Kisa closed her mouth, unsure how to respond.

If Daniel’s story was true, it was hard to deny that it seemed quite suspicious.

But there was something nagging at the back of Kisa’s mind.

Apart from her faith in Seyeard, for some reason she vaguely recalled hearing something before that kept slipping in and out of her thoughts now.

‘What was it, what was it?’

It seemed like something that had happened relatively recently.

As Kisa closed her eyes and tried to retrace her memories, a recollection from a few days ago suddenly came to mind.

“Wait, could it be…”

Finally opening her eyes, Kisa carefully voiced her conjecture.

“Wasn’t it because the Hillan Duchy recently donated a huge amount of development funds for Bonzmos?”

She had accidentally overheard Seyeard talking with Gilliam before, and words like Bonzmos and development funds had come up then.

At the time she had only caught snippets and quickly forgot, but hearing it now jogged her memory.

Right, the two of them were definitely discussing how to support the Bonzmos region.

To Kisa’s question, Daniel replied sullenly.

“Well, that’s what they say.”

“Then of course they’ll only say good things! If the neighborhood develops, it benefits the residents in many ways, so why would they speak badly of someone giving money? If the investment decision was withdrawn, only the people of Bonzmos would lose out.”

Moreover, even without the development fund, most people were reluctant to gossip about someone of high status.

“Especially in a small town, they would have noticed at a glance that you were an outsider. It’s surprising they would tell you about Duke Hillan’s past.”

Daniel clicked his tongue.

“Do you have to nitpick so much? You’ve changed. You used to just believe what others said at face value.”

It seemed he had noticed the subtle change in Kisa. Kisa didn’t try to deny it.

“You’re right, I’ve changed. I’m not the same person who would just nod along to whatever you said.”

He spoke as if he preferred the more sincere Kisa of the past, but in reality he just meant it was easier to deceive her then.

He didn’t seem to realize that Kisa wasn’t actually so foolish as to have no doubts at all, but rather wanted to believe her fiancé’s words as much as possible, so she didn’t voice any objections.

“So it’s no use trying to cleverly hide the truth to elicit the reaction you want. How can you portray someone who is working hard in various ways for the town’s development as a villain who’s trying to cover up his own sordid past?”

“Do you really think Duke Hillan poured such a huge amount of money into that remote town with purely good intentions? It’s obviously a ploy to use money as bait to prevent people from talking about his past.”

Daniel snapped irritably, as if he couldn’t understand how Kisa didn’t grasp this simple logic.

“How do you know that? He apparently spent a lot of time in Bonzmos in the past. Is it so strange to want to develop a town full of memories?”

“Fine, let’s say that’s true. Then how do you explain the suddenly disappeared witness?”

“Of course I don’t know. You seem to want to claim that Seyeard did something to that person, but did he even need to in the first place?”

Unlike before, Kisa spoke her thoughts without being intimidated.

“Of course he did. That person could testify about his past.”

“Really? From what you said before, the testimony that person could give wasn’t anything special, was it? At most, just rumors floating around Bonzmos and seeing Seyeard at a gambling den.”

While Daniel was too flustered to retort, Kisa voiced the doubts she’d had since first hearing about the person’s disappearance.

“Would that person be the only one in Bonzmos who heard those rumors? Or the only one who saw Seyeard at the gambling den? You could find plenty of people who could testify to that much. What’s the point in getting rid of just one person when it wouldn’t mean much?”

“Kisa.”

“Above all, that person didn’t have any clear evidence, and the information they had wasn’t enough to cause Seyeard tremendous harm, so why would Seyeard go to the trouble of secretly—”

“Alright, alright! Enough!”

Daniel glared at Kisa, losing his temper.

“I get it. I see how completely taken in you are by that bastard, with your eyes and ears closed, determined to believe him.”

“Aren’t you the one who’s determined to think Seyeard is a bad person, so everything looks suspicious to you?”

“He is a bad person. If someone who steals another man’s fiancée isn’t bad, who is?”

“…So that’s why you’re so obsessed with Seyeard and me.”

“What?”

“Daniel, your pride is hurt. Well, there’s never been a greater humiliation in your life until now. You always thought you were better than others, but lately in society you’re the pitiful, lacking man who had his fiancée stolen by Duke Hillan.”

“Shut up.”

Though he bristled as if to deny it, he couldn’t hide his true feelings from Kisa.

It had been well over ten years. The years Kisa had spent doing her best to observe his expressions, listen attentively to his words, and understand his inner thoughts.

Daniel, who had never shown much interest in his fiancée, didn’t seem to know Kisa well, but Kisa knew exactly what kind of person he was.

In some ways, she probably knew him better than the Lowens Viscount couple who had brought him into this world.

“Since we’ve known each other for a while, I’ll give you one piece of advice.”

Kisa spoke in a calm voice.

“Stop digging into Seyeard’s past under the flimsy pretext of saving me, and live your own life, Daniel Lowens.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“There are people who genuinely care about you. I’m talking about Hazel Turdy.”

“Stop! Stop!”

Evidently Hazel was still a sore spot for him, as Daniel showed the most agitated reaction he’d displayed all day.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, the man quietly said to Kisa.

“It seems there’s no point in talking further in this state. I’ll come again next time, so let’s talk then.”

“Don’t come again. Even if you bring any information then, I won’t listen.”

Daniel let out a soft sigh.

“Fine, let’s say you won’t listen to me. Well, you probably wouldn’t believe me even if you did listen, since I have no credibility. But what about the words of someone trustworthy?”

“Someone trustworthy?”

As Kisa looked at him quizzically, he said triumphantly:

“I mean the monks. Surely those who have devoted their entire lives to God wouldn’t lie?”

“Monks…”

“Yes, ask the monks at the monastery where that bastard supposedly stayed. Find out what kind of person your fiancé really was.”

Kisa’s eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion.

After Daniel left, the carriage set off for its original destination, the Hillan Duke’s residence.

Kisa gazed out at the sunset scenery, recalling what had happened not long ago.

It was the day Kisa found out about Seyeard donating development funds to Bonzmos.

That day, she had visited the Hillan Duke’s residence for a dinner appointment with Seyeard.

But even after having dinner and taking a walk with him, she somehow didn’t want to go straight home.

In truth, when Viscount Barnspelt stayed at the townhouse, he would nag his daughter subtly whenever they ran into each other, so Kisa found it uncomfortable to be there.

Moreover, strangely enough, these days the Hillan Duke’s residence was more fun than the place she had lived for half her life.

Perhaps because it was so spacious that there was enjoyment in looking around here and there.

Anyway, as if reading Kisa’s mind as she lingered, not wanting to leave, Seyeard invited her to have tea in his office before going home.

By the way, the reason it was his office and not somewhere else was because he had urgent work to take care of.

No matter how she thought about it, it seemed like an inconvenience to a busy person, so Kisa said she would just go home, but Seyeard held her back and asked:

“I’ll be bored just wrestling with documents, so could you keep me company?”

To cut to the chase, it was consideration to put Kisa’s mind at ease.

As she sipped her tea, watching him engage in complex conversation with Gilliam, Kisa started nodding off after just a few sips.

The feeling of fullness after the meal and the warm early summer weather naturally induced sweet drowsiness.

In the end, she fell asleep without being much of a conversation partner for Seyeard.

“Kisa, Kisa? It’s time for you to go now.”

When he woke her, Kisa, who had been sitting up until just before closing her eyes, was comfortably lying on the sofa.

Also, looking out the window, it was quite dark outside, so it seemed to be the first time she had slept so deeply in someone else’s home.

As Kisa felt embarrassed, asking why he hadn’t woken her sooner, Seyeard said:

“You were sleeping so soundly, I couldn’t bring myself to wake you.”

“But I stayed here to keep you company…”

“It’s alright. Watching your sleeping face was quite entertaining too.”

It was a moment when she realized once again what a good person he was.

And now, that same Seyeard spoke to his fiancée who had appeared at his mansion:

“Kisa, you’re here.”

“Yes, I was bored so I came to visit. Is that alright?”

“Of course. You’re always welcome.”

He smiled, then tilted his head.

“But you’ve come later than usual today. Did something happen?”

After a brief moment of silence, Kisa found herself shaking her head.

“No. Nothing happened. I just took a nap and left late.”

How strange. She had clearly intended to tell him everything about meeting Daniel like last time…

Why couldn’t she speak?