If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 163

“A familiar face? Who might that be?”

At those words, Kisa tilted her head in curiosity.

She wondered if perhaps a mutual acquaintance of hers and Seyard’s had recently visited this country.

With an expression like someone who had prepared a surprise gift, he quickly resolved Kisa’s confusion.

“This is a secret, but the promising musician Gabriel Williams is reportedly going to break his long silence and make his first public appearance tomorrow.”

Kisa just blinked her eyes before responding in a somewhat absent-minded voice.

“Oh, I see. But… is that something Gabriel himself wanted?”

“Of course. After all, no one could force such a matter upon him, could they?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Kisa trailed off ambiguously, feeling embarrassed.

For a moment, she had suspected that Seyard might have subtly pressured Gabriel under the pretense of cheering her up, but he had immediately seen through her intentions.

In any case, it was a trivial matter. What was more important was the person who had newly become the subject of their conversation.

Gabriel Williams. He had been Princess Arta’s secret lover, but unable to bear her selfish love and the future where he could never be more than a paramour, he had fled.

The fact that he had appeared after hiding from the princess’s sight with Seyard’s help meant…

“It seems Gabriel has severed his feelings. His romantic attachment.”

The fundamental reason for his reclusive life in the first place was that he lacked the confidence to firmly reject the princess if she came to him pleading her love.

Seyard shifted his gaze to the enchanting night view visible from the guest room, one of this hotel’s pride and joys.

“Well, I cannot know the intimate feelings of his heart, but from the lines written in his letter, I sensed quite a firm resolution.”

What kind of emotional change had the experiences of the past few months brought about in Gabriel?

Had it been such a significant change that he could abandon such a desperately passionate love?

Kisa spent some time with her eyes closed, trying to fathom his state of mind.

To be honest, though she had spoken thus to Seyard just moments ago, she didn’t think that gentle man had completely forgotten the princess in just a few months.

But in some way, he must have resolved his feelings in order to decide to appear before people.

‘…Someone comes to mind for comparison.’

Looking back, it was a peculiar thing.

Until just the engagement ceremony, poor Gabriel had been in a position to receive Kisa’s sympathy, but now the situation was reversed.

She truly envied Gabriel, who was trying to spread his wings to fly once more, breaking free from the lover who had been suffocating him.

Kisa’s attempts had ended in futile failure, and she had been unable to emotionally distance herself from her lover.

‘Being here together like this, I can see it clearly.’

The fact that she still loved this deceptive yet affectionate man.

When his gentle gaze and touch reached her, her heart beat helplessly, and when his eyebrows drooped at her cold attitude, Kisa too remained unsettled for a long time.

Conversely, when such a peaceful atmosphere flowed between them, she was swept up in the desire to settle into it.

What should she call this sensation?

Happiness? Though her mind was warning her that she was falling into a deep swamp, if one part of her heart was in an extremely tranquil state, it seemed appropriate to call it happiness.

‘How pathetic.’

The last time she had seen him, Gabriel’s advice had been rendered meaningless.

The person who had admirably followed those words was Gabriel, who had left the princess, while Kisa was merely in a position to hear his story through Seyard’s mouth.

“…Won’t the princess come looking for him when she hears this news?”

At Kisa’s sudden question, Seyard stroked his chin.

“Given her temperament, she certainly would. She’ll want to get Gabriel in her grasp before her marriage.”

“Marriage? Is the princess getting married?”

“Come to think of it, since the official announcement hasn’t been made yet, you wouldn’t know. Though nothing has been decided yet, it’s almost certain enough that everyone who needs to know in Sorbi knows about it.”

The princess’s marriage partner that he eventually told her about was, surprisingly, someone Kisa knew quite well.

Felix Lowens. Daniel’s immediate younger brother and the one who became the heir to the Lowens family after Daniel was imprisoned on espionage charges.

Since Daniel hadn’t gotten along particularly well with his brothers, she couldn’t say they were close, but she had encountered him several times while going to and from the Lowens house.

Kisa retrieved her memories of Felix from a corner of her mind.

‘Following Daniel’s description, he didn’t look like a complete scoundrel or street thug, but…’

The Felix Lowens that Kisa remembered was the one among the brothers who most resembled Daniel.

Since he wasn’t the heir, he seemed to hide his arrogance better than his brother and was more aware of others’ opinions, but fundamentally his demeanor was quite similar to Daniel’s.

So much so that Kisa had thought the biggest reason Daniel disliked him was self-hatred.

Of course, if he heard this, he would be furious and tell her not to talk nonsense, so it was just her own thought.

“Princess and Felix Lowens… I never expected such a connection.”

However, thinking about it a bit more, it wasn’t such a strange pairing.

‘Most of the unmarried upper-class men in Sorbi suitable to be the princess’s match already have predetermined partners.’

When planning her own broken engagement with Daniel, Kisa had thoroughly investigated this herself, so she knew well.

If there were cases without partners, they invariably had special backgrounds or histories, as had been the case with Seyard, who had spent time at a monastery.

‘Though that’s the real Seyard Hillan’s story…’

Felix, who had taken his older brother’s place as the original heir, also fell into such a category.

Usually, the eldest sons who will inherit the family seek marriage arrangements from childhood, but other sons who will become independent later don’t necessarily need to do so.

As far as Kisa knew, Felix Lowens also seemed to have a woman he was romantically involved with, but he had not taken an official fiancée.

“Since the royal couple wouldn’t want to send their beloved youngest daughter to a distant foreign land, the new heir of Lowens would be the perfect match. Moreover, the royal family also holds Lowens’ weakness.”

At Seyard’s words, Kisa flinched and trembled slightly.

When it came to Lowens’ weakness, it undoubtedly meant Daniel, who had now become the family’s disgrace.

And the person who had made him so was…

“Seyard, why did you go so far with Daniel?”

Kisa brought up the matter that she had enough circumstantial evidence for until now but had never directly asked Seyard about.

“Because it was pathetic to see a worthless guy acting like he owned you.”

It was an answer that readily admitted that the trap Daniel had fallen into was his own scheme.

“I’m always in the same city but can’t get close, yet he carelessly neglects you under the pretext of studying abroad, which was disgusting to watch. I give you carefully selected dresses as gifts but never get to see you wear them, while the dresses he chose became your treasures.”

“Seyard…”

“I have to marry a woman I don’t love, yet that guy gets to marry the woman I love while still eagerly eyeing other women.”

His reddish-brown eyes filled with hostility so obvious it was easy to understand.

“Most of all, because he looked down on you, whom I would have treasured more than any other woman.”

While Kisa was wondering how to respond to this uncharacteristic display, Seyard quickly changed his expression and created a smile.

It was a rapid change, like switching masks.

“Looking at it this way, it’s an ugly inferiority complex. I seem quite immature too.”

His gaze landed on Kisa’s plate, which hadn’t diminished much since earlier.

“You seem to have roughly finished your meal, so shall we call it a day? And don’t worry too much about Gabriel. This is Octava, not Sorbi. No matter how much of a princess she is, she can’t forcibly detain someone in a foreign country.”

“…I see.”

“Moreover, I’ve assigned several bodyguards to stay by his side. All he needs to do is focus on his concert.”

“Ah, come to think of it, you mentioned there was a concert. Was it tomorrow?”

“Yes, that’s right, but he plans to continue staying in Matera for a while, so there will be continued opportunities to hear his performance. If you don’t feel like going right away, you can go next time, Kisa. Or should I invite Gabriel here separately? Like that time.”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

Though she did want to see Gabriel sometime, she didn’t want to see him that desperately.

No, to be more precise, she had long lacked the confidence to face Gabriel.

Somehow, she felt that he would see through her current situation of being tied to Seyard in an ambiguous way, unable to follow her own advice.

“Let’s go next time. These days, my stomach feels unsettled for some reason. I’ll let you know when I’m feeling better.”

Seyard readily accepted her suggestion.

“I hope Gabriel achieves a successful return tomorrow night.”

Kisa felt the same way about that.

****

Two days later, Kisa encountered the name Gabriel Williams in a morning newspaper.

As she had hoped, Gabriel’s surprise return had surprised many people, and newspapers were competing to pour out articles about him.

In fact, Gabriel had always been a noteworthy talent, but his fame had grown even more because he had disappeared without a trace for the past few months.

He was probably surrounded by questions about where he had been and what he had been doing.

“At least it’s a relief.”

The newspaper also contained unstinting praise for his unchanged, or seemingly improved, performance skills during his absence.

Kisa read the article once more and then put the newspaper down on the table.

Just then, one of the servants that Seyard had assigned to her approached and asked:

“The person collecting laundry will be coming soon. Do you have anything else to send?”

“No. What I gave you last time is everything.”

It was already time for the hotel staff to visit.

While the servants took care of simple room cleaning, since this was fundamentally a hotel rather than a private villa, laundry had to be entrusted to the hotel.

Knock knock knock. Soon, when the appointed time arrived, the sound of knocking came from the door.

At that moment, Kisa’s body stiffened. The distinctive rhythm of knocking that seemed very familiar.

Kisa knew it well. Because it was the signal that Gale and she had established long ago.