If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 126

“What? He’s here?”

That was an answer Kisa had never expected.

She had even prepared herself for the worst-case scenario that Brother Vishius had also been killed by Seyard’s hand, but suddenly he was here.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you say he left for Bonzmos a few days ago?”

“Yes, I did say that. From your expression, it seems you don’t believe my words.”

“……Isn’t it natural not to believe? He disappeared in an instant like he had evaporated.”

After Brother Vishius disappeared, she had asked the servants who managed the guest rooms, but no one had properly witnessed him leaving.

The gatekeepers had only seen off a carriage that was presumably carrying the young monk, but they hadn’t actually seen the face of the person inside.

Given how suspicious everything smelled, it was natural for Kisa’s suspicions to deepen.

In fact, it was due to Brother Vishius’s sudden departure that she had ultimately resorted to the last measure of opening the secret room.

“I understand your feelings, but Brother Vishius really did leave after receiving an urgent summons. I’m not sure what reason I would have to harm him in the first place.”

Kisa tried to gauge the hidden intentions beneath that calm demeanor as she spoke.

“You must have heard about Brother Emil from Count Theodore, so you know about the possibility of your brother having a second accomplice.”

“Yes, I heard. I see. So you suspect that person is Vishius.”

“That’s right. Am I wrong in my thinking?”

“Certainly… I heard from the abbot that he was quite close to my brother. Moreover, he wasn’t at Pavela Monastery when Seyard came to the villa to kill me.”

This was the first time Kisa was hearing this information.

“Then doesn’t that make it almost certain that he’s an accomplice? Your brother has an alibi for being elsewhere at that time. Brother Vishius, though a bit small, has a build quite similar to yours…”

“He could deceive others’ eyes. Is that what you’re saying?”

Seyard completed the sentence that Kisa had unconsciously left hanging and tilted his water glass.

“To be honest, I’m not unfamiliar with that thought myself. But that alone isn’t enough to conclude that Vishius is an accomplice.”

According to him, there were two or three other people who had left the monastery for various reasons at that time.

“Besides, there’s no law saying the accomplice has to be someone from inside the monastery. Seyard spent a lot of time outside, frequenting gambling houses and such. There’s every possibility he could have enticed someone he met there.”

He went on to explain that the person who played the fake Seyard might have simply been a hired hand.

“It’s not like standing watch near a murder scene like Cobi, but simply staying at a designated location for a few days. For something like that, you could recruit a suitable person without revealing the full scope of the plan.”

“…….”

Listening quietly, it was quite reasonable reasoning.

As she listened to his calm voice, Kisa realized that she had been in quite a psychological corner until recently.

‘Come to think of it, the only evidence that Brother Vishius was the second accomplice was my gut feeling.’

It was because he had disappeared so suddenly that her suspicion had turned into conviction.

‘But……’

That didn’t mean she could take this man’s words at face value either.

“If Brother Vishius is really here, let me meet him right now.”

At those words, Seyard’s eyes widened.

“Right now? But the meal isn’t finished yet—”

“Then you can finish eating and come. I don’t intend to eat any more, so I’ll get up first. Where is he now?”

As Kisa pulled back her chair and stood up, he said somewhat weakly.

“It seems your trust in me has fallen considerably due to this incident. It’s a natural result, but I can’t help feeling bitter about it.”

“…….”

“Brother Vishius should be in the guest room where he stayed before. He returned this morning exhausted, so I told him to rest.”

Seyard rose from his seat with elegant posture and extended one arm toward Kisa.

“I’ll accompany you. Shall we go?”

Kisa looked at that arm for a moment, then stepped back a pace or two from him.

“It’s fine. You can lead the way.”

“…….”

Seyard didn’t make any particular comment about Kisa’s refusal of his escort.

He simply withdrew his extended arm and then walked briskly toward the door first, as she had requested.

****

A few minutes later, when they arrived at the guest room assigned to Brother Vishius, Kisa could only keep her mouth shut.

“Well, this is rather embarrassing. I left without even saying goodbye properly due to personal matters, and now I’ve come back in the middle of it all.”

Because the person who had disappeared without a trace a few days ago was really there.

She hadn’t thought Seyard would tell an easily discovered lie, but even considering that, the existence of the perfectly fine monk was surprising.

“Well, on my way to Bonzmos, I received word that the problem had somehow been resolved without me.”

Vishius took a sip of tea and sighed with a complaint.

“Really, the abbot. Whenever there’s even a small problem, he doesn’t think to solve it himself but just calls his subordinates.”

“……Ah, yes. I see.”

“Anyway, I’m glad to be back here. This time I’ll definitely stay until the wedding ceremony. It’s Brother Hillan’s wedding, no less, so I should be by his side to congratulate him.”

Seyard, sitting next to Kisa, simply responded to the monk’s words with a smile.

When his teacup was nearly empty, he left the guest room saying he had work to attend to.

Since there didn’t seem to be any more worthwhile stories to hear from Vishius, Kisa followed him out.

“Are you satisfied now?”

He asked casually in the corridor where only the two of them remained.

Kisa answered his question with a question.

“Is this why you hardly spoke when you were with Brother Vishius before? Were you afraid that if you had deep conversations, it would be revealed that you’re not the real Seyard?”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

Then she stopped in place, and Seyard also stopped walking and turned to look at Kisa.

“As you said, Brother Vishius is here in perfect condition. I feel like a fool for suspecting him for no reason.”

“Kisa.”

He approached her, calling her name, but Kisa avoided his gaze and stared at her feet.

“Well, fine. It’s better that he’s safe than something being wrong. Then let’s move on to the next thing.”

“Next?”

“There’s an answer I asked you about yesterday but didn’t get to hear. The reason why you’re impersonating your brother.”

At that moment, Kisa thought she heard the sound of the man close by taking a small breath.

“Tell me. Why did you become Seyard?”

As she asked this and slowly lifted her head, his face came into view.

That face with a truly joyful, beautiful smile.

“Now we’re getting to the main point.”

The man, whose voice was filled with emotion, brushed Kisa’s hair aside with his right hand.

Kisa was so entranced by the smile whose meaning she couldn’t understand that she didn’t even think to avoid his touch.

“Why… why are you smiling like that?”

“Because I can now fully reveal my love for you.”

“Love?”

Love. Considering what they had been discussing about murder just moments before, it was truly an incongruous word.

He nodded once and then took Kisa’s hand to lead her.

It would be better to move somewhere quiet in case someone else might come.

Not long after, they arrived at a study filled with thick books.

It was a place Kisa often used since it was relatively close to the guest room where she was staying.

About a year ago, it was in this place, which had a similar atmosphere to the Royal Library where Kisa and Seyard had first… no, second met, that the two faced each other.

“There are two reasons why I became Seyard Hillan instead of Vischer Hillan.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Kisa waited for his next words.

“The first was to escape from my engagement with Princess Arta. That engagement was made between Vischer and the princess, so if I became Seyard, I could easily abandon it.”

Was marrying the princess really such a detestable thing to him?

In fact, considering that the princess had someone named Gabriel, it was more than enough to hurt the pride of Vischer, her fiancé.

‘If it’s not that, then surely……’

Feeling the word “love” that she had just heard from his lips echoing in her ears, Kisa spoke up.

“Then what’s the second reason?”

The man didn’t answer that question immediately but quietly looked at Kisa’s face for a moment.

Just as Kisa was about to urge him for an answer, unable to wait any longer, he whispered like a sigh.

“Because I couldn’t do it as Vischer.”

“What?”

“You’re the one who instinctively rejected the name Vischer.”

“……What are you talking about?”

“When I was still Vischer Hillan, you avoided me whenever you saw me. You would go far away as if I were terrible. How much you must have hated me to remember only my name even when you forgot other things.”

Kisa stared at the man blankly, not quite understanding what he meant.

“So I needed to become someone else.”