Kisa blankly repeated what he had said.
“Present and future rather than the past…”
Seyard nodded his head firmly once.
“That’s right. What good does it do to recall painful memories?”
“Well…”
“To be honest, I don’t want to see Kisa suffering any more than this.”
His eyes, full of concern, were directed at her.
“In the past year, both of us, but especially you, have gone through a lot. The environment surrounding us has changed significantly.”
That was true. Kisa had broken off her engagement with Daniel, whom she had been engaged to for over ten years, became newly engaged to Seyard, and was now preparing for marriage.
“Although things are peaceful now, it’s understandable that you feel confused.”
Seyard seemed to attribute Kisa’s recent sleepless nights to these changes in her environment.
“If you dwell on past events, your confusion might only worsen.”
“Seyard…”
“Kisa, I’m worried about you.”
What could she say in front of her lover who expressed such concern with furrowed brows?
After a brief silence, Kisa opened her mouth.
“I understand. Thinking about it now, you’re right.”
Looking at him as his expression relaxed, Kisa also managed a faint smile.
“I really can’t win against you, Seyard. You’ve seen right through my heart again.”
In truth, until just moments ago, her thoughts had been entirely occupied with what might have happened outside on that day when her younger self left home to find Mustache Jack.
That’s why before coming here, while having breakfast with Count Vansfelt, she had asked him about that day.
She thought that the Count might know parts that her nanny didn’t.
But contrary to her expectations, the Count’s story differed little from her nanny’s.
Rather, he seemed quite displeased with the incident and was even more tight-lipped about it.
Well, it was understandable—the servants at the Count’s residence hadn’t noticed when the young lady went outside.
From his perspective, it was nothing short of a major disgrace.
According to her nanny, several servants were instantly dismissed because of that incident.
‘I feel a bit sorry that it was because of me, but…’
Strictly speaking, they were at fault.
Come to think of it, perhaps because Kisa had been such a well-behaved child, the servants who looked after her at that time tended to be somewhat inattentive.
Daniel, who often visited the Count’s residence, frequently came and went through a small gap in the wall, and no one had noticed until that incident.
They had believed Kisa when she claimed they were just playing hide-and-seek at Daniel’s insistence.
Though Kisa shouldn’t say it, it must have been an inexcusable dereliction of duty from the Count’s perspective.
Only her nanny, who had been ill and absent that day, was able to escape the Count’s wrath.
Anyway, Count Vansfelt seemed reluctant to recall the incident, but when Kisa kept asking, he reluctantly answered her questions.
“Well, what you heard from your nanny is all there is to it.”
“Really? I heard that you and Marquis Lowens questioned Daniel in detail about what happened. Don’t you remember anything else?”
“Even if you say that… how can I remember something from so long ago now?”
“Try to recall. Nanny told me that Daniel said we met a bad person outside.”
It didn’t seem likely that the meticulous Count would have simply overlooked such a topic.
Even if Kisa and Daniel hadn’t been harmed directly, there was every possibility they could have been involved in something unpleasant.
For instance, they might have unwittingly leaked information to political opponents who harbored ill will toward the Vansfelt or Lowens families.
When Kisa voiced these suspicions, the Count shook his head.
“That’s unlikely. Arthur and I were concerned about that too, so we questioned him thoroughly, but the ‘bad person’ Daniel mentioned was a child.”
“…A child?”
“He said it was a boy who appeared to be two or three years older than him. Certainly not an adult.”
When Mustache Jack died, Kisa and Daniel were nine years old.
That meant the boy who was two or three years older than Daniel would have been eleven or twelve at most.
Moreover, the Count continued:
“And the reason Daniel was so angry was probably because of the cat. He kept muttering something involving a mustache.”
“Is that so? What did Mustache Jack have to do with that boy…”
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The cat probably died from a stone thrown by some mischievous neighborhood kid.”
“What? Surely not. He was just a child.”
“Kisa, you might not know this, but at that age, children can sometimes be even more cruel than adults. They don’t have clearly established standards of good and evil yet.”
Count Vansfelt’s conjecture was eerie but sounded quite logical and plausible.
If young Kisa had witnessed Mustache Jack’s death due to someone’s cruel malice, it would certainly have been deeply traumatic for her.
‘Still…’
Somehow, the uneasy feeling in a corner of Kisa’s heart showed no signs of disappearing.
She kept feeling that there must be something else, something more to the story.
“Anyway, I don’t know anything beyond that. If you’re really curious, ask Daniel. If you’ve forgotten, he probably remembers it best.”
“Daniel has gone away to recover.”
“If you ask Marquis Lowens’ family, they could probably deliver a letter to him. Of course, getting entangled with your former fiancé over such a trivial matter would be nothing short of foolish.”
It was essentially a warning not to dig any further into past events.
Even without her father telling her so, Kisa had no desire whatsoever to write to Daniel.
Daniel, who had many grievances against Kisa, would certainly not tell her willingly.
Although she was concerned about Mustache Jack’s death, it wasn’t worth the risk of being manipulated by him again.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling troubled, so Kisa had sought out Seyard to confide in him about the whole situation.
‘I thought he would give me answers as he always does…’
And indeed he had. He gave her a clear and comforting answer: to forget.
It was strange. She had already heard similar advice from her nanny and the Count, yet she couldn’t let it go.
Though she understood their concerns, her desire to recover the missing pieces of her memory was still more desperate.
But facing Seyard’s worried eyes now, she felt an inexplicable guilt.
‘Right, why should I worry this person over some insignificant past?’
To the present Kisa, Seyard Hillan was as important as Mustache Jack had once been.
No, he was even more precious than Jack.
“Until just moments ago, I was obsessing over Jack’s death without even realizing it, but now I feel like my eyes have been opened.”
Kisa took his hands, which had been resting near her wrist, into her own.
“As you said, I should focus on the present and future rather than the past. Thank you. I feel much better now.”
After all, if she couldn’t remember it herself and wasn’t going to ask Daniel, it was best to just forget it cleanly.
“It’s nothing. I’m glad.”
He smiled quietly and brought the teacup on the table to his lips.
Kisa followed his lead and took a sip of the still-warm tea when he made an unexpected suggestion.
“Kisa, if you don’t mind, would you take a walk around the mansion with me?”
“Around the mansion?”
“Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve ever properly shown you around the mansion.”
“But you guided me when I first came here.”
“Back then, I only showed you the commonly used areas, but today I’d like to give you a detailed tour. After all, Kisa will soon be the lady of the Hillan family.”
Indeed, as the future Duchess of Hillan, she ought to be familiar with every corner of the mansion.
Usually, it was the most senior servant who introduced the mansion to a new mistress, but if her beloved did it himself, Kisa couldn’t ask for more.
“I’d love to, if it’s not a burden for you, Seyard.”
He extended his arm to Kisa as she rose from her seat.
“Fortunately, I don’t have much work today. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me?”
“Gladly.”
Kisa immediately took his arm, and the two of them left the Duke of Hillan’s study.
The Hillan mansion was enormous, and there were far more places Kisa hadn’t visited than she had imagined.
Even though she had come to this mansion countless times, Kisa had to make an effort to familiarize herself with the unfamiliar places as they toured around.
In a way, it was natural.
Kisa’s sole purpose had been to meet Seyard, so she had no reason to go anywhere he wasn’t present.
But Seyard diligently answered every single one of Kisa’s questions about the mansion without omission.
‘Even though he left this place as a child and has been busy with his duties as Duke since returning…’
Seyard was indeed perfect.
After the two had circled the entire Hillan ducal residence and returned to the Duke’s study where they had originally been, Seyard said:
“Ah, I just realized I missed one place.”
With a sheepish expression, he pointed to a room located a few doors away from the study.
It was a place that she had assumed was an empty room since he had passed over it without explanation earlier.
Leading Kisa to the door of that room, Seyard began to speak.
“Hmm, how should I describe this room… It’s a secret room.”
“A secret room?”
“Yes, a room where I keep my secrets that I don’t want others to discover.”
At those words, Kisa’s heart began to race.
Seyard’s secrets, unknown to others—it naturally elevated her mood.
However, the next moment, the words that came from his mouth were contrary to her expectations.
“Kisa, would you make a promise with me?”
“…What kind of promise?”
He placed a key in Kisa’s hand.
“Here is a key that can open all the rooms in this mansion. You may open any door you wish. Except for this room.”
“What?”
“Please promise me that no matter what happens, you will never open this room.”
