The moment the Princess uttered those words, Kisa focused on the expression of the person closest to her before she could even comprehend their meaning.
Then her attention was completely captivated by the unbelievable sight before her eyes.
It happened in the blink of an eye, but she saw it clearly.
The intense and blatant displeasure that appeared on Seyard’s face.
Since he usually wore a smiling expression, the most he would show when expressing negative emotions was to blink expressionlessly or slightly furrow his brow.
Kisa was considerably surprised by the fact that Seyard would reveal his discomfort so distinctly.
However, that expression vanished before Kisa could feel anything beyond surprise.
When she closed her eyelids once and lifted them again, Seyard was back to his expressionless face mixed with awkwardness and annoyance, just as before.
“My goodness, how ridiculous that you would resemble him even in that way.”
The Princess showed no change in her demeanor, apparently not having witnessed that expression. It seemed she had been glancing at Kisa at that moment.
“Princess.”
Seyard spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.
“Let’s stop talking about the deceased now.”
One of the Princess’s eyebrows curved.
“Why? Are you resentful of your brother who was born with everything, unlike you? Is that why you don’t even want to hear about him?”
“That’s not it. You’ve been too excited since earlier. Please calm down a bit.”
“If you want me to calm down, tell me where Gabriel Williams is. Didn’t everything go according to the Duke’s plan? If you don’t answer me, I will continue to make things difficult for the Duke.”
“……”
A somewhat tired sigh escaped from Seyard’s lips.
Kisa’s heart raced with worry that he might actually tell the Princess where Gabriel had gone.
It was true that he highly valued the young musician’s talent, but he didn’t seem to have much personal affection for him.
Coldly speaking, it would be more advantageous for Seyard to simply hand Gabriel over to her rather than continue having friction with the Princess.
‘But if that happens…’
Wouldn’t Gabriel, who had fled once only to be caught again, be treated even more harshly than before?
The thought made Kisa’s heart ache with pity for him.
Just then, Kisa’s and Seyard’s gazes met in midair.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but those reddish-brown eyes seemed to be telling Kisa to be at ease.
“I truly don’t know, Princess. Gabriel Williams, whether out of excessive kindness or foolishness, refused my help and left this place.”
“What did you say?”
“Unfortunately, that’s all I can tell you.”
The Princess gnashed her teeth.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I don’t understand why you’re making things complicated when you’re not even long-time acquaintances with Gabriel. Or do you find my warning that amusing?”
“Amusing? How could that be? However, Princess, I would like you to understand this.”
He stated firmly yet respectfully.
“Even if you are a princess, coming to my private residence without notice, rummaging around inside, and making unreasonable demands constitutes a clear overreach of authority.”
The Princess, finding this unexpected, briefly opened her eyes wide before letting out a deflated sound.
“And?”
“This once, I will overlook it out of consideration for your grief over losing my brother, your fiancé, but I sincerely request that this doesn’t happen again.”
“What if I refuse? What will you do if I decline?”
“Well, I wonder what would happen.”
Seyard smiled softly.
“I know that you, being the intelligent and generous princess that you are, will work hard for the harmony between the royal family and the Hillan family.”
It was a pointed warning that even the head of the Hillan family would rarely use under normal circumstances.
The Princess glared at Seyard with fierce eyes, as if she had much to say.
Kisa watched as she clenched both her fists tightly.
But even after more than a minute passed, the Princess only stared at Seyard without unleashing her anger. Then she suddenly spoke.
“Do as you please. Even if you don’t tell me, I will absolutely find Gabriel’s whereabouts, and in return, I hope the Hillan family won’t interfere in the process.”
“How could I refuse? I wish you good luck.”
That response seemed extremely irritating to the Princess, as her brow furrowed.
“I misjudged you. I thought you were a decent person compared to your brother, but as it turns out, you’re an even more terrible person than he was.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Without responding, she turned her head abruptly. Then, as she moved to leave, she stopped in front of Kisa.
“Ah, Kisa. You were here.”
One corner of the Princess’s mouth turned upward.
“Although our relationship has become rather awkward, we’ve known each other for quite a long time.”
Kisa nodded nervously, not knowing what she was about to say.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’ll be honest with you. I’ve never really liked you since we were young.”
Suddenly, the Princess lifted Kisa’s chin with her hand.
“What’s so special about this mere beauty.”
In her piercing gaze, fragments of a long-held emotion could be felt.
“Still, you haven’t done anything particularly wrong yourself, and for the sake of our history together, I’ll give you one piece of advice.”
The Princess removed her hand from Kisa’s chin and glanced at Seyard behind her.
“Be wary of your fiancé. He might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or perhaps something even worse.”
It was a warning aimed more at Seyard than Kisa, and the man who had just received the explicit criticism simply watched the two women’s conversation quietly.
“Just because he treats you well now, just because he has an extremely kind and sweet face, if you believe him completely, innocent Kisa, you might be devoured whole. By then, it will be too late for regrets.”
“……”
Kisa took a deep breath to gather her courage.
To be honest, Kisa had quite respected and liked the Princess, so Arta’s words about disliking her since the past stung her heart.
However, separate from that, she had to say what needed to be said.
“Princess, that’s a misunderstanding.”
Kisa moved her lips slowly to convey her thoughts clearly.
“His recruitment of Gabriel for our engagement party happened before the incident when you invited me to the tea party and… put me in that difficult situation.”
She couldn’t stand by and watch Seyard be falsely accused.
“Therefore, the assumption that he used Gabriel to get revenge for what happened to me doesn’t make sense. Also, the reason he recruited Gabriel was because I attended a concert at the Darion ducal mansion and happened to hear his performance, which deeply moved me—”
Hahahahaha. The Princess’s sudden burst of laughter cut off Kisa’s words.
“Oh, Kisa. Sweet, naive Kisa.”
Arta, with her eyes gently narrowed, stroked Kisa’s shoulders with a soft touch.
“I’m worried precisely because you blindly trust the Duke like this.”
“What?”
“The sequence of events is entirely irrelevant. Anyone who isn’t a fool could anticipate that I would harbor resentment toward you because of your engagement to the Duke. It would be easy to predict that I would eventually summon you and make life difficult for you. In other words, he could have approached Gabriel in advance.”
Her words didn’t end there.
“And what else? Oh, you say his recruitment of Gabriel was a coincidence? Let me ask you one thing. Was it your own will to attend the concert at the Darion ducal mansion? Did someone not suggest it first and invite you to go together?”
“That’s…”
“The fact that your hobby is violin music is information anyone could discover if they tried. How likely is it that someone like you, with such interests, wouldn’t appreciate the performance of Gabriel, who has innate talent?”
Unable to find a counterargument, Kisa unconsciously looked down at her feet.
The Princess withdrew her hand from Kisa’s shoulder, showing what seemed like a victorious smile.
“Well then, I hope you’ll think about it carefully, Kisa.”
“Have you finished what you wished to say?”
Seyard, who had been silently observing the two women until now, moved.
“I’ll escort you to the gate. Shall we go?”
His face was thoroughly devoid of emotion. Even after hearing all of the Princess’s words, he didn’t seem particularly flustered, nor did he appear angry.
“No need. I can find my way out.”
The Princess answered curtly, as if his composure irritated her, and left without any proper farewell.
She truly was like a storm, both in her arrival and departure.
“Kisa.”
Seyard softly called out to Kisa, who was absentmindedly watching the Princess’s retreating figure.
“Are you alright?”
He looked at his fiancée with concerned eyes.
“I’m fine.”
Kisa quickly answered to reassure Seyard.
“The Princess is very angry about losing Gabriel. Especially since he was last seen here, she seems to want to blame everything on Seyard.”
Looking back, it was indeed Seyard who had suggested attending the concert at the Darion ducal mansion together since they had been invited.
The timing of Gabriel’s recruitment might not be that important either.
However, there was one critical flaw in her assumptions.
“Seyard wouldn’t go that far for me.”
“……”
Unless they were truly in a passionate romantic relationship as rumored, using a hidden lover to get back at the Princess for the sake of Kisa, his contract marriage partner?
It was impossible. Even if Seyard had that kind of affection for Kisa, the Princess’s suspicion was too extreme.
It wasn’t as if Kisa had been slapped when summoned by the Princess; she’d just been embarrassed a bit. Would he use such drastic measures to avenge that?
“Isn’t that right?”
In response to Kisa’s question, Seyard smiled faintly.
“That’s right.”
