The carriage door burst open suddenly, and both their heads immediately turned toward it.

“B-Brother!”

Brother? That guy is Ray’s older brother?

The man was a contrast to Ray’s dark locks, sporting bright brown hair and skin so pale he looked like he’d never been under the sun. Although he was a bit on the scrawny side, his natural frame made him tall.

He had the same sharp eyes as Ray, but they were filled with mischief.

“Eek!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected appearance of his family member, Iva promptly pushed Ray away and bolted upright.

Ray, equally surprised by his unannounced elder brother, was thrown off balance and half-fell back into his seat under Iva’s push.

“Brother. This, um, this is.”

“H-hello. I am, well, um, who I am is—”

Both Iva and Ray stuttered, their faces turning bright red, which made the brother’s grin grow even wider.

“Haha. So our little crybaby has grown up, huh?”

Before they could process his snide remark, he whipped around and yelled.

“Father! Our little crybaby has brought home someone he’s going to marry!”

What the hell? I thought he was supposed to be resting and recuperating! How can he be so loud?

As his shout reverberated through the entire Grace estate, Iva mentally blamed herself.

Ah, I should have come alone.

* * *

Inside the Grace villa of the Duke Castello family.

Upon hearing that his second son had arrived with a woman, Ray’s father, the former Duke, also came out to greet Iva.

“Nice to meet you. I’m the former head of the Castello family, Theoz Castello.”

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Iva Blanche from the Blanche family.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Leo Castello, your husband’s brother.”

“He’s not my husband, Mr. Leo.”

“Brother….”

A single jest from Leo was enough to set both their faces aflame.

Leo only resembled Ray in the shape of their eyes, but their father Theoz was the spitting image of Ray.

From the atmosphere he carried to his bone structure and even his smile, you’d believe it if someone said he single-handedly gave birth to Ray.

As Iva shook hands with Theoz, she finally felt like she had truly arrived at the Grace.

“By the way, baby.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, Father.”

Both Iva and Ray responded simultaneously. Surprised, they looked at each other, and their cheeks flushed when their eyes met.

Laughing, Leo explained as if he were talking to children.

“Haha, when Father called ‘baby,’ he was referring to our Ray. It’s a habit of his.”

Iva felt embarrassed for responding habitually to a term she’d often heard in her own home and quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. My parents also call me that, so I answered out of habit.”

“It’s fine. If you become part of our family, you can both be ‘baby.'”

God, he’s been so annoying from the get-go.

Iva gave Leo a sidelong glare for continually teasing her.

“Baby… I mean, Ray, why are you wearing a formal suit today? You hardly wear one in front of me because you find it awkward.”

“Ah, well, about that…”

Caught by his father’s question, Ray looked to Iva with a troubled expression.

Theoz and Leo already knew the answer, but Iva, completely unaware, simply looked at Ray curiously.

“Haha, our youngest has really grown up.”

“I know right, Father.”

“Ahem.”

As the family members engaged in warm conversation after such a long time apart, Iva laughed along, even though she still didn’t know the reason behind it.

“Haha, it’s just one young lady, and yet three grown men are so excited.”

“Exactly, Father. We should probably have a seat added to the dinner arrangements.”

“Right, I’ll speak to the chef.”

Theoz got up and started heading toward the dining room.

“Should I have a room prepared for you, Miss Iva? Or would you prefer to share a room with Ray?”

“No! I’ll take a separate room. Preferably one far away.”

“Hahaha, so our crybaby is being bluntly rejected?”

“Brother…please.”

Ray could only facepalm at Leo’s teasing. It seemed Leo was enjoying his younger brother’s reaction and continued to tease him.

“Wait a moment. I’ll tell the butler to prepare a room and be right back.”

Once Leo left, only the two of them remained in the spacious living room.

“Phew.”

Iva exhaled, feeling slightly relieved.

“Is it hard for you?”

“What? No, it’s not hard. It’s just a bit overwhelming.”

“Understandable. My brother does tend to be a bit mischievous.”

She couldn’t say otherwise and simply laughed.

“And I should’ve warned you earlier. Weren’t you surprised?”

“About what?”

“About the family nicknames they use for me.”

So far, the nicknames she’d heard were baby’ and ‘crybaby.’

Clearly, the term didn’t suit him, being the youngest knight commander and all.

“It’s fine. My parents still call me ‘baby,’ too.”

“It suits you because you’re small and cute. But no matter how many times I ask them to stop calling me that, now that I’m a knight commander, they don’t listen.”

“Maybe it’s harder for them to change because of the age gap between you and your brother.”

“It’s a six-year difference.”

She’d read the original novel, but this was the first time she’d heard about Ray’s family dynamics.