Episode 14
***
‘I thought something serious had happened because of the look on his face.’
It seemed that Dad was hungry.
Theo and I, who were in the middle of our morning exercise, were carried to the dining room like baggage by Dad.
Theo was surrounded by the maids, receiving small bites of soup and finely chopped meat with a teaspoon.
Everyone’s expressions were so stern that it was frightening. Whenever they watched Theo chew, they would clutch their skirts tightly as if holding something back.
“……”
Meanwhile, Dad, sitting at the same table as me, was cutting the meat on his plate with a complicated expression.
I could hear him muttering things like, “Why, why on earth…,” in between. Maybe he wasn’t fully awake yet.
“By the way, uh… Duke?”
“Yeah?”
A thick piece of meat was placed on my empty plate. I stabbed it with my fork and spoke.
“I told you I’d help you recover your memory, right? I thought about it all night, and I’ve come up with a pretty effective method! Want to hear it?”
Actually, I’d thought of this method before, but I just said it like that.
Then Dad stopped moving the meat onto my plate and stared at me blankly.
“You thought about it all night?”
“Yes, why?”
“…That’s why you look like wilted spinach…”
Huh? What does that mean?
I blinked in confusion, not understanding, and Dad let out a long sigh.
“I gave you a bedroom to sleep in. Use it at night.”
“……”
I recalled trembling through the night because of the thunder and shook my head vigorously. Nothing good would come from thinking about it again.
“Anyway! Can I tell you about the method?”
Instead of answering, Dad slowly took a sip of his sparkling water. His gaze briefly flicked to my glass.
“Well, I tend not to listen to kids who don’t drink their carrot juice.”
Ugh, why is it so hard to say anything?
But without complaining, I dutifully drank my juice.
“Gulp. Happy now?”
“Go on.”
I began to speak calmly.
“When we watched the memory projection last time, your expression shifted slightly when you saw the landscape of the cabin.”
I raised a finger to demonstrate how the corner of his eyes slightly tilted upwards.
“This is usually the face you make, not just as Dad… but as the Duke, when something is on the tip of your tongue but just out of reach.”
For example, like when you’re trying to recall a shopping list. Or trying to remember where I hung up my tomato-red socks. Or whether you measured my height yesterday or this morning.
“…Me?”
“Yes.”
Dad had an expression as if he was hearing this for the first time in his life.
“So what’s your conclusion?”
“How about going with me to the village of Lepi? Seeing the house we used to live in might jog your memory!”
It’s the basic course for dealing with amnesia.
Visiting places or objects that hold memories!
‘Besides, I have a few things I need to pick up from there.’
There were things I hadn’t been able to bring when we left the village in a hurry.
‘Especially the gifts Dad bought me, Theo’s doll, and the seeds I carefully gathered and dried. I really want to get those.’
I mentally went over the list of my treasures.
There were too many gifts from Dad to count, but I especially wanted to bring back the first socks and shoes he ever gave me.
“Hmm.”
Dad narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
“Well, it’s not a bad idea. I was planning to go there at some point anyway.”
“Oh, really?”
“But not right now. We have the parade next week.”
“Yes! I’m fine with going after that!”
Of course, of course.
I had my own responsibilities for the parade as well.
After securing that short promise, I resumed eating with a clatter of my utensils.
However, Dad’s meal was frequently interrupted by aides coming in to report on the upcoming parade.
‘Even with all this thorough preparation, Eliza is still going to have an accident.’
Since it was Dad handling things, I was sure everything would be perfectly organized. I chewed on my spoon, recalling the scenes from my dream.
‘Well… you can’t do much about natural disasters.’
You can prevent man-made disasters, but there’s no way to stop a natural one.
It wasn’t just the thunder that kept me up last night.
‘I saw the future of the parade accident in more detail in my dream!’
In about a week’s time, during the parade, an unexpected accident will occur. And that is…
‘A sudden dungeon appearance. And the resulting building collapse.’
A sudden dungeon is a labyrinth that appears without any prior warning.
All dungeons with monsters that appear in the empire are usually detected by the Mage Tower in advance, through changes in magical energy, so they can predict their scale and location.
But, as always, there are exceptions.
And those are the sudden dungeons that appear like accidents. Though they are extremely rare.
If one were to appear this time, it would be the first in about 100 years.
‘Dad can handle the monsters, but the problem is that the building near Eliza will collapse from the aftermath.’
I pondered for a moment and then looked up.
I hadn’t seen Eliza’s predecessor, the former Duchess, even once since the first day. I heard she went on a trip outside the capital.
‘It would be best if Eliza didn’t attend the parade at all, but that’s probably not realistic.’
I glanced at Dad’s profile.
He had completely set his meal aside and was now fully engaged in conversation with his aides.
‘I can’t tell Dad about the dungeon appearing. He’ll question my source. Or he’ll dismiss it as a child’s wild imagination.’
‘Hmm. I guess I’ll have to take matters into my own hands!’
I’ll need to figure out where Eliza will be and prevent the building from collapsing.
First, I’ll need to learn the parade route.
‘There was a big tree outside Dad’s office window, right? I should ask it for some help.’
Good. I’ve got a plan.
I resumed eating with renewed determination.
At that moment, one of the maids pouring water next to me spoke up.
“Hey, newcomer.”
It seemed to be one of the senior maids who helped me with my bath yesterday. Was her name Kate?
“Yes?”
“You’re chewing on your hair right now.”
Cough.
I quickly spat out my hair. No wonder it didn’t taste right.
In fact, my hair was a complete mess.
I had tossed and turned all night, and my hair was naturally thin yet voluminous, which made it hard to manage.
I tried brushing it in the morning with the comb in my room, but it felt like my scalp was being pulled off, so I gave up.
“I tried tying it up myself earlier, but it was too difficult… Ha! I can tie tomato stems just fine, though!”
“Tying tomato stems at your age? A genius, perhaps. Anyway, lift your head. I’ll tie it up for you, even if it’s rough,” said Kate.
I quickly lifted my head.
The sensation of thin hands working through my hair felt unfamiliar. But soon, I heard a low hum of discontent.
“It’s really tangled. This is going to be tough to fix. Since it’s like this, how about cutting it and tidying it up?”
“I don’t… want to.”
I responded reflexively.
‘Dad said my hair was a treasure.’
He even said that tying my hair every morning was one of his joys.
But when I thought about it, there wasn’t anyone left to tie it for me anymore… And maintaining it was so difficult.
‘Should I cut it?’
I hesitated for a moment.
“Well, if you don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do.”
The maid pulled out a comb from her pocket.
“I’ve never dealt with hair this thin before. It’s tricky.”
“Ouch. I, ouch, I’ll just cut it, ouch.”
I had to cut it. There was no other way.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry, newbie,” the maid quickly apologized. Just then, a large, firm hand suddenly intervened.
“It’s too noisy to concentrate.”
“Huh? L-Lord?”
“Dad?”
Oh no, this was the second time today I’d been caught off guard, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. I pulled out my notepad and slashed a line across it.
“My apologies. I’ll take this outs—”
“Move aside.”
Whoosh. Swish swish.
“Huh?”
The back of my neck suddenly felt exposed. A large tuft of hair sprouted from the top of my head like the morning sun.
It didn’t even take a minute for Dad to skillfully brush my hair, using a bit of sunflower oil from the table, and twist it into a neat bun.
“Such a fuss over something so simple…”
Pause. Dad stopped mid-sentence and finished belatedly.
“…damn it.”
Clap, clap, clap.
The servants, who had been watching, burst into applause as if they had just witnessed an incredible performance. Dad buried his face in his hands, muttering to himself.
“Damn muscle memory…”
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
