Park couldn’t help but steal glances at Emmeline throughout the descent from the third floor.

He attempted to be discreet, which mostly involved looking away whenever she caught him and feigning an interest in the wall.

He was observing her posture, noting if her shoulders had become tense or her fingers were fidgeting. He was also wondering if the usual brightness in her smile had begun to fade as they approached the breakfast room.

Emmeline had not mentioned facing their sisters.

She didn’t really need to.

From the outside, the Bennett family appeared flawless; the grand, deceitful facade that everyone in the Celestial Empire had seemingly agreed to uphold because the truth would be rude, inconvenient, and disastrous.

Alexander Bennett was the brilliant, virtually unbeatable Prime Minister. His wife, the Royal Chancellor, was both beautiful and intimidating enough to make even seasoned politicians recall appointments in other buildings.

’And then there are my three stunning, accomplished sisters, each one bearing the Bennett name as if the family had personally invented success.’

However, hidden within this seemingly perfect picture was a single unfortunate stain that the marriage had supposedly absorbed with such dignity that, in nineteen years, not a single media outlet had managed to prove its existence.

That stain was Park.

The estate was magnificent, the reputation was impeccable; the family photographs were likely edited by individuals with government clearance.

But inside the house, where reporters couldn’t reach and cameras were treated like suspicious bags left at an airport, the entire situation was far more complicated.

The Bennett children had quietly divided themselves into two factions. Aveline and Evangeline stood on one side, while Emmeline and Park occupied the other.

There had never been any shouting matches, broken plates, or dramatic inheritance plots involving poison in someone’s breakfast tea.

Honestly, Park almost wished there had been.

"At least poison has personality."

Their feud was far too sophisticated and refined for anything so blatant. They exchanged polite greetings with a hint of edge, and their smiles were so professionally devoid of emotion that anyone who complained would appear overly sensitive.

The eldest two rarely insulted Park directly. Instead, they treated him like an unwanted addition to the Bennett family, a product of a production error that had been concealed from the manufacturer.

Now, everyone was too embarrassed to inquire about the missing receipt.

Emmeline, a loyal and eccentric individual, had taken a seat beside him from the beginning and remained there throughout.

Park had never even asked her to. Well, his predecessor had never asked her to either.

That boy had barely defended himself, much less her.

Whenever the siblings’ tempers flared, he would retreat into his famous silence, leaving Emmeline alone to fight both sisters on his behalf. He hid several emotional miles behind the front lines, pretending he couldn’t hear the bombs falling.

’Cold, predecessor,’ Park thought, glancing at her again. ’That was genuinely cold, bro.’

Perhaps the boy had believed that staying quiet would prevent things from escalating further.

’Maybe he had simply grown too tired to fight.’

Years of being treated like a family secret would likely drain the courage from anyone eventually.

You could only walk into so many rooms and feel like your presence had ruined the mood before your soul started to deteriorate. You know what? Screw this. Bed.

Park understood that.

He still had no intention of repeating it.

That didn’t mean he planned to plunge himself into a decade-old family feud and start hurling emotional grenades across the breakfast table.

He was ambitious, yes...

’I am also quite attached to being alive.’

Aveline seemed capable of destroying someone’s future with a single email, while Evangeline had always been more enigmatic, which was somehow even more unsettling.

Still, Park was done standing on the sidelines while Emmeline bore the entire burden of the war alone.

Neutrality sounded noble until you scrutinized it and realized it often favored the already victorious.

Besides, he had a superior plan.

He would enlist all three sisters on his side.

’My side.’

Eventually.

’Preferably without ropes, lawyers, or an actual hostage negotiator.’

It wouldn’t be easy.

Years of resentment didn’t magically vanish because a handsome young man woke up with a new personality and decided family harmony would be nice before lunch.

People weren’t System panels.

There was no glowing button labeled REPAIR CHILDHOOD DAMAGE, and if one did exist, Park was certain it would be locked behind three level 1000 dungeon bosses, an obscene number of achievement points, and a paywall crafted by Satan’s greediest employee.

Still, he had time.

And honestly, there was something almost offensive about having three beautiful women vying for him for completely unromantic reasons.

"I prefer the other version," he thought, mildly annoyed by the wasted potential. "The one where they fight over who gets into my bed first. This cold-war family trauma nonsense has zero fan service."

***

Breakfast was served on the ground floor, one floor below, in the private family dining room connected to the gathering lounge. The actual kitchens were hidden behind staff corridors and covered in enough stainless steel to perform emergency surgery on a horse.

A private lift transported every dish directly to the second-floor pantry, allowing the Bennett family to enjoy breakfast without confronting the unpleasant reality that food didn’t magically appear on expensive porcelain.

When they reached the doorway, Park stopped thinking and reached for Emmeline’s hand.

She looked down at their joined fingers.

Then she looked up at him.

The surprise flashed across her face before she could conceal it, small but painfully easy to notice.

Park gave her a slight nod and followed it with a wink, a foolish, light gesture that shouldn’t have held any significance.

It meant, "I’m here, Emmie."

She comprehended it perfectly.

Her gray eyes softened, and a sweet little smile graced her lips. Instead of merely allowing him to hold her hand, she skillfully threaded her fingers through his and squeezed once.

They entered together.

The dining room was bright, modern, and expensive in the effortless way only rooms designed by multiple people charging exorbitant hourly rates could ever be. Smooth white cabinets adorned the far wall, devoid of any visible handles. Meanwhile, glossy black counters cut through the brightness with cool, sharp lines.

A broad island sat in the center, beneath three dark pendant lights. Its rounded edge was traced by a thin strip of hidden gold illumination.

Built-in screens glowed quietly between the appliances, displaying the weather, everyone’s morning schedule, and an abundance of household information.

Breakfast had already been meticulously arranged: silver pots of coffee and tea, warm pastries resting beneath folded linen, sliced fruit still glistening with tiny beads of cold, eggs, smoked fish, preserves, honey, fresh juices, and several fancy dishes Park couldn’t identify.

He intended to devour them all anyway.

There were few problems in life that couldn’t be solved by putting a fork into them.

Even the crumbs seemed to have signed employment contracts and were terrified of being fired.

Two young women were already seated.

The first sat closest to the head of the table, with one hand resting beside her coffee as she read something on a very thin tablet. Aveline Bennett, twenty-three, carried her beauty with the calm carelessness of someone who had never needed to chase attention and considered those who did mildly embarrassing.

Her dark hair cascaded in rich waves over one shoulder, while her intelligent, severe eyes were currently scanning the screen as if whatever she was reading had personally disappointed her.

There was an almost metallic quality to the way she held herself, like dark chrome beneath the soft morning light.

She had dressed for work in charcoal clothing that was cut so perfectly.

The high collar concealed everything, and somehow, that made the shape beneath the fabric even more apparent.

Park couldn’t comprehend how rich women managed that.

They could cover everything from the throat to the ankle and still make a man’s eyes behave like poorly supervised children.

Even while sitting at breakfast, Aveline appeared ready to fire an entire board of directors.

She glanced up when they entered.

Her gaze first fell on Park and Emmeline’s clasped hands. It lingered there for half a second before rising to Park’s face.

The second young woman sat beside her.

Park’s steps slowed, barely.

It was still enough for Emmeline to notice, because she noticed everything that could later be used to make his life difficult.

Evangeline Bennett looked unfair.

Her hair was white and fell around her face in soft, luminous waves before spilling over her shoulders. It was smooth and bright enough to make Park wonder if normal shampoo had become obsolete in this world.

The morning light slipped across it and stayed there, turning the finest strands almost silver.

Her skin carried the daylight softly, with a faint glow gathering around the edges of her face. Her features were delicate without making her look fragile: a small, gently shaped nose, clean cheekbones, and full lips.

Their color deepened toward the center, touched by a soft, damp rose that had no business looking that good before nine in the morning.

Park’s brain briefly forgot its job.

’Hello? Processing department? Is anyone working today?’

Her eyes were grey like Emmeline’s, but the similarity ended with the color. Emmeline’s eyes were bright, playful, and usually one bad idea away from becoming a public incident. Evangeline’s were quieter and paler, each iris circled by a deeper shade of grey that made her gaze feel more focused.

When she gazed at something, her gaze seemed to linger there, not merely passing over it.

She wore a pale and soft dress that gently caressed her figure without tightening around it. The dress shifted with each breath, settling again and revealing just enough to keep Park’s attention struggling to stay focused.

It was evident that she had not dressed for anyone to stare at her.

However, through a cruel twist of fate, her appearance had resulted in the most captivating look imaginable.

Park finally comprehended why Emmeline had gone silent beside him.

She was attempting to suppress a laugh.

He refrained from looking at her. Looking at her would confirm his vulnerability, and he still held onto a sliver of dignity.

It was a very small sliver.

’But some,’

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