IYWHM Chapter 164

‘Could it be Gale?’

While Kisa’s gaze was fixed on the door, one of the servants near the entrance greeted the visitor.

“Please come in.”

Soon, seeing the person who entered the room carrying a laundry basket, Kisa let out a sigh of disappointment.

It was a small-framed woman with an extremely ordinary appearance.

She was different from Gale starting with her gender, and there were no other resemblances either.

‘What was I even thinking.’

There was no way Gale would suddenly appear here.

Even if he had feelings for Kisa, coming all the way here was an entirely different matter.

‘It would be an act of openly becoming Duke Hillan’s enemy.’

Seyard was staying at this hotel without particularly hiding his identity.

The realistic Gale wouldn’t go that far for Kisa’s sake, and there was no way Seyard would allow Gale’s intrusion either.

She could bet on it. With his thorough and meticulous nature, he would certainly have briefed the guards protecting Kisa outside about individuals they needed to be particularly careful of.

Among them, Gale, who had helped Kisa escape from the side, would undoubtedly be the person requiring the most caution.

Perhaps Hillan’s people were spread throughout the hotel area, keeping watch to see if he would come, and the surveillance that had been attached to Gale before was likely still watching him.

So she shouldn’t have such pointless thoughts, Kisa was about to resolve when a sense of unease crept over her.

‘Wait a moment. Then why…’

Did that person use Gale’s signal to knock on this room’s door?

Judging from the other servants’ reactions, it seemed only Kisa had paid attention to the knocking sound in this room, but it definitely wasn’t an ordinary knock.

Could it be a simple coincidence?

But what were the chances that the hotel’s assigned laundry staff member for Kisa’s room happened to be someone who knocked unusually when visiting guest rooms?

Then was there indeed a hidden intention?

The first thing that came to mind was the simple speculation that she had heard about that signal from someone and deliberately came to find Kisa.

And that someone was naturally Gale, who had created the signal—his face was the first to flash before her eyes.

“…….”

Kisa first settled comfortably in the armchair and then looked toward the window, pretending to admire the view outside.

Though she desperately wanted to observe the visitor immediately, she couldn’t act rashly and give the servants a strange impression.

Those who served as Seyard’s eyes and ears would likely notice even Kisa’s seemingly insignificant changes.

She kept her gaze elsewhere while perking up her ears.

“Here.”

“Yes, laundry received.”

Between the laundry staff member and the servant, there was probably the routine conversation that had occurred several times over the past few days.

Kisa had often seen this scene when she wasn’t out or in the bedroom.

‘Though I never paid proper attention to it.’

However, after the staff member put the laundry in the basket, something different from usual came from the servant’s mouth.

“You’re not the person who usually comes?”

As expected. Though Kisa hadn’t been certain, this was the issue she had been suspicious of.

The staff member readily answered that question.

“Yes, that’s right. The original person in charge couldn’t come to work today due to health reasons, so I came as a substitute. I’ll probably be in charge until tomorrow.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Although I have little experience working at this hotel, I’m always doing my best, so please feel free to entrust your precious clothes to me.”

The conventional greeting that the servant would have dismissed casually stuck in Kisa’s ears.

Short experience. She hadn’t been working long.

Could this person have been hired after Kisa began staying at this hotel?

Kisa turned her head while maintaining her usual expression as much as possible.

Then, as if intentionally, their eyes met.

The brown-haired woman smiled brightly and sent an eye greeting toward Kisa.

Though her heart was pounding, Kisa responded appropriately, just as she would when encountering any other hotel staff member.

Nothing particularly special happened after that.

The staff member left the room carrying the laundry basket, and the servants asked Kisa if she had any particular menu requests since lunch time was approaching.

Kisa answered that she didn’t have any particular preference while reflecting on the woman’s gaze she had just seen.

It might have been her imagination, but it had been unusually bright, as if asking her to understand her hidden meaning.

‘Could she really be someone Gale sent?’

At that thought, her heart somehow lifted, but soon Kisa’s head cooled down.

‘It’s too early to judge. Gale and I aren’t the only ones who know that knocking signal.’

There had been someone who used the signal while hiding their identity to make Kisa open the door with her own hands. Seyard.

And Gale’s surveillance, who would have naturally reported this to Seyard, would also know the signal.

‘But Seyard wouldn’t have a reason to do something like this, would he?’

What benefit would there be for him to confuse Kisa by using the laundry staff member?

As Kisa shook her head thinking it couldn’t be, a faint suspicion arose in her chest.

‘Could it be to test me?’

How would she react if she recognized Gale’s presence? Whether she pretended to give up on the surface but was secretly still looking for opportunities to escape from him.

Seyard might want to find that out.

‘……No. That’s too paranoid thinking.’

She doubted whether he, who had already gotten Kisa in his hands, would go that far.

Moreover, having seen his blatant hostility toward Daniel yesterday, she wanted to believe that Seyard had become more honest with her than before.

However, once born, suspicion didn’t easily fade.

Didn’t he have a track record?

Who was it that lured Kisa to the secret room that contained nothing but a box with a single scarf?

Who was it that induced her to break the norm of promises and explore more about himself?

She might be falling for the bait Seyard had thrown this time, just like then.

Confused, Kisa absentmindedly put food in her mouth, so lost in thought she didn’t know where it was going.

‘But he said he would change. He swore in front of me.’

When such naive words came from a corner of her heart, skeptical self-mockery followed.

‘You believe those words? He’s someone who would do anything to achieve what he wants.’

Vague hope and the experience of frustration squeezed her heart.

It would have been easier if there had been only one side.

She was awkwardly holding onto both sides without being able to abandon either.

‘Pathetic……’

Along with habitual self-loathing, one clear fact surfaced.

There was no law saying she wouldn’t encounter such situations in the future.

Kisa still loved Seyard, but she couldn’t trust him.

Seyard too would find it difficult to truly trust Kisa, who had whispered love and then run away.

‘He and I will live like this for the rest of our lives.’

Constantly suspecting each other and being wary of whether what was in front of them might be the other’s trap.

That was the biggest reason Kisa had secretly left her homeland and the side of her loved one early on, and nothing had changed much from then to now.

No, it might have gotten worse.

‘Though there is this child……’

Kisa thought about whether the being inside her could change something and stroked her belly.

It wasn’t yet time to feel fetal movement, but she was hoping there would be something when—

“Excuse me. Have you finished your meal?”

A servant who had approached Kisa sitting at the dining table asked.

Only then realizing that the food had long since gone cold, Kisa nodded slowly.

“Yes, you may clear it away.”

“……You ate even less than yesterday.”

The servant’s face darkened somewhat after checking the plate.

Though she wasn’t without desire to consider the position of the person who had to worry about Kisa’s food intake due to Seyard’s orders, her troubled mind also affected her appetite.

“I tried, but I couldn’t eat any more.”

“It’s alright. Keeping your mind at ease is the most important thing.”

“Thank you.”

“Also, His Grace requests to see you.”

“Seyard?”

“Yes, he asked through someone if you would like to take a walk together today.”

“Uh…….”

Kisa fell into brief contemplation.

To be honest, her mind was particularly unsettled today, making her reluctant to meet him.

And if it was Seyard, who had been following Kisa’s opinions for the past few days, he would probably accept it gracefully even if she refused.

However, in the next moment, Kisa spoke words that went against her own feelings.

“Alright. I’ll go out. Please tell Seyard as well.”

If the laundry staff member really was someone Gale had sent, she needed to make sure Seyard wouldn’t pay attention to that side.

Therefore, today she would meet Seyard. And then she would give him the answer he had wanted.

Kisa planned to say she wanted to go out with him soon to see Gabriel’s performance.

Shortly after, Seyard came to her room to escort Kisa.

“Shall we go?”

Kisa gazed at the man who looked pleased, then took his extended hand.

But when they came down to the first floor where the garden was, they encountered unexpected people.

“Duke Hillan?”

They were nobles from Sorbi whom Kisa was acquainted with.

“Oh my, we had no idea Your Grace was staying here. And…….”

The two ladies’ gazes fell on Kisa, who was beside him.

“To think you were with Lady Vansfelt.”

Their eyes, seeing Kisa’s belly, were colored with considerable surprise.