Chapter 9
***
The morning when Lily was feeling warm in the garden.
“This is Joanna’s statement.”
As soon as Edlade opened his eyes early in the morning, he looked at Halbert with an annoyed look on his face.
A few rolls of papers were pushed in front of him.
“It’s a record of what happened during the week.”
“About what.”
“It’s about your wife.”
“…My wife?”
“It’s written on the first page of the report.”
“……”
As Halbert said, fine handwriting was neatly written on the first page of the document.
「I married Lily Rayburn of Marquis family, on xx/xx/xx. She became Lily Philemon and is now the hostess of Philemon’s mansion.」
The core content was incredibly simple but was hard to believe.
It was time to think about what to do with Halbert, who made a bizarre show as soon as he woke up.
“Don’t worry about what to do with me, I’m not lying, so please take a good look. As for why you can’t remember, you can just look at Joanna’s statement as I said before.”
“……Did you all go crazy together?”
“No one is crazy.”
“…..”
Unlike usual, Halbert’s strong performance was praiseworthy, but it wasn’t a pleasant story to hear at all.
In Joanna’s report, the name of the disease was written as “Amnesia by an unknown force (Lily Philemon only)”.
Edlade heard the name of his ridiculous disease for the first time in his life, but a seal was stamped below it with his own magic.
“I married a woman whom I don’t even remember, and she is staying in my mansion. Am I the only one who doesn’t remember her?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Is that due to an unknown force?”
“Yes.”
“Does it mean that my memories of her reset every day?”
“……..Yes.”
Halbert’s complexion darkened.
His wide eyes looked as if he had already talked to Edlade over and over again.
Edlade glanced at the series of events with Lily Philemon.
They hadn’t seen each other except on the first day.
The document states that Halbert had personally asked her to stay away for the time being.
The woman seemed to listen very well.
Edlade smiled and went down reading what had happened on his first day.
“Call my name”?
“……”
“You’re so arrogant.”
“Your Excellency allowed it.”
“No way”.
“……”
Halbert asked with a subtly contorted expression.
“Do you remember anything about My Lady?”
“I’m just married to a woman who I don’t know. I don’t have to remember a woman who I don’t remember.”
Halbert frowned at Edlade’s words.
Edlade let out a smirk at the distorted expression on Halbert’s face as if he had heard something unbelievable.
“Halbert.”
“Yes.”
“How many times have I heard you in a while?”
“……”
“Say it.”
“You listened to it every day.”
‘Every day for a week’ was added.
Edlade was a persistent man.
Halbert’s distorted expression seemed to deepen.
Edlade only got married at the emperor’s order, so he was a little offended at Halbert’s expression.
“Are you collecting information about amnesia?”
“We are looking for it by mobilizing the family’s information network. However, since it is not a common disease… The opinion of a wizard seems to be necessary.”
“That must be the first time you’re bringing it up to me.”
“Yes.”
“Call Archeus.”
Edlade had no interest in women, however, he didn’t like that he had such a troublesome disease.
Not remembering only one woman was like not remembering anything the next day no matter what he did to her.
She said, ‘If you put your mind to it, it won’t be as bad as harming me.’
It was unpleasant.
Halbert was right in asking her to avoid him.
Halbert stood as if he would rather harm himself than offend him.
“……..There is no sin in you.”
“Are you sure?”
“…..”
“Isn’t she the most dangerous thing to me?”
Halbert didn’t answer.
Edlade thought it was early to judge the possibility of risk.
He ruffled his hair and put down the papers.
It was a terribly unpleasant morning.
Having trouble with just one woman like this.
‘If she disappears, my amnesia may not be a problem either.’
The death of a woman he had never seen before was pictured before his eyes.
Halbert said quickly as if he noticed that, or if he had said the same thing for a week that Edlade couldn’t even remember.
“You shouldn’t hurt your wife.”
“Why?”
“Your Excellency will have a hard time.”
“Didn’t you say I don’t remember her?”
“Shouldn’t you think about when your memory comes back?”
“Does that mean it will be hard for me to kill the woman I married?”
“……”
Halbert nodded quietly.
He answered with a nod. He said Edlade might regret it.
Arrogant.
Since when did Halbert become so arrogant?
Who the hell is that woman?
The unpleasant feeling deepened.
Edlade was annoyed because his mood wasn’t clear even after letting Halbert go.
After working in the morning, he went for a little walk.
His mood calmed a little looking inside the barren mansion untouched by other people.
Until he met her in her greenhouse. “Listen carefully, I’m sure I’ll lose your memory…”
“……”
“Because I don’t have to remember.”
He said so, lifting the corners of his lips.
The bright red cheeks kept coming into his eyes.
He didn’t like it.
She was so good at talking without knowing she was risking her life.
The silver eyes fluttering as if they had suffered a serious injury were bothering him as he sat in the Duke’s seat and uttered the words that he thought might have raised his pride.
‘I won’t remember you. Neither tomorrow nor the day after tomorrow. So don’t come to my sight.’
She was a woman who will be forgotten after today anyway.
A walk for relaxation was a failure. He returned to his office.
“A guest arrives without contact?”
“Yeah, it’s probably a member of the Rayburn family who came to visit My lady.”
“Did you think that they will have a great relationship after a marriage under the emperor’s order?”
“How do I know?”
“… How was that woman’s behavior?”
“She went out to meet the guest.”
“Didn’t she call the guest in?”
“That’s right.”
Edlade looked out of the window with a displeased gaze.
She was obviously a woman who had a deep connection to his amnesia.
He could not rule out the case that she might be a spy sent by Marquis Rayburn.
“She told the guards not to open the gate. She left her maid behind, saying she would go outside and greet the guest.”
As if to ridicule Edlade’s thoughts of her, she showed an unexpected behavior.
“Why are you making that face?” Halbert questioned.
“What kind of expression did I make…”
“Doesn’t she really worry about the appearance of her going outside like that?”
“Sigh…” Halbert sighed.
“My lady is the illegitimate child of Marquis Rayburn. She grew up being treated worse than a stone on the side of the road. Of course, wouldn’t she be worried like a pup that needs to go?”
“That’s extreme loyalty.”
“Yes! Your Excellency doesn’t know, so I have to take care of him!”
Edlade clicked her tongue at Halbert’s words.
Although he was arrogant, he never shouted at Edlade as an aide.
Edlade remembered a woman who was talking fearlessly in the greenhouse.
Is she an illegitimate child who was treated worse than a stone by her family?
Did he do anything bad?
Is that why Halbert comes out like this?
An unfamiliar, curly black hair caught his attention.
The transparent silver eyes were mysterious.
It was very disturbing to see him so clearly in those transparent eyes.
Unpleasantness continued to hover around his neck.
He felt bitter in his mouth.
Edlade got up and left the office, leaving Halbert behind.
It seemed that he had to relieve his annoyance.
His chest has been tight since he met the woman he doesn’t remember.
His chest had many scars from the war, but he had never felt this pain in the injured area.
‘But why…’
It was throbbing. Unprovoked pain in a scarless place caused irritation. It was unpleasant, annoying, and irritating.
That woman’s existence was just like that to him.
The image of her sitting on her garden bench and staring blankly at her sky caught his eyes.
He told her to stay out of his sight.
It’s like she came out to find him.
He felt angry beyond annoyance at the thought that he had come out to find this woman without knowing.
Who the hell is she?
Because she is something to him.
Her hair, which drew his attention, was sprawled as if it had been ripped off by someone, and blood was dripping from her shoulder.
It reminded him of a story Halbert told him a while ago.
My lady is the illegitimate child of Marquis Rayburn. She grew up being treated worse than a stone on the side of the road.’
‘I think he wasn’t wrong.’
So was she hit by Prince Rayburn, who came to see her?
Nevertheless, he was dissatisfied with the excuse that it was itchy as if the bug bit him.
Why did the emperor send this woman to me?
“I want to know a little bit.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off the way she looked at him, unable to hide her trembling eyes at her own words.
Small and delicate shoulders.
An attitude that hides the trembling body and does not shake even after being caught on the chin.
Why is she looking at me with such eager eyes?’
She looked at me with her wet eyes, biting her lush red lips as if trying to hold back her tears.
It looked as insignificant as a wounded bird fluttering.
Nevertheless, when he was watching her, his stomach was twisting for no reason
“Anyway, tomorrow… you’ll forget me, so it doesn’t matter even if I look like this.”
“So please know me, Edlade.”
Transparent tears flowed from her silvery eyes.
Throbbing.
That also made his chest hurt without any scars.
She looked at herself in her reddened eyes, biting her lower lip so as not to cry.
She was screaming with her whole body for a hug.
She was no different from the regular appearance of any noblewoman he was familiar with.
That’s what was supposed to happen.
But, why?
“Are you doing it on purpose?”
“…….What.”
Unconsciously, he touched her lips.
Her dripping tears and the way she bit her lips as if they were about to bleed must have made him act so absurd.
It was an impulse, not a will.
Her lips were hot as if they had been scorched by fire. He didn’t want the blood to bleed from her pipsqueak little body, just as the shoulder from which she had bled was irritating enough.
He didn’t like the way she looked up eagerly with her moist eyes that made his stomach twist.
He’s a beast who had no sense of kindness at all.
“You’re not self-conscious.”
Why did he have to forget only this woman and no one else?
He wanted to know just a little.