Early the next morning, Eros leaned back against the headboard with his legs bent, a picture of complete ease on his face.
Inside the bedroom, Angelica and Irina had already stepped out, leaving only him and Isabella behind.
After advancing to Sequence 6, the range within which Irina could move freely had expanded significantly. At present, as long as she didn't step outside the Duke's estate, the connection would basically remain unbroken.
Thus, Irina was hardly glued to Eros's side every second of the day. Whenever they were at home, she spent most of her time accompanying her mother, Lady Florica.
Case in point, early this morning she had already dressed and headed over to her mother's quarters.
Suddenly, the expression on Eros's face froze—for no other reason than the sound of the doorknob turning.
Seeing the bedroom door about to swing open, Eros was swift as lightning, pulling up the blanket piled off to the side to cover himself completely in an instant.
A moment later, the door opened, and Estelle walked in.
Eros forced a faint smile: "Morning!"
Estelle nodded in response, then asked with a trace of confusion:
"Have you seen that newly bought necklace of mine?"
Eros's body went stiff, letting out a dry laugh: "Haven't seen it! Maybe sister took it!"
Estelle knitted her brows slightly: "I asked Undine before coming over, and she said she didn't take it."
At this point, Estelle seemed to notice that Eros appeared a bit off, asking with some concern:
"What's wrong? Are you sick?"
Saying this, she walked over to sit by Eros's bedside. The moment she sat down, however, Estelle stood up again without batting an eye, letting out a soft cough:
"Since you haven't seen it, forget it then!"
Saying this, she walked toward the door, her steps a little hurried.
After getting up and washing, Eros arrived at the dining room to have his meal. Inside, Estelle and Undine had already been waiting for a while.
Estelle raised her eyes to look behind Eros, but didn't catch sight of the maid named Evelyn. She withdrew her gaze and focused on the breakfast on the table.
Undine, on the other hand, blinked upon seeing Eros arrive, asking:
"Mom's necklace called Dazzling Starry Sky is missing. Did you see it?"
Eros walked over to sit at the dining table, stealthily sneaking a glance at Estelle. Seeing no anomaly in her expression, he let out a subtle sigh of relief in his heart.
He then turned to look at Undine beside him, his tone carrying a bit of surprise:
"Wasn't that necklace taken by you?"
Undine's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Eros before her. Seeing Estelle shift her gaze toward her, Undine hurriedly refuted loudly:
"I didn't!"
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Then how could it suddenly be missing?" Eros framed her first.
"Wasn't it taken by you? I saw you enter Mom's room last night!" Undine launched a counterattack.
Estelle frowned slightly—because when she had asked Undine earlier, Undine hadn't mentioned this detail.
Seeing Estelle look toward him, Eros instantly felt a surge of trouble in his heart. Oh no, how had she seen him last night?!
Seeing that the matter could no longer be hidden, Eros let out a dry laugh, forced to tell the truth:
"I took it to make a trade with someone else!"
Estelle stared intently at Eros before her, while Undine beside them wore a look of schadenfreude on her small face.
Originally, she hadn't planned to expose Eros, but who asked him to try framing her? Served him right~
Stinky little brother, you're still way too green to fight with your sister~
"Spill it! What trade?"
After staring for a moment, Estelle took a sip of milk and asked in a calm tone.
Eros let out a dry cough and explained: "Earlier, I noticed you seemed to really like that Heart of the Ocean."
"So I took an accessory and two Sequence 7 pollutants, and traded them back from the person I dealt with last time."
"Going out last night wasn't just for a walk—it was secretly for this purpose as well."
"Rest assured, I was in disguise when meeting that person. They'll never connect it to us."
As he spoke, Eros pulled out the Heart of the Ocean from his coat and handed it over to Estelle.
Although she didn't quite understand why he needed to trade an ordinary piece of jewelry as well, the Heart of the Ocean was indeed sitting right before her. Thus, Estelle chose to believe Eros.
Reaching out to take the Heart of the Ocean, Estelle gave a soft "mm", then spoke up:
"Let's eat breakfast!"
Seeing the matter smoothed over, Eros let out a long breath. Undine off to the side, seeing this, showed a trace of disappointment on her small face.
After breakfast, Eros squeezed in beside Estelle, looking at today's edition of the Intil Morning Post together with her.
This morning's newspaper prominently featured yesterday's parade, alongside a newly added Science Column.
The content inside basically focused on explaining to people that there were no gods in this world and that everyone should believe in science.
Among other things, it listed various natural phenomena that were easily mistaken for supernatural occurrences.
Eros let out a soft laugh after reading it, turning his head to speak with great interest to Estelle beside him:
"Tell me, if they really managed to calculate the last digit of pi one day, what do you think would happen?"
Estelle blinked her beautiful eyes, a hint of confusion appearing on her pretty face:
"What would happen if it were fully calculated?"
"Not telling you!" Eros chuckled, getting up and slipping away to the side.
Watching Eros's departing back, Estelle gritted her teeth. This infuriating kid—he wasn't cute like he was when he was little at all.
Undine, who had been paying attention the whole time, immediately moved closer to talk smack about Eros.
Meanwhile, Eros, having left the room, was strolling through the courtyard. As he wandered into another courtyard, he happened to see Irina and Lady Florica trimming flower arrangements.
Thus, Eros sauntered over to take a look. Seeing Eros walk over, Lady Florica offered him a smile and a nod, greeting him:
"Good morning! Your Highness!"
Eros replied in kind: "Good morning! Lady Florica!"
Looking at Lady Florica before him, who appeared to be only twenty-four or twenty-five years old, Eros asked casually just to make conversation:
"Has My Lady gotten accustomed to life here in Intil over this period?"
Lady Florica let out a soft sigh, her tone carrying a bit of resentment:
"Living conditions are decent enough, but having no one for company always makes one feel a bit lonely."
Eros gave a dry laugh: "Isn't Irina keeping My Lady company?"
Eros put extra emphasis on the name Irina.
Florica glanced at her daughter beside her, casually remarking without a care:
"Irina can only accompany me during the day at most. The quiet, soundless night is when one feels the most lonely."
Eros glanced at Irina, clearing his throat: "That's easy. I'll have Irina go keep My Lady company at night then."
Lady Florica put down the scissors in her hand, a faint trace of sorrow flowing through her beautiful eyes:
"Does Your Highness truly not understand, or are you just pretending? Do you really insist that I spell it out~"
Hearing this, Eros felt a headache coming on, hurriedly interjecting:
"Hold on! Hold on! Let's not talk about this!"
Florica pursed her lips into a soft laugh: "Alright! I won't tease Your Highness any further!"
Eros let out a long breath, his tone somewhat helpless:
"My Lady, it's better to make fewer jokes like this. If outsiders hear, it could easily cause a misunderstanding."
Lady Florica curved her red lips, her eyes twinkling as she looked at Eros with a light laugh:
"Rest assured, Your Highness, I won't bring it up in front of outsiders. This is a secret between us."
Eros: "..."
Phrasing it like that is only going to cause even bigger misunderstandings!