“…….”

It was a situation where she should have responded to the duke’s apology, but strangely, Kisa couldn’t say anything.

Neither words accepting his apology nor regretful remarks about the stained dress came out.

Looking into the reddish-brown eyes behind the glasses, she couldn’t move an inch, like a small animal caught by a predator.

The hand tightly grasping the reddened hem of her skirt trembled finely. She somehow felt certain.

That this was absolutely no accident.

It wasn’t simply that the duke’s face didn’t look apologetic at all. He was originally famous for having very little change in expression.

Rather, it was a more fundamental issue.

Though it was only for the briefest moment, Kisa felt some emotion in the duke’s eyes as he looked down at her disheveled state.

Something like satisfaction.

“Oh my!”

That’s when it happened. A sudden shout snapped Kisa out of her thoughts.

“Lady Banspelt! Are you alright?”

The lady she had been conversing with earlier approached Kisa and asked if she was hurt.

Kisa replied with a slightly dazed expression that she was fine. Though her dress, soaked with the wine spilled by Duke Hillan, was not.

The lady looked at Kisa’s dress and put her hand to her own cheek as if she herself felt regretful.

“What shall we do about this?”

Kisa also looked at her dress with despairing eyes.

Since it was originally a light-colored dress, it seemed unlikely that the intense red stains would come out completely even with the best cleaning.

As the daughter of a noble family, she couldn’t go around in such an outfit, so this dress was now destined for the wardrobe at best.

Thinking of that, her eyes stung involuntarily.

‘And I wore it for the first time today…’

The precious dress that Daniel had personally selected and sent as a gift, not just any other present, had been ruined.

And with a color resembling this man’s hair color, no less.

“It’s entirely my fault, so I will of course compensate you.”

Duke Hillan, who had clearly spilled it on purpose, expressed his intention to compensate with his usual razor-sharp courtesy.

“If the lady wishes, I will procure the same dress by whatever means necessary.”

What same dress. Even if the same tailor made an identical dress with exactly the same materials, it wouldn’t be the one Daniel had gifted.

That dress which had made Kisa so infinitely happy was not coming back.

However, Kisa’s current position was one where she could not reveal even a little of her inner discomfort.

How could she say anything unpleasant when the great Duke Hillan was apologizing and even offering compensation?

No, even if he hadn’t been Duke Hillan, Kisa would not have dared to protest.

Because she was scared. The inexplicable aversion she felt towards this man was greater than her resentment towards the culprit who had ruined the precious gift from her fiancé.

Was she such a coward? Or was her love for Daniel only this much?

With rising self-loathing, Kisa fixed her gaze on the floor and barely managed to open her mouth.

“N-no, Your Grace.”

Just as she was about to reply that it was nothing and not to worry about it, a familiar voice was heard.

“What’s going on?”

At that, the onlookers who had been watching the unexpected incident at the party with interested gazes parted to the sides. They were making way for the princess.

“Bisherck, Kisa.”

Princess Arta, who had appeared leading Melisa and other ladies, looked in turn at her fiancé and Kisa who was beside him.

“What in the world……”

“I apologize, Princess.”

Before she could finish speaking, the duke explained the situation.

“I was about to drink some wine when I accidentally offended your friend. I am utterly ashamed for causing such a commotion.”

The reddened state of Kisa’s dress was enough to understand the situation without further explanation.

Slowly approaching them, the princess asked:

“…It was your mistake, Bisherck?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s unlike you.”

“Even I make mistakes sometimes. I’m only human.”

After that, the princess fell silent for a moment.

Though it wasn’t a very long silence, Kisa somehow got the impression that the princess seemed displeased.

Perhaps because the occasion to introduce her fiancé to her friends had become noisy?

“Princess! I’m fine!”

Kisa, growing anxious, blurted out words she didn’t mean.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t her fault, but Kisa was extremely averse to conflicts arising because of her.

It was easier on her mind to choose to endure if everyone else would be better off by her enduring alone.

“See? Nothing happened except the dress getting a little stained.”

At that, the princess’s gaze turned to Kisa.

“Kisa……”

She examined Kisa with a somewhat complicated expression for some reason, then clapped her hands.

“Hey, is anyone there?”

“Yes, I’m coming, Princess!”

No sooner had she called than a court attendant appeared from somewhere with a wet cloth in hand.

While he wiped up the spilled wine on the floor with nimble movements, the princess looked around at the people gathered nearby and said in a slightly raised voice:

“There was an unexpected small accident. But it’s nothing, so please enjoy the party, everyone. Despite appearances, my fiancé, Duke Hillan, is surprisingly shy, so don’t stare too much.”

At the usual cheerful and witty appearance of the youngest princess, some people laughed.

Not stopping there, Princess Arta ordered another court attendant to change the music.

Soon, following her instructions, the court orchestra stopped the piece they had been performing and began to play another piece with prominent violin melodies.

It was a piece that the princess had recommended to the tea party members not long ago, apparently much to her liking.

People responded to the princess’s intention to change the mood and turned their attention back to the party.

“Um, Princess.”

Kisa cautiously called out to Arta.

At a glance, she was clearly not in a state to enjoy the party.

Although the attendants had roughly wiped off the moisture with towels, the condition of the dress, more than 30% stained with wine, was miserable.

‘I suppose she’ll offer to lend me one of her dresses to change into…’

A gloomy prediction flashed through her mind.

Considering Princess Arta’s personality that Kisa had come to know so far, she was the type of person who would extend such kindness to a friend and more.

Normally, Kisa would have been happy with her kindness, but not today.

She wanted to escape from this place as soon as possible.

The shock of losing the dress was one thing, but she didn’t want to clash with Duke Hillan anymore.

Moreover, perhaps because she had consumed no small amount of mental energy, her physical condition seemed to have worsened even more than before.

She only desperately wanted to collapse somewhere and rest.

It was a moment when she acutely missed the bed in her bedroom.

But how could this be? The words that came out of the princess’s mouth were the opposite of Kisa’s expectation.

“Kisa, I think it’s best if you go back for today.”

She said to Kisa, turning her head after silently staring at Duke Hillan for a moment.

“You must have been startled by what just happened, right?”

“What? Oh, a little.”

“My goodness, now that I look closely, your complexion isn’t good at all. Your face is pale, you know?”

At that moment, Melisa, who had been sticking close to the princess’s side, whispered to her as if she had been waiting for this.

She was probably telling her that Kisa hadn’t slept well last night.

Perhaps she might add that Kisa must be greatly distressed because the dress gifted by Daniel was ruined.

In any case, after hearing Melisa’s whisper, the princess urged Kisa to go back in an even stronger tone.

Is this what they call a blessing in disguise?

“Then I shall take my leave now.”

Kisa did not bother to decline the princess’s suggestion and headed for the exit.

Trying as much as possible not to look at the red-haired man who had been by her side.

Fortunately, he did not say anything to Kisa as she left the small reception hall.

Only the man’s scent, reminiscent of freshly washed laundry, tickled Kisa’s nostrils.

Finishing her reminiscence, Kisa closely examined the face of the man in the large portrait.

Except for wearing glasses and having his bangs neatly combed back, he had exactly the same features as Seiyard.

“Yes, this is what he looked like.”

Why? Although the incident from that day was only two or three years ago, it felt like digging out an old memory covered in dust after a long time.

In fact, the reason was obvious. Because she wanted to forget.

For Kisa, it was difficult to fully accept the fact of being so clearly hated by someone, along with the sense of loss over the dress.

Even now, she wonders. Why did Bisherck Hillan dislike her so much?

Of course, Kisa didn’t particularly like him either, but not enough to deliberately spill wine to embarrass her at a gathering hosted by the princess.

Moreover, Kisa had another opportunity to feel that Bisherck disliked her after that day.

The evidence was a dress sent from the Hillan family not long after the day of the party, along with excessive compensation.

That dress, said to be an apologetic gift, was completely different from the one Daniel had given her.

As if mocking her, it was red from the start. That color which had stained her precious dress.

The accompanying message, written in an elegant handwriting, stated that they were sorry but couldn’t find the original dressmaker, so they had commissioned the most famous dressmaker in Jack to make a new one.

In other words, the only common point between the two dresses was that they were made in the same country.

In the end, Kisa shoved that dress into her wardrobe and never wore it, let alone took it out again.

“…Could it have bothered him that someone like me was avoiding him?”

Just as Kisa let out a small sigh, an unexpected voice hit her eardrums.

“Who did you avoid?”

Someone was standing at the doorway.

The moment she saw him, Kisa was startled.

“Kisa?”

While Seiyard with his eyes wide open approached her, she barely managed to calm her surprised heart.

Was it because she had been recalling the past until just now?

She had thought it was the dead Bisherck Hillan.