Late at night.

Hearing that there was a small disturbance in the Count’s mansion, I intuited that Erhan had arrived.

Now that I’ve walked in here on my feet, meeting Erhan was planned.

It’s what it feels like to meet him, but it wasn’t the worst I had envisioned.

I slowly walked out of the door, controlling my confused mind.

I didn’t have to bother looking for him.

When he arrived at the mansion, I’m sure he would come running here as soon as he heard that I was here.

Unsurprisingly, soon after, he stood in front of me in his unkempt clothes.

His hair was tangled behind him, and the cravat around his neck was half loose.

Crucially, I could feel a strong intoxication from him as he approached.

I was nervous because it had been a long time since we met. Strangely, as I faced him, my heart beat calmly.

I was able to look at him with colder eyes.

“You…!”

There was a clear anger in Erhan’s voice.

But, conscious of not being able to shout here now, he grabbed my wrist and lowered his voice.

“Please talk to me…”

Still, I guess it seemed that he couldn’t control the seething emotions.

He looked at me and glared as if he wanted to drag me into the room right away.

I felt the pain from his strong hand. I squealed, twisting my hand out.

“Can we possibly talk properly when you’re drunk? Ah, indeed. Even if you don’t drink, it’s no big deal because you talk crap every time.”

“This is crazy…!”

“Shut up. Unless you want to advertise this side of yours to the Count and Aunt.”

In this place where there may be ears to hear and eyes to see, I also decline to do this conversation right now.

I’ve been hiding this for some reason…

When I opened the door, I invited one of the people I least wanted to invite.

“You look like you have a lot to say, come on in. If you want to bark, bark here.”

A few years ago someone put soundproofing magic in my room. No matter what I shout inside, nobody would hear it outside.

Even if it’s a scream.

The fact that my room had soundproofing magic was terrifying, but sometimes it helped in this way.

“Ha, if you keep your mouth shut.”

Exposing his feelings with a short breath, he pushed me roughly into the room.

As I closed the door and walked in, he sat down on my bed as if it was natural.

The sight of the scene raised a great deal of anger.

“Dirty.”

“What? What did you just say? Is your liver out of your stomach now?”

His sharp eyes glared at me as if they were piercing me, but I ignored them and continued my thoughts.

…I’ll have to ask the maid to change my blanket before I go to bed.

Erhan’s exhaled breath felt terrible, so I would need to open the window and ventilate the room as soon as he got out.

Should I clean the floor too?

It looked like there was a lot of work to be done. I’d rather stay up all night in the lab today.

Arriving in front of Erhan before I knew it, I tilted my head.

“Before we start the conversation, let me ask you one thing. Were you and I close enough to talk at night?”

But Erhan ignored my words completely and said what he had to say.

“Why did you run away to the academy without telling me?”

His way of speaking made me laugh.

‘Ran away…?’

It was true, but those words coming out of his mouth made me feel even worse.

It was proof that he thought of me as a possession. Or to him, I was something like a parasite living in his house.

“Don’t go astray and answer me, Erhan.”

As if he had changed his strategy, he suddenly began to appeal by acting as my brother.

“I am your brother. I think I have the right to talk with my younger sister whom I haven’t seen in a long time. And even more so if that younger sister ran away without saying a word to me.”

I expected it, but I was mentally exhausted as I was listening to such nonsensical words from him.

He’s the one who drank, but why does my head hurt?

“Did you ever think of me as a real part of the family? Have you ever acted like a brother, not a pretense?”

Then, Erhan, as if waiting, raised the corners of his lips.

“Don’t you remember? Who was it that got you out there crying in the corner of your room?”

…Yes, it was.

It was Luca and Erhan who reached out to me, and I was able to hold them and escape that room.

But, that’s really the only thing he could put forward.

I followed him with a drawn smile on my lips.

“Erhan, you know, I can’t stand your pretense ”

As I spit out the words contained inside my heart, it became difficult to keep the smile I had been forced to make.

I opened my mouth without knowing what expression I was making.

“Even then, you were trying to protect the image of a friendly older brother or son. How about it? Am I wrong?”

“Whatever my motives at the time, it doesn’t change the fact that I pulled you out of the mud.”

His face was brazen and his mouth was unstoppable.

“And look, my parents think you’re a child at heart. What do you mean you and I aren’t siblings? Do you know that’s a disgraceful word?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The person who thought I was his sister, when my aunt tried to register me as a daughter. Didn’t you object that much?”

Erhan’s face hardened slightly.