IYWHM Chapter 89

“Daniel?”

Kisa stopped cutting her meat with her fork and knife and looked at Count Vansfelt.

He had just delivered unexpected news during a rare meal that father and daughter were able to share together.

“Yes, it was written in Arthur’s letter that arrived today.”

Arthur was the name of Marquis Lowens.

“Daniel was attacked by assailants two days ago.”

“My goodness. How did that happen?”

“Well, the details weren’t written, but isn’t it obvious? No doubt he was swaggering through streets frequented by ruffians as usual and became the target of a wolf pack.”

Having said that, the Count frowned and clicked his tongue.

“I warned him before that it was dangerous behavior. He’s a fearless fellow who relies too much on his youth.”

Indeed, as the Count said, unlike other nobles, Daniel had a personality that found it burdensome to travel with security personnel.

He could protect himself?

Considering his height and build, which far exceeded the average for men his age, one could guess the source of his confidence.

Moreover, he enjoyed physical activities so much that his hobby was various sports.

It wasn’t completely incomprehensible that he would go around carrying only a knife for self-defense.

But walking through deserted streets while wearing visibly fine clothes was certainly excessive overconfidence.

Especially recently, Daniel had been so absorbed in investigating Seyard’s background that he might have become careless about other matters.

‘I knew this would happen someday.’

That’s right. He should have heeded my advice to be more careful from the beginning.

“Was he badly injured?”

From the Count’s tone, it didn’t seem to be a serious injury, and Kisa wasn’t particularly worried about him, but somewhat curious, she asked her father.

“I don’t know. The letter only said he was injured and confined to bed. And that Daniel wants to see you.”

“Really?”

“Arthur also seems to hope that I would come with you to pay a sick visit.”

“Absolutely not. Even if I wanted to go, I shouldn’t. As someone who’s getting married in a few months, what would people say if I went to visit my ex-fiancé?”

“That’s why I replied telling him not to talk nonsense.”

Having clearly expressed her refusal but still not satisfied, Kisa silently cursed the unparalleled shameless Daniel Lowens.

‘Crazy fool. If you’re sick, just lie down quietly. Who do you think you are to summon people?’

Did he think Kisa would come running with tears of sympathy in her eyes just because he was hurt?

He was still a person who couldn’t reflect on what he had done.

The Marquis Lowens was absurd too. Even if his son wished for it, he should have cut it off at his level rather than passing it on.

Then Count Vansfelt’s words interrupted Kisa’s stray thoughts.

“Well, I’ll let you know how Daniel is doing after I visit Marquis Lowens’s residence.”

“Oh, are you planning to go, Father?”

“Since we’re not going to completely sever our relationship with the Lowens, it would be better to visit once. I was planning to drop by soon anyway as there are matters to discuss.”

As the Count said, although relations had soured considerably due to Kisa and Daniel’s broken engagement, exchanges between the two families hadn’t completely ceased.

Count Vansfelt and Marquis Lowens were, after all, old friends despite everything.

‘Even though they had such a falling out…’

Thinking that human relationships were truly unpredictable, Kisa continued her meal.

****

The next day, Kisa deliberately timed it to have another meal with her father.

It was to gather information from him who, as he had said yesterday, had visited the Marquis Lowens’s residence.

‘Surely not…’

In fact, she had suddenly developed certain suspicions regarding Daniel’s injury last night.

“Daniel? It seems he’s suffering from full-body bruising, making movement difficult for the time being.”

In response to Kisa’s question, the Count began talking about Daniel even before all the food had arrived.

“Full-body bruising? Just how badly was he beaten?”

“Apparently he was walking down a slope when the perpetrators pushed him from behind. Not satisfied with that, they beat Daniel after he fell, then stole his wallet and anything valuable before fleeing.”

“Goodness.”

Although she felt not the slightest sympathy for Daniel, crime was crime, and Kisa frowned.

“So it wasn’t just one person. Have they caught the perpetrators?”

“No. The authorities are investigating, but the possibility of catching them seems very slim. Because they wore masks, Daniel couldn’t identify their appearances, and since it was a sparsely populated area, there were no witnesses.”

“Such terrible luck. Knowing Daniel’s personality, he must be grinding his teeth by now.”

“…But Daniel said something strange. He claimed it wasn’t simple robbers but that someone had hired them to attack him.”

Kisa opened her eyes wide and stared at her father.

After a moment’s hesitation, she carefully asked, “Who does he think it was?”

“I don’t know. I just happened to overhear him shouting as I was passing by the corridor.”

“Was he holding back in front of you?”

“Well, I would have had to see him face to face to know.”

“What? Didn’t you meet with Daniel?”

At his daughter’s question, he slowly shook his head.

“I thought so too, but when I arrived, they said Daniel’s condition had suddenly worsened. So I only spoke with Arthur before returning. Everything I’ve told you was information I heard through Arthur.”

“I thought his injury wasn’t that serious… Can it suddenly worsen like that?”

“I wonder about that too. To be honest, Daniel’s voice that I heard from the corridor sounded very energetic.”

Count Vansfelt momentarily stopped bringing food to his mouth and rubbed his temple.

“Arthur’s demeanor was also strange when I arrived; he seemed flustered. Somehow, he appeared not to want me to meet Daniel.”

“Could they be hiding something?”

“That’s most likely the case.”

Kisa did not bother to bring up what that something might be.

For similar reasons, the Count also did not mention it.

It was too easy to guess.

Daniel claiming he was attacked at someone’s instigation, and the Marquis Lowens who yesterday wanted them to visit but suddenly changed his attitude today.

Most likely, the Marquis feared his son would make the same claims in front of visitors who came to pay their respects.

‘But why?’

Because Daniel’s claim was that absurd?

In truth, Kisa could easily guess whom Daniel would point to as the mastermind behind his attack.

Wasn’t it obviously Seyard?

Daniel had been investigating Seyard’s background, and he recently believed he had discovered Seyard’s tremendous weakness.

However, from Marquis Lowens’ position, his son’s claim was extremely dangerous.

Although the Marquis Lowens family was also renowned in the kingdom, making an enemy of the almighty Duke of Hillan was an overwhelmingly burdensome matter.

Even if there was clear evidence that Seyard was the mastermind, they would want to smooth things over, and from what the Count said, there didn’t seem to be clear evidence.

Accusing the Duke of Hillan without evidence?

‘He absolutely wouldn’t do that.’

The Marquis Lowens might pamper his son, but he wasn’t that reckless.

He was probably desperately trying to keep Daniel quiet.

But Daniel was also a stubborn bull of a man who couldn’t stand losing.

‘He’ll definitely insist that Seyard hired someone to attack him.’

Just as Kisa was suppressing a sigh at the thought of him becoming an even bigger nuisance than now, the Count spoke.

“Anyway, this should ease your mind a bit. Daniel will soon leave the capital.”

“What?”

“From what I observed, Arthur seems about to make a decision. To send Daniel to a villa in a distant province for recuperation.”

“Is his condition serious enough to require recuperation?”

“Well, they say it’s for Daniel’s quick recovery, but it’s obvious. He’s sending him far away to prevent further incidents.”

“…How should I put it. That’s quite a drastic measure.”

She hadn’t expected the Marquis Lowens to go that far, considering Daniel was the heir to the family.

“It seems Daniel has been quite a source of grief for his father. Well, he hasn’t helped with family affairs, hasn’t diligently built connections in social circles, and instead has associated with strange people and frequently drunk himself senseless.”

And now, after getting beaten up while wandering around without guards, he was trying to blame the Duke of Hillan without evidence.

Thinking about it, it was understandable that Marquis Lowens’ patience had reached its limit.

“It seems Daniel’s siblings have actively encouraged Arthur. They probably harbored different thoughts watching their brother’s disgraceful behavior.”

The thought that they might become heirs if Daniel was pushed out, that kind of ambition.

‘When Daniel was well-regarded, they tried hard to please him just to get something.’

Seeing this, one might think that sibling relationships were also futile.

“…”

However, the concern that filled Kisa’s mind now wasn’t the brothers’ poor relationship.

Daniel’s disappearance was good news, but she couldn’t simply be happy about it.

‘Was it really Seyard’s doing?’

To be honest, even Kisa found it difficult to be certain of his innocence.

In reality, even if Daniel’s claim was true, she had no intention of blaming Seyard.

After all, one couldn’t demand that he use only righteous means against Daniel, who didn’t hesitate to use dirty tactics to bring Seyard down.

Although he was a gentlemanly person, Kisa well understood that as someone responsible for a family, he couldn’t always act gentlemanly.

Moreover, hadn’t Daniel tried to pressure Seyard over a murder he hadn’t even committed?

Apart from Kisa’s inevitable aversion to that violent approach, from his perspective, it could be considered necessary self-protection.

‘Of course, this is all assuming Seyard is really the mastermind.’

What was the truth?

The next day, Kisa met him and told him about Daniel’s news.

“I already knew roughly from what I heard,” Seyard replied with his usual expression.

“It seems that fellow has quite a bad luck.”