All the changes began with those words.
“I saw your fiancé courting a widow.”
It was the opening remark from a woman Kisa met at a tea party hosted by a friend.
“What?”
Kisa instinctively looked around, then realized the arrow was aimed at her.
“Was that directed at me?”
Was it Aria? To Kisa’s cautious question, the woman, whom Kisa had only briefly encountered a few times at various gatherings, nodded repeatedly.
“It was definitely Daniel Lowens. That man. He was making a passionate confession!”
Daniel Lowens. The name of her fiancé, a man she had known since childhood and been engaged to for over a decade, a man she harbored unrequited love for.
And as far as she knew, there was no one in society with the same name as Daniel Lowens.
“Mrs. Oshuana.”
Kisa spoke softly.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding. Daniel isn’t like that.”
A hint of amusement played on Aria’s lips.
“You trust your fiancé, I see.”
“Yes, I do. I trust Daniel’s integrity and his…reserved nature. There’s no other man in the world as uninteresting as him. If you were to speak with him for just a few minutes, you’d understand.”
Daniel making a passionate confession? It was enough to make the butler, who had worked for the Lowens family for half a lifetime, faint.
“Oh, dear.”
Aria touched her pale pink cheek with her right hand.
“It’s terribly difficult to tell the young lady of the Vansfelt family, who trusts her fiancé so implicitly, what I witnessed. But you deserve to know the truth.”
It seemed she had no intention of retracting her absurd statement.
Kisa’s patience was wearing thin. She had tried to cleverly deflect it, but what was this woman trying to do?
Yet, a faint unease crept up from deep within her. She wondered about the source of her confidence.
“What truth?”
“Seeing is believing. Go to the Willow Tree on Ipeach Street.”
“The Willow Tree?”
“It’s not a real tree, but the name of a teahouse. It acts like a kind of salon. They say it’s particularly popular among young upper-class men who discuss philosophy and ideas. Though, in my opinion, they’re just pretentious fools.”
Kisa didn’t bother asking the unnecessary question of whether Daniel frequented the place.
“Understood. I should be going now.”
As she rose from her seat, Aria stood up as well.
“Aren’t you staying for dinner?”
“No, please apologize to the others for me. I’m going home. I overate at lunch and feel a little queasy.”
The other attendees were playing cards in another room.
Since a bridge game requires four players, and Kisa wasn’t particularly interested in card games, she had been reading. That’s when this woman approached her.
She regretted not sitting at the table and at least pretending to look at the cards. But it was too late.
The woman who had stirred such indescribable emotions in her was whispering beside her.
“Don’t be too disheartened, poor Young Lady Vansfelt. Men are like that, aren’t they?”
“Madam.”
“Yes.”
“If the story I heard today turns out to be unfounded gossip…”
“I understand. I will take appropriate responsibility.”
Aria finished Kisa’s unspoken words, a warning Kisa had never given to a stranger before.
Kisa silently stared at her for a moment before leaving the host’s mansion.
“Miss!”
Marsha, the maid who had been chatting with the coachman, greeted her with wide eyes.
“What are you doing? I thought you were staying until dinner.”
“No. I’m going home.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
But as she got into the carriage, Kisa changed her mind.
“No, not home. Take me to Ipeach Street.”
“Ipeach Street? Why?”
It was Marsha, not the coachman, who asked.
“I have business there.”
“What kind of business?”
Kisa was used to Marsha’s nosy curiosity, but today she found it particularly irritating.
“Can’t you just drive without asking?”
Marsha didn’t press further at Kisa’s sharp tone, and the carriage set off towards its new destination.
Ipeach Street was, in fact, an unsuitable place for Kisa, hence the maid’s question. The daughter of the notoriously conservative Count Vansfelt was unlikely to frequent a street teeming with youthful energy.
In other words, going there without informing her family was, in Kisa’s view, a form of rebellion.
“There’s a teahouse called the Willow Tree, I hear.”
The coachman, upon hearing this, easily found its location by asking a passerby. It seemed to be a rather well-known place on this street.
Shortly after, the carriage stopped in front of a building. A small two-story building with a sign that read “Willow Tree” above its entrance.
No way. Kisa repeated the words she had been saying all the way here as she approached the building.
It couldn’t be true. Daniel Lowens, for heaven’s sake. He was a man so taciturn and stoic that he had never uttered a kind word, even to his own fiancée. And that unpleasant demeanor extended to other women as well.
In Kisa’s eyes, Daniel always placed the value of his life outside of women. Sometimes it was male friendships, sometimes hunting, and most recently, scholarship.
Though he never said it aloud, he undoubtedly considered being obsessed with women to be the most pathetic thing in the world. It was evident in his expression and demeanor; Kisa couldn’t help but understand his inner thoughts.
Normally, this aspect of her fiancé would only irritate her, but today it felt like the strongest support.
At that moment, the teahouse door opened. Feeling inexplicably guilty, Kisa quickly hid behind a nearby street tree.
“So, that’s an argument that doesn’t consider future generations.”
“No, that’s not what I meant—”
“Oh, come on. You’re so stubborn.”
“It’s already gotten so dark outside.”
“Now that you mention it, when is the next meeting?”
A group of people exited, chattering noisily after their meeting. Lost in their own conversation, they quickly passed the tree where Kisa was hiding.
Kisa scanned the group, searching for Daniel. But even after looking for a long time, she couldn’t see a single strand of his dark brown hair.
Of course. Just as Kisa was about to relax, having failed to spot her fiancé even after most people had left…
“Hazel.”
A voice, so familiar it pierced Kisa’s ears as if spoken from arm’s length, even from several dozen steps away.
Looking back at the teahouse entrance, she saw two figures emerging from the building.
A man and a woman. Needless to say, the man was Kisa’s fiancé, Daniel Lowens.
“Thanks to you, I had a very enriching time today.”
Kisa gasped at the unfamiliar, lingering gentleness emanating from him.
However, the woman called Hazel responded calmly, as if Daniel’s overly sweet demeanor wasn’t surprising.
“I’m glad it was enriching, Daniel.”
“As I said before, your opinion on Griffin’s argument was truly remarkable. You presented me with a completely new perspective.”
“That’s too kind.”
“It’s not. Hazel is always too modest in her self-assessment.”
“I’m glad you think so highly of me. Then, I’ll see you at the next meeting.”
“May I ask you to stand here for a moment?”
Was it coincidence that the two stopped just a stone’s throw from the tree where Kisa was hiding?
Kisa, who had been hiding carefully for fear of being discovered, mustered her courage and peeked out again, then gasped. Daniel was on one knee.
“Daniel.”
Hazel’s surprised voice, as if his action hadn’t been planned.
“Please listen. There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”
“Please stand up first and tell me.”
But Daniel, seemingly determined, continued in a resolute tone.
“I, Daniel Lowens, will dedicate my entire life to protecting you, Hazel Turdy, until my dying breath.”
Hazel was silent for a moment before speaking.
“A knight’s vow.”
“That’s right. Hazel, you are an extraordinary person. Didn’t you draw these words from me, who considered a knight’s vow a relic of the old-fashioned past?”
Daniel slowly stood up, brushing dust off his pants.
“My life has changed since I met you. These days, I feel joy with every breath I take. Whenever I come to my senses, I’m just counting down the days until the next meeting at the Willow Tree.”
A wave of nausea washed over her. Who is this man?
This is not the Daniel she knows. The Daniel she knew looked at the world with a cynical attitude. She didn’t know a man who acted with such passion.
While Kisa’s vision blurred and her hands and feet trembled, the two continued their conversation.
“Daniel, are you seriously saying that the vow you just made was sincere?”
“Of course, it’s sincere. Do I look like the kind of person who would make such a statement as a joke? I will protect you for the rest of my life. This is merely a small token of my gratitude for your kindness.”
Hazel paused slightly before replying with admiration.
“You think so highly of me. Thank you, Daniel. I like you very much too. And I hope our relationship continues.”
“Good heavens. Is that really true?”
“Of course.”
That was enough. Kisa impulsively burst from behind the tree.
At her sudden appearance, the two stopped talking and stared at her. Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Kisa?”
“Daniel Lowens.”
Despite the turmoil inside her, a surprisingly calm voice escaped Kisa’s lips.
“What brings you here—?”
“Explain yourself.”
“What?”
“Explain what’s going on here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Explain it yourself. What I just saw and heard.”
At first, Daniel seemed embarrassed and clicked his tongue. Then, with an unhesitant stride, he stood tall before his fiancée.
He was quite tall, so Kisa had to look up at his brazen face.
“Is there anything more to explain? It’s exactly as you saw and heard.”
At that moment, her breath caught in her throat.
“Are you crazy? Why are you so nonchalant?”
“Why shouldn’t I be nonchalant?”
The man pulled a cigar case from his pocket and shrugged.
“Did I cheat on you?”
