‘Prisia Zeltier,’ the protagonist of <Prisia’s Diary>.
Prisia was a mage born in the Kelton Empire, possessing the qualities of a great sorcerer—something not seen in over a hundred years.
However, simply because she was a woman with magical power, she was subjected to all kinds of abuse by her father, Duke Zeltier.
Duke Zeltier would frequently deprive her of meals and confine her to her room until she admitted fault.
Whenever Prisia tried to use magic, he would inevitably punish her.
‘How many times have I told you not to use that filthy power? What man would ever love a woman stronger than him?’
Despite trembling with fear and pleading for forgiveness, Prisia never gave up.
She slowly honed her skills by secretly practicing magic in the storage room, on the rooftop, or in hidden corners of the garden.
Each time, Hee-ju was overwhelmed with rage.
Duke Zeltier reminded her too much of her stepfather—the one who blocked her path no matter what she tried to do.
The scene where Prisia would sneak out of the mansion at night to teach herself magic moved Hee-ju to tears.
There was someone who stood by Prisia’s side—
Kyle Kelton, the second prince of the Kelton Empire.
Though his sharp features and cold demeanor made him far from gentle in speech or action, he was a pillar of strength for Prisia.
While grumbling, he helped her learn magic in various ways and, whenever she struggled, comforted her in his clumsy way.
Hee-ju was completely charmed by Kyle’s awkward kindness.
At times, she even felt envious of Prisia.
After all, she had no one by her side in her own lonely life.
But now, she had become that very Prisia from the novel.
Yet that wasn’t the worst part.
The real problem was that she had become Prisia after she had already grown up.
In the section she had been reading before arriving here, Prisia was barely fifteen years old.
But now, she was twenty-five—the same age as Hee-ju herself.
It meant that more than ten years had passed since the last part she read.
This was something the attending physician, Montlang, had told her during a basic check-up to assess her condition.
‘Unbelievable… Of all things, it had to be the part I didn’t read.’
There was no way to grasp what was going on.
Despair welled up inside her.
The only consolation was that, thanks to having read <Prisia’s Diary>, she at least knew about Prisia’s childhood experiences and some basic information.
That alone was a small mercy amid the misfortune…
‘Does this even make sense?’
Even as she reassured herself that at least she knew the basics, Hee-ju felt doubtful of her own composure.
At her sigh, Montlang and Kyle briefly exchanged glances.
“It seems the incident may have caused damage to her memory.”
“…”
“She remembers basic information but appears to have lost all memory of recent events.”
Montlang gave Kyle a simple explanation of her condition.
As he continued speaking, Kyle’s face grew visibly grim.
“Then I shall excuse myself for now, Your Grace.”
“…Very well.”
After their brief conversation, Montlang bowed and left the room.
Once the door closed behind him, silence filled the room.
Hee-ju sat tensely on the bed, cautiously glancing at Kyle.
He bit his lower lip before finally speaking.
“Prisia.”
“…Yes?”
“How much do you remember?”
Hee-ju hesitated.
She didn’t know how much of what she had read in <Prisia’s Diary> she should reveal.
But since she had no real grasp of the current situation, she had to start by gathering information.
So she decided to speak only of what she truly knew.
“I… I was engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince…”
At that, Kyle’s expression hardened noticeably.
Hee-ju abruptly fell silent, suddenly feeling like she had said something terribly wrong.
‘…But it’s true!’
Last night, she had read up to the part where Prisia, under pressure from her father, got engaged to the Crown Prince of the Kelton Empire—Patous, Kyle’s half-brother.
But having fallen asleep afterward, she had no memory of what came next.
So she had no idea why Kyle looked so displeased.
“Of all the memories to lose…”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Hee-ju apologized reflexively.
Kyle sighed and swept his hair back.
His hair, the color of the deep ocean, softly fell across his forehead.
He pressed his lips together, then opened them again.
“So, about ten years ago, then.”
“…Yes.”
Kyle repeated “ten years ago” under his breath, then continued in a calm tone.
“Right. Ten years ago, you were engaged to the Crown Prince, but not long after, the engagement was broken.”
“What…?”
“Is that where your memory ends? When you were fifteen?”
“Yes.”
“Then, you do know who I am?”
“Of course… I do.”
Know him? She had loved him the most!
She swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to say out loud and watched him cautiously.
Kyle, arms tightly crossed, stared silently at the woman in front of him.
“Name.”
“…What?”
“Say my name.”
He tilted his head slightly with an air of command—like he was issuing an absolute order to a subordinate.
Blushing a little, Hee-ju opened her mouth.
“…Kyle.”
“…”
“Kyle Kelton.”
She added “Kelton,” the surname of the imperial family, after his name.
After all, he was the second prince of the Kelton Empire.
If her memory served her right, his name was Kyle Kelton.
However, Kyle’s brow furrowed at the small name she uttered.
He opened his mouth firmly.
“No, my name now is Kyle Requies.”
“…Requies?”
“The Crown Prince you remember ascended to the throne, and I was granted the Requies territory, becoming the Grand Duke of Requies.”
As Kyle explained, Hee-ju’s mouth gradually fell open.
Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.
“…Then you don’t even know your own name, do you?”
Kyle quietly muttered while gazing at her with fascination.
At those words, Hee-ju turned her head slightly.
“M-My name… I know it.”
“What’s the last name you remember having?”
“…Prisia Zeltier.”
Hee-ju spoke the unfamiliar name unconfidently.
At her timid voice, Kyle lowered his gaze as if in resignation.
“Right. That will be your name again.”
“Huh?”
“For about five years, your name had changed.”
Kyle opened his lips again with a bitter expression.
“Prisia Requies. That was your name.”
Prisia Requies…?
Hee-ju slowly pronounced the name Kyle had just told her, then paused at the surname, Requies.
Requies.
Wasn’t that the surname Kyle had just mentioned as his own?
Then why was Prisia using the same surname as him?
“What… does that mean?”
“We got married. Five years ago.”
“W-What did you say?”
“I said, we got married. You and I.”
What is he talking about?
The words were so unexpected that her jaw didn’t just drop—it felt like it was going to fall off.
Her heart began to pound rapidly.
Prisia… was married to Kyle?
Then was Kyle actually the true male lead of <Prisia’s Diary>?
“Really, really married?”
“Yes.”
“I-I married Kyle?”
“Yeah.”
Oh my God.
Startled, she tried to calm her racing heart.
But then… why did he say she would become that name again?
“But why… why is my name changing again?”
While she was still confused, Kyle continued flatly.
“Well…”
He suddenly paused.
As she unintentionally stared at him, Kyle’s mouth opened heavily as if forcing the words out.
“Because we got divorced.”
“…”
“Strictly speaking, I suppose I’m your ex-husband.”
It was like a bolt from the blue.
Ex-husband?
My favorite character… is my ex-husband?!
What kind of nonsense is this?
As she opened and closed her mouth, unable to speak, Kyle let out a sigh as if he understood.
“Yeah. It must be confusing. But it’s the truth. The documents were submitted to the temple a few days ago.”
Kyle drove the point home once more.
He was making it unmistakably clear that they were now divorced.
He quietly stared at the cold face of his former wife.
It must be a shock, but it had to be said.
She needed to know exactly what their situation was now.
“His Majesty the Emperor… no, to you, he’d still be the Crown Prince. After breaking off your engagement with him, you shut yourself away in the duke’s mansion and didn’t come out for a while.”
“…”
“For three years.”
Hee-ju raised her head at Kyle’s words.
‘Three whole years?’
Her mouth opened in surprise at the longer-than-expected time.
In the novel, Prisia was not happy with the engagement to the Crown Prince.
It had been one-sidedly forced by Duke Zeltier, and Prisia had not wanted it.
Then why? Hee-ju couldn’t understand it, but Kyle shook his head as if he didn’t know either.
“Anyway, I have no idea what happened during those three years. I couldn’t even get proper news about you.”
“…I see.”
“The year after your engagement with the Crown Prince was called off, the late emperor passed away, and the Crown Prince ascended to the throne.”
“…”
“I also received the ducal title and moved to Requies. And a few years later… your father proposed marriage.”
“What?”
“That’s how we got married.”
It was a completely unexpected situation.
So, the Duke of Zeltier—who had wanted to marry Prisia to the Crown Prince—had proposed the marriage himself…?
The Duke of Zeltier was a noble to his bones.
He had always supported the legitimate heir, the Crown Prince, and had despised the illegitimate Kyle.
And yet he had married Prisia to Kyle?
‘Was it just because he was still part of the Imperial Family, so it didn’t matter?’
Since the engagement with the Crown Prince had failed, Kyle must’ve been the only remaining link to the Imperial Family.
Hee-ju felt sick at the duke’s boundless greed.
“So it was a political marriage.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you get divorced…”
Just then, she noticed the shadow fall over Kyle’s face and trailed off.
He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it tightly.
The nightmare-like days began to creep back into his mind.
It had happened about half a month ago.
* * * *
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