Penchev clenched his fist tightly and then relaxed it with the opposite hand to calm his pounding heart from the impulse. He bit his tongue gently until it stung, then said he would be going now, to which she responded with a kind voice saying he had done well.

After maintaining eye contact with her until the last moment, Penchev left silently, and Lysith fiddled with her completed hairstyle. She was curious about how that man would react if he received a gift from her. He would certainly be happy, but… she hoped he wouldn’t lose his mind like he did recently.

That situation had been a rejection from Lysith’s side. She really thought she was going to die from being blessed.

Shaking her head, she called Eve again to change clothes. She felt Eve smiling behind her back when she saw Lysith’s hair, which was bewildering, but she didn’t particularly question her about it.

A slightly surprising incident occurred a few days later, in the morning.

* * *

As Lysith was enjoying her tea time leisurely as usual, Serena approached her with quiet footsteps.

“Miss.”

“A letter?”

“Yes. We can handle the others at our level, but I think you should see this one.”

While sipping the tea Penchev had poured, she received the letter, which had a very luxurious exterior. It seemed less ornate than an invitation, so it appeared to be a personal letter addressed to her.

Let’s see who sent it, she thought as she checked the sender…

“……”

“……”

“Serena.”

“Yes.”

“Next time, even if it comes again, you can just handle it yourself without showing it to me.”

Serena politely took the letter pinched between Lysith’s index and middle fingers and left the room, leaving only Penchev and Lysith behind.

Penchev, who had been watching Lysith drink her tea with a cold expression, asked her about the sender, seemingly curious.

“Who was the sender that made you react like that…”

“Well, someone not really worth looking at.”

Despite Lysith’s vague answer, Penchev, who had guessed who the letter’s owner was, didn’t add any more words. There weren’t many people she would refer to respectfully as ‘someone,’ and among them, only one person would make her say the contents of the letter weren’t worth looking at.

And at her reaction, Penchev found himself feeling relieved without realizing it. So she really doesn’t love him anymore.

It seemed that the only one he needed to be wary of was the Tower Master. If she knew he was thinking like this, she might burst into laughter, but anyway, that’s what the butler with his dark insides thought.

Then, what could be the contents of the letter sent by that clingy man?

He was curious about it, but a model butler should not read letters sent to his master. The dark desire within him whispered that no one would know if he opened it secretly, but he deliberately ignored this and filled her cup with tea, pouring it gently.

“Are you curious about its contents?”

“……”

At Lysith’s sudden question, the steady stream of tea abruptly stopped. It was a question that accurately pierced his inner thoughts. He tried to hide it in his own way in front of her, but he wondered if it had shown without him realizing it.

In fact, Lysith hadn’t noticed the man’s dark intentions; it was just a natural assumption for her. Of course, wouldn’t he be wary of other male leads? Even if it were Ashites instead of Penchev, she would have pouted and said she was curious about the letter’s contents.

“Why are you so surprised? You could be curious.”

“……”

He couldn’t say that he planned to open the letter secretly, read it, and if the contents were rubbish, tear it to pieces and burn it in the fireplace in this early summer. So he chose to keep his mouth shut.

Lysith, who didn’t have any supernatural ability to read minds, tilted her head, but she couldn’t get any further response from the butler who kept his mouth firmly closed, indicating he wouldn’t answer.

Leaving Penchev behind, Lysith, who had finished her tea neatly, stood up to go for a walk in the garden. Penchev, who was tidying up the tea set, looked the same as usual, but somehow seemed to have something to say. Noticing this, Lysith nodded slightly, gesting him to speak.

“If it’s alright with you, could you allow me to embrace you just once?”

Lysith briefly pondered seriously whether the ’embrace’ he was talking about was suitable for all audiences or not suitable for minors, then thought, ‘Of course, it must be the former,’ and approached Penchev, who was standing stiffly.

As soon as she approached, he stretched out his arms, grabbed her, and pulled her to himself, enclosing the soft sensation that fit perfectly in his arms with both arms.

When Lysith extended her arms, wriggling them slightly to pat him, his back curved even more. Although Lysith was the one being embraced, it seemed like Penchev was the one who wanted to be embraced.

When she tapped his chest lightly as if to say she was about to leave, Penchev slowly separated from her with a look of regret and politely opened the door, saying she should go out first. It was quite subtly…

‘The double life of a butler, it seems like that.’

This butler, who appeared intimidating and expressionless to others, smiled only at her and craved affection. Humanly speaking, she couldn’t say she disliked it.

To be honest, who would push away someone who clings to you saying they like you too much?

The name of the most dangerous and common drug was affection. Once addicted, it was hard to escape.

Lysith was well aware of its dangers and didn’t intend to fall easily, but as always, emotions didn’t work as one wished. Taking her parasol and coming out to the garden, she shook her head and steeled her resolve. The thing she should be most wary of was giving affection.

Having entered the month of June, the weather was now closer to warm rather than mild. The light material of her dress fluttered in the wind.

Though not extravagant, the plants in the appropriately decorated garden also swayed along with the hem of her dress. As she walked through the garden, feeling the breeze, suddenly something glittering gold in the distance caught her eye.

‘There shouldn’t be anything glittering in the garden.’

It seemed to be visible near the fence, so she tilted her head and approached, and was able to face the identity of the glittering object.

“Noona.”

“……”

Ashites, standing outside the mansion’s fence and waving his hand, was the main character. The glittering thing was his golden hair.

Dumbfounded, Lysith stood still, at a loss for words, and he made a face as if hurt that she wasn’t welcoming him, which was supposed to be cute in his own way.

“Why are you here……”

“I saw someone coming out with a parasol. The only person in this mansion who would use a parasol is you, Noona.”

He meant that he had waited beyond the fence near the garden instead of at the main gate. Lysith, who briefly swallowed a sigh, asked him if he wanted to come in, but he shook his head saying it was fine and made a different proposal.

“If you don’t have any plans today, let’s go somewhere with me for a bit.”

“Where to?”

“Hm… A tea party?”

She couldn’t grasp why a man who never even glanced at social gatherings was specifically coming to fetch her and asking her to go together. She didn’t particularly want to set the table in high society either, but…

“Why do you want to go?”

“Well, I have a reason.”

“……”

When Lysith stared at him as if telling him to explain, Ashites, who made a small groan at her gaze, tried to persuade her saying he would tell her if she went.

It seemed unlikely that he would try to take her somewhere for a bad reason, given his fondness for her. The probability of something bad happening if she went with him was also low.

Lysith eventually nodded, and Ashites smiled slightly. Then suddenly, he started tapping the fence and making passive requests, completely taking Lysith aback.

“Hmm. They’re using quite good security magic tools. Still, what I make and install would be better. What I make is top-tier and has additional options. Like, no other men except me can enter…”

It was nonsense. The butler was a man, so what would happen if even the butler couldn’t enter?

“…Do you want to come in?”

“If it takes long.”

It seemed fine to go with moderate grooming for a tea party, not a full-fledged social gathering. Originally, Lysith didn’t like heavy makeup, so it didn’t take long anyway. …In fact, what she really needed to be wary of was Ashites meeting Penchev, so even though she told him to come in, she wanted to prevent him from actually setting foot inside.