"You two must have been up to no good upstairs again, right?"

Adeline rose and walked toward Felyn, pulling a handkerchief embroidered with a violet flower from her sleeve.

The handkerchief carried a faint fragrance as it gently roamed Felyn's neck.

"You didn't even wipe off the lipstick mark properly..." she murmured, her long fingers lightly brushing his Adam's apple as she adjusted his collar.

Felyn lowered his head to meet her gaze, seeing that her grayish-blue eyes were filled with amusement. The corners of Adeline's mouth lifted into a faint smile.

"Have you washed up?" she asked, leaning closer. Her warm breath made the tips of Felyn's ears burn.

"Yes, I have."

"Then hurry and eat." Adeline's fingertip gave his collar a light tug.

The breakfast was lavish.

Bacon, steak, stew, salad, and some other high-class dishes he couldn't even name.

If Felyn had to make it himself, he most likely couldn't have.

The ingredients must have been brought by the various young ladies present.

"Olivia, Dorothy, you two go wash your hands and get ready to eat." Seeing Dorothy and Olivia still squatting on the floor playing with Hermi, Adeline walked over and patted their shoulders, her rose-tea-colored hair draping over them.

"Okay~"

Dorothy drew out the last syllable, patted Hermi's head, and went with Olivia to wash their hands.

The morning light slanted through the gaps in the blinds, casting layered grids of light on the oak floor.

The air smelled wonderful this morning—the greasy aroma of frying bacon, the rich scent of the stew, and the fragrance of the bouquet of blue roses on the table. Olivia had just picked them from the garden this morning, their petals still dotted with undried dew.

But the best scent of all was the fresh, girlish fragrance emanating from the young ladies themselves.

Adeline wiped the tableware with a cloth, the fork and porcelain plate making a pleasant clinking sound. Zervanie sliced the rye bread with a knife. After spreading jam on it, she quietly pushed the bread in front of Felyn.

Dorothy came out of the kitchen humming a tune, her legs swinging nonstop after she sat down on her chair.

When everyone was finally seated, the morning light happened to shift to the center of the dining table.

The warm sunlight shone on Felyn, making him feel a bit dazed.

When did his house become so lively?

But he didn't dislike it.

"Try this, I made it myself."

Zervanie pushed another plate over. On the sandwich in the center, Felyn's name was written in ketchup, with two small hearts drawn beside it.

"It feels a bit weird, like I'm eating myself..." Although he complained, Felyn still picked up the sandwich.

"Then next time I'll draw my name on it, wouldn't that be..." Zervanie leaned close to Felyn's ear and whispered, "Wouldn't that be like you're~ eating~ me~?"

Felyn brought the sandwich to his lips, but suddenly felt his body resisting the act of eating, a strange fear rising within him.

Why? This sandwich looks delicious.

He suppressed the panic in his heart and took a small bite.

"Mmm! Delicious! Zervanie, with skills like these, you could open your own restaurant." Felyn's eyes lit up.

Zervanie shook her head smugly, then rested her chin on Felyn's shoulder, nuzzling him like Hermi.

"No way~ This is a breakfast of love, just for you."

"Miss Zervanie!" Adeline's fork clinked against her glass. Her rose-tea-colored hair swayed slightly as she straightened up.

"Didn't we agree? No doing things at the dining table that violate etiquette." She narrowed her grayish-blue eyes, glaring at Zervanie.

Zervanie stuck her tongue out at Adeline and made a face. "You all get to see Felyn every day. I have to tour all over the world and can only see him once every two or three weeks..."

Her voice trailed off, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a strand of her hair. "Can't you... just be a little lenient?"

Adeline was not the least bit softened by Zervanie's appearance. "Don't even try. You pulled this same pitiful act last time and ended up monopolizing Felyn for the whole day. I'm not falling for it this time."

"Hmph!"

Adeline carefully wiped her mouth with her napkin, stood up to clear her plate, and turned towards the kitchen.

"I'll be leaving first. There's a ton of things to do at school. You all take your time."

Although she said that, she circled around behind Felyn, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her whole body against him. Her rose-tea-colored hair cascaded down, carrying a faint citrus scent.

She leaned close to Felyn's ear, her voice incredibly soft, "Are you really not coming to see me at noon today?"

"I have something to do this noon. How about tomorrow?"

"You always say that..." Adeline whimpered, swaying gently while hanging on him. "If I weren't also busy this noon, I would have definitely come to grab you."

Felyn turned his head, his face meeting her slightly puffed-out cheeks. "You must be exhausted lately with all the school festival preparations, Student Council President."

"Hehe." Adeline's brow instantly smoothed out. "With you saying that, it's not tiring at all."

She just lay there quietly for a moment, her gentle breath brushing against the side of Felyn's neck.

A moment later, she reluctantly stood up, her lips brushing past Felyn's ear, exhaling a warm breath.

"See you tonight, Felyn."

She picked up the handbag she had left by the door, tidied her rose-tea-colored hair, and waved to Felyn and the others before leaving for school first.

"Hmph!" Zervanie's fork stabbed viciously into a sausage. "Who was it just now talking about table manners?! In the end, wasn't she hugging and embracing him too!"

"Felyn, you're just too easy on Adeline. You agree to whatever she says."

"Exactly, Brother Felyn is biased!" Dorothy, across the table, also slammed her hand on the table, her pink lips pouted high.

"Dorothy, I think you're a year older than me. Maybe you shouldn't call me 'brother'?"

"No!" Dorothy shook her head violently, her pinkish-purple hair blooming in the air like a firework. "You will always be my Brother Felyn!"

The next second, Dorothy ducked under the table and crawled into Felyn's lap from underneath.

"What are you doing? You haven't even finished your breakfast, have you?"

"Brother Felyn, feed me~"

Before Felyn could answer, a pair of fair hands suddenly reached over and pulled Dorothy out of his lap as if pulling up a radish.

"Your Highness, you're going to act spoiled too? Then I'm going to sit in Felyn's lap as well." Zervanie had somehow appeared behind Felyn. She held Dorothy up with both hands and then placed her on the ground.

Zervanie had finally gotten a chance to sit next to Felyn, only to find that this group of people didn't follow the rules at all.

When she turned around, she found her seat had been taken by the pink-haired young lady.

"Viloti! That's my seat!"

"I thought you were finished." Viloti blinked her amber eyes, her expression blank.

"I'm not! You're definitely doing this on purpose! That's not how you play!"

Having too many young ladies in the house is also a kind of trouble, right?

As long as they were here, the shadow of loneliness would never appear in this house.

Felyn, who was used to being alone, felt that days like these were not so bad after all.

It was just that, Felyn always felt that something was off.

What could it be?

(End of Chapter)