Edith didn’t even realize how time was passing.
Walter’s pulse and breathing were normal. His body temperature did not drop significantly. However, he couldn’t come to his senses, as if he were someone whose breathing had just been cut off.
“Walter, Walter!”
Edith got into the carriage and held Walter’s hand.
This time, too, there might be a big problem for Walter.
The last look on his face as he wrapped himself around her was so similar to the moment he left Lowell Manor, and it filled her with fear.
The carriage set off for Lexion around the time when those who had belatedly learned that Walter’s father was the Emperor began to stir.
“Little Duke!”
“What… What happened?”
As soon as they arrived at the manor, Theos, the doctors, and Cassius rushed out and moved Walter to the bedroom.
Franz, who had followed them, struggled to steady his trembling voice.
“The dagger that Patricia wielded is made of magicite. There is also a lot of sharp magic concentrated inside. Damn it… I guess she thought that since Walter’s magic power came from Leah, it would be equally unstable.”
Theos’ complexion turned pale upon hearing those words.
“No, no. Right now, the Little Duke’s magic is already unstable, and if it gets mixed with the power of another mage, it will completely collapse.”
Upon hearing Theos’ despairing murmurs, Edith felt as if her soul was leaving her body.
“Walter…”
She reached over and grabbed Walter’s hand, who was still lying on the bed, unresponsive.
She knew in her head that the more urgent the emergency, the more she needed to stay alert, but the fear of losing him again paralyzed her entire body.
“Theos, there must be some way. Right?”
“…”
Theos stared into her watery eyes, then lowered his gaze. He wanted to give her hope, but he couldn’t lie to her.
His eyes reddened as he remembered Walter ordering an entire meat pie for him to share with his younger sibling, even though he was mocking him.
“I’ll do my best, M’lady. Even if his memories can never be restored, there must be a way to save his life. Thanks to you, we were able to obtain His Majesty’s blood.”
Edith nodded with difficulty.
Before long, doctors sent by the Emperor arrived at Lexion Manor.
“His Majesty is also praying for the Little Duke’s speedy recovery. The same goes for those who filled the courtroom.”
“…”
“Please let us help you with anything. It’s our duty to serve those who carry the blood of the Agnas Imperial Family.”
Doctors from the Imperial Palace and Lexion put their heads together and began discussing ways to restore Walter’s magic, which had begun to collapse.
With every passing second and minute without any progress, Edith felt suffocated.
Walter, Walter…
Wake up. Please?
Isaac…
Even though Edith was desperately chanting in her mind, he remained motionless like a corpse.
All she could do was watch blankly as he was drifting away from her again.
And so, a day passed since Walter lost consciousness.
“M’lady, may I come in for a moment?”
“… Vane?”
Edith, who had been absent-mindedly holding Adrian, placed the sleeping baby in the crib and left the room.
Thinking that he might have come to see her for something important, she automatically asked.
“Has Walter’s condition improved a bit?”
“…”
Vane couldn’t ignore the earnestness in her question, but he also couldn’t bring himself to tell a lie.
With a pained expression, he slightly shook his head and handed a sealed letter to Edith.
“What is this?”
The quality of the paper was clearly high, and the red wax seal bore the emblem of House Lexion.
She thought it wasn’t a personal letter, so she asked again. Vane paused for a long time before saying something.
“I apologize. According to the family rules, if the master loses consciousness for twenty-four hours, I am entrusted to deliver the will to the Lady of the Manor in case of an emergency.”
A will.
Her heart sank at those words.
“… A will? Did Walter’s heart stop beating?”
“It’s not like that, but… I have no other words to offer. It’s a rule set by the First Lord to protect the family in any situation.”
“…”
She broke the seal without saying a word to the remorseful Vane.
In it, his familiar handwriting filled the pages, which she knew well.
[In the event of an unfortunate incident, all private property and title of Walter Isaac Lexion shall be inherited by his wife.]
Edith chuckled bitterly to herself. The will was written before Adrian was even born.
That was the exact time when he shared his magic with their unborn baby, whispering to her that they would live happily without any worries.
『 Walter. Why…』
The thought of him smiling at her, whispering that to her, before sitting alone in his office, writing his will, made Edith feel like something inside her was breaking.
Edith could barely hold back her tears as a hot lump of emotion rose in her throat.
She knew that Walter hoped to regain his memories of his childhood spent with her as soon as possible. She also wished for the same.
She thought that the day would come when he would remember those memories that she cherished so much, and he would smile at the same memories.
She couldn’t tell Walter, fearing he might make fun of her, but she secretly whispered her sincere feelings to Adrian.
『 The time I spent with your dad during our childhood is what kept mommy alive.』
However, unbeknownst to her, Walter seemed to have been calculating the possibility that all of these things would fail.
What kind of expression did Walter make when he finished the calculation alone and left the will?
Creak—
“… Walter.”
Before she knew it, she was in front of the bedroom where he lay. Edith quietly opened the door, went in, and sat down in the chair by the bed.
Then, she carefully took hold of his hand.
Her body tingled, as it did when she held onto him when he was leaving Lowell Manor, and like when she held his hand when they reunited in Fortrion Manor.
Edith tenderly caressed the back of his hand, where the veins were prominently bulging, as she struggled to speak.
She was finally able to say the words she had been swallowing inside, out of fear that she might break the moment she said them out loud.
“You’re the first person I ever fell in love with, Isaac.”
“…”
“I… I love you very much.”
Edith couldn’t let go of his hand and buried her face in the white blanket. Edith felt like if she let go of this hand, Walter would go somewhere far away.
“So I don’t want to part with you. Please…”
A small sob filled the silent room.
──────────✿◦•
It felt as if his body were sinking endlessly into the depths of a lake. The pressure on his entire body made it hard to breathe, but Walter struggled to open his eyelids.
“…”
Then, a familiar woman’s face appeared, like a blurry fantasy with no sense of reality.
“Isaac. You have to be polite to Mrs. Lowell, understood?”
Black hair and gently curved eyes. Pale skin, as if she would collapse at any moment.
It was his mother, whom he had seen dozens of times in memory fragments and portraits. It was Leah Lexion.
『 Are my forgotten memories coming back now that it’s my time to die?』
As he slowly regained consciousness, Walter pondered the last part of the memory.
The moment Patricia cut into his flesh, he could feel the pain burning through his veins.
It was definitely no ordinary dagger. As soon as the realization that something was wrong set in, his vision spun, and his heartbeat raced.
『 … Am I dying?』
Considering the pain Walter felt at that moment, it would have been believable that he had died instantly. However, accepting death was a separate matter.
He collapsed so suddenly that Edith must have been startled. Adrian is still young, so he probably might not even understand what had happened…
Although he wanted to rebel against the additional thoughts, he couldn’t move his mouth, and his consciousness wasn’t clear.
The visions unfolding before his eyes continued whether he was confused or not.
“By the way, Mother. Why did you suddenly decide to find a place to stay longer? You said it was good to move from place to place.”
A slightly curt voice. Yes, it was undoubtedly a question he had asked in the distant past.
There was one more fact that he remembered vividly.
The reason his mother did not return to the capital was so as not to be a burden to his father, Agnas XIV, who was risking his life to solidify his position on the throne. Leah loved him as much as she loved her son.
He remembered how many times his mother had stopped in her tracks at the sight of him swinging his sword late at night.
But his younger self could see that his mother’s expression had grown strangely sad. The reason she no longer wandered was that her health had deteriorated.
“It… it might not be as fun to settle down in one place, but I think it might be okay.”
“It’s nice of you to say so, Isaac. By the way, Mrs. Lowell has a daughter about your age, so please try to get along with her.”
Until that moment when those words came out of Leah’s mouth, he didn’t think much of it. Girls don’t even like riding horses, after all,— he thought.
But the moment he first saw the blonde-haired girl peeking out behind Mrs. Lowell, he stiffened.
When he met her blue eyes shadowed by long eyelashes, his heart felt like it was swelling up like a balloon, about to burst.
“Hello, Isaac. I’m Edith.”
Seeing the soft smile in her eyes brought back all the memories of his childhood that he had forgotten.
How he left Lowell Manor, how he lost his mother, and even how he woke up in Fortrion Manor after that.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
