Aslan let out a small chuckle and took a moment to organize his thoughts.
It was difficult to understand, but there must be some reason why he had acted the way he did in his lost memories.
Although there were too many things he couldn’t comprehend at the moment, he couldn’t deny reality just because he couldn’t understand it. He needed to at least sort out the facts that were apparent.
Oscar, on the other hand, was still trembling and unable to fathom the mind of his master.
Some time passed.
Aslan, who had been lost in thought, finally spoke.
“Where is she?”
“What?”
“Where my wife is right now, tell me.”
“She is in Ellwood.”
“Very well.”
Aslan stood up and began to dress. Although his aide was surprised and approached him, Aslan didn’t pay any attention, simply preparing himself.
“Let’s go.”
“Where are we…, are you talking about Ellwood?”
Aslan stared silently at his aide. His gaze seemed to ask, ‘Is there any other place to go?’
In response, the aide explained.
“I thought we were heading to Central.”
“Ah, you mentioned I had some business there.”
“If your absence continues, it will cause problems.”
In reality, it was already a significant issue.
“The butler informed me that many people have come to the mansion looking for you in the past few days.”
Dalton had managed the mansion fairly well and politely redirected guests, but he couldn’t keep this up for much longer.
“Since you’re not present, important business transactions can’t be completed, and there’s a significant backlog of work.”
However, Aslan gave an answer that was completely different from Oscar’s expectations.
“That’s even more of a reason to not go to Central in my current condition, especially when essential matters are being delayed.”
“What do you mean?”
Aslan explained slowly to Oscar, who seemed bewildered.
“Externally, I might appear fine, but inside, it’s a complete mess. Five years is quite a long time. It’s just that without those five years of memories, I feel so disconnected.”
Aslan thought back to the actions of his twenty-five-year-old self, which he would never have done as a twenty-year-old.
“If I return to Central in this state to handle business, there’s a good chance I’ll get in trouble after I get my memory back. The last thing I need is for my twenty-five-year-old self to make a bad decision and screw things up.”
“Ah…”
“Rushing into things now and making mistakes that would be harder to rectify later is not the right approach. Recovering my memories should take priority.”
Aslan looked out the window.
“The doctor assured me that being near a familiar figure from my past would help me regain my memories more quickly. According to what you told me, there’s only one person who’s been most important to me lately.”
Helena Tordell, Lyla Violet, his wife.
“Finding her and repairing my memories as quickly as possible is the fastest path, even if it may seem slower.”
Oscar nodded at this point. He looked at Aslan with admiration and awe.
Aslan continued.
“So, you said earlier that the reason I’ve been working nonstop for the past month is to take a vacation.”
In response to Aslan’s question, his aide replied obediently.
“Yes.”
“And during the last week when I was out of sorts, you used the excuse that I was on vacation to save face.”
“Yes, I’m truly sorry for acting out of line.”
“No, it’s alright. It would have been more problematic if you had straightforwardly said that I was in a coma after a carriage accident.”
Aslan waved his hand.
“How long was I originally planning to go on vacation?”
“It was supposed to be one month.”
“A whole month…”
A week of that had already been spent, but three weeks still felt like a significant amount of time.
A month seemed like such a short moment for Aslan, who was trying to make time to be with his wife before losing his memory.
But it wasn’t the same for Aslan, who had forgotten his wife and everything.
“I won’t be able to use even half of the vacation I worked so hard to get. Still, it’s okay. There will be plenty of time to go and meet that woman who is my wife.”
Aslan had finished preparing for his outing, tidying up the disarrayed room, changing into clean clothes, and tidying his hair.
Aslan imagined the woman he would soon meet.
What kind of person is this woman who turned him into a fool in love?
He was curious. So much so that he wanted to meet her right away.
It’s a refreshing morning.
Stretching, Lyla opened her eyes and looked at the clear sky with a faint smile.
“The weather is nice today.”
“Yes, it is. Last week, there was a storm, but this week, the weather has been clear all along.”
Luke folded the newspaper and shrugged his shoulders.
Just then, the sound of chirping birds from the open window reached their ears.
Chirp!
Luke listened to the high-pitched chirping.
“Are we expecting a welcome visitor today?”
“A welcome visitor?”
“Yes, some say that when that bird chirps, a welcome visitor is coming, but it doesn’t chirp a lot…I think someone really special is coming.”
Laughter escaped from Luke’s lips, and Lyla joined in, thinking he was just joking. She never thought that guests were actually coming from a distance.
With the rest of the family out at work, the house was quiet, and Lyla sat alone. She held a piece of fabric for sewing and squinted her eyes as she focused.
“It’s not easy,” she mumbled.
Sewing was something she’d learned before becoming Helena’s stand-in, and something she’d practiced even more rigorously as a noblewoman.
Even as a duchess, she’d never stopped sewing, she even embroidered handkerchiefs for Aslan.
So she was a semi-professional at it, but embroidering the tiniest of flowers was a challenge, even for her.
However, she didn’t want to give up her few remaining household duties, and she wanted to be a helpful presence in the home. So, she didn’t let the difficulty deter her and instead focused on improving her concentration.
As Lyla was engrossed in her work, she noticed someone was knocking on the door. It was quite insistent.
Knock, knock, knock!
It even sounded somewhat urgent.
“Who could it be?”
Lyla wondered, getting up from her sewing table.
The house was small, so it didn’t take long to get to the front door.
But before opening it, Lyla remembered her family’s instructions.
She lowered the safety lock to prevent the door from opening all the way, then opened it slightly.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, my lady.”
The voice was familiar, and so was the address. Lyla was taken aback and instinctively asked.
“Mr. Oscar, is that you?”
“Yes. It’s me, Oscar Murray.”
Oscar Murray was a person with whom Lyla had some familiarity. He was Aslan’s aide and mostly engaged in official duties, so he didn’t interact with Lyla frequently. However, having spent three years at Tordell Mansion, they had exchanged pleasantries a few times.
He didn’t overtly display friendliness towards Lyla, but he didn’t show any signs of disliking her either. As a result, Lyla held a fairly positive impression of him.
‘Leaving that aside, why is he here?’
Lyla wondered.
She had thought she’d never see him again, especially not at her house in Ellwood.
‘He didn’t come to see me; he came looking for me’
Lyla’s face hardened.
There could be only one reason why Oscar, with whom she had no personal connection, had traveled so far out of the way to find her.
Aslan had ordered it.
‘Aslan…….’
Her heart still raced every time she thought of his name.
Lyla bit her lip as she thought of her handsome ex-husband, the one she couldn’t seem to get out of her mind.
“Uh, can you, uh, open the door for me?”
Oscar’s voice drifted in through the small opening in the door. Something about his voice sounded off, and she let her guard down a little.
‘He won’t force me.’
She had faith that, despite her voluntary departure from him, Aslan wouldn’t diminish his humanity and force her like Count Larestine.
Lyla hesitated but finally decided to unlock the safety lock and open the door.
Click
The door swung open, revealing a man with dark hair.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has been a while.”
Even Lyla, who couldn’t ignore the awkwardness in Oscar’s greeting, returned the greeting.
After exchanging greetings, the previous tension seemed to intensify.
Lyla felt even more tense than before. In a much softer voice, she asked, “What brings you here?”
“That’s…,” Oscar hesitated, unable to answer immediately.
It was the first time she had seen him talk in a vague, hesitant manner, unlike his usual straightforward and rigid speech.
Lyla blinked, waiting for Oscar to continue. But someone behind him suddenly intervened.
“You must be my wife.”
The voice was familiar but strange to her ears, deep but kind. Lyla instinctively looked at the man behind Oscar.
His face was partially obscured by a deep-set hat, but the familiar yet unfamiliar figure was clear to her.
“Aslan?”
“That’s right. It seems you recognize me.”
“…?”
Something was amiss.
