Kisa’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Hazel, not expecting this situation.

Just a moment ago, a maid had come to Kisa’s room to inform her that Hazel was here to see her.

“You should see her begging the doorman to let her in. It’s quite comical. No matter how much she pleads, do you think our lady would meet just anyone?”

Beside the snickering maid, the nanny also smiled with satisfaction.

“It’s obvious that she’s been abandoned by Lord Daniel, who is recuperating. I knew this would happen. There’s no way a noble would seriously date a commoner woman with a previous marriage.”

“……”

“I’m sure she’ll beg you to relay her message to Lord Daniel when she sees you. She must be coming here after being turned away from the Lowens estate. The nerve of her to come here, of all places. Shameless.”

The nanny told Kisa that if she just gave the word, she would go and give Hazel a proper scolding.

However, Kisa remained silent for a while, deep in thought.

After a moment, having made up her mind, Kisa stood up and said she would go meet Hazel, causing both the nanny and the maid to be startled.

Ignoring their pleas asking why she would meet that woman, Kisa left the room.

If Hazel had come a bit earlier, Kisa wouldn’t have bothered to meet her face to face.

When Hazel had visited the Vanspelt estate a few months ago, asking Kisa to reconcile with Daniel, Kisa had classified her as someone not worth getting entangled with anymore.

But after having tea with Count Vanspelt yesterday, her thoughts had changed somewhat.

‘The one who was abandoned is not Hazel, but Daniel.’

The informant mentioned in the newspaper, the person Daniel had last gone to see, was undoubtedly Hazel.

The one Daniel Lowens had devoted his knight’s oath to, the lifelong friend he claimed to share a soul with, someone he cherished so dearly.

‘If so, it makes sense why the media thoroughly concealed the identity of the informant.’

To break off Kisa’s engagement, the count had exposed Daniel and Hazel’s inappropriate relationship to the world.

Anyone with the slightest interest in high society gossip could easily associate the owner of a certain tea shop with the heir of the Lowens family.

‘But why did Hazel come to see me?’

She couldn’t quite guess the reason, but Kisa’s motive for going to meet her was clear.

For some reason, she felt the urge to meet her in person and see for herself.

She was curious about what had made Hazel decisively abandon the man she once loved.

It was just a feeling, but Kisa thought that if she knew the answer, it might bring about some change in herself as well.

Perhaps she could erase the lingering image of that man that kept haunting her.

Even though she had resolved to break free from his touch, those light brown eyes still shook Kisa’s heart, nestled in a corner of her mind.

How truly vexing.

“Will you not accept it?”

The question that came then pulled Kisa’s mind back to the present.

Kisa glanced at the pouch in Hazel’s hand once more before speaking.

“I don’t understand. Why are you giving this to me? Isn’t it the money you rightfully received?”

At those words, Hazel’s gaze fell to the ground.

“But before that, I wronged you with an unjust relationship.”

“So you’re trying to compensate with money?”

“…I know very well. To someone like you, this money must be a trifle. Moreover, you’re about to become the mistress of the kingdom’s most prestigious noble family.”

When Kisa answered with silence, Hazel twirled a strand of her hair with her index finger, seeming somewhat anxious.

“But aside from a verbal apology, this is all I can offer you. I’m sorry for everything. In many ways.”

Kisa stared at the pouch for a moment before speaking.

“If I accept this, will it put your mind at ease?”

Hazel thought for a bit, and a self-deprecating smile appeared on her face.

“I suppose it would, to some extent. You’re right. As you know, I’m not a good person. I’m quite selfish. So giving you this is probably more for my own peace of mind than an apology.”

“But it doesn’t seem to completely put you at ease. Why is that? Because you sold out Daniel?”

Kisa didn’t particularly want to blame Hazel for Daniel’s arrest, but somehow her tone came out accusatory.

Hazel’s face clouded for a moment, but soon returned to her usual expressionless state.

“Yes. It was my choice, but I don’t feel good about it. After all, I betrayed the person who trusted me until the very end.”

According to her, Hazel was also at the scene, some distance away, when the arrest took place, and it was the first time she had seen Daniel make such a devastated expression.

“Perhaps that’s when I realized? That I wasn’t the ideal woman he dreamed of. I pretended to be detached, but I’m just an ordinary person too. I get jealous, I try to control the other person. And when disappointed, I turn away.”

Kisa didn’t know the details, but it seemed Hazel and Daniel also had their own complicated circumstances.

However, what Kisa was most curious about wasn’t Hazel’s guilt or Daniel’s illusions about her.

“Hazel Turdy, if you truly feel sorry towards me, answer this one thing honestly.”

“Yes? Ah, please go ahead. I’ll answer anything I can.”

Before speaking, Kisa turned her head to survey the surroundings.

Although he had been watching the two of them, the gatekeeper of the Vanspelt estate was still standing quite far from where they were.

Kisa had asked him to step aside before she began conversing with Hazel in earnest.

She didn’t want the contents of their conversation to be overheard. Especially not by the count’s ears.

Meeting Hazel’s gaze once more, Kisa asked in a small voice.

“How were you able to cut Daniel off? You clearly loved him deeply, even when you came to see me before.”

Hazel seemed a bit flustered, not understanding the intent behind the question, but she didn’t ask Kisa why she was asking such a thing.

Instead, she shifted her eyes back and forth, trying to find a suitable answer to the query.

“Well, it’s hard for me to say for certain. My feelings were quite complicated in many ways at the time. But there is one thing I can say with certainty.”

“What is that?”

“The one who cut me off first was Daniel. Right before I reported him to the royal family, I clearly realized that he no longer respected or cherished me as he once did. His only concern was you.”

“Me? But he tormented me to no end. It’s far from respect or cherishing, isn’t it?”

“I’m not saying he had sincere affection. What I mean is…”

The gray-haired woman paused for a moment before continuing.

“It’s an obsession with what he couldn’t have. He ended up breaking the engagement with you, and he had to watch you, whom he thought was his, be with another man.”

Kisa listened to her words in silence.

“This is just my guess, but he has a very strong sense of pride, so he couldn’t just stand by and watch that situation unfold. That’s why he became so obsessed with getting you back in his hands, don’t you think?”

Hazel’s words weren’t particularly new.

Kisa had also thought that the reason Daniel, who had treated her so coldly when they were engaged, kept getting involved with her at every turn after the broken engagement was something like that.

But how should she put it?

Somehow, listening to Hazel’s words, it wasn’t Daniel, the subject of the story, but a completely different man that came to Kisa’s mind.

An obsession with what one couldn’t have. Kisa quietly repeated the phrase Hazel had said in her mouth.

It was a moment when a concept that had been somewhat blurry before seemed to become clear.

To conclude, Kisa accepted the pouch of money Hazel offered.

Taking a quick peek inside, it was a much larger sum than the money Kisa had painstakingly saved up little by little from her meager allowance.

After Hazel left, Kisa took the money and returned to the mansion.

“My lady, you’re back!”

The nanny who had been waiting for her in the room rushed over and asked.

“What was that thing? Nothing happened, right? Surely she didn’t say anything strange to you?”

“Don’t worry. Nothing happened. As you said, she asked if I knew anything about Daniel’s whereabouts.”

“Of course! So what did you say?”

“I said I didn’t know. Because I really don’t. Anyway, nanny, I’m a bit tired. Can you let me be alone for a while?”

The nanny looked like she wanted to ask more about Hazel, but reluctantly agreed.

However, as she was about to leave the room, her eyes fell on the pouch in Kisa’s hand.

“What is that?”

“It’s nothing. Hazel brought some random trinkets, saying it was a bribe.”

“Oh my, what a ridiculous woman. Shall I dispose of it for you?”

“It’s fine. It’s quite heavy, despite its appearance. This kind of thing should be entrusted to a young person, not you, nanny.”

“Indeed, my body has been aching lately. You’re so considerate, my lady.”

Once the nanny left with a delighted smile, Kisa quickly took out the money from the pouch and put it in the jewelry box in the bottom drawer of her dressing table.

Then she stuffed some of her belongings into the empty pouch and called a nearby maid to take care of it.

Looking down at her entire fortune, Kisa took a deep breath.

Her resolve was finally firm.

She was planning to use this money to run away.

From the embrace of a certain man who had harbored an old obsession born from being rejected by Kisa long ago when she was young.