A young man with green eyes and peculiar hair mixed with red and pink entered with a bright expression and made eye contact with Serena.

“Why are you here……”

Serena lightly chewed and swallowed Nocturne’s words, glanced at him once, and then focused back on her meal.

There was no greeting, not even a light nod, for their reunion.

“Nocturne, it’s been a while.”

“Ah, yes!”

At Charlotte’s welcoming words, Nocturne’s eyes sparkled as he strode directly to his mother.

The tall, well-built young man bent down to embrace Charlotte Lavernia.

Serena quietly continued her meal. After eating about eight plates, she felt somewhat full.

Thinking she had finished her meal by now, she looked at Nocturne Lavernia and the marquis couple chatting quietly, then stood up from her seat.

“I think I’ll be going now, is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

Serena asked while standing at her place. She slowly put down her napkin and made eye contact with the Marquis of Lavernia.

“Already?”

“Yes, I’ve finished my meal, and I think it’s about time for the three of you to eat as well.”

Serena answered lightly, thinking it was a family gathering.

This was because professors would often have her eat lightly and give reports before having meals with family or friends, and then send her away when their family or friends arrived.

It was usually Kim Chul-soo who brought family, and Lemerun who brought friends.

Of course, while Kim Chul-soo was one thing, Lemerun’s friends were all researchers obsessed with research, so Serena Lavernia was somewhat grateful.

“But your brother just arrived……”

“Ah… it’s been a while. Nocturne.”

“Uh, yeah. It’s been a while……”

Nocturne Lavernia responded awkwardly with a puzzled expression.

“Have you been well?”

“Uh, um… How about you, sister?”

Unable to fight in front of their parents, the marquis couple, Nocturne responded to Serena’s words with a bewildered expression.

“I’ve been well. I’m glad to hear you’ve been well.”

Having finished the greetings adequately, Serena raised her head again.

“Well, now that we’ve greeted each other, I’ll be going. Next time, I’ll visit with the medicine.”

“Huh…?”

“I, I object!”

Thinking that Serena might just leave like this, Irdin Lavernia shouted out of nowhere.

Nocturne Lavernia flinched at his father’s sudden outburst.

Serena also turned her head with surprised eyes.

‘…What, she can make that kind of expression too?’

It was certainly not any expression of Serena’s that Nocturne Lavernia knew.

Nocturne Lavernia rolled his eyes.

“Yes? What……”

“I object to you leaving the family.”

Marquis Lavernia decided to throw away all dignity and just push through.

“…Yes, so that’s why I said I’d ask when the Marchio… I mean, when Mother’s treatment is finished……”

Nocturne was surprised at the words ‘Marchioness’. And Charlotte received a great shock to her heart.

Feeling as if someone was squeezing her, Charlotte quickly raised her handkerchief to dab at her eyes.

‘No, what is this about?’

And Nocturne, who usually resided in the imperial palace as the commander of the knight order, couldn’t understand this whole situation.

No, he couldn’t understand it quite a bit.

“What do you mean by leaving the family……”

“Nocturne, your sister says she’s going to leave the family. When I’m fully recovered……”

Charlotte Lavernia, now with nowhere to lean on, spoke while looking at the little seed-like fellow who wasn’t even a tadpole yet, let alone born.

“What?”

Nocturne Lavernia began to wonder what exactly he had just heard.

He thought he must be going deaf.

“…No, that’s impossible. There’s no way that person would leave the family now.”

Nocturne Lavernia knew well how greedy and covetous she was.

Whenever he heard stories about Duchess Serena Kelahinum while walking around the imperial palace, he had to bow his head deeply.

He couldn’t handle the numerous shameful incidents that made him flush hot with embarrassment.

“…What on earth are you talking about……”

Nocturne Lavernia denied reality.

Irdin Lavernia shook his head.

“Do you know what your sister has done?”

“…Of course not.”

While it’s easy to hear various news in the imperial palace, it’s difficult to hear news from within the family.

“She presented documents of her own expulsion from the family as a gift.”

Irdin Lavernia said, rubbing his forehead.

It was utterly unbelievable.

“Se, Serena Lavernia… Si, sister did?”

“Yes.”

“Now… now that you mention it.”

Nocturne recalled his memories.

He remembered the Crown Prince asking if everything was alright once, and hearing rumors about the Lavernia family finally making a big decision.

Of course, Nocturne Lavernia was confident he could dismiss such rumors due to Serena.

“I heard about the divorce from Duke Kelahinum, but……”

“That was withdrawn.”

“Then are you saying that Sister is no longer a member of the Lavernia family?”

“No, that was withdrawn too.”

Irdin Lavernia said calmly.

“……”

Nocturne Lavernia now couldn’t understand.

‘Then what exactly is the problem?’

Wouldn’t she have known it would be withdrawn anyway?

To Nocturne Lavernia, Serena Lavernia was an incomparably cowardly person.

Thinking she must have done everything under calculation, he narrowed his eyes.

“And she said she’d leave again if she cures your mother, and asked us to please accept the documents.”

“I never said ‘please’……”

Serena Lavernia retorted, slightly furrowing her brow.

‘That’s the part you’re upset about……’

Nocturne Lavernia thought with a slightly bewildered face.

“Why suddenly……”

“Do I have to explain this again? Marqu… no, Father……”

‘What’s with ‘Marquis Father’ now?!’

Nocturne saw Irdin Lavernia, who now looked like he was about to cry.

“Ah…?”

What kind of dog’s breakfast is this situation?

Nocturne Lavernia’s expression slightly twisted.

“Are you trying to cause trouble again? If you want something, just say it……”

“I won’t cause any more trouble. And……”

“Nocturne, is that how you speak to your sister?”

Irdin Lavernia said in a low voice.

Nocturne Lavernia felt a bit wronged. After all!

He had taken her side, and suddenly he was being blamed.

“Why are you scolding me!”

“Weren’t you being disrespectful?”

“I was just worried that Sister might cause trouble again……”

“That’s why I’m saying I’ll leave.”

Serena Lavernia said with an utterly fed-up look.

“The heir hates me so much, I don’t think it’s right for me to stay in this family. I understand Father and Mother’s feelings, but eventually that heir will hold the power when he gets older, so wouldn’t it be better to treat him well in advance?”

Nocturne Lavernia’s mouth fell open at Serena Lavernia’s words.

He felt like he wanted to dig into his ear canal to figure out what he had just heard.

‘As if I would ever abandon Mother and Father……’

Nocturne Lavernia clenched his fists.

“What nonsense! I have no intention of abandoning Mother and Father!”

“Everyone changes, so my words are just to prepare for a possible future……”

“Really, how can a person think only in such ways? That’s why no one likes you, Sister!!”

Nocturne Lavernia shouted in anger.

“Nocturne!!”

Irdin Lavernia yelled in a voice full of rage.

Still, Nocturne didn’t back down.

From the moment he decided to talk back, he had already prepared for many things.

For example, he was ready to endure even if she grabbed him by the hair, slapped his face, or something similar happened.

“…I know.”

Instead of getting angry or irritated or overturning the table in anger as usual, Serena said that.

“Because I know, I’m leaving. And……”

She opened her mouth, seeming a bit wronged.

“And……”

After a bit of resentment, Serena finally opened her mouth.

“I do have at least one person who likes me, you know.”