Kisa stood alone and took a deep breath.

The emotions the man revealed were so immense and intense that it took some time to accept them.

Since their first meeting more than a decade ago?

Is Seyerd saying now that he has loved Kisa for that long?

It was a far longer time than she had initially assumed.

“To be honest, even I myself cannot logically explain through what process my feelings became like this.”

Meanwhile, Seyerd’s words continued.

“At first, I just wanted to try to understand your tears, which I couldn’t find a reason for. Perhaps, it was the first time in my life that I took the initiative to show goodwill to someone else but it ended in a grand failure, so I emotionally couldn’t accept it.”

“……”

“Of course, up until then, unlike you, the people I had encountered were well aware of the fact that I was the successor to the Hilan Duchy. Regardless of their true feelings, they had no choice but to thank me for my goodwill and smile.”

A somewhat self-deprecating smile appeared on his lips.

“Even at that time, my head understood that fact, but my heart couldn’t. After all, no matter what, I was a brat living off my own conceit back then.”

Kisa silently listened to his words, recalling the red-haired boy in her memory.

“I had no choice but to think about that day’s incident and you from time to time, and gradually, as time passed and I accumulated knowledge and experience, I clearly realized why my actions made you cry.”

According to Seyerd’s story, his understanding and sentiment regarding the concept of death as a boy were slightly different from others.

“I knew that most people mourn the death of a cherished being, but perhaps because I had never experienced it myself, I underestimated the intensity.”

He apologized to Kisa once again.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that Mustache Jack’s death was such a sad and shocking event for you. I only thought that I should let you say goodbye as you had wished.”

The man gently enveloped her cold hand with his own, so the trembling stopped for a moment.

“Now that I have come to love you, I clearly understand. How painful it is to lose a precious being.”

Looking down at their hands, Kisa recalled that day.

‘To say goodbye.’

Indeed, young Kisa, after hearing the words of an old woman who fed the cat, had hoped to bid a final farewell to Jack.

Thinking about it now, the story itself that Jack might have gone on a long journey was the old woman’s consideration.

The lifespan of street cats is short.

Based on experience, sensing that Jack was already dead or would die soon, she had offered a well-intentioned lie.

To protect the heart of an innocent young child.

‘This smart person probably noticed the lie from the beginning.’

But for the boy who was insensitive to human emotions, a long journey and death might have been the same in the sense that they would never meet again.

So he thoughtlessly handed the cat’s corpse to Kisa, leading to such a result.

After a moment, Kisa spoke weakly.

“I understood your words well. So there’s no need for you to apologize. It happened a long time ago, and now I fully understand that there was no malice in your actions. Rather, you were trying to help me, right?”

However.

“…Separate from that, I still can’t understand your love.”

Kisa pulled her hands out of his grasp as if running away.

“It’s just a story from when we were little kids. We spent only about half a day together.”

There hadn’t been any proper interaction between them since then either.

Kisa lived her own life, and he lived as Bisherk Hilan.

“But Kisa, I really lo-”

“Please listen to my story first.”

Cutting off his attempt to protest, she sighed.

“Yes, well, the fact that one of the few bitter memories of failure suddenly developed into love… It doesn’t deeply resonate with me right now, but I won’t deny it. They say there are various forms of love.”

Kisa slowly organized her thoughts with a mind that wasn’t functioning well and continued.

“But is that really love for me?”

Seyerd remained silent for a moment before answering.

“I don’t understand the exact meaning of what you’re saying.”

Even the great him has something he doesn’t know.

Thinking about something quite far from the current situation, Kisa avoided his gaze.

“Is the person you love really Kisa Vanspelt? The real Kisa Vanspelt, not the Kisa that exists in your mind.”

The man’s eyes narrowed.

“You mean I love the you that I created with my imagination?”

“Yes, honestly, that’s right. If not, I don’t understand the fact that you love a woman with whom you haven’t had a proper conversation since your first meeting.”

“Kisa, it’s true that the time we spent together was extremely short, but that’s not a big problem for love to be established.”

As if to prove his love, he placed his hand on his broad chest.

“The person I love is clearly you. Kisa Vanspelt, who is in front of my eyes.”

However, Kisa, with her eyebrows drooping down, shook her head.

“I don’t know. You’ve been saying that you love me, but strangely, I don’t feel loved.”

Then, before the man could refute, she quickly continued.

“Why did you hide your identity from me until now? Let’s say at first, you couldn’t tell me because I was averse to ‘Bisherk’. But after we got somewhat close, there were opportunities, right?”

“That’s-”

“And why did you test me with the secret room or whatever? That room was made for me to see from the beginning, right? You wanted me to enter the room? You wanted me to recall the memory of that day? If you wanted me to remember, you could have just shown me my mother’s scarf from the beginning and told me. Isn’t that right?”

Kisa, who had rapidly fired off several questions like a machine gun, slowly crumbled.

“Is it your love to pretend to leave the capital to draw me out? Is it really love to have someone watch if I enter the room?”

Moisture began to gather in her flushed eyes.

“Answer me. Yes?”

The man with a regretful expression silently looked at Kisa for a while.

Eventually, as if to reassure Kisa who was wary of him, he stepped back a step or two from her.

“Kisa, actually, there’s one more lie I told you besides what I mentioned yesterday and today.”

Kisa, who was tense about what kind of bombshell statement would come out, heard an unexpected story.

“Some time ago, when we went to see an opera together and were on our way back, we had a conversation related to the content of the play, remember?”

A memory came to mind.

The female protagonist of the opera “The Lord’s Castle” was a character who couldn’t trust and doubted her lover who hid his identity, and was on the verge of being abandoned.

Kisa felt that her doubt was inevitable, so she was resistant to the play portraying her as a foolish character, but Seyerd’s opinion was different.

“I believe that doubt should not accompany love.”

What he said at that time somehow stayed in Kisa’s heart, and it was revived in her mind last night when she opened the box containing the scarf in the secret room.

Perhaps it was because she subconsciously felt that her situation resembled hers.

“Those words, that love and doubt cannot coexist.”

Seyerd, who lowered his gaze, quietly confessed.

“It wasn’t my sincere thought at all. Isn’t doubting and acting while not knowing the other person well a more active way of expressing love than blindly trusting?”

“……”

“Trust, wait until the other person tells you. It sounds quite plausible and grand, but honestly, it can only be interpreted as being afraid to take action directly.”

At first, Kisa thought it was an abrupt remark, but she soon realized that it was his answer to the question she had just asked.

“After all, it’s easier to avoid responsibility for bad results by following the wishes of others rather than going against them.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“Oh my, was the story too long-winded? I have no face. My heart got too excited while talking.”

He laughed awkwardly and said in conclusion.

“I believe that true love is actively acting for the other person without succumbing to trivial constraints, even if it means betraying existing rules, customs, or the beliefs of others.”

If it seems like there is a deep thrill in his strangely unsettled voice, is it Kisa’s illusion?

“Just like how Kisa, in the old days, took the deviation of running away to find Mustache Jack.”

Although she had encountered many unfamiliar aspects of Seyerd since last night, this was another first.

“Kisa, having grown up obediently under a strict father, I know well how great a decision it was and how actively it expressed your love.”

In Kisa’s eyes, although she wasn’t sure if this expression was appropriate, he seemed to be in ecstasy and also shy.

“I wanted to be loved like that too.”

He whispered kindly to Kisa, who couldn’t even swallow.

“And thankfully, last night, my dream came true. Entering the secret room was a choice that could potentially make you lose a lot, including your trust in me. But you didn’t succumb to it and eventually chose to learn about me.”

Even when Kisa called his name, Seyerd, he didn’t stop talking.

“Thanks to you, I am now the happiest person in the world. I love you, Kisa.”