If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 105

After entering the villa, the two had lunch prepared by the servants there.

The freshwater fish dish, said to have been freshly caught from the lake right next to them, was quite delicious.

After finishing their meal and having tea, Seyard gave Kisa a brief tour of the villa’s interior.

‘I wondered if it might be, but the inside is also just clean.’

Like the exterior of the villa, no traces of fire could be found.

Well, hadn’t it been newly built?

It was the same shape as when Vischer Hillan was alive, but it would be more accurate to view it as a completely separate building.

Still, according to the caretaker’s explanation, Seyard had restored it to be as similar as possible to the past with the help of those who remembered the villa’s old appearance.

Even the furniture and interior decorations inside.

Perhaps he also had similar tastes to his brother and quite liked this place?

In any case, thanks to that, Kisa’s eyes were treated to a feast.

The interior was also decorated charmingly like the exterior, so she toured the inside of the not-so-large mansion, losing track of time.

Her forgotten childhood dreams slowly came back to life.

‘Yes, I wanted to live in a place like this.’

In a beautiful house, with people I love, happily.

As she was thinking such thoughts, Seyard, who was beside her, spoke to her.

“Kisa, do you like this place?”

Kisa, who had been looking at the cute animal sculptures placed on the display cabinet, turned her gaze to him.

“Yes, very much so.”

He smiled as if satisfied with Kisa’s answer.

“I’m glad. Let’s come here often from now on.”

After leisurely touring the house for about an hour, the two decided to go outside again to stroll by the lakeside.

“I saw there was a back door earlier – let’s go out through the back door this time!”

Kisa suggested this with an excited heart as if she were exploring, but upon hearing those words, an awkward expression appeared on Seyard’s face.

“That would be difficult. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the back door key today.”

A caretaker who happened to be helping with cleaning nearby also approached them and supported Seyard’s words.

“Actually, we rarely use the back door. It was the same when Lord Vischer was the head of the family.”

According to him, the back door was an entrance that Vischer Hillan used when he wanted to secretly enter and leave the villa.

“Why, the back door is visible right when you come down the stairs from the Duke’s bedroom, isn’t it? But the front door is far from the stairs, so when using that route, it’s easy to attract the attention of the servants on the first floor.”

For this reason, it seems Vischer used the back door when he wanted to go outside quietly.

“He would occasionally walk silently in the garden or stroll by the lakeside before returning. Perhaps because he held such an important position, he was often lost in thought.”

Anyway, in order not to disturb the Duke’s such private time, none of the villa’s servants, including the caretaker, used the back door.

“Well, since he had the only key to the back door, we couldn’t use it even if we wanted to.”

The caretaker, who chuckled and stroked his beard, looked at Seyard.

“I thought Lord Seyard might also need time alone, so after the villa was rebuilt, I gave you a key the same way, but you don’t seem to use it much.”

Seyard replied with an embarrassed expression.

“I find it more convenient to just use the front door rather than bothering to open and lock the back door each time. I forgot to bring the key today too.”

“I suppose not everything is the same just because you’re twin brothers.”

Kisa and Seyard chatted briefly with the caretaker before heading to the front door.

The scenery of the winter lake was beautiful, but due to the cold, it was difficult to stay long.

When Kisa’s nose tip turned red, the two turned their steps toward the villa at Seyard’s strong recommendation.

Seyard told Kisa, who showed disappointment, that they should go boating on the lake when the weather gets warmer, and Kisa smiled with anticipation, calling it a promise.

Spring became even more awaited.

After that, the two spent time leisurely in the warm interior, had dinner prepared by the servants, and went up to the bedroom on the second floor.

They had originally planned to stay here for one night.

After Seyard went to the bathroom to wash first, Kisa sat quietly and looked around the room.

The room that Vischer Hillan had used as a bedroom in the mansion destroyed by fire, and where he ultimately lost his life.

Strictly speaking, it was only the same location – a different room in a different building – but somehow the feeling was strange.

It wasn’t scary since Seyard was not far away. Just a little sad.

“He passed away at such a young age.”

Kisa opened her luggage bag that the servants had carried from the carriage to this place with a melancholy mood.

Some time later, Seyard, who had finished bathing, returned to the room.

“Kisa, now you should…”

He, who was about to recommend that Kisa go wash, suddenly closed his mouth.

His reddish-brown eyes widened as he saw his lover.

“Is, is it that strange?”

Kisa asked cautiously at the unexpected reaction.

“It’s late and I felt bad about calling Lily, so I tried putting it on by myself.”

She scratched her cheek while looking down at her somewhat carelessly worn dress.

“That dress is…”

Seyard opened his mouth in a daze.

“I told you before. It’s a gift the Duke gave me.”

A few years ago, as an apology for spilling wine on Kisa’s dress at a banquet hosted by Princess Arta.

Kisa had taken out the dress from her wardrobe for the first time in a very long while – a dress she had only kept stored away.

Thinking of visiting this place where Vischer Hillan was buried, she suddenly thought of the dress he had given her.

She opened her mouth hesitantly.

“It turned out that I never got to show it to the Duke while he was alive. Me wearing this, I mean.”

Of course. She had never even tried it on in the first place.

“I thought it might be good to show him now, so I brought it. But actually, it’s not really appropriate attire for someone visiting a grave, is it? It’s too bright and flashy.”

“….”

“So I tried putting it on to ask you too – what do you think? Should I just wear dark clothes after all?”

Kisa couldn’t continue speaking any further.

Before she knew it, Seyard had approached her side and suddenly embraced Kisa.

“Kisa.”

You are truly beautiful. He whispered in her ear with a somewhat subdued voice.

Kisa instinctively realized that he was aroused right now.

“Se, Seyard?”

The flustered woman called her lover’s name, but he immediately captured Kisa’s lips.

His tongue, forcing its way in, ravaged every part of Kisa’s mouth.

What on earth is this? Kisa thought as she had no choice but to swallow the saliva he gave her.

It was hard to guess why Seyard was showing such a passionate reaction.

Compared to before he left, the only thing that had changed was that she had changed into a dress, so it seemed like the dress she was wearing now was the cause…

‘Could it be because red is the color of passion?’

Or perhaps red was his preference.

Planning to buy more red clothes when they returned home, Kisa led Seyard to the bed.

Honestly speaking, her legs were trembling from the fervent kiss, making it hard to stand any longer.

Come to think of it, it had already been three days since she had shared dawn with him.

Of course, if it was muscle pain, it had already completely healed.

The next morning, Kisa, who woke up late, had to wear a different dress instead of the red dress that Seyard had liked so much the night before.

This was because the clothes had gotten terribly wrinkled in the process of hastily removing clothing on the bed last night.

Still, wouldn’t it be fine if she ironed it and wore it? As Kisa was contemplating this, Seyard dissuaded her.

“It’s a beautiful dress, but it really doesn’t seem suitable for visiting a grave.”

His words also made sense. After all, wasn’t the purpose of this visit to pay respects at a grave?

“Kisa’s grateful feelings for the gift must have been sufficiently conveyed to Vischer.”

He said this while patting Kisa’s shoulder.

After that, the two spent more time at the villa before leaving there before it got dark.

Promising to stop by once more after marriage, before departing for Hillan territory.

*****

Peaceful times passed.

Perhaps thanks to the sensation of having become closer to Seyard, Kisa’s anxiety was much more diluted than before.

“That’s quite an unexpected move.”

One day, as usual, Kisa was visiting the Hillan ducal residence and watching her lover work when she heard him mutter with a somewhat hardened face and tilted her head.

After Gilliam, who had been talking with him, left the office, Kisa approached Seyard, who was sitting at his desk, and asked.

“Is something wrong?”

While saying it was nothing much, he also told Kisa about the report he had just heard from Gilliam.

“There’s a distant relative of mine named Count Theodore, and he’s come to the capital this time. They say he’s living quietly now, but he was once the person who was most hostile toward me, so I’m a bit concerned. It’s also unusual that he left his territory at this time – it might be different if it were spring or summer.”

“That’s true.”

Even assuming he came to attend Kisa and Seyard’s wedding, it was too early.

“Well, if he has business with me, he’ll approach me first.”

However, contrary to Seyard’s prediction, Count Theodore had someone else to approach.

“How have you been, Lady Vansfelt?”

A few days later, an unfamiliar middle-aged man appeared before Kisa as she was walking through the shopping district.

“I recognized you from the portrait in the newspaper. The one who will soon become the mistress of Hillan.”

The man, who removed his hat and greeted her politely, calmly introduced himself.

“You may not know, but I am called Count Theodore. I’m also a relative of Duke Hillan.”

The Count’s thin eyes, which gave off a somewhat cunning impression, curved.

“Since we’ve met like this by fate, could you spare me some time?”