An Unexpected Guest

Selene thought everything was neatly sorted.
By sending a reply to the Pianist Association confirming she would study abroad.
Going to study abroad in that distant country where no one knew her meant Theron Cox would no longer be able to loiter nearby, and she wouldn’t have to watch the inexplicable cold war between her grandmother and uncle.
Her uncle seemed to want the ducal title back from her, but that was also a matter for her grandmother and uncle to resolve.
Selene truly had no interest at all.
‘Although Evelyn is a bit of a worry.’
Evelyn was still living at her fiancé Rupert’s house, not having returned to her family home.
She said she just couldn’t forgive her father.
Selene, concerned about Evelyn, was wondering how to tell her about her study abroad plans.
It was clear that if she, too, left in this state, Evelyn would be greatly shocked.
Hmph.
Even while thinking everything was sorted, sighs, which she had rarely let out in her entire life, frequently escaped her lips these days.
Of course, this was all because of Theron Cox.
That man was entangled in all of this like the root of the problem.
So, Selene, who had been holding a pen with a frown, had to cross out the name ‘Theron Cox,’ which she had written without even realizing it.
Studying abroad was decided, and she was in the middle of writing a letter to the Pianist Association to answer their question about when she would be leaving.
Because of that, Selene had to go to the trouble of changing to a new sheet of stationery.
‘He’s no help at all.’
Selene, who had placed a new, white sheet of stationery on the now-empty desk, picked up her pen to inform them of her study abroad date.
The admission to Mulshe Graduate School was unusually divided into summer and winter, so Selene had to decide whether to go to the continent of Vetgraz this summer or this winter.
If she had her way, she would have left in the summer, a few months earlier than winter, but the climate where Mulshe Graduate School was located was hotter than here, and she was still worried about Evelyn and her grandmother.
Because those two would hardly understand her decision.
Selene’s gaze, which had been narrowed, turned to the crumpled stationery in the trash can.
And a little, just a very little, she was bothered that Theron, who had been wandering around the main gate of the ducal estate like an unemployed man with time on his hands, had not appeared recently.
He no longer sent the daily letters and gifts either.
While thinking it was a good thing since throwing them away was a chore, Selene couldn’t erase the feeling of resentment.

“I’ll wait for you even if you go to study abroad, Selene.”

He had said that, but then he had just disappeared as if he had never said such a thing.
Or maybe he had found another woman who could be a source of money.
‘Well, it’s none of my business anyway.’
In the end, Selene wrote on the stationery that she would be entering Mulshe Graduate School in the summer, the earliest date.
After thinking it over, there was no reason to postpone her study abroad.
“Lady Selene, please come out! A guest has arrived!”
Just then, Gwendolyn, who rarely raised her voice, called out to Selene from outside the door with a rather fussy tone.
‘Was there a guest that Gwendolyn would greet so boisterously?’
Selene finally turned her gaze away from the letter, which was almost finished.
“Who could it be…”
“Hello, Selene.”
By the doorway she had turned to, a tall man stood, exuding his presence.
The man was impeccably dressed in a suit, regardless of the ambiguously hot weather.
He was also a familiar face to Selene.
“Logan.”
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Logan strode forward and stood before her.
Although time had passed, Logan was surprisingly the same.
His handsome face, the gaze and expression that exuded a prickly personality, and his tall stature.
No, was he a bit taller?
However, Selene’s first thought was not that she was happy to see Logan, but that he had come too close.
Selene took a step back.
“Because you were studying abroad.”
“No, the order is wrong. You went to study abroad in Velora first, and then I went.”
Selene found Logan, who was nitpicking over something so trivial, to be strange.
‘Is the order of studying abroad that important?’
“And you demanded a breakup of our engagement while you were going to study abroad in Velora, Selene.”
“Yes. And you agreed.”
“Why do you think I agreed?”
“Because you didn’t raise any particular objection.”
Logan’s mouth closed tightly for a moment.
“…You’re really annoying.”
Logan, who had let out a short breath, stuck one hand in his pants pocket.
“I was a fool to expect you to have matured a little.”
“…”
“I wrote the date of my return in the letter. Did you even remember?”
‘No.’
Selene answered with her expression.
Logan didn’t even sigh this time.
“Forget it. It’s all my fault.”
“Logan, if you’re going to keep blaming me, you should leave. I don’t have the leisure to put up with your sarcasm today.”
Selene remembered.
Logan had been full of various nagging remarks since he was young, like a precocious old man.
Especially to her.
If she ignored him with a sullen face, he would eventually shut up, but Selene was particularly sensitive today, having been choosing the season to leave for her studies.
“Why, is it because of that man, Theron Cox?”
Theron Cox.
Unexpectedly, as that name came out of Logan’s mouth, Selene lifted her head.
“How do you know Theron Cox?”
“Did you think I would leave your side for that long without putting any devices in place?”
“Devices?”
“It’s a private matter, so forget it.”
Logan waved his hand as if he were truly bothered.
“Tell me. What is Theron Cox that you’re making such a prickly face?”
Selene, who had been frowning for a moment, turned her body as if to avoid the answer.
“It’s nothing.”
But Logan grabbed Selene’s shoulder again and made her face him.
“If it were nothing, I wouldn’t have studied all night to graduate from university early. And I wouldn’t have had to fight with my father over letters.”
“What on earth have you been talking about since earlier?”
Selene was annoyed that her friend, whom she had met after a long time, was being so persistent, like an abandoned lover.
This was not like Logan Pembroke.
He was a person who was as indifferent to others as she was, and who would not cross the final line even if they were close.
That’s why she had kept him close.
“What am I talking about? I’m talking about studying day and night because I missed you, Selene.”
Logan, who she had expected to reply with a suitable sarcastic remark this time as well, had a surprisingly serious face.
“Wouldn’t you be angry? Hearing that some random guy is hanging around you while I’m gone.”
‘Strange.’
Logan was talking as if he liked her.
As Selene was staring at Logan with a puzzled face, Logan finally burst out laughing and poked her wrinkled brow.
“Why are you making such a serious face? I’m just saying I’m your closest friend.”
‘Of course.’
Only then could Selene escape the absurd suspicion that had arisen for a moment.
“But Selene, do you even think of me as your closest person?”
“The standard for feeling close is different for everyone. That standard cannot be said to be objective.”
“So that’s a no.”
Logan tilted his head crookedly but did not add any words as if he were disappointed.
He also seemed to be deep in thought about something.
Selene asked Logan.
“Is how close we are that important between you and me?”
Logan immediately shook his head.
“Of course not. If anything, it’s better if you don’t think of me as family. I don’t particularly like having a female sibling.”
“Alright.”
Then she wished this useless conversation would end.
Selene was bothered by the letter she hadn’t finished writing yet.
The letter to the Pianist Association, informing them of her study abroad date.
But Logan, far from thinking of leaving, was looking around the bedroom as if it were his own house.
Selene just hoped that Logan would turn around without discovering anything.
“Study abroad?”
But unfortunately, Logan picked up the stationery that was on the desk.
Selene rushed over in an instant.
“Give it back.”
“You’re trying to study abroad again. It seems you’re already over with that man, Theron Cox.”
“…I said give it back.”
Selene finally snatched the stationery from Logan, who was pointing it out with a sly grin.
Logan had picked a fight with her not a little when she had told him she was going to study abroad in Velora, so he might react even more severely if he knew she was going to study abroad on an even more distant continent.
“Ah, so this is the prize for the competition you won this time. Mulshe Graduate School, was it?”
But surprisingly, Logan already knew everything, to a strange degree.
“Are you going this time too?”
Logan’s tone as he asked listlessly was dry.
She had thought it would be the same as when she had announced her study abroad in Velora, given his shocked face at the time, but it seemed Logan had grown in more than just height.
“Yes. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time.”
“Being recognized as a pianist, you mean.”
What Selene wanted was more than just being recognized.
It was to travel the world and hold her own piano concerts.
Although it was a dream that had been briefly shaken by Theron Cox, Selene had recently regained her footing.
Just then, Logan said casually.
“Then let’s go together.”
Just as Selene, who had frowned at the realization that Theron Cox came to mind with any topic, Logan’s indifferent voice caught her attention.
“…What?”
As she asked back, thinking she had misheard, Logan repeated his suggestion nonchalantly.
“Let’s go together—to study abroad.”