CH 64

“Sir, please answer me.”

“What do you mean?” The aide avoided her gaze and turned to the ceiling, but her eyes followed him without fail.

“Where is His Grace?”

“No matter how much you ask, I don’t know anything.”

“Is there really any chance that Aelle is still alive? I want to know if His Grace is healthy. As I said….” Hari paused, her eyes watering. “I received help at the inn while she could not be saved. I don’t want to do that anymore. Aelle’s the one who saved me, so I want to help her, too.”

“It’s enough that you visited the mansion and helped with the investigation.” The aide had a smile on his face, but Hari remained resolved.

In the end, realizing that he couldn’t escape, the aide released a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. “I don’t know for sure, but he’s probably in the South by now.”

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“In the South?”

“Yes. He headed there as soon as a tip came that someone had seen someone who looked like Madam, but it’s time for him to come back. Unless there’s a report, he’s always looking for the remnants of the followers. Maybe–” The aid trailed off with a sad sigh. “He needs someone who can prove that Madam is alive with all his might.”

Hari covered her mouth and sighed. Her eyebrows narrowed sadly.

“Actually, I was vaguely aware of it.”

“…”

“The fact that His Grace is trying to find his wife himself.” The aide laughed dejectedly. He could hear the wind blowing through his teeth. “I knew it, but I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t fulfill my duties.”

The aide reflected on the past half year and thought of Kyle desperately searching for Aelle. He worked on a schedule that ordinary human bodies couldn’t bear.

Whenever he saw someone who resembled Aelle Carena or when a tip came in that could trace her existence, he would set out on a journey, regardless of location.

Even if it was a foreign country other than the Empire, even if he had to navigate a stormy sea, he did not hesitate. The commander even mentioned that His Grace was once on the brink of death because of a deadly monster’s venom, so the aide couldn’t help but be astonished.

The Duke went into Quetray forest, which had been sealed off, to subdue monsters, and when the aide found him, he was shocked and almost passed out. That day, he had lost his temper and dared to raise his voice at him.

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‘Why did you do such a reckless thing? It’s not something a normally prudent Duke would do! Moreover, you knew all along that it was a false report–’

‘I need it.’

‘Your Grace…’

‘I need that at least.’

The aide had no choice but to shut up at the pathetic voice that seemed to disappear immediately.

When Kyle returned from his travels, he always visited the flower bed. Only then did he seem stable as he managed the flowerbed directly despite the servants’ discouragement.

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The aide sighed lightly and closed his eyes. It had been years since he worked under Kyle.

The garden, which was only the whim of the previous Duke, was saved by the aide’s family and promised sincerity and honesty in his heart, if not loyalty to the Duke he had never met.

Although Kyle was a man who led the war to victory and did meritorious deeds, he had no intention of sincerely serving him if he wasn’t convinced.

However, those thoughts completely disappeared the moment the aide met Kyle. For the first time since he was born, he acutely felt the meaning of the word ‘overwhelming’.

The aide opened his eyes slowly and faced Hari. Her sorrowful expression must be the same as his.

“Can I ask you one question?”

Hari gave him a feeble nod, and the aide hesitated and opened his mouth with difficulty. “What is it like to want to throw away your memories? Of course, I have memories I want to forget, but I never considered taking a risk and erasing them.”

Hari’s expression became more subdued as she reminisced. Then she frowned and smiled lightly. It was painful and precious, and it felt like she didn’t know what to do.

“At that time, I couldn’t see my surroundings.” Looking pensive, Hari stared out the window. The aide couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “Sometimes, living as a person left behind felt harsh, and I started to hate him. I thought I hadn’t lost him; I had been left behind. I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to forget.”*

“…”

“That’s why I thought forgetting him would make everything easier.”

Hari smiled faintly and shook her head. Then, as if she had nothing else to say, she got up from her seat. The aide followed suit and smiled softly at her.

“I have to go now.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Well, because the succession is coming up. Lou, no, Louis[1].” Hari said his name quietly, not the nickname she used to always call him, in regret.

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“Would it be heavy if I expressed it as a mission I received from him?”*

“It’s not heavy.”

When the aide shook his head, Hari smiled lightly and turned around. Then, as she headed for the door, she turned around. “Ah, when His Grace returns, will you pass a message to him?”

“…”

“As a close friend, I’m very worried about you, and I’m ashamed of the last time I saw you, so please meet me.”

As Hari approached the door and grabbed the doorknob, she heard a noise behind her.

“If, by any chance, if I tell you that there really is a forest that will make you lose your memory, will you go, Madam?”

Hari let go of the doorknob and turned her head. The sunlight through the window poured inside, illuminating her face. Before long, a bright smile appeared on her face.

“I’m okay now.”

“…”

“I’ve come to realize it’s more painful to forget.”

“Is this all there is to report?”

As Kyle threw down the documents and roughly grabbed the glass, the absinthe in the crystal glass spilling. He drank in one go, filled the glass one after another, set it down, and turned around without regret.

“Your Grace, where are you going again this time?”

The aide, talking nonstop, followed Kyle as he armed himself. The aide called out to him with a sad sigh, but he was nothing more than white noise to the Duke. 

The aide furrowed his eyebrows, bit his lip, and then said, “Your Grace, we cannot delay any longer. We must report the incident to the Imperial family and close it. More and more people are interested in Tigra due to the incident. If the fact that the Duchess is entangled in the inn is revealed, it will affect the family’s prestige.”

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“…”

When he didn’t hear a response, the aide groaned and touched his forehead. Of course, he wasn’t expecting an answer anyway. He only said it to urge him.

“Right now, it’s just a simple kidnapping case, but if you delay like this, you may get caught up in rumors. What’s more, Madam didn’t show up. There are rumors that Madam might have eyes for an employee or was at the scene of the fire.” The aide pursed his lips and made a distressed expression. “The kidnapped Madam was taken to the inn by Takan, and we have no choice but to arrange that the Duchess died there.”

Despite the aide’s words, Kyle remained silent. He thought there was no way to persuade him anymore, so the aide excused himself. Eventually, as the aide left the office, the Duke headed for the window.

Sometimes, he would see her illusion outside the window.

Kyle closed his eyes and pictured her.

Beneath the parasol, her long, thin brown hair swayed like leaves. Thin neckline and pale skin as she tilted her head. A gaze that occasionally looked up somewhere desperately.

Her image was vivid in his head, as if she really was standing by the sunflower bed.

From one day on, he had to look at the garden with sunflowers in full bloom to breathe.

Three or four armed men were gathered under a tree on a snowy mountain covered in pure white snow.

Something caught Kyle’s eye, and he pulled the object between the tree roots, tied clothes dragged out one after another. According to the remaining believers found earlier, they escaped the inn, stole items from people who had lost consciousness, and buried the rest of the worthless here.

However, as if to mock him, Kyle found no trace of her

[1] Hari called her husband 루이 (pronounced as Louis with the silent S lol), and his name is 루이스 (pronounced as Lewis). I wasn’t sure how to write his nickname in English, so I opted for Lou instead.