“Did you hear about Daniel?”

Kisa stopped cutting the meat with her fork and knife and looked at Count Vansfelt.

During this rare meal together as father and daughter, he had just delivered unexpected news.

“Yes, that’s what was written in Arthur’s letter that arrived today.”

Arthur referred to the Marquis of Lowens.

“Daniel was attacked by assailants two days ago.”

“Good heavens. How did that happen?”

“Who knows. The detailed circumstances weren’t written, but isn’t it obvious? No doubt he was strutting down the streets where lowly ruffians loiter as usual and became the target of a pack of them.”

The Count clicked his tongue with a frown after saying so.

“I told him before that it’s dangerous. That fellow is fearless, trusting only in his own youth.”

Indeed, as he said, Daniel had a personality that found it bothersome to be accompanied by guards, unlike other nobles.

Thinking he could protect himself?

Considering his height and physique that far exceeded the average for men his age, it was easy to guess the source of his confidence.

Moreover, he enjoyed physical activities so much that they were his hobbies.

It was understandable that he walked around carrying only a dagger for self-defense.

However, strolling down gloomy streets while wearing visibly high-quality clothes was indeed excessive conceit.

In fact, recently Daniel had been so preoccupied with digging into Seyard’s past that he might have become careless about other matters.

‘I knew this would happen someday.’

Right. He should have heeded the advice to be more cautious.

“Was he badly injured?”

Based on the Count’s tone, it didn’t seem to be a serious injury, and Kisa wasn’t very concerned about that jerk, but she asked her father out of slight curiosity.

“I don’t know. The letter only said he was hurt and bedridden for the time being. And that Daniel wants to see you.”

“Really?”

“Arthur also seemed to hope that I would visit him together with you.”

“Absolutely not. Even if I wanted to go, which I don’t, how could I? Visiting my former fiancé while engaged to be married in a few months, what kind of gossip do you want me to endure?”

“That’s why I sent a reply telling him not to talk nonsense.”

Still unsatisfied even after clearly expressing her refusal, Kisa silently cursed Daniel Lowens, who was second to none in shamelessness.

‘That lunatic. If you’re sick, just stay in bed quietly, who are you to tell someone to come or go?’

Did he think Kisa would come running with teary eyes out of sympathy just because he was injured?

He was still a person who couldn’t reflect on his own actions.

The Marquis of Lowens was also absurd. Even if his son hoped for it, he should have refused on his own, but instead he conveyed it as is.

Then Count Vansfelt’s words interrupted Kisa’s stray thoughts.

“Well, I’ll let you know about Daniel’s condition after I visit the Marquis of Lowens’ residence.”

“Oh, you’re going, Father?”

“Since we’re not going to completely cut ties with the Lowens, it’s better to visit at least once. I was planning to stop by soon anyway because there’s a matter to discuss.”

As the Count said, although the relationship had become strained due to the breaking of Kisa and Daniel’s engagement, the interactions between the two families had not disappeared completely.

Count Vansfelt and Marquis Lowens were also old friends after all, despite everything.

‘Even though they had such a falling out…’

Thinking that human relationships were truly unpredictable, Kisa continued her meal.

The next day, Kisa deliberately timed it to have another meal with her father.

It was to obtain information from him, who had visited the Marquis of Lowens’ residence as he said yesterday.

‘Could it be…’

In fact, last night a certain suspicion had suddenly occurred to her regarding Daniel’s injury.

“About Daniel? It seems he’ll have difficulty moving for the time being due to full-body bruising.”

In response to Kisa’s question, the Count began talking about Daniel even before all the food had arrived.

“Full-body bruising? How badly was he beaten?”

“He happened to be passing through a sloping road when a group of perpetrators pushed him from behind. As if that wasn’t enough, they beat Daniel after he fell and then stole his wallet and any valuable items from his pockets before running away.”

“My word.”

Although she felt no sympathy for Daniel, a crime was still a crime, so Kisa frowned.

“It wasn’t the work of a single person then. Did they catch the culprits?”

“No. The authorities are investigating, but the possibility of catching them seems nearly hopeless. Because they wore masks, Daniel couldn’t identify their appearances either, and there were no witnesses since it was a secluded area.”

“He has the worst luck. Knowing Daniel’s personality, he must be grinding his teeth right now.”

“…But Daniel said something strange. That it wasn’t simple muggers, but someone had instigated them to attack him.”

Kisa widened her eyes and stared at her father.

She paused for a moment before carefully asking.

“Who did he say it was?”

“I don’t know. I overheard him shouting it by chance while passing through the corridor.”

“Did he refrain from speaking in front of you?”

“Well, I would have had to meet him face to face for that.”

“What? Didn’t you meet Daniel when you went?”

At his daughter’s question, he slowly shook his head.

“I thought so too, but when I arrived, they said Daniel’s condition had suddenly worsened. So I only spoke with Arthur and returned. Everything I’ve told you so far is information I heard through Arthur.”

“I didn’t think the injury was that serious… Can it suddenly worsen like that?”

“That’s what I find questionable too. To be honest, Daniel’s voice sounded very energetic when I overheard it in the corridor.”

Count Vansfelt paused his action of bringing food to his mouth and rubbed his temple.

“Arthur’s behavior when I arrived also seemed strange, as if flustered. He gave the impression that he didn’t want me to meet Daniel for some reason.”

“Could they be hiding something?”

“That’s the most likely possibility.”

Kisa didn’t bring up what that hidden thing could be.

The Count also didn’t mention it for a similar reason.

It was too easy to predict.

Daniel claiming he was attacked at someone’s instigation, and Marquis Lowens, who until yesterday wanted them to visit but suddenly changed his attitude today.

Nine times out of ten, the Marquis was afraid his son would say the same thing even in front of a guest who came to see him.

‘Why?’

Because Daniel’s claim was that absurd?

In fact, Kisa could easily guess who Daniel would point to as the mastermind behind his attack.

It had to be Seyard, right?

Daniel had already been digging into Seyard’s past, and he believed he had recently discovered his enormous weakness.

However, from Marquis Lowens’ position, his son’s claim was extremely dangerous.

Although the Marquis of Lowens was also a prominent family in the kingdom, making an enemy of the Duke of Hillan was an unbearably burdensome matter.

Even if there was clear evidence that Seyard was the instigator, he would try to smoothly gloss it over, but from what she heard from Count Vansfelt, there didn’t seem to be any distinct evidence.

Accusing the Duke of Hillan without evidence?

‘He absolutely wouldn’t do that.’

Marquis Lowens valued his son, but not to the point of being that reckless.

He was probably desperately trying to silence Daniel.

But Daniel was also a stubborn bull who hated to lose.

‘He’ll definitely blabber on and on that Seyard sent people to attack him.’

Sighing at the thought of him becoming even more annoying than now, Kisa swallowed her sigh when the Count spoke.

“Anyway, this should put your mind at ease a bit. Daniel will be leaving the capital soon.”

“What?”

“From what I gather, it seems Arthur will make a decision soon. To send Daniel to a villa in a remote region for recuperation.”

“Is it serious enough to require recuperation?”

“Well, he says it’s for Daniel’s quick recovery, but it’s obvious. He’s sending him far away so he can’t cause any more trouble.”

“…What can I say. That’s quite an extreme measure.”

Still, he was the heir to succeed the family, so Kisa didn’t expect Marquis Lowens to go that far.

“It seems Daniel has been quite a headache for his father recently. After all, he hasn’t been helping with family affairs or diligently attending social circles to build connections, only hanging out with strange folks and frequently getting dead drunk.”

On top of that, he walked around without guards and ended up badly injured, and now he was trying to frame the Duke of Hillan as the culprit without evidence.

Come to think of it, it was about time for Marquis Lowens’ patience to reach its limit.

“His younger brothers probably actively advised Arthur to do so. They must have had other thoughts seeing their disgraced older brother.”

Perhaps the ambition that they could become the heir by pushing Daniel out.

‘When Daniel was favored by those around him, they tried their best to look good to get something out of it.’

Seeing this, Kisa felt fraternal relationships were also meaningless.

“……”

However, the worry filling Kisa’s mind right now wasn’t the pitiful bond between the three Lowens brothers.

Daniel’s disappearance was good news, but she couldn’t be entirely happy about it.

‘Was it really Seyard’s doing?’

To be honest, even Kisa found it difficult to be certain of his innocence.

In fact, even if Daniel’s claim were true, she had no intention of blaming Seyard.

Because she couldn’t demand that he only use righteous means against Daniel, who stopped at nothing to bring Seyard down, not even dirty tricks.

He was a gentlemanly person, but as someone in a position responsible for a family, Kisa well understood that he couldn’t always act like a gentleman.

Moreover, didn’t Daniel try to corner Seyard with a murder he didn’t even commit?

Separate from Kisa’s inevitable repulsion towards that violent method, from his standpoint, it could be considered natural self-defense.

‘Of course, this is all assuming Seyard is really the mastermind.’

What could it be?

The next day, Kisa met him and informed him of the news about Daniel.

“I had already heard and roughly knew about it.”

Seyard responded with his usual expression.

“He’s quite unlucky, it seems.”