Felyn peered through the peephole.
Outside stood a girl with rose tea-colored hair.
Could it be... I'm chased down again?
Viloti’s tear-streaked face hadn’t dried yet. She stood stiffly in place.
The courage she had just managed to gather shattered completely at the sudden sound of the doorbell.
It was Adelina.
Felyn sucked in a breath.
Gods above—how did this noble lady even find my home address?
If Adelina saw her nemesis Viloti inside his house...
What would she think?
At worst, she might just terminate their contract.
As the heiress of the Claude family, the empire's military-industrial powerhouse, Adelina appeared gentle, but her mind clearly had its... quirks.
Wasn’t it entirely possible that, one day, she might have someone accidentally kill me?
There was a very real chance.
"Felyn, please hide me."
Viloti clutched the corner of Felyn’s shirt tightly, her voice trembling with a hint of pleading.
Her face was still flushed from earlier emotions, the color lingering on her cheeks.
Felyn looked at her, understanding that the girl absolutely did not want Adelina to see her in this state—much less know what had just happened between her and Felyn.
He thought for a moment.
Honestly, there wasn't a better solution right now.
"There's a room upstairs with a sign on the door. Just stay in there for a while."
At this time, Daiyi's room happened to be empty.
Hiding Viloti there should be safe.
What Felyn didn’t know was that Daiyi, to prepare for Brenice’s inspection, had swapped her door sign with his room’s.
Viloti supported herself against the railing and climbed upstairs.
Just saying those few words had already drained all the strength from her body; her legs were starting to give out.
In the end, she didn’t manage to say that one last sentence.
Viloti looked back, catching a glimpse of Felyn hastily cleaning the living room.
Would they meet again?
Would I ever get the chance to express my feelings?
At that thought, tears began falling uncontrollably down her cheeks.
Yet Viloti bit her lip hard, refusing to let any sound escape.
She didn’t want Felyn to hear.
Even more so, she didn’t want Adelina to hear.
I'm just... a little sad. Just let me be alone for a moment.
On the third floor, Viloti found the door Felyn had mentioned—the one with the sign.
She opened it.
And froze.
Sitting inside the room, like a goddess in human form, was a girl.
Daiyi sat by the window, reading a book. She looked up, startled to see Viloti.
The closed door muffled most of their conversation, so Daiyi couldn’t make out exactly what had happened downstairs—but she quickly pieced it together.
"You are...?" Viloti asked cautiously.
"I'm..."
Daiyi closed her book, pulled out a few tissues from the desk, and handed them to the tear-streaked Viloti.
"I'm Felyn's mother."
Felyn, completely unaware that he had just been demoted a generation, was scrambling to clean up all signs of Viloti’s earlier presence.
He collected the teacups from the table, straightened up the couch...
The door opened.
Adelina stood at the entrance, tucking her hair behind her ears over and over.
Her heart was pounding, her mind completely blank.
Only now did she realize—Why did I even come here?!
But... she had already rung the doorbell.
“Lady Adelina? What brings you here?” Felyn stared at her in disbelief.
“I’m sorry, Felyn. I... looked up your address without asking. I came because I have something urgent to discuss with you.”
Adelina lied.
The "urgent matter"—
Was to find out what that damn Viloti was doing inside!
Surely it hadn’t already happened, right?
Felyn couldn’t possibly be... defiled already, could he?
Adelina’s gaze kept drifting past Felyn, trying to peer inside.
No one?
“May I come in to talk?”
“Lady Adelina... I’m sorry. It’s a bit inconvenient right now.”
“Inconvenient?” Adelina raised her eyebrows.
Her suspicions deepened.
It had to be because of Viloti.
“That’s fine. I came here to discuss our contract.”
Contract?
Actually, Felyn had been meaning to bring up that he didn’t want to renew it.
“Does it have to be today?”
“Yes. It has to be today!”
Looking at Adelina’s determined eyes, Felyn stepped back a little.
She’s probably really just here to talk business, right? She couldn’t possibly know Viloti is upstairs... right?
“Please, come in.”
Felyn brewed tea again—actually, he just used the tea he had prepared for Viloti.
While Felyn wasn’t paying attention, Adelina’s eyes discreetly scanned the surroundings.
Something felt off.
It was like someone else was living here too.
Thankfully, she had come in such a hurry that she didn’t notice Daiyi’s clothes at the entrance.
Still, she could sense faint traces of another person’s presence in the living room.
Could it be... Felyn decorated the house like this in the hope that one day we’d live together?
“Lady Adelina, please enjoy the tea.”
Adelina took the teacup with both hands and gently sipped.
It felt like she could taste Felyn’s affection in the brew.
Too bad—it was just a random cup of tea he’d made without a second thought.
“So... is there something I did wrong? Or do you want to change the terms of the contract?”
Felyn took out their signed contract. There were still a few months left.
If Adelina hadn’t brought it up, he would’ve waited until two weeks before the end to inform her.
“No, no. Felyn, you’ve done wonderfully. I’m very satisfied.”
Adelina twirled her long hair, still sneaking glances around.
“Whether it's caring for me or confessing in front of me... I’m very satisfied.”
She wanted to straight-up ask: Did that wretched Viloti come here or not?!
But she couldn’t say it.
It would sound like she was spying on him.
Linda had mentioned that a class teacher came with Viloti.
But she hadn’t seen anyone else—maybe they had already left?
No—maybe Felyn hadn’t even let them in!
In Adelina’s imagination, Felyn had coldly said to Viloti, without even sparing her a glance:
"My heart already belongs to Adelina. Please don’t come pestering me anymore. As for what happened in the dungeon, I won’t hold it against you."
At that thought, Adelina’s face turned bright red.
Steam practically poured out of her head.
“Lady Adelina? Are you alright?” Felyn looked at her, alarmed as her face suddenly flushed a deep red, like her brain had just overloaded.
Is she allergic to cheap black tea?
“Lady Adelina?”
Felyn rushed to her side and crouched down, trying to get a look at her face hidden beneath her hair.
Don’t tell me I’m going to be held liable for this...
There’s no way I could afford to pay for someone of her status!
Luckily, Adelina seemed to recover a little.
But not much.
She opened her eyes and saw Felyn crouched beside her, obedient and gentle—like a pet waiting to be petted.
She couldn’t resist anymore.
She reached out and ruffled his hair, her heart feeling like it was going to take flight.
“Lady Adelina, are you really okay?”
She’s not suddenly lost her mind, right?
“I’m fine. Just suddenly got a little hot, haha...”
Adelina waved her hand, trying to cool her overheating brain.
“So, where were we?”
“We were talking about the contract.”
“Oh, right! I came today because I wanted to renew the contract. How about we sign for another year this time?”
Seeing that Adelina was fine, Felyn relaxed a little.
He sat back down across the table, looking at the contract.
“I’m sorry, Lady Adelina...”
Before he could finish, she hurried to interrupt.
“It’s fine! If a year is too long, we can just do half a year instead!”
Felyn shook his head.
“Lady Adelina, it’s not that I don’t want to renew. I’ve truly enjoyed the days I spent with you. But... because of personal reasons, I won’t be renewing the contract.”
Adelina froze, her hand holding the teacup suspended midair.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened, turning her knuckles white.
“…What?”
A bolt of lightning split across the night sky.
Its flash lit up her pale face for just a moment.
And then—the rain began to fall.
(End of Chapter)