Seyard’s eyes, as he asked that, were neither particularly cold, nor sharp, nor irritated.
They were simply ordinary.
It was an attitude that almost seemed like he was genuinely curious.
“That’s….”
Seyard asked so casually that Kisa wondered if she had just said something strange.
“Well, because Gabriel is in trouble…?”
Was it so strange to want to save someone in trouble, someone unilaterally exposed to violence?
“If someone is in trouble and I have the power to help, isn’t it better to help if I can?”
“Is that truly all?”
Seyard’s face, seated next to her on the sofa, gradually drew closer.
“Is that truly the only reason you’re trying to save Gabriel?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you trying to save him simply because he’s someone in trouble? If someone else were in the same situation, would you have tried to help them too?”
Kisa tried to lean back, but was blocked by the hard wooden armrest.
“Seyard, what are you talking about? Of course, I would have wanted to help anyone in trouble. Unless they were some kind of terrible villain or something.”
As she spoke hurriedly, feeling somewhat flustered, Seyard’s eyes narrowed.
“Kisa, rather, I should be asking you. Why were you there?”
The hand that had been holding Kisa’s fingertips moved up, past her palm, and reached her wrist.
He traced the diamond bracelet he had gifted her with his fingers.
“That goes for Seyard too, doesn’t it?”
Kisa, thinking he was reproaching her for not being in the banquet hall, retorted defensively.
But come to think of it, she was genuinely curious how he had suddenly appeared there.
While eavesdropping on the conversation behind the annex, Kisa naturally learned the truth that the person Gabriel had promised to meet in the garden was the Princess.
If that was the case, there was no reason for Seyard to be there.
“I was looking for the Princess because I was concerned about her whereabouts.”
He explained how he came to be at the annex, without taking his eyes off Kisa.
“The Princess seemed out of sorts from the moment she first arrived here today. Then, she suddenly left the banquet hall alone, so I thought I should check on her myself. If I had sent the servants, they wouldn’t have been able to stop the Princess if something happened.”
It was a convincing reason. If the Princess of a nation, of all people, were to get caught up in an unsavory incident, the person who would be in the most trouble would be Seyard, the owner of the mansion.
“But I saw her heading this way and then lost track of her, so I wandered around a bit. I never imagined I would find Gabriel in the deserted annex. Moreover, you were here as well.”
He reached out and tucked Kisa’s disheveled hair behind her ear.
“How did you happen to come here?”
Unlike his gentle actions, however, the question had a persistent edge.
He seemed determined to find out why Kisa had come to the annex.
“I, I was….”
She couldn’t say she had followed the Princess like Seyard. He had left the banquet hall before her and lost track of the Princess, so it didn’t make sense for Kisa to say she had followed her properly.
“Actually, I happened to see them on the terrace. I saw the two of them promising to meet behind the annex in an hour.”
Having reluctantly revealed a piece of the truth, Seyard didn’t seem satisfied.
“So that’s why you came? Frankly, I find that hard to believe. The Kisa I know isn’t someone who enjoys eavesdropping on secret rendezvous. Especially leaving the banquet hall when even I wasn’t there.”
His long fingers, which had been toying with the bracelet, wrapped around Kisa’s wrist. Like a new bracelet.
“Isn’t there another reason? I would like you to be honest with me.”
Kisa couldn’t understand how things had turned out this way.
Just a moment ago, she had been the one asking the questions, but now the opposite was true, and she felt like a cornered mouse.
Seyard wasn’t glaring at her like Count Vansfelt, nor was he raising his voice sternly. He was simply asking questions persistently.
But he possessed a power that was as difficult to resist as the Count’s, or in some ways, even more so.
Kisa avoided his gaze and opened her mouth.
“Alright. I’ll tell you. Honestly, I was worried that Gabriel might get hurt.”
There was a brief silence before Seyard responded to her words.
“Why are you worried about him?”
His voice was devoid of inflection.
For some reason, Kisa felt the restraint on her wrist tightening.
“Were you two that close? When did that happen without my knowing?”
Now, she truly felt she couldn’t take it anymore.
She didn’t want to speak.
But she had no choice but to speak.
Biting her lip, Kisa lowered her head and confessed the truth.
“I was worried that he might do something bad after being rejected by Seyard.”
This time, the silence was even longer than before.
“…Huh?”
A somewhat dumbfounded voice came from the man whose expression she couldn’t see because her head was lowered.
“Me?”
Kisa felt her face burning with shame.
“Actually, until just a little while ago, I was under a huge misunderstanding. I thought Gabriel was in love with Seyard.”
But since she had already spoken, she confessed everything, feeling resigned.
“I thought you were the one Gabriel made plans to meet on the terrace. Because I only heard Gabriel’s voice, and the Princess was hidden behind a tree, so I couldn’t see her.”
“….”
“I thought that Gabriel was forced to confess because of my mistake, and I couldn’t just stand by. If something bad happened to him, it would be partly my fault. So I rushed over, but for some reason, the Princess was there-.”
“Kisa, it’s alright, calm down.”
He patted Kisa’s shoulders with both hands as she spoke incoherently.
His right hand, which had been holding Kisa’s wrist, had already let go.
“Now, look at me.”
With his right hand, he gently lifted her chin and met her gaze.
“Oh my, you’ve turned red.”
He said, gently stroking her soft cheek with his thumb.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed. I have no intention of laughing at you or blaming you.”
“…Really?”
“Of course.”
“Even though I had such ridiculous delusions?”
“Everyone makes misunderstandings. We think we’re all looking at the same thing, but the image reflected in each person’s eyes is slightly different.”
Surprisingly, Kisa’s shame, which had been raging until just now, subsided a little.
“But I am quite curious why Kisa had such a misunderstanding. Since we can’t help but see things differently, it’s good to bridge that gap through sufficient conversation.”
It was a truly embarrassing story, but when Seyard said that, Kisa wanted to tell him herself.
He would surely listen seriously.
“Well, before, when we were taking a walk in the garden here, Seyard was called to the royal palace by His Majesty the King and left. At that time….”
Kisa haltingly confessed the beginning of her misunderstanding.
A while later, the two of them sat side by side on the sofa, chatting.
“Thinking about it now, it wasn’t the look of someone in love, but the look of a rival in love.”
“Well, until recently, I was practically considered the Princess’s fiancé. From Gabriel’s perspective, he must have felt a strange emotion.”
“I really had no idea the two of them were like that. I thought the Princess….”
“You thought she genuinely loved my brother, her fiancé?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Just in case, there’s no need to feel sorry for my brother. He wasn’t exactly sincere towards the Princess either.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I can tell because we’re twins. Princess Arta isn’t the kind of person Vischer would like.”
Come to think of it, she remembered hearing a rumor that twins had some kind of spiritual connection.
She was curious if Seyard was like that, but she refrained from asking too much about his deceased family, as it wouldn’t be appropriate.
Instead, Kisa decided to ask something else.
“Um, Seyard. Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, as you wish.”
“I asked you this before.”
Kisa carefully looked into his reddish-brown eyes.
“Why didn’t you save Gabriel?”
The conversation had strayed off course for a while, but she was still curious about it.
“Is there some reason I’m not aware of?”
The Seyard she had seen so far seemed like he would definitely have a good reason.
“….”
He met Kisa’s gaze steadily and, unexpectedly, moved his lips without any hesitation.
“It’s because, in the end, it’s a relationship he has to sever himself.”
Kisa listened to his words silently.
“I could have helped him get through the situation right away. I could have sent him away to study abroad, or to a place where the Princess’s influence wouldn’t reach. But doing so would be meaningless unless Gabriel himself decided to break away from the Princess of his own will.”
His gaze shifted slightly from Kisa, now directed at the darkened window outside.
“The only person who can completely break the relationship of oppression and subjugation is himself.”
“….But Gabriel has already decided to leave the Princess’s side.”
“No, he is still bound. Even when I suggested studying abroad, he eventually agreed, but he hesitated quite a bit.”
Hearing that, Kisa recalled that when she looked at Gabriel a little while ago, she felt that even though he said he was leaving the Princess, he still seemed tied to her.
“I see. I didn’t think that far.”
“Has your curiosity been satisfied?”
“Ah, just a moment. I have one more question.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Did Seyard know about their relationship?”
Arta was convinced that he had deliberately brought Gabriel in to provoke her.
But Seyard shook his head.
“No, I didn’t. I found out for the first time today.”
