“Who is that scoundrel?”

Kisa hurriedly bent her body towards the nanny, but the woman only shrugged her shoulders.

“How would I know? I really only heard that much. Well, maybe the two of you went outside and encountered some rough neighborhood kids or a ruffian who kept bothering you?”

The nanny nodded several times as if her conjecture made sense.

“You and young master Daniel were dressed nicely, so it’s understandable that you would draw attention. But it’s a great relief that you returned without any issues.”

“……”

Kisa stared into the air for a moment before turning her gaze back to the nanny.

“Nanny, can you tell me more details about what happened then?”

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t know why, but it’s bothering me.”

“You should go back to bed now.”

“I’ll go to sleep after hearing it. If I don’t, I’ll be too curious to fall asleep.”

“My goodness, it’s not really a pleasant story though…”

Even as she said that, the nanny folded her arms and dug through old memories.

She loved to chatter too much to refuse Kisa’s request.

“Well, that day was like any other day when Marquis Rowens visited this mansion with young master Daniel. I was suffering from a severe cold at the time, so I mostly stayed in my room. But around early afternoon, suddenly a maid came to me, pale as a ghost.”

Perhaps because it was such a big incident, the nanny remembered it quite vividly even though it was over ten years ago.

“Apparently, you and young master Daniel were nowhere to be found.”

It was only natural for there to be an uproar when children under the age of ten disappeared together.

Upon hearing the news, Count Ranspelt flew into a rage and shouted at the servants who failed to keep an eye on the children, and they trembled in fear.

“Marquis Rowens dissuaded the count. He was relatively calm.”

It was because the mischievous Daniel had a history of disappearing on his own at home as well.

The marquis suggested that his son may have lured Kisa out to play, and that they should have the servants look for the two children first before formally reporting them missing.

Count Ranspelt accepted his friend’s suggestion, and servants from both families were mobilized to search the capital.

However, even after several hours passed, Kisa and Daniel were still not found. Just as they were about to report them missing and seek help from the police…

“Miraculously, the two of you returned. On your own two feet at that.”

Daniel was holding the hand of a crying Kisa with one hand, while cradling the corpse of a cat in his arms with the other.

“You collapsed into sleep as soon as you arrived at the mansion, so the count and marquis took Daniel aside to question him about what happened.”

But no matter how much he was scolded, Daniel would not reveal the detailed circumstances.

It was only after much pressing that he let slip about encountering a bad person outside.

“The count and marquis discussed and decided to let the matter go. There was a huge commotion, but in the end, it concluded without any major issues. The physician even examined you both and found you to be perfectly fine. Your crying was also because of the cat.”

Kisa could roughly guess what happened next even without hearing it from the nanny.

Timing-wise, that was the only opportunity Daniel had to secretly call Kisa out and create Mustache Jack’s grave in the rear garden.

Kisa mulled over her hazy memories.

‘Come to think of it, it was around sunset.’

She vaguely recalled everything being dyed red by the glow of twilight.

In that sunset, Daniel hurriedly dug up the ground with a shovel while Kisa watched weakly.

Looking back, Kisa’s feebleness at the time was partly due to the shock of the cat’s death, but perhaps more so because she had just woken up from collapsing into sleep.

Moreover, Daniel, who had just escaped from being scolded by the adults, was hastily digging to bury the corpse before it was time for him to leave.

‘No wonder my memory before and after is hazy.’

On that very same day, Kisa had experienced a major incident that forced her to erase her own memories.

“Actually, a few days prior, you had fussed about not seeing that cat. But to think you would go out with young master Daniel to look for it…”

Kisa tilted her head at the nanny’s lament.

Based on the circumstances, her words seemed to be correct, but for some reason, it was hard to believe.

While Daniel did look after Kisa a lot around that time, would he really have been kind enough to go out with her to look for Mustache Jack?

Daniel didn’t particularly like Mustache Jack, and whenever he visited the Ranspelt mansion, he was busy playing by himself through the hole.

‘Wait, the hole?’

Kisa immediately checked a conjecture that popped into her head with the nanny.

“Was the hole in the wall near the back gate also sealed up then?”

“Ah, yes. Because it was discovered that you and the young master had slipped out through there.”

“I see.”

She had thought it was sealed up at some point, but there was a clear reason for it.

Kisa fell into deep thought.

What in the world happened outside?

Even if Daniel didn’t know, the reason Kisa left the mansion was definitely Mustache Jack.

That calico cat meant that much to the young Kisa at the time.

It wouldn’t be strange if she lost her memories from the shock of discovering Jack’s corpse.

‘But something doesn’t add up…’

Daniel’s mention of encountering a bad person outside also bothered her. And even though she couldn’t explain why, she felt like there was more to it.

What happened? What-

“Ugh.”

A sudden headache assailed her and she held her forehead.

“Miss!”

The startled nanny rubbed Kisa’s back.

“Are you alright? Does it hurt somewhere?”

“I was just thinking about what happened then and my head…”

“Oh dear! I shouldn’t have said unnecessary things. Lie down quickly. Shall I bring you some headache medicine? Or should I call for the doctor?”

“It’s fine. I feel better now.”

Kisa lay down, pushed by the nanny, and stopped her from leaving right away.

After tucking Kisa snugly under the covers, the nanny spoke with a worried face.

“Don’t try to recall bad memories and rest at ease. You’ve been lacking energy lately as it is. It seems you can’t even sleep properly.”

“…So you knew.”

The nanny wasn’t the only one who noticed Kisa’s deteriorating condition.

“Of course I would know. Who else has attended to you most closely all this time?”

Kisa fell silent for a moment before opening her mouth.

“I don’t know either. Why I’m like this. How should I put it… My heart is unsettled.”

Kisa found herself spilling her honest feelings.

No matter what, the nanny was still the nanny. Even though Kisa couldn’t like her fully as she was more Count Ranspelt’s person than hers, the nanny had still filled the void left by her mother to some extent.

“Only happy days await, but I feel strangely anxious. And I feel more anxious because I don’t know the reason for my anxiety.”

The nanny gently caressed Kisa’s hand peeking out from under the covers.

“It’s alright, miss. It’s natural to feel anxious. After all, you’re about to start a new life.”

It was a wrinkled hand.

“Leaving a familiar home and loved ones to go to a strange place with a new person to become family – no one is just excited about that. Every bride-to-be feels melancholic like you.”

“…Is that so?”

“Of course. It’s a condition commonly called pre-wedding depression.”

“Were you like that too before you got married?”

“I was. It’s a distant memory, but I was.”

Listening to the nanny’s words, Kisa closed her eyes. A faint sense of relief welled up in her chest.

‘Yes, that must be it.’

Didn’t the nanny, who had more life experience than Kisa, assure her of it?

The current feeling of unease enveloping her was just a rite of passage that people getting married usually go through.

So it was no big deal.

Nothing was wrong.

Afterwards, the nanny told her own story of how anxious she was before marriage and how that anxiety disappeared after marriage.

Kisa fell asleep to the sound of her gentle voice like a lullaby.

Fortunately, she didn’t have any nightmares this time.

However, deep within her, a certain unease still lingered.

The next day, Kisa rushed to Hillan Castle as if being chased.

She wanted to confide in Seyrod about the dream she had yesterday as soon as possible.

At least by his side, she could completely forget this inexplicable anxiety.

The person who always listened to Kisa’s stories and provided comfort.

He silently listened as Kisa took quite a long time to explain her nightmare, the cat named Mustache Jack, and the incident that occurred at the Ranspelt estate over ten years ago.

“…I see.”

After the story ended, Seyrod met Kisa’s eyes.

“It must have been very hard on you to experience such a thing at a young age.”

“Eh, not to that extent.”

Kisa waved her hands, feeling awkward to hear such consolation from someone who had to leave home at a much younger age than her.

“No. It was so difficult that your memories even disappeared… My heart aches for you.”

He seemed genuinely regretful.

“But it’s not very desirable to be tied to things that have already passed either.”

“Ah, yes. That’s true.”

Suddenly, his hand reached for Kisa’s wrist.

Fiddling with the diamond bracelet he had given her as an engagement gift, Seyrod spoke.

“You said you can’t remember even if you try, right? Then why not just forget about it?”

“Pardon?”

A subtle smile appeared on his sculpted face.

“Instead of a painful past, focus on the happy present and future.”