After a moment of silence, Kisa finally managed to find a response.
“Is that all you have to say? I saw everything. I saw you swear a knight’s oath to that woman.”
Hazel flinched at Kisa’s gaze, and Daniel stepped in front of her, shielding her as if protecting her from Kisa.
“Look, you prioritize another woman over your fiancée right now. If this isn’t infidelity, what is it?”
“Friendship.”
“Friendship?”
A wry laugh escaped her lips.
“What kind of person swears a knight’s oath to a mere friend?”
“Why not? In ancient times, the famous warrior, Kobos, was so impressed by the character of his close friend, Ilkin, that he swore a knight’s oath to him. He served his friend as his lord for the rest of his life, following that oath.”
Kisa faltered at the vaguely familiar story. Daniel often used historical anecdotes like this in their conversations, most of which were unfamiliar to her.
“So what? Are you saying you’ll make that woman your lord?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I truly respect Hazel. She’s someone worthy of my protection.”
“Don’t disguise your petty love affair as friendship. Kobos and Ilkin were of the same sex.”
“Does being of different genders prevent us from having a friendship?”
“How can the feelings of swearing a knight’s oath, which you don’t even do for your fiancée, be called friendship?”
“In other words, you mean there are limits to friendship based on gender. You still have such old-fashioned ideas. Well, I didn’t expect anything else.”
Daniel sighed and repeatedly opened and closed the lid of his cigar case.
“Between Hazel and me, gender is merely a secondary factor. We have a connection on a much deeper level. We’re soulmates, so to speak.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“You, on the other hand, seem to want to paint me as a scoundrel who commits adultery while having a beautiful and devoted fiancée. Do you have any proof?”
“What?”
“Frankly, did I confess my love to Hazel? Did I kiss her? Did I propose to her?”
“You swore a knight’s oath to her.”
“Swearing knight’s oath is simply a covenant one makes when they meet someone they want to serve. By your logic, are all the knights and their masters in ancient tales all having that kind of relationship?”
Kisa’s voice began to tremble. She never imagined her fiancé would be so shameless.
Daniel’s definition of a knight’s oath only applied to master-servant or lord-vassal relationships; in the context of a young man and woman, it was nothing more than a romantic proposal.
He was denying a self-evident truth without batting an eye.
“Do you think I didn’t hear you? You said your life changed after meeting that woman. You even said every moment is joyful.”
“So what? Nowhere did I say I romantically love Hazel.”
“Daniel, you really!”
“It’s all a misunderstanding stemming from your preconceptions. You should get rid of that outdated notion that men and women can’t be friends.”
He took a cigar from the case he had been opening and closing and rummaged in his pocket.
“She and I are simply friends who communicate on a soul-to-soul level. Don’t worry, there’s no romantic relationship between us as you’re worrying about.”
“……I don’t understand you at all.”
“What else?”
“Soul-to-soul communication? Fine, let’s say that’s true. But why are you sharing that with another woman instead of your fiancée?”
Her eyes stung, but Kisa tried her best not to cry in front of them. It was her last remaining pride.
“Engagement is a promise to marry. Is it right to be so close to that woman, even swearing a knight’s oath to her, while leaving me, your future spouse? Are you really that unconcerned?”
“Hmm, so you’re saying I should have chosen you as my soulmate?”
“Yes, if that grand thing was absolutely necessary for you, and that person had to be a woman.”
His answer required a moment’s wait. He took a knife from his inner coat pocket, cut the end of the cigar, and lit it with a lighter.
“Kisa, do I really have to say this?”
“Say it. Daniel Lowens.”
He took a deep drag of his cigar.
“You’re too… to be my soulmate.”
He hesitated for a moment before uttering clear words.
“Stupid.”
Kisa’s jaw dropped, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. Daniel scratched his head, looking at his fiancée.
“Damn it. I didn’t want to say this to you. But sometimes, being direct is better than beating around the bush.”
“……I’m stupid?”
“In my estimation, yes.”
“Your self-confidence is through the roof. I don’t deserve to hear that. What about me is stupid?”
“Okay, I’m sorry. My statement was inappropriate. You’re just on a different intellectual level than me. By average standards, you’re quite excellent.”
His condescending tone, implying he would grant her recognition, further fueled Kisa’s anger.
“Tell me! What about me is stupid!”
“Let’s stop this.”
“Stop what? Did you think you could just insult me and get away with it?”
“No, I didn’t intend to insult you.”
At that moment, a third person, who had remained silent until now, intervened in their conversation for the first time.
“Both of you, please calm down.”
The woman who appeared from behind Daniel met Kisa’s eyes.
“Miss Vansfelt. Believe it or not, my relationship with your fiancé is purely platonic. I can swear to it.”
“……Excuse me. Stay out of this. This is between me and this man.”
Kisa, already overwhelmed by arguing with Daniel, had no energy to deal with this woman as well. However, the woman with gray hair didn’t back down.
“No. Since you misunderstood because you saw me with him, I also bear some responsibility.”
Kisa’s annoyance surged. While her fiancé, who had betrayed her and called her stupid, was the most loathsome person at that moment, this woman was by no means a pleasant person to Kisa either.
Kisa had simply postponed dealing with this unknown woman. She intended to handle it after settling things with Daniel.
But this woman kept trying to persuade Kisa.
“Let’s talk. Let’s calmly talk and clear up this misunderstanding. Right now, both of you are too emotional—”
“Stop it!”
In the end, Kisa yelled at someone she had just met for the first time that day. It was the first time this had happened since she began receiving etiquette lessons as a child.
“Watch your tongue.”
The reply came first from Daniel, who was standing next to the woman she had yelled at. The way he glared, as if he were furious that the woman had been scolded.
“You watch your tongue, Daniel Lowens. And you should know your place as well.”
After snapping at him, Kisa turned her attention to the surprised woman.
“Do you think it’s normal behavior to accept a knight’s oath from another woman’s fiancé and continue the relationship like this? It seems you weren’t unaware that this man is engaged.”
“Kisa, stop.”
“How dare you try to stop me, acting as if you’re innocent?”
“Just stop it!”
Daniel shouted, pushing his arm between Kisa and his friend, separating them. As the tall, well-built man glared, Kisa instinctively cowered.
A different kind of shock hit her. Even though she had already experienced his betrayal several times, she unconsciously continued to believe that Daniel wouldn’t act so threateningly towards her.
“……What right do you have to treat me like this?”
Daniel Lowens responded to his fiancée and childhood friend’s tearful question with an irritable voice.
“I was trying to resolve this amicably. You’re the one who’s causing trouble for innocent Hazel.”
“Who’s innocent here?”
“Enough. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I’ll answer your earlier question, so stop pestering me. Understand?”
A crooked smile settled on his face as he spoke.
“You asked what was stupid about you. Then let me ask you one thing, Kisa. What do you think about Barth’s Doctrine?”
Kisa fell silent, completely unprepared for the question. Barth’s Doctrine? What was that?
“You don’t know? Then I’ll ask what your opinion is on Griffin’s recent paper published in the Royal Society journal.”
She had heard Griffin’s name mentioned before. But Kisa only knew that he was a renowned scholar.
“No opinion? But you must at least know the fundamental cause of the recent trade friction between our country and Octava, right?”
“…….”
“You don’t know. Yes, you don’t know this either.”
Seeing that there was no answer to the third question, Daniel finally wore a troubled expression.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to know everything. Not everyone in the world is interested in these current affairs.”
He patted Kisa’s shoulder with his thick hand.
“That’s not a bad thing. It’s just a difference in interests. Besides, your father wouldn’t want his daughter to be interested in such things.”
The pungent smell of his cigar filled the air.
“But unfortunately, I can’t have a soulmate who shares absolutely no common interests with me. I also find it difficult to simply like you, someone who just blindly obeys your father’s wishes.”
Coldness spread from her fingertips to her toes. No, now a chill ran through Kisa’s entire body.
“Now, you understand? So just go. I’m not your possession. Even if you’re my fiancée, you have no right to interfere in my relationships.”
His fiancé, having said that, easily averted his gaze from her and looked at the other woman.
Over a decade of affection had been one-sided, belonging only to Kisa.
