If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 122

When the familiar silhouette came into view, the man standing behind the roadside tree began to move.

“Hazel.”

The woman who was about to insert her key into the door turned around at the sound and widened her eyes.

“My goodness, Daniel! You—”

“Shh!” Daniel brought his index finger to his lips, stopping the woman’s loud voice.

Then, shivering with his shoulders, he whispered softly.

“Please, quickly bring me something warm. I feel like I’m going to freeze to death.”

After entering the Willow Tree tea shop, Hazel immediately put firewood into the stove and lit a fire, then headed to the kitchen to brew tea.

Daniel checked several times to make sure the shop’s front door was properly locked before stretching out on the spacious chair he used to use as his personal seat.

“Here, drink this.”

Within a few minutes, Hazel brought hot tea and handed it to Daniel.

“Ah, hot!”

As soon as Daniel received the teacup and immediately put it to his lips, a sharp cry escaped him.

“Are you alright? You should drink it slowly.”

Daniel, who had thrown the teacup down onto the table, muttered a low curse.

“Damn it, now even this tea is giving me trouble.”

“…What on earth happened?”

Hazel sat across from the man she was reuniting with after several months and asked in a deeply worried voice.

“Weren’t you recovering in the provinces? Have those injuries from the robbery healed? When did you come up to the capital? Why were you in front of the shop?”

“Ask one thing at a time.”

Daniel let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

Come to think of it, the last time he had met Hazel was before he was attacked by those damn thieves.

Feeling a slight irritation at the fact that he had to explain from there, he opened his mouth.

“Actually, that mugging itself was his doing. That bastard deliberately harmed me.”

“Who is this person?”

“Who else could it be? Seyard Hillan, that son of a bitch I want to tear apart!”

Daniel, who had let out an angry shout, slammed his fist down on the table with a bang.

“I wasn’t even that badly injured to begin with! But that bastard threatened my father, and my father, who got unnecessarily scared, forcibly confined me to the villa under the pretext of recovery! Damn it!”

At his violent behavior, Hazel frowned slightly but responded to Daniel’s words without showing much reaction.

“My goodness. I had no idea there was such a backstory. So after somehow escaping from the villa, you came to see me first? You’re moving secretly to avoid Duke Hillan’s eyes, right?”

“…….”

Daniel, who had been silent for a moment at that question, blurted out.

“That’s not it.”

“What?”

“The reason I’m running away like this… is because of the royal investigators.”

“Royal investigators? Why are they chasing you? Aren’t they officials directly under His Majesty who only deal with royal matters?”

Instead of answering the question, Daniel muttered another curse under his breath.

“They say I leaked royal secrets. And that I did it under orders from the neighboring Jackeu.”

“…Did you really do that?”

“Of course it’s a false accusation!”

After shouting angrily, he ground his teeth with fury.

“Count Theodore! If only that wicked bastard hadn’t—!”

Hazel stared blankly at the man who couldn’t control his anger, then carefully asked.

“Who is that? Daniel, what on earth happened to you?”

That question took Daniel’s time back to yesterday.

Yesterday evening, when several investigators suddenly burst into the hotel room where he was staying.

“Daniel Lowens! You are under arrest on charges of leaking major state secrets!”

Even though he had definitely rented his lodging under a false name and acted with special care in everything, they already knew Daniel’s identity.

Toward him, who insisted it wasn’t true regarding both his identity and the charges, the investigators told an unbelievable story.

“Don’t play dumb. The official who leaked the secrets confessed the whole truth that he did it under your orders.”

According to them, a few days ago, evidence was discovered that an official working in the royal palace had leaked classified documents related to the kingdom’s weapons purchases.

When that person kept his mouth tightly shut despite the investigators’ intense interrogation, Count Theodore happened to come to them voluntarily.

It was because the behavior of a man he had recently employed as an attendant seemed suspicious.

“He said he accidentally witnessed you having a secret conversation with a stranger, and the content about weapons and such was quite disturbing.”

The investigators immediately investigated the Count’s attendant and quickly discovered that his true identity was the eldest son of Marquis Lowens.

Why would the heir of the prestigious Lowens family, who was supposed to be recovering, hide his identity and pose as a mere attendant?

It was the moment when the investigators’ suspicions, who had initially been skeptical of Count Theodore’s accusation, deepened.

They investigated Daniel’s activities while pressing the problematic official even harder.

And the official, who had been noticeably flustered by the name Daniel Lowens, confessed the truth not long after.

That Daniel had enticed him with promises of a large sum of money. Also, that he worked for Jackeu.

The investigator, who had narrowed his eyes considerably, glared at Daniel.

“You went to study in Jackeu a few years ago, didn’t you?”

“That was purely for academic purposes!”

“Really? But those who had contact with you in Jackeu testified that you made several statements that seemed to praise Jackeu’ culture at the time?”

“What? I never did that! Who gave that testimony? Bring them before me!”

It was so unfair he could go crazy and jump around.

Although he may have said things about learning good things even from an adversary, those were purely patriotic statements for his country.

For someone with such strong patriotism to be recruited by Jackeu and commit treason.

Daniel did his best to deny the charges, but a tight net had already bound his limbs.

“There’s no use in protesting. We also have multiple witness testimonies of you drinking and socializing with that official.”

“When did I do that?”

“Exactly one week ago, at the red-roofed tavern next to the butcher shop.”

At that moment, Daniel was so shocked that his hair could have stood on end.

As the investigator said, he had indeed drunk alcohol at the red-roofed tavern a week ago. With a man he met for the first time.

Although he had come along as Count Theodore’s attendant, he naturally had no intention of serving him.

His purpose was, after all, to use Brother Emil’s existence to shake up Kisa.

The best future would be for Kisa to really find evidence that Seyard Hillan committed murder and throw that bastard into the abyss, but to be honest, Daniel knew well that this was just unrealistic imagination.

However, if Kisa kept suspecting and doubting her fiancé until their relationship fell apart… that alone would be a sufficiently satisfying result for Daniel.

‘Damn Kisa. Did you think I’d just quietly let you leave me and live happily?’

Not a chance. He intended to make Kisa and that bastard who stole Kisa from him unhappy by any means necessary.

And then he would comfort that girl when her heart became weak due to unhappiness.

If he did that, Kisa would realize who was the man who would truly care for her, reflecting on her past mistake of abandoning him.

‘Yes, thinking about it, I used to pay less attention to Kisa in the old days.’

Since they had been together for a long time and she had a gentle personality, he thought she would tolerate that much, but his fiancée was just an ordinary woman after all.

One who desired a man’s continuous attention and affection.

Kisa’s cry that she was not his possession echoed in Daniel’s ears.

He was thinking that he should accommodate her opinions appropriately and allow her some freedom when he was tilting his glass.

[Good evening, fine gentleman. If you don’t mind, may I buy you a drink?]

A man with a hearty-looking impression approached him and spoke to him first.

The man’s proposal made him contemplate, but the contemplation didn’t last long.

[That book is Griffin’s new publication that was recently released, isn’t it? Actually, I just finished reading it and was looking for someone to share impressions with.]

Because the man pointed to a book placed in one corner of the table and scratched his head.

Daniel’s lips curled up slightly as he looked at the man who said he never expected to meet someone with that book in such a place.

It was just a book he had brought as a casual distraction, but thanks to it, he got unexpected entertainment.

After shaking up Kisa as planned, Daniel had nothing particular to do.

Count Theodore was acting separately, saying he had his own business, and Brother Emil was a boring fellow who spent his days in prayer and meditation.

He couldn’t return to the Marquis Lowens family or move around revealing his identity after escaping from the villa.

For him, who had no choice but to drown his boredom in alcohol, the man’s appearance was quite welcome.

First, his academic accomplishments passed the test since he had read Griffin’s work that had been published only a few days ago. Moreover, his polite attitude wasn’t bad either.

[Then pour me a drink.]

Daniel smiled a welcoming smile toward the person he had met after a very long time who could satisfy his intellectual desires.

Surely that must have been the case…

His face turned pale as he pressed the investigator.

“That man was the one who leaked the secrets? Are you certain? Didn’t you see wrong?”

“There’s no way we saw wrong. The witnesses’ memories from the tavern and his appearance and clothing matched exactly.”

“That’s impossible…”

Only then did Daniel realize.

This wasn’t a conspiracy that Count Theodore alone could orchestrate.

A larger, more cunning, and more sinister malice lurked beneath it.

A malice intended to send Daniel Lowens completely to hell.