Episode 72

The Duchess collapsed, which led the Duke of Rohan to not go to the royal palace. Known for being a couple with an exceptionally good relationship, he did not leave the ducal residence once after his wife collapsed.

Although many doctors were brought in, they couldn’t determine the cause.

Yvonne’s body was fine, but she couldn’t open her eyes, as if she were in a deep sleep.

“Is it possible that my wife is a guide?”

“Yes. However, despite being a guide, she has a considerable amount of magic power within her.”

Marquess Rohan smiled at the doctor who said this. Since the doctor had noticed she was a guide, he must have also realized that Yvonne and he had not yet consummated their marriage.

Thinking this, Marquess Rohan manipulated the doctors’ memories to erase any doubts.

“Why is my wife in this condition?”

“It seems she is simply exhausted.”

“I see.”

Marquess Rohan finished manipulating the doctors’ memories with a sense of relief, unaware that his eyes had taken on a deep red hue.

* * *

Yvonne opened her eyes at dawn on the third day.

“Ugh….”

Although her eyes were open, it was too dark to see clearly. However, the warm, smooth wall she felt in front of her face made it difficult to breathe. The wall carried the scent of roses.

Realizing that the wall was actually a man’s chest, she was startled. Even more so when she realized that she, too, was wearing nothing. The situation felt like déjà vu, a strange sense of familiarity.

But she couldn’t recall anything. Her mind felt as if it were covered in black ink.

Still, looking at the man in front of her, who appeared to be asleep, she felt a strange emotion. She couldn’t explain it, but she was certain that he loved her deeply, even though the feeling was mixed with disbelief.

“Are you awake, my lady?”

The outside was still dim, but the moonlight illuminated the man’s face, which was strikingly beautiful. As soon as he saw her, his eyes lit up with joy, and he reached out to embrace her, speaking in a voice still heavy with sleep.

“I knew you would wake up today.”

“Oh….”

She didn’t understand what he was saying. Marquess Rohan, being well aware of his abilities, must have known that she would wake up after having all her memories erased by his power.

“Who are you?”

“My lady….”

He had to pretend not to notice that she didn’t remember anything.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you call me ‘my lady’?”

She felt embarrassed, her face flushing at the realization that she wasn’t wearing anything. She pulled the blanket up to cover herself.

“Ah!”

There was one problem. As she pulled the sheet to cover herself, the Marquess’s bare chest was exposed without any filter.

Shocked, she lowered her head and tightly closed her eyes.

“Why are you embarrassed, my lady? Do you really not remember anything?”

“….”

Yvonne couldn’t comprehend the situation. The man, observing her state, turned on the light in the bedroom. The brightness made it even harder for her to open her eyes.

The man sat naturally before her, completely unashamed of his bare body.

“Oh, please, put some clothes on…!”

“Do we really need to do that, between husband and wife?”

When Marquess Rohan asked this, Yvonne began to regain her senses. Looking around, she realized that they were indeed in a bedroom.

The room was filled with items that seemed to belong to the man. The strong scent of roses confirmed that this was indeed his room.

Moreover, seeing how casually he displayed his bare skin, it seemed likely that they were indeed married.

She thought so, but the word “married” felt like a thorn in her heart, an unfamiliar concept.

“Are we married?”

“Yes, we are. You were unwell and said you wanted to sleep together. After not waking up for several days, you woke up like this.”

“Oh….”

She instinctively felt that he was lying. There was a visceral sense of rejection, as if her mind was trying to accept something false.

“My lady.”

Yvonne couldn’t lower her guard as Marquess Rohan called her name with a smile. He eventually sighed as if resigned and found a pair of drawers among the clothes scattered on the floor, putting them on before sitting next to her.

Under the light, Yvonne noticed the numerous scars on his body. They were marks that looked as if they had been clawed into his smooth skin, as if left by a woman’s nails.

She lifted the blanket to check her own body, wondering if similar marks were left on her. Fortunately, she found her body intact. However, her neck was sore, so she picked up a small round mirror from the bedside table to inspect it.

There, she saw a distinct, round bite mark on her neck, bright red as if it had been made that very day.

“I’m sorry. Normally, I don’t leave any marks on your body….”

“….”

“But last time, I got a bit carried away.”

His apologetic tone made her feel uneasy. All the signs pointed to the fact that she had indeed been intimate with him.

But she couldn’t remember anything. On top of that, an inexplicable hostility toward this man, who was supposed to be her husband, stirred within her.

“You need to rest again. You’re still weak.”

“Don’t… don’t touch me!”

Yvonne shouted, startled as he reached out to touch her cheek. Immediately after, she felt a pang of guilt as she saw his expression shift into one of sadness, his face crumpling as if about to cry.

And cry he did, almost instantly.

“My lady… why are you like this? Do you really not remember anything?”

“Oh….”

“Is it because of your illness that you don’t remember me?”

Yvonne found this strange situation impossible to accept. His crying pained her, but at the same time, it felt insincere and even repulsive.

“I’m sorry. I got too excited….”

She didn’t know what to say to this man who was acting as if they were truly married. But when he naturally reached out to take the mirror from her hand and place it back on the table, then embraced her, she didn’t resist.

Her body trembled, perhaps out of anger.

She suppressed the thought that this anger might be excitement, enduring as he sniffled and held her.

* * *

“A guest, you say?”

“Yes.”

“My lady fell ill and lost all her memories.”

“The doctors told me.”

Yurian looked back and forth between Marquess Rohan and Yvonne. He fiddled with the ring of the King of Apentina on his finger as he assessed Yvonne’s condition.

“My apologies, Grand Duke Leonhardt.”

Though Yvonne was seeing Yurian for the first time, she strangely felt a sense of relief, as if she were happy to see him. She couldn’t tell if this was due to her memory loss.

Despite it seeming like they didn’t have many shared experiences, seeing Yurian made her feel as if she were reunited with a dear friend she hadn’t seen in a long time, which was comforting.

In contrast, being alone with her husband terrified her. His innocent smile seemed fake, his considerate actions toward her felt insincere. Though all his actions appeared thoughtful and loving, her heart seemed to reject him.

Yvonne thought this discomfort was because she had just woken up this morning. She assumed that the awkwardness of seeing her husband after losing her memory was due to the powerful emotions in his eyes when he looked at her, and the overwhelming nature of his physical presence.

So, she rationalized that her heart pounding with excitement upon seeing Yurian was also because of this.

She vaguely remembered the Bricesys Empire, the largest empire across the continent.

In other countries, people with special abilities were a rare and valuable resource, but in the Bricesys Empire, they were not so rare. Even low-level ability users were abundant. In this small nation of Apentina, there were no such ability users, only those with nullification and healing powers.

But since those two abilities weren’t considered true special powers, she assumed the guest from the large empire must have felt uncomfortable.

“I was worried about you.”

“Thank you.”

“I tried to visit several times, but the Marquess wouldn’t let me see you.”

“I see.”

Marquess Rohan, watching Yurian cautiously, said:

“I wanted to keep my wife’s delicate state private.”

“But the doctors saw her too.”

“Well, they are doctors.”

“Would you let me see her if I earned a medical license?”

“Haha, that’s quite the joke. Absolutely not.”

Marquess Rohan laughed as he firmly rejected the idea. Yurian, almost instinctively glaring at him, forced a smile as he picked up the breakfast that had been set out.

“But what kind of illness caused the lady to lose all her memories?”

Marquess Rohan, recalling that he had altered Yurian’s memories during his stay at the estate, answered with a sense of relief:

“I couldn’t possibly know.”

“How could you not know? After all, you’re the one who erased them, Marquess Rohan.”

Yurian flicked the wine glass beside him with his thumb and forefinger, causing it to tip over. The wine spilled abruptly toward Marquess Rohan.

The Marquess seemed more shocked that Yurian’s abilities had thwarted his own rather than the fact that the wine had spilled.