"Lord Rubenhart."

Esther watched as Monika approached Ulrich, who had just finished his training, offering a freshly folded towel in her trembling hands. As usual, the maid kept her gaze averted, a pink blush painting her cheeks.

Esther could hardly blame her. Even she found the sight of Ulrich’s bare muscled torso overwhelming, and purposely kept her own gaze anchored to his face to spare herself the embarrassment.

Ulrich took the towel, wiping the sheen of sweat from his neck with a quiet, exhausted exhale. His lack of a shirt wasn’t born of vanity; it was purely practical. The hours of training demanded it, and he welcomed the soothing chill of the morning breeze against his overheated skin.

"I will prepare your bath immediately, My Lord." Monika said with a hasty bow and scurried away.

Ulrich said nothing, his eyes briefly tracing the ascent of the rising sun. But then, without warning, his gaze snapped directly toward Esther’s hiding place.

Esther gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth as she threw herself back out of sight. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs, skipping several dangerous beats. She waited in breathless silence for a few seconds before daring to risk another peek. But when she leaned around the stone wall, the courtyard was empty. He was gone.

"What are you doing?"

"Eeek!" Esther squeaked, flinching at the sudden, deep voice directly behind her.

She spun around, pressing her back against the cold, arched stonework once more. Ulrich stood right in front of her, casting a tall, imposing shadow that seemed to swallow her whole.

"U—Um..." She started stuttering, her pulse racing even faster now that she had been caught red-handed. The situation was made much worse by their height difference. The top of her head barely reached his sternum, leaving her trapped, staring directly at his bare, glistening chest. "L—Lord Ulrich..." She squeaked out timidly.

Ulrich didn’t answer. He simply remained silent, his intense gaze dragging over her from head to toe.

She was wearing nothing but a thin nightgown, her bare feet planted squarely on the freezing courtyard stones. It was obvious that he did not approve of her wandering outside in such inappropriate attire. As usual, Esther hadn’t thought things through before slipping out of her room, and now the icy bite of the ground was finally registering. She was getting cold feet in every sense of the phrase.

"Um... I wanted to watch my Lord’s training..." She mumbled, trying to offer a somewhat plausible excuse as she glued her eyes to her curled toes.

Ulrich merely stared at her.

Gathering a tiny shred of courage, she lifted her chin to meet his gaze.

’So beautiful...’ she thought, instantly swept away.

Once again, she found herself completely swallowed by the mesmerizing depths of his blood-red eyes. Up close, she couldn’t help but notice that the intimidating Count possessed remarkably long, dark lashes.

"Are your sisters awake?" Ulrich asked, cutting right through her dreamy reverie.

"Um, yes," she nodded hastily, dropping her gaze once more.

Without another word, Ulrich turned and walked away.

The pressure that had trapped her against the wall instantly vanished, and Esther let out a massive, shaky breath of relief. She watched his retreating back for just a moment longer before scurrying back to her room as fast as her cold feet could carry her.

"Oh no."

Esther stopped just short of her bedroom door, a sudden thought halting her in her tracks. Instead of retreating inside to change out of the cold, she pivoted on her heel and hurried down the corridors toward the estate’s massive library.

"Good morning, everyone!" She chirped, her bright smile lighting up the hallways as she rushed past the morning staff.

"Good morning, Lady Esther," the maids and servants replied in a warm, synchronized response, pausing their chores to bow their heads. By now, there wasn’t a single soul in the estate who hadn’t been completely charmed by the sweet, radiant youngest sister of the trio Ulrich had taken in.

Esther barely slowed down as she pushed through the wooden doors of the library. "Big sister!" She called out.

Just as she expected, Hermione was already inside. She was perched brazenly atop a table adorned in a red gown, with her legs casually crossed, a thick magic book resting open on her lap.

"What is it, Esther?" Hermione asked, not even bothering to lift her gaze from the dense text.

Esther’s shoulders slumped a little as she took in her sister’s immaculate, fully dressed appearance. "Oh... you’ve already taken your bath and gotten ready for the day."

"Of course I have," Hermione replied, casually turning a page.

Esther pouted, puffing out her cheeks. "Now, whenever I wake up, I’m always all alone in the bed," she sulked.

"Maybe that’s because you sleep too late," Hermione said, finally glancing up to shoot her a teasing grin.

"It’s you and Elder Sister who sleep too little!" Esther argued back.

"Hm, maybe." Hermione’s ruby eyes drifted downward, suddenly narrowing as she took in Esther’s bare feet and thin nightgown. "Anyway, Esther, it’s not smart to wander around the estate dressed like that. There are too many perverts creeping about, especially Ulrich."

"Geez, big sister! There you go, speaking badly about Lord Ulrich again," Esther huffed, planting both hands on her hips in defense of the Count.

"Hmph. Is that a problem?" Hermione scoffed. She snapped her book shut, hopped gracefully down from the table, and set the book aside.

"Well, anyway, I think Elder Sister is once again—"

"I know, I know. I’ll go get Airam," Hermione interrupted with a knowing sigh. "Just go get dressed already. We need to eat breakfast, and then we have our class with Linnea."

"Yes!" Esther cheered, her previous pout vanishing in a flash. Beaming with uncontainable excitement for Linnea’s lessons, she spun around and dashed off to finally get ready.

Hermione watched her go, shaking her head at her little sister’s boundless morning energy. Despite her feigned annoyance, a soft smile curled at the corners of her lips.

The smile quickly turned tired and complicated, however. Now, she had the task of tracking down Airam and dragging her away from whatever obsessive, nocturnal training routine she had lost herself in this time.