IYWHM Chapter 67

The next day, Gabriel reportedly left the Hillan Mansion quietly.

Kisa prayed that God would protect his path. That he could finally live for himself.

And exactly one week after Gabriel’s departure, a fierce storm hit the mansion.

Coincidentally, it was the day when Kisa, whose visits had become somewhat infrequent after Gabriel left since she no longer had the pretext of receiving violin lessons from him, visited the place again at Seyard’s invitation.

“Princess Arta has just arrived.”

Gilliam, who suddenly appeared before the two people having lunch together in the dining room, reported in an uncharacteristically urgent tone.

“But, we tried to escort her to the reception room, but she ignored us completely and went to the west wing of the main building.”

Since Kisa had stayed here the night before the engagement ceremony, she knew. The west wing of the main building was where the guest rooms were located.

Immediately, Kisa and Seyard headed toward where the Princess was said to be.

“Kisa, I’ll go check. Please finish your meal.”

Seyard said this, but Kisa firmly shook her head.

“I can’t just hide. After all, I’m the one who will soon become the Duchess of Hillan.”

Hearing her response, Seyard’s expression clouded with worry, but he did not try to dissuade Kisa any further.

The two found the uninvited guest in the corridor of the guest rooms.

Princess Arta, who had been opening doors one by one to check inside, twisted her lips when she saw Kisa and Seyard.

“Well, look who it is. The famously affectionate Duke of Hillan and his fiancée.”

“It’s an honor to see you, Princess.”

Despite her sarcasm, Seyard offered a polite greeting without batting an eye.

“But what brings you here without prior notice?”

“Oh my, I’ve been so heartbroken that I ended up being rude. But please understand. I was so desperate to see the portrait of my fiancé that weighed on my heart today, I had no mind to consider etiquette.”

With a face that didn’t look sad at all, Arta shrugged her shoulders pretentiously.

“I’m sorry to hear of your distress, Princess, but unfortunately, my brother’s portrait is elsewhere. I will guide you there.”

“Oh! Is that so? Still, I’d like to look around here a bit more. Somehow I have a feeling there might be a forgotten portrait around here.”

Having said that, the Princess roughly flung open the door in front of her.

Then, after confirming that there was no one inside, she moved to the next room.

She showed no signs of retreating until she had checked all the guest rooms in the west wing.

Seyard gave Kisa, who was watching the Princess with an anxious expression, a signal to just leave her be.

So the two silently watched as the Princess ransacked the rooms as if she were hunting for lice.

The storm-like inspection took about 20 minutes to complete.

After confirming with her own eyes that even the last room was empty, the Princess approached Seyard with unrestrained steps.

“Where did you hide him, Duke?”

“Hide whom?”

“Don’t play dumb!”

When the shout came out, the already tense atmosphere froze.

Seyard dismissed the mansion’s servants, including Gilliam, who were awkwardly standing around.

When he mentioned there were too many eyes watching, the Princess surprisingly ordered her entourage to follow the duke’s servants.

“You should go back to your meal. I will attend to the Princess.”

But it was when Seyard finally instructed Kisa:

“No, stay here. My purpose for visiting the mansion concerns her as well.”

“…Princess. I don’t know what your purpose is, but wouldn’t it be fine to just ask me about whatever you’re curious about?”

“Ah, how devoted you are to your fiancée. It brings tears to my eyes, having lost my fiancé.”

Seyard let out a faint sigh and turned to Kisa again.

“Kisa, please go now.”

“Kisa, stay here.”

Kisa’s body froze at these two contradictory instructions.

If asked which one she wanted to follow emotionally, it would obviously be Seyard.

However, the Princess was clearly her superior, and truthfully, Kisa herself wanted to stay.

She understood Seyard’s heart well, wanting to keep Kisa away from the furious Princess, but…

‘The Princess clearly came looking for Gabriel. I’m curious about what conversation they’ll have.’

Kisa recalled what Gabriel had said to her in the mansion’s garden about a week ago.

[What’s most important is yourself. Never give up on yourself for the sake of love.]

It was advice filled with his sincere concern, too weighty for her to easily agree to.

Kisa had already been increasingly concerned about him, but after hearing those words, she even felt a sense of responsibility.

She wanted to help him not give up on himself someday, if at all possible.

It was still just a vague hope, but that was how she felt.

So she was also curious about how the Princess, who seemed to have noticed something, would proceed.

Of the two, Seyard was the first to surrender.

“Can’t be helped. Shall we go to the reception room, then?”

Princess Arta scoffed at his perfectly normal suggestion.

“No thanks. I have no intention of having a pleasant chat with you people in the reception room.”

“It seems I’ve earned your significant dislike, Princess.”

“Of course. Did you think you’d hear kind words after daring to steal what’s mine?”

With fewer people watching, the Princess’s attitude grew even more hostile than before.

Unlike Kisa, who involuntarily shrank back as she remembered the scene where the Princess had mercilessly slapped Gabriel’s cheek, Seyard responded calmly.

“I apologize, but I don’t understand what you mean. What of yours did I supposedly steal?”

“Gabriel Williams!”

An angry shout erupted from the Princess’s mouth as she bit her lip.

“Tell me where he went right now! Right now!”

Yet Seyard maintained a face of innocence to the point where it might seem shameless.

“Gabriel… that’s the name of the musician who stayed briefly at this mansion.”

If Kisa hadn’t overheard the situation between the Princess and Gabriel from behind the annex, she would have believed that he truly didn’t know about their relationship.

“I don’t know why you’re looking for him, Princess, but he has already left here.”

“I know. That’s why I’m asking you to tell me where.”

“Octava. He’s said for a while that he wanted to go there to study—”

“Lies! Gabriel hasn’t shown his face anywhere he might go in Octava! And there’s no record of him boarding a ship to Octava!”

Unlike the Princess, who had abandoned all pretense of courtesy as if reaching the limits of her patience, Seyard replied in a polite yet calm tone.

“Then he must have gone elsewhere. Where that might be, I don’t know either.”

“Does that make any sense? You were the one who lured him first, promising to send him to Octava!”

“It’s true that I conveyed my intention to help Gabriel Williams with his studies abroad. But just a few days before leaving here, he rejected my help.”

“Why?”

“I wouldn’t know. I asked, but he didn’t tell me the reason. In any case, he didn’t say he wouldn’t go to study at all, so I naturally thought he would be in Octava by now.”

“How ridiculous. For the past few days, neither anyone presumed to be Gabriel nor any carriage he might have taken has left this mansion. What do you think that means?”

“Does it mean that the Princess had people monitoring the comings and goings at Hillan?”

“Stop playing word games! It means you secretly spirited Gabriel away!”

A momentary silence like the eye of a hurricane fell.

Standing beside Seyard, Kisa anxiously watched the conflict, seeing no room for her to intervene.

Currently, the Princess was in a frantic state over the fact that Gabriel had fled to a place beyond her influence, while Seyard remained so calm it was difficult to discern his thoughts.

“Alright, Duke. There’s no need for us to waste energy like this.”

Having caught her breath briefly, Arta spoke in a somewhat calmer voice.

“You’ve already achieved what you wanted anyway. So just tell me where Gabriel is. In fact, you shouldn’t care what happens to Gabriel. You’ve already accomplished your goal of turning my insides out.”

“I apologize. Due to my foolishness, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I’m giving up now. Taking you as my husband. I’m disgusted just looking at your face and don’t even want to. My father and mother seem to have given up too? Who would stop you when you’re so adamant about marrying that woman even if it means falling out with the royal family?”

The Princess pointed at Kisa with a sneer.

“It’s not even funny. The way you’re ready to fight to the death just because someone touched your woman.”

What nonsense is this?

“Were you that upset? That I invited Kisa to the tea party to humiliate her? That some of the ladies who follow me said a few words to Kisa in anger?”

Arta’s misunderstanding didn’t shrink; rather, it continued to inflate.

“Fine, fine. I’ll remove myself completely from between you two, and the Duke can live with his beloved fiancée.”

After mocking them thoroughly, the Princess muttered quietly:

“Like brother, like brother—they’re twins indeed, both brothers with identical taste in women.”