Chapter 11

The warm afternoon sun filled the sky.

Lucius sat leisurely on the edge of his bed.

The physician, who had dealt with countless irritable patients, straightened from his bow with a look of admiration.

As sunlight slanted in beside him, narrow shadows fell across Lucius’s neck and collarbone. The contrast of light and shadow made it hard to believe he had been bedridden only a short time ago.

“It seems you no longer need to worry about the wound on your waist that was stitched.”

Lucius lightly traced the long scar above his hipbone with a finger.

“That’s thanks to the excellent doctors who treated me.”

When the Windmere Duchess’s personal physicians collapsed from exhaustion, she had brought in outside doctors without warning.

Even so, Lucius never complained once.

Seeing such a perfect image of a gentleman, the elderly physician smiled warmly.

“It’s because the young master has such a strong will to recover. I’ll explain the remaining precautions to Her Grace.”

The Duchess, who had been anxiously standing in a corner, immediately began speaking with the doctor.

Buttoning his shirt, Lucius quietly observed her.

He also watched the servants moving busily around the room and even the head chef who had personally delivered his meal.

His gaze resembled that of an observer.

Perhaps because he had only recently awakened without his memories, everything before him felt like opening a storybook he was somehow supposed to already know.

At that moment, the Duchess turned toward him after finishing her conversation with the doctor.

Seeing the concern in her eyes, Lucius met her gaze and offered a gentle smile.

Once the physician left, she hurried over.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t exactly consult an outside doctor about your memory. I went through all the trouble of bringing one here, yet it feels like I couldn’t help you at all.”

“I’m really fine, Mother.”

Mother.

Lucius rolled the unfamiliar word around in his mouth.

“Lucius… do you truly remember nothing?”

“Unfortunately, no. Are you very disappointed?”

“No, of course not. How could I be disappointed? This was a terrible accident. My son, you don’t need to make that expression.”

The Duchess hid the tears she had barely managed to hold back and gently embraced him.

There was a sorrow in her arms that she could not express.

A deep resignation born from shattered hopes.

It seemed she had been hoping for a miracle.

That after one good night’s sleep, his memories would return with the first breath of morning.

“Don’t worry. Your memories will return soon. The gods will give you back to me.”

“…I’m sure they will.”

Even though she spoke as if his current self were only a temporary substitute, Lucius answered calmly.

He felt neither hurt nor offended.

After all, he couldn’t even feel the emotions necessary to truly think of the woman before him as his mother.

He remembered the confusion that had overwhelmed him when he first woke up.

People called his name.

They spoke to him with fragments of emotion.

Yet their voices had felt like mist drifting over distant mountains, leaving no real impression on him.

Only one moment had been different.

The moment Celia approached him.

A woman walking calmly through a crowd tangled with tears, prayers, and cries of relief.

At that moment, something deep inside him had shaken violently.

The instant he saw her, his scattered thoughts became organized.

His mind centered itself around her.

An oddly one-sided emotion surged through him as though it had been waiting for that moment.

And when he finally held her in his arms, the confusion disappeared completely.

In its place came an inexplicable clarity.

An emotion so honest and direct that it practically confessed itself.

It told him, unmistakably, that it wanted her.

In contrast, every feeling he had toward everyone else felt loose and incomplete, like mismatched puzzle pieces that refused to form a picture.

“Lucius, once you’re feeling better, let’s go somewhere together. I’ll show you the things you used to love. Maybe that will help your memories return sooner.”

Just like now.

“I’d love that. I’m already looking forward to it.”

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

Lucius couldn’t explain the emptiness he carried inside.

But he clearly recognized the one person who seemed to fill that empty space.

His thoughts drifted toward Celia.

Toward the way she had turned her back on him and laid down the previous night.

The corners of his lips lowered slightly.

That was when—

“Your Grace. Young Master.”

A servant approached.

“The Imperial Palace has sent someone.”

***

After Evanor left, Celia returned to her room and released a long breath, as though swallowing the last of her patience.

But in the end, she couldn’t suppress her anger.

She shoved the walnut table aside with her foot and collapsed onto the sofa.

The cushions sank heavily beneath her weight.

Her dress spilled over her legs.

Throwing one arm over her eyes, she clenched her teeth.

Cold anger spread through her body.

“They’ve all lost their minds.”

Everything she had believed to be genuine reconciliation had been nothing more than an illusion.

Her father and Evanor had hidden something like that from her and then married her off to Lucius?

Treason?

And Lucius possessed evidence of it?

“Ha…”

An indescribable fury rose in her throat.

And beneath that fury was an emotion she refused to acknowledge.

“Why does Evanor know about it when I don’t?”

The humiliation was overwhelming.

Celia leaned her head back.

Sunlight slid along the exposed line of her neck.

Beyond the window, the sky was a flawless blue.

That clear sky seemed to mock her.

For a brief moment, she considered going outside.

“If that were an option, I wouldn’t be sitting here like this…”

Evanor’s words still echoed in her ears.

That filthy bastard.

He wants me to seduce Lucius?

Do what with him?

The very thought disgusted her.

It would be easier to move to Dunlow Hollow and pretend to be a charitable saint than to do something like that.

But with her father standing behind Evanor, she couldn’t simply reject the order.

“…It’s fine. I’ll find another way.”

Even without resorting to something so disgusting, she could still find the evidence and protect Brickwell.

Search the mansion.

Bribe one of Lucius’s people.

There had to be another method.

She was sinking deeper into the sofa when—

Knock. Knock.

She reluctantly sat up.

“Come in.”

“Mylady.”

The woman who entered had originally been a Windmere maid.

But over the past two and a half years, Celia had successfully persuaded her to work as her spy.

Her name was Lily.

After carefully checking the hallway until the door fully closed, Lily approached.

Celia motioned for her to sit nearby.

“So? What’s happened today?”

“The young master issued a new order.”

Lily lowered her voice.

“I came to tell you about it.”

Anything involving Lucius immediately soured Celia’s mood.

She rested her chin on her hand.

Lily leaned closer.

“Please lend me your ear…”

Celia listened with half-hearted boredom.

Then her eyes slowly widened.

***

Celia stood in the middle of the hallway leading to Lucius’s office.

According to Lily, Lucius planned to reopen the office that had remained closed for some time.

For someone searching for hidden documents, it was terrible news.

“There’s a good chance Father’s document is in that office.”

She clenched her fist.

Cold metal pressed against her palm.

A key.

Her father had given it to her on her wedding day.

A key supposedly capable of opening most doors.

Back then, she’d never imagined she would actually use it.

A bitter taste filled her mouth.

The wind brushed against her thin nightgown.

The chill cleared her thoughts.

I’ll just take a quick look around for any place the document might be hidden and leave.

Though she had caused plenty of trouble throughout her life, this was her first time breaking into someone’s office.

For once, she felt nervous.

Moonlight became her guide.

The carpet muffled her footsteps.

She knew exactly where she was going.

She had never entered Lucius’s office, but she knew where it was.

Eventually—

There.

A door engraved with the image of a hawk stood beside the stairs on the third floor.

Celia approached carefully and tested the handle.

Locked. As expected.

She pulled out the key.

Sliding it into the lock beneath the handle, she twisted her wrist.

And—

“…?”

Why wasn’t it opening?

Frowning, she applied more force.

Clunk!

The door rattled loudly.

The lock didn’t budge.

Damn it!

Her father had said it could open almost any door.

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand on her waist.

Well, of course the young duke’s office wouldn’t have a weak lock.

Still…

Wasn’t it supposed to open?

Growing more desperate, she adjusted the key and tried again.

Click. Clunk. Clack.

Nothing but strange metallic sounds.

The door remained firmly shut.

Furious, Celia raised her arm to throw the key—

“Mm?”

A presence brushed against her back.

Startled like a thief caught in the act, she spun around.

“The night air is cold.”

A lantern swayed at the top of the stairs.

Golden hair shimmered in the light.

Standing at the edge of that glow was Lucius.

The lantern’s flame reflected in his green eyes as he quietly looked down at her.

Celia hurriedly hid the key behind her back.

It was an incredibly suspicious movement.

“Celia?”

Beneath the strands of hair falling across his forehead, his sleepy face tilted slightly.

A faint question appeared in his eyes.

His gaze slowly lowered.

She could feel him looking toward the hand hidden behind her back.

Celia immediately stepped forward.

Forcing aside every complaint she had about him, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I… came to see you.”

She was completely doomed.