Feeling the events of that day slowly coming back to life, Kisa muttered.

“…That’s right.”

Come to think of it, such a thing did happen.

For Kisa, it was a rather unpleasant incident that she had buried deep in her heart, but seeing this portrait, she couldn’t help but remember.

Memories travel back in time. Leisurely.

“Kisa.”

“……”

“Kisa?”

“……”

“Hey!”

“Huh?”

At the loud voice, Kisa opened her closed eyes and looked at the person sitting opposite her.

Inside the rattling, moving carriage, Kisa’s close friend, Melissa, tilted her head.

“Are you alright? You’ve seemed out of it for a while.”

“Ah, sorry. I must have dozed off.”

“Really? But you look a bit pale. Are you feeling sick?”

“Not sick. I think it’s because I couldn’t sleep last night. The novel you lent me was so interesting that I stayed up all night.”

Kisa waved her hand and forced a smile to keep Melissa from worrying.

“Right, that one is quite interesting.”

Melissa easily dismissed her suspicion and lightly scolded Kisa.

“Still, you’re something else. How could you stay up all night before such an important day? Sometimes you can be so careless. Anyway, don’t show any signs of fatigue in front of the Princess later.”

“…Okay.”

Her eyes were tinged with anticipation.

“I’m so excited. I wonder what kind of person Duke Hillan is.”

That’s right. Today was the day Princess Arta would formally introduce her fiancé to the friends attending her tea party.

‘Duke Hillan.’

Kisa’s expression darkened at the thought of him.

A man who was so admired and aroused curiosity from those around him, yet rarely appeared in social circles.

Kisa felt somehow uncomfortable about this man with whom she had never even had a proper conversation.

The reason was unclear. Was it because he was the owner of the red hair she disliked? Or because looking into those cold eyes reminded her of Count Vanspelt?

She wasn’t sure. It seemed like both, yet neither at the same time.

She just hadn’t had a good feeling about him ever since she first laid eyes on the Duke at a party.

No, actually, even before that. From the moment she first heard the name ‘Visherk Hillan’, Kisa had a vague feeling that she wouldn’t like him.

It was strange. Kisa had never disliked someone for such a trivial reason as not liking the sound of their name, but for some reason, the young Duke Hillan was an exception.

‘No, rather than dislike…’

It might be fear. Whenever she saw him, her chest tightened strangely and her legs went weak.

Anyway, it was a great relief to Kisa that Duke Hillan rarely attended social events.

She would see him maybe once a year, if at all, and even on those rare occasions, the Duke was always surrounded by people desperate to speak with him, allowing her to naturally avoid contact.

Thus, after that first meeting where Kisa had followed behind her father, giving a perfunctory greeting, she had no occasion to encounter the Duke up close.

Until this day…

Leaning weakly against the backrest, Kisa let out a small sigh, careful not to let Melissa notice.

‘Ah, I don’t want to go.’

Not only because of Duke Hillan, but her physical condition was absolutely terrible.

She had brushed it off earlier when Melissa asked, not wanting to cause unnecessary worry, but the truth was, Kisa was indeed sick.

It was just a few hours ago that she had thoroughly emptied the lunch she had eaten.

The cause was, without fail, Count Vanspelt.

‘Julian, you useless boy.’

Of all days, why did the report about her younger brother studying in another region have to come today?

Upon receiving news from the subordinate assigned to his son that Julian’s attitude towards his studies was insincere and his grades were below expectations, the Count couldn’t hide his displeasure.

The sparks flew to Kisa, who was dining with her father.

He unleashed a barrage of nagging at his daughter and pointed out even things he would normally have overlooked.

Apparently, it wasn’t good to see her picking at her food.

Naturally, in such a situation, Kisa, who was rather sensitive by nature, couldn’t eat comfortably.

As if it wasn’t enough that she was already feeling pressured about having to meet Duke Hillan at the Princess’s party in the evening, this was adding insult to injury.

No sooner had she risen from the dining table than she felt nauseous and had to run to the bathroom.

Kisa was originally prone to indigestion, but this time it was particularly severe.

This was probably the worst her stomach had turned in the past two or three years.

However, as long as she wasn’t bedridden and unable to move, she couldn’t ignore the summons of the esteemed Princess.

Moreover, today wasn’t just an ordinary tea party gathering, but an occasion for her to introduce her fiancé, wasn’t it?

Kisa roughly settled her stomach with medicine from the family doctor, took a few sips of water, and boarded the Dos family’s carriage that Melissa had come in.

To be honest, only the nausea had subsided; her condition hadn’t improved at all.

Her hands and feet were cold, her body felt weak, and she had a slight pain in her solar plexus.

It seemed the medicine hadn’t completely cleared the indigestion.

“According to the Princess, the Duke is a kind person, I wonder if we’ll be able to see that kind side? Oh my. They say he’s aloof in front of others but affectionate when they’re alone, it sounds so romantic.”

Her friend’s chattering voice, excited about meeting Duke Hillan, didn’t even register in her ears.

All she wanted was to get this over with quickly and return home, when Melissa changed the subject.

“By the way. Is that a new dress?”

It was a magic spell that instantly revived Kisa’s mood.

“Ah, this?”

Kisa answered shyly, her cheeks reddening.

“It’s a gift from Daniel. He said it would suit me.”

“What, Daniel Lowens? Didn’t he go abroad to study?”

“Yes. He sent it with a letter a few days ago.”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? I guess this style is fashionable overseas.”

Melissa’s eyes sparkled as she examined Kisa’s pale yellow dress, then her expression turned mischievous.

“So you wore this precious dress from your beloved fiancé on such an important day.”

“Well, yes.”

She would have preferred to just keep it in her wardrobe.

Not only because it was a gift she had received from Daniel after a long time, but also because his taste was evident in it.

It meant that this wasn’t a gift he had carelessly ordered a servant to choose and just attached his name to.

Although she didn’t know what had prompted it, Kisa was overjoyed by the fact that he had remembered his fiancée even while living in a foreign land.

She had been visiting her wardrobe several times a day for the past few days, wanting to look at the dress for no particular reason.

As she gently caressed the soft fabric of the dress, it felt as if Daniel, who was far away, was right beside her.

‘I wish he would finish his studies and return soon.’

Just having him in this country would surely make Kisa’s life twice as enjoyable as it was now.

Just as it had been in those days long ago.

But one can’t remain lost in happy memories forever.

“Come on, let’s get off quickly.”

As soon as the carriage arrived at their destination, the excited Melissa grabbed Kisa’s wrist and led her out.

The two headed towards the small banquet hall in the royal palace, a place they had visited a few times before.

This party was a relatively small gathering, attended only by young nobles who were usually close to the Princess.

On the way, they joined other tea party members and entered the small banquet hall, where a palace attendant immediately guided them to where the Princess was.

“Welcome, everyone.”

Princess Arta greeted her friends with her usual confident smile. And then…

“Thank you for accepting my invitation. Ah, let me introduce you. This is my fiancé, Visherk.”

The tall man beside her turned to face Kisa and her group.

“Duke Hillan.”

Kisa quickly lowered her eyes and curtsied before their gazes could meet.

The others did the same, albeit with a slight delay, so it wasn’t too strange.

As her heart was oddly pounding, a sweet baritone voice sounded from above her head.

“I am Visherk Hillan.”

A simple introduction, nothing more, nothing less.

There wasn’t even a common courtesy of saying it was nice to meet them, but at least in this setting, no one seemed to take offense at that fact.

The head of the Hillan family, said to have a longer history than the royal family.

Moreover, for Visherk Hillan, who had ascended to the position of Duke at a relatively young age and had managed his family remarkably well, this level of aloofness was not arrogance but rather a characteristic.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Duke.”

“Um, thank you so much for the gift you sent to our family the other day! My parents also asked me to convey their greetings if I saw you today.”

As soon as his greeting ended, the young ladies around Kisa clamored to say a word to the rarely seen Duke Hillan.

Kisa blended in with them for a while, then took the opportunity to slip away from the group.

As she was trying to calm her still-pounding heart, a few young ladies approached her.

They were the ones who had been pushed out in the fierce competition for places next to the Princess and the Duke.

“Phew, both of them are so popular.”

“Indeed.”

Kisa nodded at one young lady’s sighing remark.

Afterwards, the two stood in front of the table with food, chatting about various things.

It was when the topic of the dress Kisa was wearing came up.

“Wow, a dress gifted by your faraway fiancé, how romantic. I didn’t know, but it seems Lowens is quite considerate… Ah, Duke!”

The young lady, who had been talking with a smile, suddenly stiffened as she looked behind Kisa.

Naturally, her body tensed up. Even without turning around, she could tell who was behind her.

In contrast to Kisa’s tension, Duke Hillan calmly explained the reason for his appearance here.

“I thought I’d wet my throat.”

“Oh my, I’m sorry.”

At those words, the young lady quickly stepped aside.

She had been blocking the table where the wine bottles and glasses were placed.

“It’s fine.”

As Duke Hillan poured wine into a glass, Kisa tried to quickly leave the spot.

Unfortunately, that’s when the accident happened.

Thump! Almost simultaneously with the light impact on her body, something cold soaked Kisa.

Kisa turned her creaking neck to look at her side.

A sea of red filled her vision. Her precious pale yellow dress was no longer its original color.

“Oh dear.”

At the voice that reached her ears then, she reflexively looked up at the man beside her.

“I apologize.”

Duke Hillan, whose eyes she met for the first time today, offered an apology. With an utterly calm face.