Adrian’s lips curved into a half-smile.

“Hi, sister.”

His voice always made her heart tighten. It was like the sound of a fierce jaguar growling sluggishly.

Rosenia, like a rabbit in front of a beast, froze and smiled awkwardly. She was thinking whether she should welcome Adrian just enough or run and hug him.

If she acts uncharacteristically sweet, he might become suspicious. However, on the other hand, it might be effective. After all, he would get very happy whenever she was affectionate towards him.

After a moment of contemplation, Rosenia ran toward Adrian with her arms wide open.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to try. Let’s give it a try.’

If Rosenia acted very welcoming, he might loosen his mood and relax.

“…!”

Adrian flinched a little when Rosenia hugged his waist. She lifted her head in his arms and smiled as she looked up at him. Then, she gently spoke.

“Welcome back, brother. I was so bored playing by myself.”

“…”

When Adrian looked down at her with a very suspicious look on his face, she sensed that her plan had failed.

…However, she couldn’t give up yet. Smiling innocently, she spoke with a whimper.

“You don’t know how boring it was to eat alone. You should have been here to chat with me. Now that you’re here, we can eat delicious food together. Right?”

“…”

“Have you eaten breakfast? I haven’t. If you haven’t either, why don’t we eat together? What do you want to eat, brother?”

Even when Rosenia heard it herself, the voice that came out of her mouth was much sweeter than usual. Enough to give herself goosebumps.

‘Damn it, was that too much?’

Glancing at Adrian, Rosenia studied his facial expression. He was staring at her with a bewildered look in his eyes.

Thwack!

“Ack!”

Adrian, who suddenly flicked her forehead, reprimanded her in a chilling voice.

“Did you eat something wrong? Did you go crazy because it was hot?”

“…”

‘You son of a…’

Rosenia inwardly cursed Adrian as she glared at him. There was a stinging sensation where her forehead was flicked.

“There must be a reason why you’re acting like this. Did you have an accident?”

When his words fell, Rosenia almost flinched like a thief. Luckily, she narrowly managed to control herself. Adrian would have caught her every reaction no matter how small.

Glancing sideways at the roses in the garden, Rosenia answered in a composed manner.

“Brother, you came back early without a moment’s delay, didn’t you? More than that, look at the roses. Ever since the rain stopped, it has been in full bloom. Isn’t it pretty?”

“Roses that bloom every year, tell me something new.”

Adrian, who scoffed at her sentiment, strode toward the rose trees.

His pale hand wrapped in a black leather glove stretched out toward the flowers in full bloom.

Tik.

Then, there was a sound of a rose’s delicate stem snapping. Adrian, holding the rose in his hand, magically removed the thorns of the stem and dyed the petals blue.

In no time, a blue rose was made. He came back to Rosenia with it and stuck the rose on the side of her head. The dew on the petals slightly wet her skin.

“It looks good on you.”

“…”

“Blue.”

The corners of his mouth rose, and soon his hand touched her forehead and patted the tingling part.

‘What?’

Rosenia guessed flicking her forehead must have bothered him.

“By the way, why are you wearing such a stuffy outfit?”

Rosenia unknowingly flinched at his words.

But immediately, Rosenia pretended to be indifferent and smiled. She can never reveal the fact that Llewellyn is hiding in the villa or what kind of relationship they have.

‘It’s over if we get caught.’

With a confident air, Rosenia replied.

“Isn’t this dress pretty because the laces are exquisite? It was in the closet so I tried it on. The weather isn’t even hot.”

“Hmm…”

Adrian, who had his eyes wide open, hummed as he tried to see through her.

Rosenia knew almost everything when it came to Adrian, so she could easily see that he was suspicious of her now.

A cold sweat trickled down her forehead from the tension. While looking at Adrian with a smile on her face, he scoffed and pushed past her.

Rosenia trotted after him. Adrian, who moved without reserve and went straight into the villa, slowly looked around the porch as if looking for any suspicious signs.

However, Rosenia didn’t think he would be able to find any traces of Llewellyn, as she had quickly removed it earlier. She timidly looked at Adrian’s facial expression. He passed the front door and headed for the living room next.

Naturally, there were no traces left in the living room either. Adrian still seemed suspicious, but he relaxed his mood a little when he didn’t find anything amiss.

Holding back a sigh of relief, Rosenia smiled at Adrian. His piercing red eyes looked at her. Fidgeting her hands behind her back and as if everything was fine, she spoke.

“I want to make you something delicious since you’ve worked so hard, so sit in the living room for a while. I’ll be right back.”

“…”

“What are you looking at? It’s true that you’ve worked hard, isn’t it? Sometimes I have to be a good sister.”

Said Rosenia tactfully, trying to avert Adrian’s suspicious gaze.

Adrian stared at her with his eyes wide open as he gave a deflated smile.

It was simply that, but her body almost flinched again. She barely managed to control her body as she clasped her hands together.

“Whatever.”

Said Adrian, casually sitting down on the couch.

Leaning his upper body against the couch, he sat slanted with his legs crossed. His figure was like a tired beast.

Rosenia felt that Adrian was much more threatening than Llewellyn, even though he was slim compared to Llewellyn. It was probably because of the sharp atmosphere that he gave off.

Telling him to give her some time, she casually walked out of the living.

Rosenia was barely able to breath when she stepped into the kitchen…

‘Will he be okay hidden in the closet? It might be stuffy.’

With Adrian’s sense, Rosenia knew she was a far way off from being able to bring Llewellyn a glass of water. She took the vegetables out of the cupboard and began to rinse and trim them.

‘Maybe I should mix Adrian’s food with sleeping pills…’

For a moment, Rosenia had such a lawless idea, but soon decided against it.

‘No matter how crazy the situation is, it’d be too crazy to give my brother sleeping pills to hide my lover…Lover.’

When Rosenia realized that she had referred to Llewellyn as such, her face became hot.

It was obvious that Adrian would be more suspicious if he saw her like this, so she quickly tried to shake off her thoughts about Llewellyn.

However, as Rosenia was cooking in the kitchen, she kept thinking about how Llewellyn made her meals and that made her heart pound. Not only that, she felt her cheeks heating up.

‘Ah, I think I’m really out of my mind.’

With her hands shaking, Rosenia had to be careful not to cut her fingers. After cutting the potatoes and carrots and throwing them into a pot, she quickly began to prepare the other ingredients.

Rosenia was going to roughly make chicken soup. She felt bad for Adrian that she couldn’t cook with all her heart. She could only do her best while her attention was diverted…

‘Whatever, chicken soup tastes good no matter how you cook it…’

Rosenia didn’t want to expose the fact that her whole focus was on Llewellyn.

Tak, Tak, Tak.

The kitchen knife struck the cutting board and made a rhythmical sound. As Rosenia was cutting the cabbages to a suitable size, suddenly she heard a commotion coming from upstairs.

‘Huh?’

Rosenia paused and looked up at the ceiling. Someone’s voice, a bang, rumbling, and-

Crash!

A loud noise of a window shattering.

At that moment, her blood froze. She put the knife down on the cutting board and slowly backed away. Her eyes were still glued to the ceiling.

‘Don’t tell me…’

As an ominous feeling slowly crept inside her, she ran out of the kitchen without a second thought.

Adrian wasn’t in the living room. Rosenia passed the front door and went to the garden. She rushed in the direction of the disturbance as she looked around.

“Heuk…!”

Stopping, what soon caught her sight was a scene that she hoped would never become a reality.

An open space under the broken window. Llewellyn rose from among the pieces of the smashed closet. Looking at the mess and his body, he frowned. He muttered something, but it seemed that he was too far for her to hear him.

Adrian stood there, staring coldly at Llewellyn. His eyes were as fierce as someone looking at a mortal enemy. Rosenia didn’t think it’d be strange if he killed Llewellyn right now.

Thump, Thump.

Her irregular heartbeat echoed in her mind. The situation had become dangerous in a flash. She was frozen in place and couldn’t move.

Like the howling wind in the dead of winter, Adrian’s voice reverberated.

“Why is this bitch Rasiane on my property?”

In spite of the insulting remark and far from being upset, Llewellyn laughed. To the point where Rosenia wondered if he was out of his mind.

“That’s right, I’m a bitch. I’m Rosenia’s dog.”

Rosenia had a strange look at her face. For a moment, she had forgotten that the situation was dire.

Adrian was a cold-blooded villain from the start, while Llewellyn, who Rosenia thought was the sane Duke of Rasiane, was actually a nutcase. In other words, she was the only sane one here.

‘Two mad dogs are trying to find an opportunity to bite each other’s neck!’

Rosenia was the only one who could stop these lunatics. But how? She was certain neither would listen to her…

‘Communicating with lunatics is impossible. Should I find an opportunity to knock both of them out?’

Time was ticking away in the midst of her careful consideration.

“Do you know what you’re saying? Duke of Rasiane?”

“I meant it from the bottom of my heart. Why? Do you want me to say it again? I’m Rosenia’s-”

“Shut up.”

Adrian cut off the insane Llewellyn’s remark.

Standing in front of Rosenia, Adrian didn’t back down and stared at Llewellyn like he was going to kill him. He slowly narrowed the distance.

“Don’t you dare put her name in your mouth.”

“Oh…that’s too bad. I’ve already put it in my mouth more than a hundred times. And Rosenia too.”

At the words of a madman, Rosenia was so tense that she didn’t know what to say. And not long after, Llewellyn smiled and continued.

“She called my name. Very affectionately.”

‘…? When did I?’

While Rosenia was completely surprised, at that moment, Adrian’s cane violently struck Llewellyn on the cheek.

Thwack!

Immediately, there was a scary sound of flesh snapping.

“Heuk.”

Rosenia held her breath. Before the stumbling Llewellyn could find his footing, Adrian kicked him down.

Then, as Llewellyn was about to lift himself up, Adrian stepped on his chest and looked down at him fiercely as if he will kill him at any second now.

A chilly and furious voice came from Adrian’s pale lips.

“To Rosenia.”

“…”

“What did you do to my sister?”