Kisa hurriedly left her seat and headed to the first floor of the mansion.

Before long, his figure wearing a silk hat could be seen among the flowers decorating the front of the entrance.

“Seyerd!”

At Kisa’s call, the man looked up at the stairs and showed a brazen smile.

“I was waiting for you. My Kisa.”

“What is all this?”

Kisa, who came down the stairs and stood beside Seyerd, frowned as she looked at the colorful flowers.

Moreover, people carrying flower vases or floral decorations were still entering through the front door.

Seyerd, who examined Kisa’s expression, asked with drooping eyebrows.

“I wanted to make you feel good, so I prepared a surprise gift, but was it not good?”

Kisa couldn’t even argue much at the unexpectedly careful attitude.

“No, this is a bit sudden. Even Father would be bewildered to see the mansion turned into a sea of flowers.”

“If it’s him, he arrived a step ahead and we exchanged greetings earlier. Fortunately, he didn’t say much.”

“Even so… it’s too burdensome. To have this many flowers in this winter.”

Considering the price of flowers grown in greenhouses, it couldn’t have been just a penny or two.

However, Seyerd smiled as if Kisa, who was worried about such things, was cute.

“I don’t care how much it costs if it’s for you, but gifts should be important to the recipient’s intentions. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Since the other person had already backed down, Kisa had nothing more to say and closed her mouth.

Moreover, when she recalled, Seyerd had previously appeared here with various gifts without notice.

It would be really strange to say something now when she had already accepted it once without much complaint.

‘The situation hasn’t changed much. What has changed is my heart…’

At that moment, Seyerd, who had plucked a white flower from a nearby vase, handed it to Kisa.

The captivating scent of jasmine fills the nostrils.

“It seems to suit you well.”

“…Thank you.”

As Kisa accepted the jasmine, he changed the subject.

“By the way, is now a good time for you?”

“Right now?”

“Yes, if it’s alright, I’d like to invite you out for a change. Of course, since I came to visit without prior notice, I won’t mind at all if you refuse.”

Kisa, who inadvertently made an “ah” sound, looked around only with a sidelong glance without turning her face.

Honestly, she wasn’t in the mood to go on a date with him right now, but there were eyes watching.

The servants who had gathered to see the scenery of the entrance filled with flowers by Seyerd were looking at them with eyes filled with admiration.

Whatever the inside story, the two were a picture-perfect couple about to get married in the eyes of others.

‘If he goes back alone from here, everyone will think it’s strange.’

It was a well-known fact among the household that Kisa had been holed up at home without doing anything special these days.

If the servants noticed something strange, it would surely reach the ears of Count Vanspelt, and he would obviously summon his daughter and interrogate her.

Wouldn’t it be better to enjoy a somewhat awkward date with Seyerd rather than that?

Having reached the same conclusion, Kisa slowly nodded her head.

“Okay. I’ll get ready and come out soon, so could you wait a moment?”

After asking for his understanding, Kisa returned to her room and began preparing to go out.

However, while changing into outdoor clothes and applying makeup, Seyerd knocked on her door.

“Kisa?”

“Come in!”

Looking back at him entering the room, she put an apology on her lips.

“I’m sorry. I was a bit conflicted about which dress to wear, so I delayed too much. Was it boring to wait?”

But as if that wasn’t the case, Seyerd shook his head.

“It’s okay to take your time preparing. It’s just that I realized I’ve never seen Kisa getting ready, so I came up risking being rude. Can I stay here?”

“Seyerd, you want to see a lot too.”

“I’m curious about anything related to you.”

“…Is that so? Anyway, I’m almost done, so you can stay here.”

“Then gladly.”

He stood behind Kisa, who was sitting in front of the dressing table, and Kisa resumed her makeup.

An uncomfortable time passed in silence.

Kisa mechanically moved her hands and recalled what had happened a little while ago.

In fact, the reason she had taken time in the wardrobe was because of this man who was watching her now.

“Oh…”

The first thing she picked up without much thought was a red dress.

The dress she often wore when going out with Seyerd or visiting the Hilan mansion recently.

And the gift Bisherk Hilan had given as an apology for ruining Kisa’s clothes in the past.

Even though she now knew well why he was so excited to see her in a red dress at the villa, she had reached for it without thinking.

Kisa, who silently hung it back on the hanger, took a quick look around the wardrobe.

Here and there, red clothes or accessories could be seen, all of which had been purchased within the last month.

All to please one man.

A self-mocking laugh escaped her mouth, feeling absurd.

Due to her aversion to redheads, she originally didn’t like the color red itself very much.

However, she started to like the color red recently.

At first, it was just to match his taste, but as she looked at it more, it felt pretty.

Thinking of it as the color of the person she loved, it even felt lovely.

In the end, it was the same person who made her hate the color red and also made her like it.

She had been so influenced by that person this much already.

Feeling a chilling sensation, Kisa stood still in place.

It was only when the maid, who found it strange that Kisa had entered the wardrobe and didn’t come out for a long time, called her that she finally came to her senses.

As a result, what Kisa chose was a light golden dress that had been tucked away in the corner and rarely worn recently.

It was a plain style without any special decorations, but it was something she had purchased purely based on her own liking, without considering the tastes of Count Vanspelt, Daniel, or Seyerd.

“…”

Returning to reality, Kisa gazed at the man behind her as if looking at herself reflected in the mirror.

Every time Kisa blinked, the man with blood-red hair looked different.

He looked like Seyerd, the gentle lover Kisa was familiar with, and then the next moment, he looked like Bisherk, who had poured wine on her dress with a cold face.

And then he became a third person, neither Seyerd nor Bisherk.

That person who confessed to murdering his own brother and boldly claimed he had lied to her because he loved her…

Suddenly feeling nauseous, Kisa stopped the hand holding the makeup brush and took a deep breath.

A hand approaching from behind gently pressed on her shoulders as she tried to settle her sickness.

The man who approached close to Kisa whispered in her ear in a soft voice.

“It’s okay, Kisa. Everything will be fine.”

She didn’t know what was supposed to be okay, but he just said it was okay.

As if all the small problems between the two would be solved with time.

Kisa turned her head and looked at him.

Who are you exactly?

The question that couldn’t become a sound disappeared into her throat, and only the scent of lilies quickly decorated next to the dressing table filled the room.

In conclusion, it was unreasonable to say that Kisa’s choice to endure a date with Seyerd rather than the suspicious gazes of people at home was entirely correct.

More than she expected, spending time with him as if nothing had happened was not enjoyable.

Eating delicious food at a fancy restaurant, browsing the shopping district, and then watching a play at the grand theater.

It was an utterly ordinary date, but Kisa couldn’t focus at all.

The memories of the past that were so happy just felt like a dream.

“How was the play you saw today?”

“It was fun.”

She answered mechanically to Seyerd’s question thrown in the carriage on the way back.

“The theme was quite interesting. The composition of the play was organic, and the adaptation was done appropriately so that the play didn’t feel too fictional, making it easy to immerse oneself.”

“I agree.”

“Come to think of it, this play was based on the life story of a person you also know. To build a huge merchant group as a commoner woman, she’s quite a groundbreaking figure.”

“Yes, that’s right. Aria introduced us to a really amazing person.”

Kisa answered half-heartedly, recalling the members of the group she joined following Aria.

In the past, she would have excitedly told him about the episodes that happened in the group when the topic came up, but she didn’t feel like doing that at all.

Even after that, Seyerd occasionally asked questions or brought up new topics, but Kisa only responded with the bare minimum words.

Eventually, his words also decreased before long.

However, rather than blaming Kisa, he held her hand and said this.

“It’s okay. Everything will be fine, Kisa.”

But Kisa, who returned home amid the awkward atmosphere, had to vividly feel one fact.

The two of them couldn’t go back to the way they were before.

To that time when they knew nothing.