If You Wish to Have Me

IYWHM Chapter 168

     

Kisa rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

‘How can I somehow create an opportunity to be alone with Chloe to tell her?’

It wouldn’t be impossible, but there was a high possibility that others would find it strange.

If Kisa had normally been someone with a meddlesome and sociable personality, it might be different, but from her position of never having opened up even to the servants who were always by her side, approaching a hotel employee she barely knew would be awkward.

Then what should she do?

“…….”

After remaining silent for a while, she suddenly turned her attention to a faint noise coming from outside the door.

She heard the voices of two women speaking quietly so as not to disturb Kisa, who was in the bedroom.

One voice belonged to the servant who attended to Kisa most closely, and the other, while not familiar, was a voice she had heard a few times before.

‘Has it already become this time?’

After glancing at the wall clock, Kisa briefly tidied her appearance.

Then, when she went outside the room, the servant who had been talking with a woman holding a basket hurriedly showed proper etiquette and asked,

“Is there anything you need?”

“Could you bring me a glass of water?”

“Yes, please wait just a moment.”

Kisa watched the woman giving instructions to another servant, then turned her gaze to the woman with the basket.

“I see you’ve come to collect the laundry.”

“Yes, I just received it and was about to leave.”

It would have been good if Chloe had come even for just one day, but since there was clearly a designated person in charge, that seemed difficult.

After all, the hotel would naturally want to assign a veteran rather than a newcomer who had just joined.

Duke Hillan was such an important customer that even if Chloe made efforts in places where Kisa couldn’t see, unless there were special circumstances like last time, it would be difficult.

‘Well, both she and I have no choice but to make the most of the given situation…….’

Kisa thought this as she sat on a nearby sofa.

“Do you have a moment? If you’re not busy, I have something to ask.”

At that question, the laundry attendant with somewhat tanned skin looked like a startled rabbit.

“Me?”

“Yes, I’d like to get some help.”

Though she had been in charge of this room for quite some time, this was the first time Kisa had initiated a conversation, so she nodded with a somewhat bewildered expression.

“I’m not sure if someone like me can be of help to a guest, but if you have any questions, please ask. I’ll answer as best I can within my knowledge.”

“Thank you. It’s nothing difficult, so you don’t need to be so nervous.”

After taking a sip of the water the servant had prepared, Kisa continued,

“As you know, I’m a foreigner. While staying here, I’ve studied enough to communicate fairly well, but honestly speaking, there’s much more I don’t know about Octava.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Still, until now I’ve mostly stayed in the hotel so there were no problems, but I have to go out. And I’ll be appearing before many people. Do you happen to know Gabriel Williams?”

At Kisa’s words, a gleam appeared in the eyes of the woman who had looked quite tense.

“Of course I know him. He’s a famous musician recently. I’ve seen his portrait in the newspapers several times.”

Natural talent, refined appearance, a mysterious period of disappearance.

All of Gabriel’s qualities were enough to captivate people, and then, just a few days ago, a certain suspicion published in some third-rate magazine added fuel to the fire of interest.

The content suggested that Gabriel might have been the lover of some high-ranking noble lady in Sorbi, and suffered disgrace when her spouse discovered this fact.

Princess Arta was still unmarried and naturally had no spouse, so it was quite far from the truth, but it couldn’t be dismissed as entirely false either.

‘Anyway, it was true that he had been in a relationship with a woman who had a fiancé and went into hiding because of that problem…….’

It wouldn’t be strange if someone who knew about their relationship had subtly leaked the story to the magazine company.

No matter how secretly they met, there are no complete secrets in the world.

Eventually, Kisa had also learned about their relationship, and judging from the circumstances, Seyard…… no, Vischer had probably been aware of the princess’s weakness for quite some time.

‘The closest aides who assist the princess would most likely have known. Among Gabriel’s acquaintances, there might be someone who roughly caught on.’

Well, actually, it was hard to ignore the possibility that the magazine company, knowing nothing, had surprisingly managed to roughly guess the truth.

Wasn’t it quite common for those engaged in the arts, regardless of gender, to have affairs with nobles who were their patrons?

Connecting Gabriel’s firmly guarded reason for disappearance to such matters was both common and quite plausible speculation.

‘Anyway, that’s not what’s important.’

The point was that she had succeeded in drawing the interest of the woman before her by using Gabriel’s name.

This was most crucial for Kisa.

“I’m going to attend Gabriel’s violin solo concert—his first since returning to Octava. But I’m worried about what to wear. Due to circumstances, I haven’t attended social circles for a while, and I know even less about the fashions here.”

Kisa briefly clouded her expression, then met eyes with the laundry attendant and smiled sociably.

“So I’d like to get help from someone who would know the trends well.”

“You, you mean me?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I’m just a hotel employee, how could I…….”

“But you see it every day. What clothes the people staying at this hotel wear.”

Just seeing? As someone who also did laundry, she could immediately observe the clothing situations of those wealthy enough to use Matera’s finest hotel.

“My people are foreigners who haven’t been here long, and even if we go to famous dressmakers, they’re basically merchants. I can’t trust what they say at face value.”

Kisa gave a reasonably convincing reason, then turned her head and made eye contact with the servant who had been quietly listening to their conversation.

“Of course, I’m not asking this empty-handed.”

The perceptive servant quickly prepared banknotes.

Considering a hotel employee’s salary, it was a high-denomination bill that was certainly not small, causing the woman to swallow hard.

“Oh, you don’t need to go to such trouble…….”

“It’s only proper that I give this to you, so please accept it.”

The deliberation wasn’t long. After carefully putting the banknotes in her pocket, she couldn’t hide her joy.

“The current trend is dresses with raised waistlines. But this is actually something that needs to consider the wearer’s body type, so it doesn’t suit everyone. Moreover, since everyone is dressing similarly, for customers who value uniqueness…….”

Kisa nodded attentively to her story while not forgetting the words she needed to say in between.

“Ah, then I should avoid that style. Since I’m seeing Gabriel after such a long time, it would be troublesome to look the same as everyone else.”

“What? Are you acquainted with Gabriel?”

Good, she took the bait.

“He’s the one who played congratulatory music at my engagement ceremony. That’s how we became connected.”

“I see. Come to think of it, I think I read about it in the newspaper.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, that…… you’re such a famous couple. It’s about a neighboring country, but there was a small article about it.”

To be precise, it was probably Seyard alone who was famous. But what did it matter?

“Well, unfortunately Gabriel had personal circumstances and didn’t appear before the public for quite some time after that, but anyway, it’s fortunate that he’s returned like this.”

At that moment, Kisa felt an intense gaze directed toward her.

“That’s right. It really is fortunate.”

Though she replied briefly, the woman clearly hoped that Kisa’s words would continue.

“Hmm, then what about this dress? Might it be behind the trends?”

When Kisa described one of her dresses in words, the woman tried not to show it, but clear disappointment spread across her face.

Kisa pretended not to notice this fact and continued to drone on only about clothes and fashion.

Then, when the conversation stopped because Kisa was drinking water, the woman who couldn’t abandon her curiosity subtly steered the conversation back toward Gabriel.

“Um, what kind of person is Gabriel? He’s so famous these days that I’m a bit curious.”

“He’s a kind and good person. His performance skills are undoubtedly excellent. Many of my friends liked him very much.”

That answer only further aroused the questioner’s curiosity without satisfying her at all.

However, Kisa didn’t mention Gabriel any further, and thus their conversation ended.

“Then I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

The hotel employee, still harboring unresolved questions, had to take reluctant steps while politely saying goodbye.

Kisa instructed her servant to look into dress shops again based on her recommendations, then got up from her seat and headed to the bedroom.

Only after being alone did a small sigh finally flow from Kisa’s lips.

‘I hope it goes according to plan.’

She could only hope that the laundry attendant who had just left was of a gossipy nature.

“At least I hope she’s not someone tight-lipped…….”

The topic about Gabriel was the kind of story that would make anyone’s tongue itch, as long as they weren’t that type of person.

Moreover, hadn’t Kisa subtly hinted that she might know something related to his disappearance?

If the attendant who returned to the laundry room with her basket wanted to share what she had heard with someone else as quickly as possible, who would that person be?

“…….”

Kisa closed her eyes, hoping that Chloe would happen to be working in the laundry room.

She felt a slight guilt toward Gabriel.

Perhaps in someone’s mind, he might now be entangled with Kisa and become Duke Hillan’s rival.

And the next afternoon, Kisa’s personal servant came with a handkerchief and asked her,

“Could this possibly be your item?”

“What handkerchief is this?”

“It was mixed in with today’s laundry, but I don’t remember it.”

Kisa looked at the blue handkerchief for just a moment, then shook her head.

“It’s not mine. It must have gotten mixed in by mistake.”

Chloe’s blue signal.

Fortunately, it seemed she had immediately understood Kisa’s secret message.

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