Ariadne blinked, her drowsy mind snapping sharply to attention at the news.

“Did you say my brothers are here?”

She had barely slept a wink last night, yet the haze that clung to her vanished instantly. Her brothers? Here? And so suddenly?

“There was no message beforehand, right, Jay?”

“There couldn’t have been, my lady. You met the marquis just yesterday.”

“Then why would they come without sending word? Father would never fail to tell me.”

Looking bewildered, Ariadne hurried to change her clothes. Even as she dressed, she couldn’t hide her confusion, and the moment she finished, she tried to head downstairs at once.

“Oh, my lady, not yet. You haven’t even put on your cosmetics, and your outfit needs proper arranging.”

But Jay was an experienced maid.

She kept anything hidden from her mistress, but was quick to reveal anything else that she believed to be harmless.

This, however, was not something she could dare reveal.

Not after the conversation she’d had with the Marchioness before leaving yesterday, the words were far too ominous to ignore.

“Report everything without exception, Jay.”

“But my lady, as you know, the young mistress is very cautious…”

“It’s all right. Just tell me exactly what you see. It’s for Renée’s protection.”

Parents monitoring their own child in order to protect another.

Jay thought that no contradiction in the world could be stranger than that, yet she still nodded obediently.

She wrote down everything that had happened the previous night and sent it to the Marquis’s estate.

The result — if not exactly a reply — was the arrival of Peyton’s three sons at the Duke’s residence.

Could this truly be a coincidence?

Jay finished arranging Ariadne’s hair and let out a small sigh.

“All done, my lady.”

“Mm. Thank you.”

Ariadne, beautifully adorned as always, rose to her feet and walked toward the door.

“I’ll check the lunch arrangements and let you know. Until then, get some rest.”

“My duty is to attend to you, my lady.”

“It’s fine. My sitting room isn’t far from here.”

“But…”

Her mistress was beginning to insist. And when she became stubborn like this, talking never helped—not that Jay didn’t try. What worried her was the potential aftermath of all this, which was why she had offered to accompany her.

“I’ll truly be fine. Instead, please pay a little attention to tidying the room.”

“…Yes, I’ll do that.”

In the end, her mistress did not yield.

“Well, then… there’s nothing I can do about it, is there.”

When Jay nodded, Ariadne left the room at once.

Left alone, Jay murmured under her breath.

“Will she really… be all right…?”

Letting out a small sigh of worry, she stepped out to fetch the cleaning tools quietly hoping her lady would enjoy her time, no matter what happened.

***

“Brothers!”

Hurrying to her private sitting room, Ariadne’s mood lifted immediately upon seeing her three brothers, who almost filled the spacious room. It was rare for all three of them to gather like this, as they were all overwhelmed with their own busy schedules. Since her marriage, she had only seen them a handful of times.

Having seen her parents the previous day, she had felt both happy and a little wistful, so she was especially grateful that they had come today.

Smiling widely, Ariadne stepped towards them.

“How did all three of you come together? Aren’t you busy?”

“No matter how busy we are, we should still see our little sister’s face from time to time, don’t you think?”

Hermes, the second brother and the most easygoing and cheerful of the three, rose from his seat and approached her.

“You really have been well, right? Your cheeks look so much thinner.”

“It’s just baby fat. I’m an adult now.”

“Did you hear that, brother? Our little chick is chirping.”

“Don’t tease Rene too much, Hermes.”

Acting astonished, Hermes teased her again. Hern, the eldest, put down his teacup and gently reprimanded him.

But that hardly fazed Hermes.

In fact, he took it further, lightly ruffling his sister’s hair and tapping her cheek with a fingertip. He paid no attention to the expression on Ariadne’s face as she endured it.

“Brother!”

“Cut it out, will you.”

When Ariadne protested with a pout, Heidel—sitting in a pose almost identical to Hern—let out a quiet laugh and stopped Hermes.

Ariadne, cheeks puffed in annoyance, lightly smacked Hermes.

“Please stop it, brother.”

“Why would I, when teasing our adorable youngest is so much fun? Isn’t that right?”

Hermes wagged a finger left and right with an exaggeratedly dismissive expression. Of course, the other two couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Honestly, you haven’t changed at all.”

“You’re the same, little chick.”

With warm eyes, Hermes looked at her.

“Yesterday, Heidel kept boasting about seeing you. Do you think I could just sit still after that? I wondered if it was true, and of course—our youngest is exactly the same.”

“Heidel bragged?”

“Don’t exaggerate, brother. I only said I saw Rene.”

“You should’ve seen his face at the time.”

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

When Heidel replied, Hermes shook his head with a playful expression. Heidel—who had always favored the serious, steady Hern over the lighthearted Hermes who made everyone around him laugh—grimaced at Hermes’s teasing.

“Stop fooling around and sit down, brother. Rene must be busy too.”

And you’re busy as well.

With a curt remark, Heidel tapped the sofa beside him. Hermes lifted his shoulders in exaggerated defeat.

“I’m just a merchant who can spend his time however he wants. Compared to my two brothers, who are busy with affairs of the state, I’m nothing.”

“I told you not to say things like that. Your work is important too.”

“I never said it wasn’t. With the goods I import and sell, all of us managed to get married, didn’t we? It’s not unimportant.”

Ariadne suppressed a small laugh.

Flustered by Hermes’s heavy tone, he mumbled his excuse almost defensively.

“I just meant I’m not that busy.”

The moment felt so familiar, so much like their old days, that she felt a gentle warmth settle in her chest.

Despite his easy-going façade, Hermes had always been the softest of the three brothers. Ariadne understood exactly why he was acting this way. He was trying to lighten the atmosphere and ease their nerves. It had been so long since they had all been together that, of course, he would try to make everything feel a little less tense.

Hermes was the one who kept the family balanced and grounded, yet it was he who broke through the stiffness, brightening the room and filling the air with laughter. Everyone knew that beneath his playful grin, he worried about his family more than he ever let on.

Perhaps that was why they all looked at him so gently.

Feeling her own nervousness slowly dissipate, Ariadne settled into the seat beside him.

“You really came just to see me?”

“Do we need any other reason to visit our little sister?”

It was Hern who answered, setting down his teacup without her noticing.

As the eldest and the one who resembled their father the most, he was naturally strict, yet always lenient with her.

While Hermes played with her more than any of her other brothers, Hern was the one she thought of first when she was in trouble, his mere presence made her feel secure.

At his words, Ariadne smiled brightly again.

“You’re welcome anytime.”

“Funny, considering you once told me never to show my face again.”

Grumbling under his breath, Hermes nudged a plate of her favorite treats toward her. It must have been because she had gotten angry back when he had scolded Kieron too harshly.

Ariadne gently patted the back of his hand with a remorseful look.

“I was too mad at the time. I’m sorry, brother.”

“It was my fault. If I wanted to say something, I should’ve pulled him aside or waited until you weren’t there. Saying it right in front of you—of course you’d be angry.”

Heidel added the comment as though defending her. But something in the way he said it made her pause.

“Wait… don’t tell me you said something to His Excellency when I wasn’t there?”

“……”

“Of course not, Rene. You dislike it so much.”

Heidel clamped his mouth shut, but Hern denied it calmly, his tone steady and unbothered. Since Hern was not one to offer empty assurances, Ariadne believed him at once—though her other brothers clearly did not.

“Brother, sometimes you really scare me.”

Hermes muttered in a strangely uneasy tone, and Heidel nodded as well.

At their reactions, Ariadne wondered if there was something she didn’t know. But when she looked at Hern, he only lifted his teacup again, showing no particular reaction at all.

“More importantly, Rene. Is it true that Duke Ambrose still hasn’t received recognition from the Council of Elders?”

At those words, Ariadne immediately understood why all three men had come together.

“Father sent you?”

“To be precise, he sent me.”

The other two are extras, apparently.

Hern answered in his calm voice.

“When the letter you sent yesterday arrived, all of us were there. Father told me to go in person and confirm it.”

“If it’s true, that’s completely shameless. Do you know how much money and information we poured into persuading the Council back then?”

“I heard it wasn’t just Hes’s personal funds. Father and our eldest brother contributed quite a bit as well. If what you’re saying is true, Rene… this is practically an issue between families.”

The three brothers spoke in turn, each adding another piece to the growing picture.

With each detail they revealed and each hint of how grave the situation could become, Ariadne felt her hands curling into tight fists on her knees.

She had known it wasn’t a small matter, but she hadn’t imagined it could escalate to this extent.

She didn’t want Kieron to get hurt because of her. Not when she realized just how much he had sacrificed by marrying her.

He had lost more than she had ever realized, and she couldn’t bear the thought of him losing anything else.

If anything, she wished she could shield him. She wished she could help him in any way she could, no matter how small.

“It’s true. Lord Franz of the Council came yesterday, and I heard His Excellency speaking with him.”

“You mean the hereditary rights of the family head still haven’t been fully transferred to the duke?”

When Hern asked again, Ariadne nodded.

“And he seemed afraid of Father finding out. I think… there might be something more than just delaying the transfer of authority.”

“Wow. These people really can’t be left alone, can they?”

Hermes let out a hollow laugh.

Hern and Heidel didn’t look much different.

Hern was just about to speak again after a moment of thought when—

“I was wondering why no one was coming. So this is where you all are.”

Kieron stepped into the room, his voice so cold it seemed capable of freezing even the deepest layer of ice.