Grumble. Kisa’s face reddened at the embarrassing sound from her stomach.

Looking back, she had to leave her seat without barely touching her lunch due to the princess’s sudden arrival.

But was there a need for such a clear sound? Seyerd must have heard it too.

“Oh, this is…”

As Kisa averted her gaze in embarrassment, Seyerd’s smile deepened.

“Well, shall we go back? The food must have gone cold, so we’ll have to ask them to reheat it.”

Kisa stared blankly at the hand he extended as he said this.

“Won’t you take it?”

“Pardon?”

In fact, the two had never touched each other’s palms before.

Such actions were usually done by couples in love, but Kisa and Seyerd were not lovers.

“We’re engaged, so wouldn’t it be good to show some affection occasionally?”

He said with a slightly awkward expression.

“Actually, Gilliam said there are rumors among some servants that we’re not very close. They say we always walk a bit apart even when strolling in the garden.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

Come to think of it, she didn’t know that lovers typically walked close together.

Moreover, they should have been more relaxed in front of their own home garden, but Kisa and Seyerd seemed to have shown only a dry appearance.

With what happened on their engagement day, they were already in a heated relationship, but showing no signs of affection was enough to raise suspicions.

That can’t be. Kisa quickly placed her hand on Seyerd’s.

“Then let’s go quickly.”

She thought that while other couple behaviors might be too much, they should at least hold hands often from now on.

So Kisa held Seyerd’s hand and headed to the dining room.

It was a large, warm hand with some calluses.

The feeling of that large hand enveloping Kisa’s delicate one was quite noticeable, but she tried her best not to be conscious of it.

Because once she became aware, her embarrassment would grow uncontrollably.

That shouldn’t happen. They were planning to continue holding hands, so she couldn’t be embarrassed every time.

“The princess is too much. I understand she’s sensitive because of Gabriel, but to openly treat someone as a two-faced villain…”

Sitting again at the table that day, Kisa did her best to comfort Seyerd.

Who was it that told Kisa she wasn’t stupid and took the lead in playing a decisive role in the broken engagement?

It was unavoidable to feel indignant when such a kind-hearted Seyerd was attacked over moral issues.

“Just erase any advice or admonitions you heard from the princess from your mind. About a person…”

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, Kisa’s words stopped. She realized there was one statement among the princess’s words that was quite concerning to forget completely.

“As expected of twins, the brothers even have the same taste in women, it’s crazy.”

If Kisa hadn’t misheard, Princess Arta had definitely said this just now.

Not knowing exactly what it meant, Kisa had to tilt her head.

The twin brothers obviously referred to Seyerd and his older brother, Vishek Hillan.

‘But even the same taste in women?’

The princess thought Seyerd deeply loved his fiancée, Kisa.

Therefore, it was natural to assume that the ‘woman’ in her comment about taste in women meant Kisa.

In other words, the deceased Vishek Hillan also…

‘No, that can’t be right.’

When her thoughts reached that point, she shook her head at the rising absurdity.

Kisa and Vishek Hillan were practically strangers who had barely exchanged greetings.

No matter how she thought about it, there was no opportunity for Vishek to develop even a semblance of fondness for Kisa.

Don’t feelings develop only when people meet each other?

After their first meeting, Kisa had been consciously and unconsciously avoiding that man because she felt uncomfortable.

It was even questionable whether he had properly recognized Kisa’s existence.

Then why did the princess say such a thing? After pondering for a moment, Kisa found an answer.

Having the same taste in women didn’t necessarily mean liking the same woman.

Perhaps Vishek Hillan had been close to a woman with similar characteristics to Kisa when he was alive.

Even his fiancée, Princess Arta, had Gabriel as a separate lover, so there was no reason Vishek couldn’t do the same.

Kisa glanced at Seyerd, who was eating across from her.

To be honest, she wanted to ask him about his twin brother, but she didn’t have the courage to do so.

‘It’s not polite to bring up a deceased family member out of mere curiosity, and…’

The expression he had worn when the princess mentioned Vishek’s name earlier was vivid in her mind.

It seemed that, as the princess said, he didn’t particularly like his twin brother.

Considering his unusual upbringing, it might be stranger if he did like him.

Just because he was born a little earlier, Vishek had everything that Seyerd didn’t have, didn’t he?

‘Let’s not say unnecessary things.’

To Kisa, Seyerd’s feelings were several times more important than figuring out the exact meaning of what the princess had muttered in passing.

“Is something wrong?”

At that moment, Seyerd, sensing Kisa’s gaze, tilted his head to the side.

Kisa looked at him for a moment, then answered in a deliberately cheerful voice.

“It’s nothing. The food is really delicious.”

In the carriage returning to the royal palace, Arta Debon Sorbi glared into empty space.

The person currently occupying her mind was the woman she had been face to face with until just now, Kisa Vanspelt.

Kisa. Arta silently repeated that name in her mouth.

One of the girls her mother had appropriately chosen as a potential friend for her youngest daughter when she was young.

The day she first saw Kisa came to mind.

Delicate features, deep blue eyes, and long, thick eyelashes.

When Arta first saw Kisa, she thought the child was a fairy from a fairy tale.

That’s how outstanding Kisa’s appearance was.

But at least then, Arta had only recognized it as an objective fact, without feeling any particular emotion because of it.

Kisa was a bit frustrating due to being too timid and quiet, but aside from that, there was nothing particularly bad about her, and she was just one of Arta’s many friends who looked up to her.

Then one day, an event that brought about a huge change in Arta’s perception occurred.

The young youngest princess actually had a pure fondness for a young master of a certain family, whose face she can barely remember now.

His large eyes and seemingly gentle personality had captured the princess’s heart.

Arta, while pretending not to, would hover around the young master when there was a chance to meet him at social events.

That’s how she happened to overhear. The immature conversation of boys discussing which girl among their peers was the prettiest.

The young master answering in a shy voice that it was Kisa Vanspelt, in response to his friend’s persistent questioning.

Arta felt a shock similar to the world turning upside down.

Looking back now, it was a laughable matter, but at the time, Arta had no doubt that she was the prettiest and cutest in the world.

Because everyone around the princess said so.

Especially her father and mother, whenever they looked at their late-born daughter, they would say countless times, “Our daughter, the loveliest in the world,” not knowing what to do with her cuteness.

At such times, the people around them would unanimously agree with the royal couple and praise Arta’s cuteness.

Naturally, Arta expected her name to come out of the boys’ mouths, including the young master.

But the person they unanimously praised as pretty was Kisa.

The very child whose personality Arta had secretly looked down upon, despite her appearance.

Feeling an inferiority she had never expected to feel towards Kisa’s existence, Arta went crying to her mother.

‘Oh my, our precious daughter. Who dared to make you cry?’ The queen was startled and embraced her youngest daughter.

However, after hearing Arta’s story, she chuckled and stroked her daughter’s hair.

“Oh my dear, you’re feeling unnecessary sorrow. What does it matter if the boys consider the Vanspelt count’s daughter the prettiest? So what if the count’s daughter is prettier than you?”

If it bothers you that much, why don’t you try this, the queen whispered in her daughter’s ear.

Her mother’s instruction was simple. The next time, unlike before, have the boys have the same conversation in front of Arta.

Arta did as her mother said.

With many friends like Melissa who volunteered to be the princess’s mouthpiece, Arta didn’t need to ask directly.

Then the boys’ answers were different from before.

“Of course, it’s the princess! Princess Arta is the cutest and prettiest!”

Arta went back to her mother with their answers.

The queen smiled as if to say ‘See?’ and instructed:

“Who is actually prettier, what those boys truly feel in their hearts, such things are not very important, my daughter.”

What’s really important is the power to make your name come out of their mouths, regardless of who is actually prettier or what the boys think inside.

“And you were born with that power. Unlike Kisa Vanspelt. Always remember that.”

It was the moment when her mother’s new teaching became an absolute compass in the princess’s life.

After that, Arta no longer felt any inferiority towards Kisa.

Appearance wasn’t that important.

People would glance at Kisa, but in the end, they all praised Arta.

Except for just one man, Vishek Hillan.