Jealousy? The queen of the Chamal Kingdom? All these words were confusing Kisa’s mind.

“You fool! You should at least be able to tell right from wrong. Don’t you know how serious this is?”

Even while doing so, the culprit who drove Kisa into confusion went so far as to reprimand her.

“Not all queens are good. Do you think a foreign-born queen will be treated well? Even Banspelt won’t be able to help you there. You’ll obviously just become a plaything for an old man who lusts after young women!”

He seemed to have no filter, saying whatever came to mind. Why should she have to listen to such insulting words from her former fiancé, who was now practically a stranger?

“Shut up, Daniel.”

At those words, he closed his mouth for a moment, but before long he was spouting nonsense again.

“Why? Now that you’ve heard the unvarnished truth, are you finally starting to realize how ridiculous your actions are?”

Kisa was so dumbfounded she couldn’t speak.

“You… Do you really think I’m going to become the queen of Chamal?”

“There’s no use denying it, Kisa. The situation shows it.”

“What situation shows it?”

“Isn’t it obvious why your father suddenly announced the broken engagement?”

Daniel explained his hypothesis with a confident smile on his lips.

“Do you think he suddenly became filled with paternal love and granted your wish? That’s nonsense.”

“…Is that so?”

“You’d have better luck fooling a ghost. How many years have I been in and out of your house?”

Even Kisa wouldn’t believe it if she were in his place.

“Besides, your father isn’t the type to act without concrete certainty. I’ve been thinking while waiting for you here, and there’s only one answer.”

Their gazes intertwined in midair, and Daniel moved his lips with a challenging expression.

“He found another marriage prospect for you. At least one your father thinks is better than me.”

“…”

It was the correct answer, but she decided to hold her tongue for now. It was just a hunch, but she had a feeling that neither confirming nor denying would be more beneficial here.

Taking Kisa’s response as affirmation, Daniel continued without hesitation.

“And that better prospect is the king of Chamal who is looking for a new wife. How about it? Am I right?”

Completely off the mark. Why was he speaking with such confidence about something like this?

“You can’t fool me. Think about it. Is it possible to find a marriage prospect within this country that surpasses me, the legitimate heir to the Lowens viscounty?”

He did find one. Though it’s a limited-term contract marriage, he did find one nonetheless.

“Everyone I can think of already has a wife or fiancée. It’s nonsense to think they’d give up those relationships to marry you.”

“…”

Well, it was only natural that Daniel couldn’t think of Seiyard’s existence. He had just come up to the capital and had no connection whatsoever with Kisa or Banspelt. At least not publicly.

Moreover, the late duke’s fiancée was none other than the precious princess. Most people expected the new Duke of Hillan to naturally inherit his brother’s engagement as well.

Therefore, it was only natural that Daniel couldn’t approach the truth…

“So if they found someone, it must be a foreigner. Someone like the king of Chamal.”

No matter how you look at it, being mistaken for the bride-to-be of a philandering scumbag didn’t feel good at all.

“Come to think of it, my father said a few days ago that your father has been too busy meeting with people from Chamal to spend time with his friend. If that was related to your marriage talks, it all fits together.”

What an imaginative madman. Kisa finally couldn’t hold back and threw in a word.

“It’s true that Father met with people from Chamal, but that was to export our estate’s specialty wine. They were merchants dealing in alcohol.”

“Did your father tell you that?”

“What if he did?”

“You fool, do you believe that so easily? Don’t you know what your father is up to?”

Kisa rubbed her forehead as she felt a headache coming on.

“You’re the fool. How can you say such nonsense…”

Her mouth, which had been moving ceaselessly, suddenly stopped. A question had occurred to her in that moment.

Would it really be beneficial to clear up Daniel’s misunderstanding?

It was uncertain whether he would readily believe Kisa’s words, but even if he did, that would be troublesome in its own way. Knowing him, he would surely try his hardest to find out who the real marriage prospect was.

‘The relationship between Seiyard and me should be revealed to the world carefully.’

If by any chance Daniel caught wind of something before the announcement and went around causing trouble, it would be extremely problematic. Seiyard also had the issue of his engagement to the princess to deal with.

On the other hand, in the case of the king of Chamal, there wouldn’t be much of a problem even if Daniel misunderstood.

No matter how reckless Daniel might be, he probably wouldn’t openly spread baseless rumors about the king of a friendly nation, and even if he did, the news wouldn’t reach as far as distant Chamal.

“Forget it. You won’t believe anything I say anyway.”

Having finished her calculations, Kisa shook her head and threw a look of contempt at Daniel.

“Why did you stop talking? I get it. Something I said made you think, didn’t it?”

“Say whatever you want. You’re not going to listen to me anyway.”

Daniel was only saying what he wanted to say, so it wasn’t wrong.

“Let me give you some advice. You’d better sneak into your father’s study right away and check the letters exchanged with those Chamal people. I bet there’s a letter discussing your marriage.”

“You’re insane.”

“Do as I say. Later on, even if you cry and scream that you don’t want to get married, it’ll be too late to turn back. Oh, are you still so carefree because you don’t know what kind of man the king of Chamal is? He’s the type of guy who’s trying to remarry less than two weeks after his wife died…”

Just how ignorant did he think Kisa was? As if she wouldn’t know one of the hottest topics in high society recently. Even before getting the detailed inside story from gossip magazines, she had known the general information.

Knowing that saying more would only hurt her mouth, Kisa tried to leave the reception room.

“Hey, where are you going? I’m not finished talking.”

Just as Daniel was about to grab her, a knock sounded.

Finally. Kisa answered the knock.

“Come in, Nanny.”

Soon after, the nanny entered hesitantly, carrying a fairly large bundle in her arms. Then, watching Kisa and Daniel’s reactions, she opened her mouth.

“It’s been a while, Young Master Daniel. Um, I’ve brought the things you asked for, Miss.”

“Well done. Give them here.”

Kisa quickly took the bundle from the nanny. Her thin arms trembled under the heavy weight.

“What’s all this about?”

Apparently still somewhat of a gentleman, Daniel reflexively came closer as if to carry it for her. Kisa gladly threw the bundle at his chest.

“Ugh!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected blow, he dropped the bundle. With a rumble, various objects spilled out onto the floor. Dolls, hats, music boxes, and more. The variety was quite eclectic.

“What are you trying to do?”

As Daniel glared at her, Kisa pointed at the miscellaneous items scattered on the floor with her index finger.

“I’m returning these to you.”

“What?”

“Why, don’t you remember? These are all things you gave me as gifts.”

At that, his gaze turned downward.

“Well, I suppose you didn’t personally choose them.”

Probably the Viscountess Lowens, Daniel’s mother, or the servants had picked them out appropriately. They were too much to Kisa’s liking for Daniel, who had always been indifferent to his fiancée, to have chosen them himself.

Nevertheless, Kisa had always treasured them.

She always kept the doll by her bedside, only wore the hat on truly beautiful days, and only wound up the music box a countable number of times for fear of breaking it. Even if Daniel hadn’t chosen them himself, they were still gifts from him.

The nanny, having witnessed how preciously Kisa cherished these items, had perfectly carried out the errand to gather all of Daniel’s gifts. Except for the dresses and accessories she had thrown away a few days ago.

“Now that we’re neither engaged nor anything else, there’s no reason for me to keep your gifts anymore. Take them.”

“Kisa…”

Daniel gaped blankly. He couldn’t hide the astonishment written all over his face. However, that only lasted for a moment before he revealed his wounded pride.

“Now I see you have a talent for making people’s blood boil. Did you think I’d be scared if you told me to take them back?”

Without the slightest hesitation, his shoe trampled on the teddy bear that had spent many nights with Kisa.

“I kindly gave you advice because I felt sorry for you being sold off to some perverted old man, but you’re taking me for a complete fool.”

“…Are you finished talking?”

“Yeah, I’m done. I’m leaving.”

After coldly glancing at his gifts one last time, he nodded his head.

“I don’t need them, so throw all that away. I’ll throw away all the gifts you gave me too. There, are you satisfied?”

With a sneer, Daniel stormed towards the door as if he was too disgusted to stay any longer. And before opening the door, he glanced back at Kisa.

“Kisa, don’t try to maintain your useless pride. You’re not in a position to do so.”

“…”

“Only people who can afford to have pride should maintain it. Otherwise, you’ll end up walking into hell on your own two feet.”

Just like you are now. With those final words, Daniel left the reception room of Banspelt.

“Miss, what on earth happened?”

Due to the unusual atmosphere, the nanny asked very cautiously. Not wanting to answer, Kisa pointed at the items scattered on the floor.

“Nanny, I’m sorry, but could you throw these away?”

“Yes, yes! But about why Young Master Daniel was so angry…”

“What do you want to know?”

“It wasn’t because of the dresses I threw away, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

A look of relief spread across the nanny’s face.