Chapter 4
“We’ve found the young lady!”
A group of unfamiliar knights came rushing toward me.
No matter how I look at them, they aren’t from House Aios.
The Aios family’s uniforms were blue.
But the men surrounding me were dressed entirely in black.
“Jenny, who are these people?”
I whispered quietly enough that the men couldn’t hear.
“What happened yesterday? Why are knights from another family looking for me?”
“My lady…”
Jenny looked at me as though she couldn’t believe I truly didn’t remember.
Something definitely happened…
I woke up in the middle of a forest.
And now strangers were searching for me.
Just what on earth had happened?
Before long, the Aios knights arrived as well.
“We’ve found the young lady!”
“This way!”
So many people gathered that the forest looked overcrowded.
“My lady, are you alright?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Bring something to cover her dress! Hurry!”
The knights busily examined me for injuries.
What is going on?
I stared at them in bewilderment.
Then someone walked through the crowd of black and blue uniforms.
“Your Grace, it appears Lady Aios has been injured.”
“I’ll see for myself.”
Dark navy hair like the night sky.
Fiery crimson eyes.
A sharp, intimidating face.
No way.
It was Duke Calhart Brillion.
He strode straight toward me and looked down with cold eyes.
“Uh… hello? What brings you all the way here…?”
The moment I spoke, everyone gasped.
“…?”
Did I say something wrong?
Why was everyone reacting like that?
Jenny quietly wrapped the blanket the knights had brought around my shoulders.
“Hah. So you’re pretending not to remember.”
“…Excuse me?”
I’m not pretending.
I genuinely don’t know.
“Let’s go first. We can discuss what happened yesterday later.”
“Huh? Wh-what?”
Completely confused, I could only blink at everyone around me.
Why is this man looking for me?
Did something happen at the party yesterday?
While being escorted to a carriage, I racked my brain.
Nothing.
“I’ll escort my lady back.”
Following behind the duke, I saw two carriages waiting outside the forest.
One belonged to House Brillion.
The other belonged to House Aios.
Blocking Brillion’s knights was Max, captain of the Aios knights.
“His Grace has prior business with Lady Aios.”
“She was lost because of yesterday’s accident. Rest and recovery should come first.”
Max spoke firmly, intending to escort me into the Aios carriage.
But the duke had no intention of letting me leave.
“Lady Aios. You have something to say to me.”
“…Me? I do?”
Not at all.
I looked at Max with desperate eyes, silently begging him to save me.
Apparently he didn’t notice.
“Come here.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said, come here.”
The duke glared at Max as he addressed me.
If I go with this man… I feel like something terrible is going to happen.
His eyes were simply too frightening.
Seriously…
What happened yesterday?
* * *
I obediently climbed into Duke Brillion’s carriage.
The duke didn’t say a single word on the way back to his estate.
The atmosphere was so icy that I couldn’t bring myself to speak either.
When I finally came to my senses, I found myself seated in the duke’s dining room.
A long table.
A luxurious chandelier overhead.
Why am I sitting here?
If I’d made any mistake at yesterday’s party…
It was losing my senses after my “battery” filled up and charging at the duke.
But hadn’t that incident ended once the duke walked away?
I’d apologized too.
Was he really so angry that he’d spent the entire night searching for me after I’d somehow been found in the forest…
And even brought me back to his estate?
I wished he’d explain something.
Anything.
But his tightly closed lips never opened.
Even after the servants finished laying out an extravagant meal…
Silence remained between us.
“Um…”
I tried to break the awkward atmosphere.
“Eat.”
The duke cut me off immediately.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Well…
If he says eat, then I’ll eat.
Besides, the food looked delicious.
Perhaps because I hadn’t eaten properly for so long, I devoured everything in front of me.
Even after my plates had been completely emptied…
The duke simply watched me eat.
This is making me uncomfortable.
Still…
Nothing could beat hunger.
I ignored his stare and kept eating until I was completely full.
Whew… I’m stuffed.
I hadn’t eaten like this in ages.
Only after satisfying my stomach did I finally look at him.
His piercing crimson eyes were fixed directly on me.
“Let’s talk about yesterday.”
“I startled you by suddenly trying to hug you yesterday, didn’t I? I really just lost my footing—”
“Not that.”
Not that?
Other than trying to hug him out of nowhere…
I couldn’t remember anything.
Aside from getting my battery fully charged and happily drinking…
Wait.
Don’t tell me…
Did I cause trouble while drunk?
Even if I did…
I needed to remember something before I could apologize or explain myself.
But my mind was completely blank.
While I debated whether to tell him honestly or pretend I remembered…
The duke frowned.
“You have nothing to say?”
“N-No, I do. I have something to say.”
I didn’t.
“Then say it.”
I wished he’d at least give me a hint.
Instead, he looked as though he intended to remain silent until I spoke first.
“So… yesterday… yesterday, you see…”
“Yes?”
“Why do you think I acted like that? Haha…”
I tried to laugh it off.
Apparently, it wasn’t something that could simply be laughed away.
His expression remained as cold as ever.
It looked cold enough to freeze your hand if you touched it.
“You’re the one who did it. You should know why.”
“Haha… I suppose you’re right.”
If I did it, why can’t I remember?
He was obviously furious.
But not knowing why was driving me insane.
“I must’ve been really drunk yesterday.”
“…Drunk.”
“Could you perhaps forgive my mistake out of the generosity of your heart?”
The duke looked at me meaningfully.
…Do I actually have a chance of being forgiven?
Judging by his expression…
Probably not.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”
“Ah…”
Just what kind of disaster did I create?
“How’s your body?”
“Oh! I’m perfectly fine!”
Come to think of it…
I’d woken up in a strange forest.
I couldn’t exactly ask the duke what had happened.
I’d ask Jenny once I got home.
“You’re an impossible person to predict.”
“…I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Don’t.”
Wow.
He’s unbelievably cold.
“Is… there anything else you wanted to say?”
Honestly, I only asked because I wanted to hurry home and rest.
Apparently, though…
That question irritated him.
One of his eyebrows twitched.
“Something else to say…”
I shouldn’t have asked.
“I do.”
The duke’s red lips slowly curved into a smile.
I…
Really shouldn’t have asked.
“I’d like you to tell me… how I should forgive someone for forcing a kiss on me.”
“…Excuse me? Forcing… what?”
Life…
Could be unbelievably cruel.
* * *
“My lady! Please snap out of it!”
Jenny grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“I am… snapped out of it. Why?”
“I don’t think so, my lady.”
“No…”
Ever since returning home…
I’d been sitting in a daze.
The duke’s shocking words kept echoing in my ears.
“How should I forgive… a forced kiss…”
“A forced kiss…”
“Forced kiss.”
…Holy crap.
The more I replayed it in my head, the more horrifying it sounded.
Goosebumps spread across my arms.
“Jenny… what happened yesterday?”
I needed to know.
No matter how obsessed I was with charging my battery…
No matter how drunk I’d gotten…
There’s no way I’d force a kiss on the duke…
“Aaaah!”
No way!
As I grabbed my head, Jenny hurriedly stopped me.
“My lady, you really don’t remember?!”
“Why would I lie about something like this? I don’t remember!”
“Haha…”
Jenny let out a hollow laugh.
Then she told me everything that had happened yesterday.
I had become completely drunk at the duke’s estate.
I’d caused one scene after another.
I’d even fallen from the second-floor balcony.
The duke caught me.
Then he had me thrown out for causing such a disturbance.
The moment I got into the carriage…
I threw up.
Right.
Up until there…
You could call it the antics of an awful drunk.
People make mistakes when they’re drunk, right?
Falling from the second floor was admittedly a bit extreme.
“So? Is that the end of it?”
“If only it were…”
My dress had been ruined because of the vomit.
Jenny went back inside the duke’s estate to explain the situation.
The duke came out looking thoroughly annoyed to check on things.
And then…
While I was sitting quietly against the carriage…
I…
“Kissed him right on the lips.”
“That’s enough. Stop there.”
I didn’t want to hear any more.
So everything the duke said was true.
And on top of that…
I threw up…
Then kissed him?
Even if someone was the love of your life, that would be difficult to accept.
Now I finally understood why he’d been so furious.
“Then… why did I wake up in the forest? Did the angry duke dump me there?”
Honestly…
That would be understandable.
If it were me, I’d probably dump someone who vomited and then forcefully kissed me too.
He must’ve hated it.
“It wasn’t the duke who abandoned you.”
“You ran away, my lady.”
“…I did?”
“Yesterday was the first time I realized you could run that fast.”
After forcibly kissing him…
I apparently took off without looking back.
At least some part of me had realized I’d done something terrible.
Everyone else had been so stunned that I managed to escape while they stood frozen.
“We chased after you immediately, but by then you’d already disappeared. Do you know how terrified I was?!”
Jenny seized the opportunity to scold me.
How could a noble lady force a kiss on a man and then run away, making everyone worry?
None of her lecture actually registered.
“I still think the duke has taken a liking to you.”
“…What kind of nonsense are you talking about, Jenny?”
If you were him…
Would you like a woman like this?
“I thought he’d go straight back into the mansion the moment you disappeared.”
“But instead, he suddenly got on horseback and rode straight into the forest looking for you.”
Jenny spoke with dreamy eyes, as though she’d witnessed a prince on a white horse.
No, Jenny.
That’s not what happened.
That man rode after me because he wanted to kill me.
