Chapter : 81
The fewer people who knew about what was to happen, the better. So the knight was told to wait outside.
Hutton followed behind me, carrying the unconscious Baron Nacelle and his daughter as if they were luggage.
When we opened the unlocked door and stepped inside, a shabby and filthy interior came into view. It seemed the Nacelle father and daughter had moved out in a hurry; large pieces of furniture that were difficult to dispose of had been left behind.
I ran my hand over the top of a dresser and noticed several photographs scattered there.
Hmm.
The dust-covered black-and-white photos contained scenes from the childhood of Eani Nacelle and Aldine Nacelle.
Unlike the brightly smiling older sister, young Eani looked timid and awkward.
Hutton stepped closer and looked at the photos with me.
“So there were pictures like this. Perhaps… do you remember this time?”
At his cautious question, I lightly shrugged.
If he was that worried about me regaining my memories, he should’ve just accepted my proposal.
Why on earth did he refuse?
This time, I truly couldn’t understand his heart.
“Well~. Nothing really comes to mind.”
At my answer, Hutton let out a sigh of relief.
Then, as if he had lost interest in the photos, he turned his gaze and slowly surveyed the Nacelle baron’s residence.
His reaction was unexpected, and I tilted my head slightly.
Since Hutton likes Eani Nacelle’s face, I thought he’d like her childhood photos too.
But his response was more lukewarm than I expected.
Watching him, I picked up one of the photos and smiled playfully.
“By the way, how am I when I was little~? Cute?”
“Ah—.”
Hutton blinked at my sudden question.
Then he hesitated before speaking.
“Can I be honest?”
“Of course~. Say whatever you like.”
“To be honest… I don’t feel anything.”
With an awkward expression, he stared at the photo in my hand.
“She’s cute, since she’s a child… but that’s about it. I don’t feel anything beyond that.”
“Oh my.”
“Don’t misunderstand, Eani. I mean you’re much cuter and more lovable now! From the moment I first met you in Tardivna, you were so radiant I couldn’t take my eyes off you!”
At Hutton’s urgent exclamation, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Because what I heard was this:
That man’s interest is focused solely on the present me.
Even though it’s the same face, perhaps with his beast-like instincts, he could sense it subconsciously.
That the child in the photo and I are different people.
How admirable~.
I was just about to reach up and pat his head when I noticed a photograph among the scattered pictures that felt slightly different.
Without drawing attention, I looked at it and then spoke to Hutton.
“Hutton, could you lay the Baron and his daughter over there on the floor? I need space to draw a magic circle.”
As if he had noticed I was about to pat his head, he had been staring at my hand with shining eyes—but he stopped.
Then he nodded to carry out my request faithfully.
“Understood.”
Even so, he glanced at my hand once more before heading in the direction I had indicated.
Watching him walk away, I slowly closed and opened my eyes.
He looks a little disappointed… but it can’t be helped, can it?
I couldn’t let Hutton see this photo.
I pulled out the photograph tucked among the others.
It was the only picture where young Eani—who was always crying or timid—was smiling brightly.
And standing beside her was a certain boy.
I quietly stared at the boy holding Eani’s hand in the photo.
It was an unfamiliar face, yet I felt I knew who he was.
So I get to see his face like this, at least.
“Eani, is there anything else to look at over there?”
I heard Hutton’s voice calling from across the room.
Before he could notice, I folded the photo in half and slipped it into my skirt pocket.
“No~. I’m coming~.”
I answered and began walking toward him.
For some reason, the scar on my right ankle throbbed painfully.
“Ugh.”
Aldine groaned and opened her eyes.
Having been asleep for so long, her mind felt hazy.
When did I fall asleep?
She clearly remembered meeting Eani Nacelle in the underground prison of the Seind ducal house.
—Now then, shall we continue our little family game?
—Stay back! Don’t come near me!
—Oh my, how hurtful~. You were begging me to come closer just a moment ago~.
She recalled Eani’s chilling smile as she approached just before Aldine lost consciousness.
The memory snapped her fully awake, and she shot upright.
“Oh my, you’re awake~?”
“Aaah!”
A scream burst out of her.
Across from her stood Eani, wearing the same smile from her last memory.
“What are you?!”
As Aldine shouted, she winced at a sharp pain.
Looking down, she saw that handcuffs—the kind placed on criminals—were fastened around her wrists.
Above them were sharp cuts.
Fresh wounds that hadn’t even stopped bleeding yet.
Frowning deeply at the unfamiliar injuries, Aldine glared at Eani again.
“You did this to me!”
As she shouted, her eyes met the man standing beside Eani—a man whose cold presence alone could freeze the air.
It was Young Duke Hutton Seind, whom Aldine had once sung about, saying she would have no greater wish than to receive even a single glance from him.
Her wish had come true—their eyes met directly.
But none of the excitement or fluttering she had imagined was there.
Instead, she felt only a primal fear, as if she were about to be hunted by a black beast.
Ugh…
She forced herself to look away from Hutton’s sharp gray eyes.
In the process, she noticed the sharp sword in his hand.
At a glance, she instinctively knew the Young Duke had inflicted the wounds on her body.
But she didn’t dare accuse him the way she had accused Eani.
How could a man that perfect and magnificent be with someone like Eani Nacelle…?!
Eani Nacelle had killed her mother at birth and, despite being a Nacelle daughter, couldn’t properly use even a single spell—a complete half-wit!
Grinding her teeth softly, Aldine finally looked around.
Familiar wallpaper. Familiar ceiling. Familiar furniture.
This is…
The place she had always hated for being old and cramped.
Our house…!
It was the Nacelle baron’s estate where Aldine had been born and raised.
And she was sitting in the middle of its now-empty drawing room.
Furrowing her brows, she glared at Eani.
“Why did you come here?! You said you lost your memory!”
“Indeed~. Why did I come here, I wonder~?”
Eani asked back in a leisurely voice.
Though they had lived together all their lives, Aldine had never seen such a relaxed attitude from her.
Unbelievable! Can someone really change that much just from losing their memory?!
Nothing made sense.
Eani had always been beneath her—never once daring to talk back.
So why did the mere act of facing her now feel so unfamiliar?
As if she were a complete stranger.
If she were the Eani Aldine knew, the moment she learned that her father and sister were in trouble, she would have devoted herself—however foolishly—to helping them.
That had been Eani’s one redeeming quality.
But the current Eani had lost even that.
Worse, she had become unreadable and sly—no longer someone Aldine could easily look down on.
When I was first told to lure Eani out, I thought it would be nothing…
It was when the Baron Nacelle and Aldine had been deceived by swindlers, bankrupted in an illegal gambling den, and forced into hard labor that someone rescued them.
That person had told them to demand that Eani Nacelle, who was at the Seind ducal house, repay their debts.
Then they would be free.
And then, claiming to help us, he cast invisibility magic on Father and me and had us infiltrate the Seind ducal estate.
She didn’t know who that person was.
She had been half out of her mind from the grueling labor, and she hadn’t examined him closely—she only knew she had to do anything to survive.
In desperation, she accepted his proposal and risked the dangerous spell of obedience to go to the Seind ducal house.
But when we finally reached the banquet hall and saw Eani smiling under the dazzling lights all by herself… I was so furious.
