I had expected Erhan to reprimand or scold me, but his words were unexpectedly different. They seemed directed at me, so I tilted my head slightly, looking at him intently.

‘So different.’

There was a 9-year gap between us. Back then, I was just five years old.

It was natural for me to be different now, but I was too timid to argue that point. Frankly, the Erhan standing before me was intimidating. Despite knowing about my past life, he seemed older, perhaps because I was a member of the Serpentine House. Awkwardly, I forced a smile and greeted him.

“It’s been a long time. Welcome back.”

I spoke carefully, trying to hide any tension with a forced laugh. I always believed in the saying that one cannot spit on a smiling face.

I crinkled my eyes and lifted the corners of my mouth, albeit unnaturally.

Seeing my smile, Erhan’s eyes widened. In that moment, as his large gray eyes became visible, I saw a glimpse of the young boy he once was.

When was it?

The memory was hazy, being from 9 years ago. Yet, I distinctly remembered the moment when he widened his eyes as I wrapped a handkerchief around my hand. His childhood face overlapped with the one looking at me now. I recalled how, despite being only three years older, Erhan had always seemed much larger in size.

‘Is he still the same?’

I also remembered Erhan’s discomfort with physical contact. But considering how he managed in the busy academy, maybe he had changed.

‘But what brought him here so urgently?’

My initial surprise at the sudden meeting gave way to contemplation. Even though our interaction had been brief, I remembered Erhan as precociously cautious despite his cheerful exterior.

Given his character as a child, it seemed unlikely for him to barge into my room after 9 years without reason. Had his personality changed at the academy, or was there an urgent matter that couldn’t wait?

“Do you have time for tea?”

This unexpectedly casual question caught me off guard. Wondering if I had misheard, I looked at him in confusion, only to see him smiling gently, as if it were a painting.

“For tea… together, you mean?”

“Yes, tea.”

Honestly, Erhan and I were not in a position to casually have tea together. In the roughly 9 years he was at the academy, we hadn’t faced each other even once. We hadn’t even communicated.

His straightforward reply to my awkward question made him gaze at me intently again, then tilt his head.

“Why are you speaking formally?”

“…I’ve always, spoken formally.”

“You didn’t use it when we were younger. Be comfortable. I prefer it that way.”

Ah, was that so? My memories of our childhood were hazy, but it seemed right.

Feeling sheepish at Erhan’s remark, I fiddled with my lips and then turned away with a small cough. The significantly grown Erhan felt unfamiliar, and isn’t it natural to inadvertently speak formally to cousins you meet only during holidays? If I saw it that way…

“Let’s go.”

Erhan’s words snapped me back to reality. He gestured for me to follow, and somewhat bewildered, I trailed behind him.

Did he really want to have tea, or was it just a pretense?

He led the way without telling me the destination, not looking back once, as if certain I would follow. His broad back made it hard to believe he was only seventeen.

‘He’s really grown.’

Remembering walking down these corridors with Erhan in the past, I noticed how much he had changed. Back then, his back seemed smaller, but now he had returned, significantly larger and sturdier than the average stature of the duke. The situation, walking together down the corridor, felt similar to those earlier days.

We had once fled from the adults, finding solace in these corridors. It was as if that time had been transported to the present. The hall was still adorned with bizarre decorations, and the footsteps of the servants following us remained silent.

Of course, unlike before, I had become more accustomed to the mansion.

The strange statues, the ceiling paintings of screaming angels and monsters – while I no longer cringed at their sight, the inherent fear hadn’t vanished. The mansion was still a daunting place to navigate at night.

‘Ah. Zachary.’

That’s right. In my distraction following Erhan, I had forgotten about Zachary.

I saw him get up with me, but is he following me properly? Concerned, I turned back and was startled to find him right behind me.

“…Ah.”

Suppressing my startle, I stared at the fluttering paper on his face. The paper with the large drawn eyes was unsettling, but knowing Zachary was behind it somehow lessened the fear.

Zachary was taller than me but still looked younger compared to other servants. Perhaps because it wasn’t spring yet and he was wearing paper instead of the usual spider silk cloth, his appearance was even more striking.

“Sit down.”

The allowance for distractions was brief.

Our destination, reached with brisk steps, was a greenhouse designed for tea time. However, this wasn’t your typical greenhouse, and I seldom saw my mother or the duke having tea here.

In this greenhouse, instead of a variety of flowers, long, grass-like plants drooped heavily, creating a dense, shadowy canopy. This made the greenhouse quite dark, even during the day, requiring candles to light the interior.

‘The former lady of the house, who disliked darkness, created this place.’

This peculiar greenhouse was built by the late Isadora Serpentine, the previous wife of the current duke, who was terrified of the night.

During the day, these gloomy plants remained dormant, absorbing sunlight, but at night, they came to life, raising their heads and beginning their activity. The entire greenhouse would then glow with a fiery green hue, as the seemingly ordinary grasses bloomed into radiant flowers.

She, suffering from severe insomnia, had cultivated this greenhouse specifically to spend her nights, but…

‘It’s too scary during the day…’

This was my first time examining the greenhouse so closely. It felt oppressively silent during the day, and at night, there was no reason to pass through the eerie corridors to come here.

However, I understood why Erhan chose this place. It was his mother’s greenhouse, a comforting space for him.

“Is any tea fine?”

“Ah… Yes.”

The fact that he chose this somber greenhouse over the brightly sunlit outdoors was telling. The long strands of plants, resembling someone with their head bowed and long hair hanging down, were unsettling, but I tried not to show my discomfort and took a seat.

The table was already set, indicating that this place was always kept ready. A servant quietly approached and placed a tea set in front of Erhan. However, it was odd that the tea wasn’t brewed yet.

Normally, the tea would be served ready to drink. Looking quizzically at Erhan, he seemed unconcerned and began selecting tea leaves to brew his own tea.

‘Why bother…’

The servants are really good at brewing tea. Even I, who could only drink tasteless root tea for health reasons, could tell that. They act exactly as programmed, so when given precise measurements, they can brew tea that is more delicious and aromatic than most people can.

“Here.”

Erhan, with a slight smile, pushed a cup towards me, with a single ice cube in it. The ice melted instantly in the dark tea, with flower petals floating atop. There was no reason for Erhan to give me poisoned tea, but in the dim light, it looked eerily like a cup of death.

The fragrance was pleasant, but I felt uneasy about drinking it. Staring blankly at the flickering light in the tea, I raised my head to meet Erhan’s gaze.

Ah. In that moment, I felt breathless.

Erhan’s face was expressionless.

His cold eyes, staring intently at me in the flickering light, contrasted starkly with the smile he had shown before entering the greenhouse. It was as if he was…

—“Disgusting.”

As if he was echoing the words he had once said to me.