheet up to her shoulders.

Melissa had barely slept for several days and felt as though she might collapse at any moment.

In truth, she almost wished she would.

But Melissa was far too healthy for that.

Even after the maid had turned off the lights and left the bedroom, sleep still wouldn’t come.

Her husband would never know the real reason she had adopted Kyla.

He probably thought that no one knew how much he had loved Stella before they married. But in Ashton’s social circles, that was an open secret.

Melissa knew all too well that Stella still remained deep within her husband’s heart. She must be preserved in his memory, more beautiful than ever now that she is dead.

There was no way to win a battle against the ghosts of the past.

Since she could not defeat them, she had no choice but to accept them.

Even if she had refused to take the child in, Andrew would never have been able to ignore her.

He would have hidden the girl away somewhere and watched over her in secret, pitying her quietly.

He would have resented Melissa for it.

Ultimately, she had only one choice.

Rather than living in a private h*ll plagued by terrible thoughts, Melissa decided that it would be better to keep the child so that she could see her with her own eyes.

She wanted Andrew to feel indebted to her. She wanted him to carry the guilt with him for the rest of his life for raising the daughter of the woman he loved, all the while deceiving his wife.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad for Jayden, who had grown up lonely without siblings, to have a younger sister, she thought.

Melissa therefore expected her kind-hearted son to pity the young girl — gentle, innocent and beautiful — and treat her kindly.

Melissa herself sometimes found Kyla pitiful and endearing. However, at some point, her son’s attitude towards the girl began to change.

It was no longer pity.

Nor was it the gaze of a brother towards his sister.

Something far deeper, more secret and more tender filled his eyes whenever he looked at her.

‘No.’

‘It can’t be.’

Melissa had repeated those words to herself countless times, insisting that it must be her imagination. But at the beginning of May, she received a letter from Jayden.

In it, he announced his intention to take Kyla as his partner to the graduation ball.

Melissa felt as if the sky had fallen on her.

It was absolutely impossible.

She knew that Kyla hadn’t done anything wrong. She would never try to seduce Jayden in order to become the Feilding family’s mistress.

But Kyla, Stella’s daughter, becoming the Feilding family’s daughter-in-law?

That was something Melissa could never accept.

She wrote back to Jayden, suggesting,

[Since it is your graduation ball, wouldn’t it be better to choose another young lady as your partner rather than your sister?]

However, Melissa soon received a reply from her beloved son.

He wrote that he had been unable to find a suitable partner and that he wanted to take Kyla to see the fireworks in Portsmouth, whatever the cost.

Unable to persuade him, Melissa had no choice but to commission the finest dress for Kyla and send her to Portsmouth in the Feilding family carriage.

From that moment on, Melissa’s heart became a living h*ll.

The whispers of demons seemed to gnaw constantly at her soul.

‘What if, at the ball, my son succeeds in winning Kyla’s heart?’

Fireworks, of all things!

What if, in the romantic moment, Jayden cast aside the mask of the kind older brother and confessed his feelings?

If Kyla could not refuse him, the consequences would be disastrous.

Tormented by such dreadful thoughts, Melissa could not relax.

At the very least, she had to stop them from spending the whole night together at the ball.

So Melissa decided to send a telegram to Portsmouth.

A single short sentence would suffice.

[I have collapsed.]

If Jayden received the message, he would certainly come back home with Kyla straight away. And, just as she had expected, it worked.

Now, she just had to separate Kyla from her son.

If only there were a way to do so without fighting with Jayden or hurting the poor child!

But such a method did not exist.

Melissa knew that to separate them, she would inevitably wound Kyla’s innocent heart.

Jayden would cause a commotion.

Kyla might even cry.

Melissa felt as though her chest were being crushed.

It was like missing a step and plunging from a cliff into the deep sea below. Yet even if she were to drown, she could never accept that girl.

By then, dawn was breaking.

A thin line of light had begun to seep in through the thick curtains covering her bedroom window.

***

When Kyla heard that Lady Feilding had collapsed, she was terrified, fearing the worst. Fortunately, however, her adoptive mother recovered quickly.

Once she had recovered, Jayden returned to Portsmouth to take his graduation exams.

Kyla believed that life would simply return to its quiet routine.

But she was wrong.

“A piano… teacher?”

“That’s right.”

Lady Feilding met Kyla’s widened eyes and smiled gently. Then she began spreading butter over a piece of muffin.

“I even had you debut in society and hosted a ball to help you find a suitable husband. But it seems you have no intention of marrying.”

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

Lady Feilding’s words were true.

Kyla had no interest in romance or marriage.

“Jayden will eventually meet a nice girl and marry her. One day, your father and I will leave this world, just as your parents did. I find myself constantly worrying about how you will cope on your own when that day comes.”

Kyla watched as Lady Feilding put a piece of bread in her mouth and chewed quietly.

“Then, as it happens, the Lester ducal household is looking for a piano teacher. The duke’s young sister plays quite well, but she has surpassed the level that a governess can teach.”

“I see…”

Kyla lowered her gaze and took a sip of water to hide her flustered expression.

“The Duke’s mother, Lady Lester, wishes to hire an excellent piano teacher. However, most of the candidates are men or women of low status.”

“I understand…”

“She doesn’t want to assign a male teacher to her young daughter. Since the Duke of Lester will be returning home after graduating from Portsmouth this summer, she is reluctant to allow just any woman into the household. If a scandal were to occur between one of the teachers and the Duke, it would be disastrous, wouldn’t it?”

“…That makes sense.”

Kyla nodded.

Yet she could hardly imagine that man—who so often wore a faint frown—becoming involved in some scandal with a woman.

“However, when Lady Lester heard about you, she was quite pleased and said she could trust you with her daughter. Naturally so—after all, the Duke of Lester and Jayden are friends.”

A piano teacher.

At the Lester ducal household, no less.

Kyla couldn’t help letting out a hollow laugh.

“Someday you’ll have to become independent, won’t you? You should make the most of your abilities. Being a piano teacher seems like the perfect option.”

Lady Feilding looked at Kyla with the gentlest smile.

“Yes, Mother.”

Kyla couldn’t bring herself to meet her eyes and lowered her gaze.

“Besides, the Lester ducal family is the most prestigious house in Brighton. If you gain recognition there as a piano teacher, requests for introductions will likely pour in from everywhere.”

“…That’s true.”

Kyla’s voice cracked as she answered. She felt as though something was lodged in her throat, so she took a few more sips of water.

She had been mistaken all this time.

Even though she wasn’t their real daughter, she had believed that if she became a good daughter and worked hard to meet her adoptive parents’ expectations, they might one day accept her as one of the family.

But that had been a terrible misunderstanding.

In this house, she was addressed as ‘young lady’, ate at the same table as her adoptive parents, lived in a nice room, and wore beautiful clothes.

Yet she was still an orphan.

She could never become a real Feilding.

Only then did she realize that she was completely alone.

“A carriage from the ducal household will come for you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow…?”

“Yes. I’ve already told Mary. She’s probably packing your things by now.”

“I see… understood.”

The word Mother would no longer come out.

She had to leave for the ducal house tomorrow.

Kyla felt her eyes grow hot, but she clenched her teeth, refusing to cry. If she broke down over something like this, how would she ever survive the uncertain future ahead?

‘Yes… compared to everything that has happened before, this is nothing.’

Living under the same roof as Silas Lester would probably feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Still, judging by how he had helped her before, he didn’t seem like a bad person.

Just blunt.

And not particularly kind.

‘Not kind? Was he really like that? No… he—’

Kyla forced the memory of Silas away before it could fully surface.

Her mind was already in turmoil. There was nothing to gain from thinking about that day.

‘Nothing happened between us.’

‘That’s right. He and I are strangers. There’s no reason for me to think about him.’

Kyla forced a smile and picked up her cutlery, cutting a large piece of veal steak that had just been served.

She put it in her mouth and chewed slowly.

She couldn’t taste anything.

But she ate every last bite.

For some reason, she felt as though she had to.