Chapter 18.2

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Chapter 18 – Part 2

‘……’

‘You kept talking about her, but you kept saying all these details that you didn’t usually care about. That she tended to cut her nails too short and it looked painful, that there’s a small mole between my index finger and thumb, and… Hey. Are you actually a pervert? Who even notices and remembers something like that in such detail. I thought you’ve gone off the rocker.’

If it was him, he would have noticed right away that he was attracted to her. But since she was the daughter of Duke Everett, he would have tried to stay away from her and denied it all. Even so, he thought that it shouldn’t have been long until he gave up.

In the end, he should have acknowledged his feelings for her and thought about completely wrenching her away from the Everett family.

But unexpectedly, all he did was to be cruel to her and to reject her completely.

Something must have happened. Someone intercepted between them. Or, because of a misunderstanding, or something else…

“……”

Theodore stopped in his tracks. Before he knew it, he was already in front of Lily’s room. As he was lost in thought, he came all the way here without realizing it.

He hovered outside the door for a long time, but eventually, he turned around without knocking on the door. There were many things he wanted to ask. He wanted to talk more with her and learn more about her.

However, it wouldn’t be easy to approach her. He was suddenly afraid of how she would look at him.

In the end, he left without going in to see Lily. But at the other side of the hallway, he caught sight of a familiar silhouette. Theodore soon recognized who it was—his aunt, Missus Seymour.

‘Why is she here…’

After contemplating for a moment, he soon schooled his features and approached Missus Seymour. He greeted her with a smile, and Missus Seymour looked at him with a pleasant expression just as usual. Theodore observed her for a moment and asked.

“Aunt, what brings you here?”

“I came to check Lily’s condition because I heard she collapsed. Isn’t it natural to do this as the elder of the family?”

She wasn’t wrong, but… Theodore strangely felt anxious. Wasn’t it through Calvin that he heard Missus Seymour didn’t see Lily in a favorable light?

…Somehow, he had a hunch that he shouldn’t let Missus Seymour meet Lily right now.

After hesitating for a moment, Theodore smiled at Missus Seymour and opened his lips to speak.

“I went to visit her earlier, but Lily must have fallen asleep early. I believe it’s better for you to visit her next time.”

“Is that so? Then… I’ve come here for nothing. Just as you said, it would be better for me to come visit her at a later time.”

“Yes. I also need to return to my office and do my work.”

Theodore and Missus Seymour left the hallway and descended the staircase. By the time they reached the second floor where the duke’s office was situated, Missus Seymour spoke up.

“Theo, is your memory still…?”

“…Yes, but I’m alright. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“That’s right… Those memories aren’t even important. Don’t push yourself.”

At that, without realizing it, Theodore’s expression almost hardened. Unimportant memories?

“But… It worries me, still. Just pass time as you did before you lost your memories of Lily. She won’t be here for long either way, since she’s someone who’ll soon leave the household.”

“…Thank you for your advice, Aunt.”

Theodore replied reflexively, and at this, Missus Seymour smiled at him kindly. She soon lightly curtsied towards him before walking away.

Theodore remained in that spot, still lost in thought.

‘Unimportant memories. Someone who’ll soon leave the household…’

He found those words unpleasant. And the more he ruminated, the more he had a bad feeling about it. It’s true that Missus Seymour had been taking care of him for a long time now, but… He knew that it was only because of the protectiveness she felt over him.

Though the previous duchess asked her to take care of him, it wasn’t only because of this that she wanted to think of herself as someone like his ‘mother’.

‘Perhaps…’

Seeds of doubt that had been planted slowly budded. He wasn’t certain of it exactly just yet, but he had a strong hunch that there was something wrong here.

If one cog in the framework were to get misaligned, then everything would start to break down. The first time he felt that something was amiss was just one day after Lily Everett got married and left.

Hessen sat on the sofa, a sour look on his face. Pulling out a cigarette, Owen was sitting on the sofa in front of Hessen and soon opened his lips.

“Do you want a smoke?”

“I’m good.”

When Hessen refused, Owen nodded lightly. He raised the cigarette to his own mouth and lit the end of it. He inhaled once and soon exhaled, the pungent stench of its smoke permeating the air.

“I heard you crossed paths with Lily and Theodore Valentino.”

“F*ck, does everything reach your ears?”

“Be respectful and call me Brother.”

“Brother, over my dead, frozen…”

While Hessen grumbled under his breath, Owen took in another puff of the cigarette. Sitting with his legs crossed, he leaned back against the sofa and exhaled smoke for a long time. Looking like this, he was like the very portrait of boredom and relaxation.

Tak, tak.

He shook off the tip of the cigarette on the ashtray then leaned back once again. Then, Owen asked.

“Tell me what happened.”

“What else. They’re the same as before…”

No. It wasn’t the same. In the time that he hadn’t seen Theodore Valentino, it seemed like he was strange, somehow. However Lily Everett on the other hand—she was still the same.

‘Though she has some strange hobby of walking around while pretending to be a maid.’

After contemplating for a moment, Hessen snatched Owen’s cigarette case on the table and spoke.

“He’s a little weird, that guy.”

At those words, Owen’s eyes glinted. Hessen didn’t notice because he was lighting his cigarette. He inhaled deeply just as Owen did, but immediately after a cough burst out.

Cough…! Cough, cough!

“What kind of crazy— Are you smoking this because you think it tastes great?!”

In any case, Hessen threw the cigarette after spewing out colorful swear words. Blurry smoke rose exactly from the crystal ashtray.

“Didn’t he seem like a completely different person?”

“What are you talking about?”

When Owen asked like this, Hessen frowned and answered with another question. He wondered what kind of nonsense his older brother was spitting out.

Instead, Hessen looked for some water to rinse his palate, but Owen just curved his eyes into crescent moons. Then, with a subtle tone of voice, he spoke as though whispering a secret.

“So it seems he lost his memories…”

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