That night, when darkness enveloped everything and silence descended upon the Vanspelt townhouse, Kisa secretly slipped out of her bedroom and headed to the back garden.

After intense deliberation, she had decided to at least try talking to Daniel.

If the grave and dangerous secret mentioned in the letter turned out to be just a lie to lure her out, she would leave without looking back.

The secret door he had designated as the meeting place referred to a hole in the wall that used to exist in the back garden fence.

As a child, when Daniel was forced to visit Vanspelt frequently by his father, he would often sneak out through that hole to play without the adults knowing.

The Earl of Lowens had brought him along to get closer to his fiancée, but for a boy at that age, playing with dolls with a girl his age seemed like nothing but torture.

“Daniel, don’t go!”

“Shh, Kisa. Be quiet.”

“Where are you going?”

“I promised to play war with my friends.”

“Don’t do that, play with me instead.”

“No. You’re no fun.”

“…Th-Then I’ll go with you!”

“Are you crazy? Do you want to get killed by your father?”

“Daniel…”

“Shut up, I’m going. Just stay locked in your room and pretend I’m here!”

Kisa smiled bitterly as she recalled a moment from the past that could now be considered a memory.

Whenever Daniel disappeared through that hole, young Kisa would wander aimlessly around the back garden, hoping for her departed fiancé to return.

Though the hole Daniel had escaped through was big enough for Kisa to pass through as well, she lacked the courage to defy her father’s wishes and venture into the unknown world outside.

Usually on such occasions, servants who noticed Kisa’s strange behavior would realize Daniel’s disappearance, and it would end with Daniel being dragged back and severely scolded by Earl Lowens.

As a bonus, Daniel would blame the innocent Kisa, saying it was because of her that he got caught.

But now, the roles had reversed.

The one waiting for the other party who wouldn’t come by the hole was no longer Kisa.

Relying on the moonlight to walk, she soon arrived at the spot where the hole used to be but was now blocked.

“Daniel?”

When Kisa called out in a small voice, an immediate response came.

“Kisa! You finally came.”

He’s really here. Daniel. On the other side of this wall.

“I thought you might not come.”

“What are you doing here?”

Compared to Daniel, who couldn’t hide his joy, Kisa’s voice was strictly businesslike.

“Didn’t you see the letter? I’ve been waiting for you.”

“No, I saw it. I’m not asking why you really came, but why you’re going to such lengths. I just can’t understand it.”

“What do you mean, why…”

“We’re not tragic lovers in a romance novel, so what are we doing now?”

Apparently taken aback by Kisa’s cold response, Daniel hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Is it wrong to worry about you? I’m out here in the moonlight because you’re in danger.”

“Danger? What danger?”

“Let’s talk face to face first. Open the back door from the inside. There’s a guard in front of it, but if the door is open, I can slip in while their attention is diverted.”

“What? No. Just say it here. We can talk plenty like this.”

One of the reasons Kisa came here in the first place was that she knew the hole had been blocked long ago, so she could talk to Daniel without facing him directly.

“It’s quite a long story. Besides, we can’t discuss important matters without seeing each other’s faces.”

“I don’t want to see your face. Have you forgotten? How you tried to lock me in a room at the charity gala. Why would I trust you enough to let you into the house?”

“Hey, that was because you wouldn’t listen to me at all-”

He abruptly stopped his protest and, after a few seconds, spoke in a subdued voice.

“I’m sorry, Kisa. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that… I’m sorry.”

The great Daniel Lowens apologizing for his mistake.

As far as she could remember, this was the first time he had apologized without a hint of sarcasm.

Of course, that didn’t mean she was moved or saw him in a new light.

It was clearly a soulless apology meant to appease Kisa and get out of this awkward moment.

Well, even if it had been a sincere apology, their relationship had grown too distant for Kisa to view Daniel positively at this point.

Kisa quickly said what she had to say.

“Forget the apology. Just tell me what you want. What’s this problem about Sayerd that you wrote about in the letter?”

Those words struck a nerve with Daniel.

“Sayerd? Since when were you close enough to call him by name?”

He growled, upset not by Kisa’s refusal to open the door or her ignoring his apology, but by something entirely unexpected.

“What does it matter to you what I call Sayerd? And what’s wrong with calling my soon-to-be fiancé by name?”

“You really…”

This time too, Daniel lowered his voice as if he had a lot to say but was holding back.

“Fine. There’s no use talking to someone who knows nothing. So you absolutely won’t open the door?”

“That’s right, so if you have something to say, say it quickly and leave.”

“Then let’s meet separately later. Somewhere people won’t see us. Pretend you have other business to your father or that guy. You can manage that much, right?”

He’s still someone who doesn’t listen to others.

By this point, Kisa was starting to become certain that the issue he brought up about Sayerd was complete nonsense.

“There’s also someone I want you to meet-”

“I was a fool to believe you.”

Kisa cut off Daniel’s words and turned to walk back towards the mansion.

“Hey, come back!”

Hearing her footsteps, Daniel frantically tried to stop her, but Kisa didn’t halt.

“If you leave like this, you’ll definitely regret it! Are you listening? Kisa!”

Until certain words came out.

“Did you know that bastard has a woman?”

Her steps stopped. Noticing this, Daniel spoke in a sneering tone.

“Seems you didn’t know that much. You’re being deceived right now. That bastard pretending to be a good person, it’s all a red-hot lie.”

Who the hell is ‘that bastard’? In fact, it was clear from the context who the word referred to, but Kisa momentarily struggled to connect the bastard Daniel was talking about with the person she knew.

As if to kindly inform Kisa, Daniel mentioned that person’s name.

“Sayerd Hilan, that bastard is a hopeless scoundrel.”

Kisa slowly inhaled and exhaled a breath of air. It took a moment for her to react to Daniel’s statement.

“This is absurd.”

Because the content was so ridiculous.

Who was he to insult Sayerd?

Along with the absurdity, anger surged up, and Kisa unconsciously walked towards the wall.

“Is this what you end up saying? Your great pride was hurt because I broke off the engagement with you, so now you’re going to insult innocent Sayerd? Do you think your pride will be restored if you scare me into canceling this engagement?”

“It’s not about pride! I’m worried about you. You don’t know that guy’s true nature.”

“I know a lot more than you do, at least.”

“Do you really think so?”

Kisa couldn’t immediately retort that she did.

It was because his voice took on a subtle tone, as if he knew something Kisa didn’t.

“I happened to meet someone recently. Someone who knows that guy’s past.”

“…Past?”

“Yeah, he’s from Bonzmos. So he knows what that guy was up to when he was staying at the monastery.”

Eventually, Daniel spat out an utterly unbelievable story.

“Sayerd Hilan was a scoundrel who frequented gambling dens like it was nothing. He even had a woman he was seeing. Kisa, can you accept this? You who couldn’t even tolerate Hazel? Even though Hazel and I just shared a pure friendship…”

Ignoring Daniel’s following words about Hazel, Kisa carefully considered only the preceding statement.

Indeed, the monastery where Sayerd had stayed was in a region called Bonzmos.

He was a famous figure, and his background had been covered in newspaper articles several times, so Kisa knew this.

But of course, that fact wasn’t enough reason to believe Daniel’s claims outright.

“How can I believe that person’s words?”

She threw a question towards the other side of the wall.

“No, I can’t even trust your claim that you met such a person.”

Daniel didn’t hide his displeasure at her defensive attitude.

“How many years have we spent together, and you trust that guy more than me when you’ve barely known him?”

“Who destroyed those years? Don’t be mistaken. We’re nothing to each other now.”

“…Kisa, if it’s about Hazel coming here last time without permission, I’ll apologize on her behalf. But I didn’t tell her to do that. I only found out later. And don’t worry about what Hazel said. She just said anything out of worry for me-”

Kisa couldn’t understand why Hazel’s name suddenly came up here.

“Don’t blame others. It wasn’t that woman who betrayed me, it was you.”

“…”

Daniel was silent for a while, then spoke as if taking a step back.

“Alright. Let’s talk about the details when we meet.”

“I told you I have no intention of meeting you.”

“I’ll let you meet them. The witness who knows that guy’s past.”

“What?”

“You said you can’t believe my words? Then you can see and judge for yourself. Whether that person seems to be lying or not.”

It was a startling proposal.

“Kisa?”

“…”

“Kisa?”

“Oh, yes?”

Snapping out of her reverie at the fingers waving in front of her eyes, Kisa looked at the person sitting across from her.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t answer when I called you.”

Sayerd replied playfully, with a smile that made him look nothing like a person of poor character.

Today was their second date.