If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 114

“What kind of important matter do you mean…?”

At Kisa’s cautious question, Seyard shook his head.

“I don’t know either. It wasn’t written in detail. Well, I’m an outsider now anyway.”

Kisa stared at the breakfast laid out before her with empty eyes and quietly muttered.

“Still, it’s too sudden. I couldn’t even say goodbye.”

Whether departing at dawn or in the morning, wasn’t it just a matter of a few hours’ difference?

No matter how hurriedly he traveled, it was a journey that would take several days to reach St. Pavela Monastery.

She couldn’t understand why he had set out on such a long journey at such an early dawn before the sun had even risen, even though it was winter.

‘Moreover, he seemed quite excited about our wedding.’

She could clearly picture him asking if there was anything special she wanted as a wedding gift while they had tea together.

“Indeed.”

Seyard agreed with Kisa’s words so easily it was almost bland.

“Whatever the matter was, something important must have come up that required Brother Vishius urgently. I’m disappointed too.”

That was the end of it. Seyard naturally turned the conversation elsewhere, and Brother Vishius was not mentioned again in their conversation.

Kisa did her best to respond to Seyard’s words while thinking about the man who had vanished without a trace from this mansion at dawn.

That night, since Seyard worked late, Kisa lay alone in the guest room bed and stared at the ceiling.

Was Brother Vishius really heading to St. Pavela Monastery right now?

If she wanted, Kisa could send someone to inquire about Brother Vishius in a few days. Whether he was alive and well.

‘No, that’s not a fundamental solution.’

St. Pavela Monastery was a closed place, and the abbot was very friendly toward Seyard.

If it were Seyard, he could easily hide the fact that Brother Vishius was missing.

Even if Vishius was perfectly fine, it wouldn’t completely resolve the suspicions Kisa harbored.

The idea that he was Seyard’s accomplice was merely her speculation.

Kisa closed her eyes and took a breath, then exhaled deeply.

…It was time to make a decision.

She was relatively clear about recognizing her own limitations.

‘I’m not a detective.’

Even if Seyard really was a murderer, if he had deliberately covered up his criminal acts, Kisa would most likely not even find a clue.

He was more intelligent than Kisa, held a higher position, and was more capable of action.

‘Come to think of it, unless there were unavoidable circumstances, there’s no way he would have left anything that could serve as evidence.’

Anyway, for that reason, there were currently two paths before Kisa.

The path of considering him a murderer despite having no evidence, and the path of believing in his innocence despite having suspicions.

There were enough doubts. Now she had no choice but to decide on one side and push forward.

‘But…’

Before that, there was a place Kisa needed to check.

For the past few days, she had stayed in this mansion and observed Seyard’s surroundings whenever she had the chance.

After spending the night together in his bedroom, the next day, after Seyard left first, no one found it suspicious that Kisa remained there longer.

She had also settled into his study under the pretext of watching Seyard work as usual, and thoroughly searched it when he was away for meetings and such.

As for Hillan’s treasure vault, which was like a large safe, she had checked inside it during the day.

Seyard, who had some free time after a while, perhaps feeling sorry for leaving his lover alone, gladly satisfied her curiosity about what treasures the Hillan family possessed.

While pretending to be mesmerized by various famous paintings and jewels, she had thoroughly searched the surroundings, but couldn’t find even a single suspicious item.

Honestly speaking, having done this much, Kisa had done what she could.

There was a possibility that evidence might be hidden in other places like bank safety deposit boxes or Hillan Castle located in the territory, but those were places beyond her current reach.

‘Well, it would also be dangerous to keep evidence of murder far from oneself…’

Anyway, there wasn’t a place in this mansion that Kisa hadn’t examined. Except for one place.

[Please promise me that you will never open this room, no matter what happens.]

The secret room. The place where Seyard’s extremely private secrets lay dormant.

Remembering Seyard asking her not to open that room, Kisa gritted her teeth.

At the time, caught off guard by the unexpected request, she hadn’t clearly promised that she would do so.

However, by not raising any questions after that day, it could be said that she had expressed tacit agreement.

“…….”

Thinking about breaking that promise made her feel guilty.

Imagining Seyard’s disappointment if he were to find out about this made her mouth go dry and anxious.

Still, she had to do it.

With Brother Vishius having disappeared suspiciously as well, she couldn’t just stand by and watch as if it were someone else’s business.

‘Should I have stopped him then?’

Belated regret washed over her, wondering what would have happened if she had somehow prevented him from staying at the mansion.

Thinking coldly about it, the possibility of finding evidence of murder in an ordinary room rather than a safe was small.

But she desperately wanted to try everything she could before reaching a final conclusion.

Whichever path she chose, she didn’t want to leave any more regrets if possible.

Having made her decision, the means was the problem.

‘How should I get into the secret room?’

Just as she was wondering whether she had no choice but to ask Seyard for the brass key again, she heard a knock on the door.

Soon a low voice followed.

“Kisa, are you still awake?”

It was Seyard.

“Come in.”

At Kisa’s answer, Seyard opened the door and entered the room.

He gestured to stop Kisa from trying to sit up and approached the bed.

“If I woke you, I apologize.”

“It’s fine. I was awake anyway because I couldn’t sleep.”

“Because of nightmares?”

“Of course not. The nightmares have decreased quite a bit since coming here, you know? It’s because the excitement from touring the treasure vault earlier hasn’t worn off yet.”

“If I had known you would like it this much, I should have shown you sooner.”

Kisa looked at Seyard’s silhouette beyond the darkness and spoke.

“By the way, how did the work go?”

Saying that an urgent matter had come up for discussion, he had been holed up in the study with Gilliam since after dinner.

The atmosphere looked so serious that it didn’t seem like it would end quickly, which is why Kisa had come to the guest room instead of Seyard’s bedroom.

“Actually, it’s because of that matter that I’ve taken the liberty of visiting you at this late hour.”

“What? Has some problem arisen?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The raw material problem that has been troubling me these past few days is causing trouble again. This time I need to go personally to the warehouse where they are stored and check their condition.”

“Where is that located?”

“In our family’s territory.”

Then it was quite far from the capital.

“When will you depart?”

“I plan to leave as soon as dawn breaks. Gilliam will accompany me as well.”

“…It will take a long time, won’t it?”

“Don’t worry. No matter how late, I will definitely return at least a week before the wedding.”

Seyard brushed Kisa’s hair aside and spoke in a gentle voice.

“If you wish, you may continue to stay in this mansion. No, I would prefer if you did.”

As soon as his words ended, Kisa felt the touch of metal against her hand.

Seyard had placed something in her grasp.

“I entrust this place to you while I’m away. As the future mistress.”

She could immediately identify the object in her hand by its shape.

The brass key.

The item that Seyard had once given to Kisa and then taken back, and the symbol representing the authority of the Duchess of Hillan.

This key could open every door in the mansion.

Every door…

While Kisa remained silent at its heavy weight, Seyard tenderly kissed her lips.

The kiss wasn’t very long. His lips, which had pulled away leaving longing behind, moved again.

“I’ll return now. Actually, I want to stay with you longer, but since I’m leaving early in the morning, I’m concerned about disturbing your sleep. Sleep in tomorrow.”

What a kind person he was. This man who would suppress his own desires and withdraw gracefully, considering Kisa who was staying up late.

Kisa embraced Seyard as he was about to leave, moved by piercing tenderness.

“Please return safely.”

Then he also wrapped his arms around Kisa’s back.

“Of course.”

After that, the two shared each other’s warmth in the darkness for a while.

****

On the day Seyard left the mansion early in the morning, Kisa spent a day no different from usual.

The next day was the same.

Even after two days had passed since he left, no special incidents occurred.

The cold remained, but the weather was clear without a speck of dust, and there was no news of those who had left for some unexpected reason returning.

At midnight, secretly leaving the guest room and walking down the corridor, Kisa thought.

‘By now he must be quite far from the capital.’

Even if he suddenly turned around to come back, it would take at least two days to arrive.

During her stay here, she had roughly figured out the movement patterns of servants who wandered the mansion at night.

The Hillan ducal residence was quite strict with rules, so there were hardly any people wandering around privately except for prescribed duties like locking doors.

This was especially true in areas lined with important places like the duke’s study and bedroom.

Wandering around such places carelessly would easily make one suspected of being a spy sent by another family.

Anyway, for that reason, no one appeared to interfere as Kisa came out of her room with a lamp and reached the front of Seyard’s study.

Her destination was a room a few doors away from the study.

Kisa took out the brass key she had brought and carefully inserted it into the keyhole and turned it.

The lock opened very simply, and the door moved smoothly without even a creaking sound.

A moment later, she swallowed her dry saliva and illuminated the dark interior of the room with her lamp.