There wasn’t a trace of emotion in his gaze as he observed me. Looking into those cold, reptilian eyes, I answered reluctantly.

“Th… thanks.”

Was it my imagination that he seemed to have a sharp reaction to my marriage? After answering, I stared at Erhan’s face, trying to gauge his true feelings. But upon closer inspection, Erhan’s expression had returned to normal.

As if he had never shown that chilling face, he was back to looking relaxed and composed.

“Are you studying well?”

“Studying?”

He asked an unexpected question.

As I was wondering where this talk of studying came from, I remembered what happened before Erhan disappeared. Back then, Erhan was teaching me when he suddenly vanished.

“Come to think of it, why did you suddenly disappear back then?”

I asked, suddenly curious. In fact, I probably should have asked this question as soon as I saw Erhan. He tilted his head at my words.

“What do you mean?”

“You suddenly disappeared. After that…”

“I didn’t disappear.”

He said firmly.

“I had no choice but to leave.”

His tone was somewhat icy. With an air that suggested he hadn’t wanted to at all, his expression was downcast. He looked so displeased that it was difficult to ask for more details. It had been a while since I’d seen him, and the heavy atmosphere was uncomfortable. I wondered if I had said something wrong.

‘He’s difficult.’

Come to think of it, I had forgotten over time, but he was a difficult person. Even without threatening gestures or words, he was hard to deal with.

When I was younger, I found that demeanor simply frightening, but now that I’ve grown a bit, it wasn’t so scary anymore. I just found Erhan difficult yet intriguing. What on earth was he thinking to act like that?

‘It’s likely related to family matters.’

Erhan disappeared after being summoned by the Duke. I had guessed that something must have happened that day, but judging by his expression, there seemed to be deeper circumstances that I didn’t know about.

I, too, fell silent, lost in thought. Erhan, who had been staring elsewhere for a moment, belatedly made an expression as if he’d realized something.

“…It was because of family matters. I’ve been constantly busy with that. Even then, I had to leave urgently because something came up.”

“Family matters?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, there’s no place I haven’t been.”

Erhan’s tone had softened again as he added the explanation. As he spoke gently and shook his head, he even seemed somewhat cheerful.

I awkwardly smiled in response to his efforts to lighten the mood. My instincts warned me not to probe further.

‘Still, I’m curious.’

What kind of family matter could have kept him away for several years? As I was about to imagine it for a moment, Erhan suddenly gestured to me. It seemed like he wanted me to come closer. I moved a bit closer to Erhan, who was sitting on the edge of the desk looking down at me. As I leaned my upper body towards him, Erhan leaned in close as if to whisper.

“Oscar, are you curious?”

…Was it that obvious?

By the way, his breath tickled as it brushed against me. I flinched but deliberately fixed my gaze on an empty space.

“Actually, I have a secret.”

What could he be trying to say, building up suspense like this?

Just as I thought it must be an important secret for him to whisper so closely like this.

“I’m not a person, I’m a dog.”

…A dog?

Puzzled by what he meant, I turned my head slightly and met his mischievous eyes directly.

“Woof.”

My jaw dropped in disbelief.

His crinkled eyes looked more like a fox than anything. With a face that didn’t suit a puppy at all, he was imitating one, yet somehow it suited him. I was annoyed that Erhan was teasing me, but at the same time, I found it funny.

“What do you mean, ‘woof’…”

As I chuckled softly in disbelief, Erhan pulled up the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.

“I don’t know what happened, but I heard you’ve been consistently active in social circles. Anyway, I’m glad you seem to have been doing well.”

In the end, I was the one who backed down. I maintained a casual smile, as if to say I wouldn’t ask about what had happened.

Erhan probably couldn’t tell me much anyway. Especially if it was such a busy and secretive matter that he couldn’t return to the mansion. Given the nature of the Serpentine family, which was related to sorcery, it was entirely possible. Moreover, Erhan was our family’s one and only heir. He was likely already involved in things I knew nothing about.

“Did it upset you that I seemed to be doing well?”

It was out of the blue. Why would he suddenly say something like that?

Blinking in confusion, I was about to open my mouth to say that wasn’t the case, but he was faster.

“I was upset, though.”

It was an unexpected statement.

“Even though I was out and about so obviously, you never came.”

I couldn’t understand what he meant by the words that followed either.

‘Is he talking about his social activities?’

Well, if I had wanted to meet Erhan, I could have just found a party he was planning to attend.

I knew that my mother, who was active in social circles, had actually encountered Erhan at parties a few times.

‘There’s no way he meant it like that to me.’

It seemed more like empty words. He was probably just being polite to a sibling he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Not knowing what to say, I smiled awkwardly, and Erhan didn’t try to explain further. He just sat comfortably on the desk, looking down at me silently.

‘Even if he meant it that way, I couldn’t have gone to the parties anyway.’

The reason was clear.

During that time, I was extremely busy. Because with Zachary…

“Young master.”

An auditory hallucination of him calling me fluttered in my ear and disappeared. I bit my lip.

Just briefly recalling him made me miss the time I spent with Zachary in the mansion.

I gazed blankly at the darkened window outside. There were often times when I studied this late at the Serpentine mansion too.

Back then, the candle wax would drip down and grow long like this. But then and now were different. The accumulated wax was the same, but Zachary wasn’t by my side.

“Are you sleepy?”

Perhaps he found it odd that I was showing no reaction, just staring blankly at the candle wax. Erhan leaned in, blocking my view.

“Well, it is bedtime for children.”

He got down from the desk and pulled me, who had been standing awkwardly.

“Where’s your room?”

Why is he asking that? As I was tilting my head in confusion.

“Want to sleep together?”

I blinked. Erhan stared at me intently and continued.

“Let’s sleep together.”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard. But Erhan was calmly staring at me as if I had heard correctly. Belatedly, I came to a conclusion.

…Erhan is acting strange.

“There’s a guest room. I’ll show you.”

However, thinking it was likely just Erhan’s characteristic mischievous prank, I let it go in one ear and out the other. Too much time had passed to be swayed like in the old days.

Seeing me refuse right away, Erhan burst into laughter as if it was somewhat unexpected.

“How cold.”

Contrary to his words, he didn’t seem particularly upset. Erhan came and stood next to me.

I walked side by side with him down the dark corridor. I used to often walk the corridors with Erhan at the Serpentine mansion too. Back then, grotesque statues and paintings always surrounded us, but not now.

The corridor, so peaceful it felt monotonous, was comfort itself compared to the Serpentine mansion where it always felt like a monster might jump out at any moment.

It felt strange how different it was. I thought I would never escape that corridor for my entire life, but it was fascinating that I had come out of the mansion through marriage.

“You can stay here.”

The place where I stopped was the guest room I had been shown by the servant.

‘By the way, the servants must have known Erhan had arrived, right? Why didn’t they tell me earlier?’

I had such doubts for a moment, but Erhan was from the Serpentine family and also my brother. He probably had no restrictions on entering the mansion.

“Do you want to have breakfast together before you return to the mansion tomorrow morning?”

Still, I felt bad about sending him back without at least having a meal together. I was thinking I should find a servant on the way back and ask for breakfast for two when.

“I’m not going back tomorrow.”

“…Huh?”

Erhan’s words were too unexpected.

“I’m going to stay here until your wedding.”

There were only a few days left until the wedding. Even if he stayed, it wouldn’t be even a week. It wouldn’t be a huge imposition for Erhan to stay at this mansion during that time, but…

I couldn’t help but be quite taken aback.

‘Was he always like this?’

The image of Erhan that remained in my mind was always close to that of a ‘guest’. And a fleeting guest at that, like smoke that could disappear at any moment. He never stayed long even at the Serpentine mansion, which was his own home, and would always vanish without warning.

“We’re siblings, after all.”

Yet now he calls us siblings.

With a face that seemed to have no attachment whatsoever to sibling relationships.