When Kisa heard from her nanny that Daniel had visited the mansion, she was reading letters sent by people in her room.

“I don’t know why, but he looked very displeased. I’ve never seen Young Master Daniel so angry before!”

The nanny, who had encountered Daniel on her way, asked with a terrified face.

“Could it be that he heard about the young miss throwing away that dress? There’s no other reason for him to be angry. Oh my, I tried so hard to stop you! I really didn’t want to throw it away!”

The nanny, who had to dispose of the dress Daniel sent on Kisa’s orders, lamented.

Since only a few people in the Count’s residence knew that Count Vanspelt had sent a letter of engagement cancellation to Lowens, it was understandable for her to make such a mistake.

“So where is Daniel now?”

“He went to the Count’s office with a scary face, so they must be talking by now.”

“Is that so?”

“More importantly, young miss, hurry and apologize to the young master. If he complains, even the Count will regret letting you have your way back then. We can get a similar dress made, can’t we?”

Kisa fell into thought for a moment, then calmly told the nanny who was afraid the blame might fall on her:

“Why should I go?”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you say Daniel is talking with Father? Then doesn’t that mean he has business with Father?”

“W-well, that’s true, but… Young miss, you always used to run to him whenever Daniel came to visit.”

That was because she liked him. Because she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her fiancé who had many friends, many gatherings, many interests, and sometimes needed time alone. Looking back, her love had been quite one-sided.

“I did. But I’m not going to do that anymore.”

Kisa said firmly, turning her eyes back to the letter she was holding.

“I’m going to do my own things. I don’t care if he comes barging in without warning. It’s not like we had an appointment.”

“Why are you suddenly acting like this? It’s Daniel, the young master you love so much. Are you really not going to see him?”

The nanny, who had watched over Kisa since she was a baby, couldn’t hide her confusion at Kisa’s unexpected behavior.

She must have interpreted Kisa’s negative reactions towards Daniel until now as mere sulking towards an unaffectionate fiancé.

“If he wants to see me, he’ll come on his own.”

After tilting her head and looking at Kisa for a while, the nanny said she would go check on the situation and left the room. Even Kisa’s words that Daniel’s visit wasn’t because of the dress didn’t stop her.

About half an hour passed after that. Just as Kisa, having skimmed through the contents of the letters, was looking for stationery to write replies, the nanny returned.

“The Count and Young Master Daniel seem to be fighting!”

The nanny, pale-faced, said she heard the voices of the two men arguing loudly inside the Count’s office. To be more precise, the one raising his voice was Daniel alone.

“The young master was demanding how he could do this to him, what his intentions were, and so on. It seems like a very serious issue, given that the relationship with Lowens was mentioned!”

“What did Father say in response?”

“I couldn’t hear clearly, but he seemed to be speaking rather coldly. It wasn’t in a tone of soothing the young master.”

He was doing well according to plan. Kisa could vividly imagine him sitting like a stone statue, not even blinking once, no matter how much Daniel pressed him.

Having encountered her father’s such demeanor countless times, Kisa could imagine it all too well. Daniel must be feeling utterly frustrated right now.

“Anyway, young miss. Now is not the time to be stubborn about not wanting to go to the charity gala. I don’t know what you fought with Young Master Daniel about, but if you provoke him now, things will really-”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before the nanny could finish speaking, someone roughly knocked on the door. There was only one person in this mansion who would knock so rudely.

“Kisa, it’s me! We need to talk!”

Sure enough, Daniel Lowens’ angry voice was heard from outside the door.

“Yes, young master. I’ll-”

“Wait.”

Kisa stopped the nanny who was reflexively about to open the door, approached the door herself, and spoke calmly.

“Daniel? What brings you here?”

Then Daniel, on the other side of the door, replied in a tone that suggested he found it preposterous:

“You’re asking because you don’t know? Don’t try to play dumb. I heard from your father. You know too, don’t you?”

“Well, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

As Kisa deliberately played dumb, the returning voice became sharper than before.

“Father and daughter conspiring to provoke me. Anyway, come out. I need a proper explanation.”

Just as the doorknob started to turn, Kisa firmly grasped it.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I should be asking you that, Daniel Lowens. Does the Lowens family teach that it’s okay to open someone else’s door without permission?”

“What?”

“If you want to meet me, go wait in the reception room.”

“…Kisa, are you joking with me right now?”

“This isn’t a joke, it’s a matter of manners. Not only did you barge into someone else’s house without notice, but you’re also trying to mess up my pre-arranged schedule.”

Daniel was silent for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words due to the unexpected situation.

“I’ll make time for you out of consideration for our past relationship, so wait in the reception room. I can meet you after I finish what I’m doing now.”

“Huh? Young miss, can’t you write the letters later?”

The nanny’s untimely interjection was welcome at this moment. It gave Kisa the opportunity to say this in front of Daniel.

“Nanny, replying to those who wrote to me out of concern is a very important task. It should take priority over most other things.”

The man who belonged to those ‘other things’ growled lowly.

“Kisa Vanspelt, you.”

“If you don’t want to wait in the reception room, you can leave. No one will stop you.”

“That’s enough. Since when did we become the kind of relationship that cares about manners?”

“Indeed, why didn’t you keep boundaries when we didn’t care about manners? Because you cared too little, I’m going to start caring from now on.”

“So you’re telling me to go to the reception room and wait quietly until you come?”

“You finally understand. You’re not as smart as I thought.”

“You’re more infuriating than I expected.”

“I told you. I learned it from you.”

He let out an irritated sigh. Soon, the sound of Daniel taking deep breaths could be heard, as if trying to calm his boiling emotions.

Considering the possibility that Daniel might lose his temper and open the door on his own, Kisa stepped back from the doorway. She hadn’t locked the door, so he could come in if he tried.

However, even as time passed, nothing of the sort happened. It seems he had enough manners not to intrude into a lady’s room at will.

“Fine, I get it. Manners? Alright, I’ll respect them.”

Suddenly, Daniel laughed, “Ha ha.” It was a laugh that didn’t sound joyful at all.

“I’ll be waiting in the reception room, so make sure you come.”

Following that, the sound of deliberately heavy footsteps could be heard. When they could no longer be heard, the nanny exclaimed:

“What are you really trying to do!”

“…What else? As I said earlier, I’m going to write replies.”

Kisa answered as she sat down at her desk. But her hand holding the pen started to tremble. It wasn’t from the tension of dealing with an angry Daniel, but from a sense of satisfaction.

‘To think that he would lose control of his anger like that!’

Moreover, Kisa had thoroughly countered Daniel during their conversation, leaving him at a loss for words. It felt like she had somewhat avenged the humiliation of being called stupid in front of another woman that day.

But this is far from enough. That mountain-like pride of his needs to be wounded more.

Kisa started writing replies while humming a tune. To be honest, most of the letter senders weren’t genuinely concerned about Kisa, but rather wanted to confirm if the article in the gossip magazine was true.

The letters that would have been unpleasant under normal circumstances seemed lovely this time. Even Melissa’s letter, with whom she had fallen out.

Therefore, Kisa wrote her replies diligently. When her hand hurt from writing, she took leisurely breaks, asked a maid to bring her a cup of tea, and even fiddled with her violin out of boredom.

Only the nanny watching from the side was restless. After glancing at the wall clock several times, she asked:

“Shouldn’t you be going soon?”

“Yes, I’ll go in a little while.”

“Oh my, you’ve been saying that all this time! It’s already been two hours since Young Master Daniel went to the reception room.”

“What? Only two hours?”

“…”

“Time sure moves slowly, unexpectedly.”

After pondering deeply for a moment, Kisa spoke:

“I wonder if Daniel is still in the reception room?”

“I’ll go check right away!”

Before Kisa could say anything, the nanny brightened up and left the room. She went to the reception room and came back in the blink of an eye.

“He’s still there, though a bit angry! I told him you’d be coming soon!”

“Huh? But I can’t go for a while.”

“Pardon?”

In front of the wide-eyed nanny, Kisa unfolded today’s newspaper.

“No matter how busy, one should know how the world is turning.”

“…Good heavens.”

“It’s alright. Since he barged in without an appointment, Daniel should understand this much.”

Saying that, Kisa began to read the newspaper word by word.