Chapter 49
You stayed in your office until this hour because of this? Now that you’re done, shall we talk?”
“Alright.”
The Marquis and Belia headed toward the sofa.
“The fragrance is nice.”
“It’s a new black tea from the South. The butler thought you’d like it, Father, so he prepared it.”
“Accurate as always.”
As she watched the Marquis sip his tea, Belia felt slightly nervous.
“Then, Father, may I ask about what we couldn’t talk about yesterday at the banquet?”
The Marquis set his teacup down.
“Of course. But before that, may I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“How did you come to know the Tower Lord, aside from the Crown Prince?”
“Oh… just because His Highness is a friend, so I got to know him through that.”
“Does His Highness keep such close relations with the Tower Lord, enough to introduce you to him?”
“Yes. Well… ha ha.”
Belia scratched the back of her head, having nothing more to add about how she knew the Tower Lord.
“I see… So His Majesty doesn’t stop the Crown Prince from getting close to the Tower Lord.”
“…Would there be any reason to stop him?”
The Marquis fell silent for a moment.
“…No. There would be no reason.”
He shook his head.
“Well, you said you wanted to hear what I couldn’t finish at the banquet. I’ve been waiting for you to come.”
“Did I come too late?”
“No. You came at the right time. I also needed to prepare myself.”
“Is it that difficult to talk about that you needed to prepare?”
The Marquis smiled faintly and shrugged.
“Yes. That’s why, before I speak, let me ask you this. Why do you want to know about what happened when you were eight? Honestly, you’ve lived just fine without knowing.”
“No.”
Belia shook her head.
“It’s only recently that I’ve started living well. Before that, I didn’t. I believed you didn’t love me, and I lived without courage, unable to voice my opinions. I just drifted along passively.”
She met her father’s eyes.
“Father, you’ve also noticed I’ve changed a lot lately. I used to live as though my life was completely hollow. Now, I want to take back my life. To do that, I feel I need the memory of what happened when I was eight. To live a whole life that’s truly mine.”
“Recovering that memory might make you more unstable.”
“Even if confusion comes with the memory, I believe it’s my burden to bear. Our family motto says, ‘The greatest trial will complete all things.’ The incident when I was eight was the greatest misfortune of my life. That’s why… please tell me.”
“I’m afraid. Truly afraid of what will happen if you remember… afraid you’ll be hurt.”
“Even if it’s painful, it’s still something that happened to me. And you know it too, Father. Whatever it was, I have the right to know my own memory.”
The firmness in Belia’s gaze made the Marquis groan.
“Are you sure you won’t be shocked? I… was a fool—”
“You’re not foolish. Please, tell me.”
The Marquis hesitated for a while.
The incident eight years ago was never a simple fire.
That incident…
The Marquis had always suspected that the key to it lay in Belia’s memory, and he had expected the day would come when he’d have to speak of it.
The Emperor, too, had been subtly encouraging the closeness between the Crown Prince and Belia—clearly, he thought the same.
Belia’s memory would reveal the truth of what happened eight years ago.
The silence was short.
“…Alright. I’ll tell you. But steel your heart.”
“I will.”
The Marquis let out a short sigh.
“First, I want to clear up a misunderstanding. The reason I neglected you wasn’t because I disliked you.”
“You didn’t neglect me—”
“No, I did. I avoided speaking with you, avoided even meeting your eyes on purpose.”
The Marquis fiddled with the teacup handle.
“To be exact, I was afraid of you. Belia… eight years ago, during that incident, I was terrified of you.”
“Afraid? Of me?”
“Yes.”
The Marquis recalled events that had already passed eight long years ago.
“Marquis!!”
“What is it?”
“That day, after finishing the Imperial Council as scheduled, I was heading to the capital’s merchant guild.”
“Belia?!”
“When the sudden news struck, I rushed back to the estate in a frenzy… only to find you in a state too horrific to call a mere accident.”
“My dear!! My dear!!”
“Your mother’s frantic cries rang like echoes, and I myself was nearly out of my mind.”
“I know the injuries were severe.”
“Yes. The accident that day spared almost no noble house in the capital. Nearly everyone had sent at least one child to that event. The capital was turned upside down. At the council, there were no lords—only parents of young children. And of them all, I was the one on the brink of madness. Even His Majesty apologized to me personally.”
The Marquis looked at Belia with a heavy gaze.
“You were, without a doubt, the most gravely injured.”
“It wasn’t a simple fire.”
“What do you mean, not a simple fire?”
“This… is an Imperial secret. I can’t say more…”
“—Aaaahhhhhh!!!”
The Marquis clenched his eyes shut.
“Every day, your screams echoed from behind that door. Your mother and I nearly lost our minds. You lay unconscious, screaming for three whole months.”
“Three months?!”
“Yes. You never opened your eyes once. Yet your mind was awake. It was bizarre—too bizarre to tell anyone. Whenever someone approached, you would convulse and scream as though being attacked, all while keeping your eyes closed. The healers shook their heads.”
“Me…?”
“Yes. You wouldn’t even allow treatment—you went into fits at the touch of a healer. We were helpless. But that wasn’t the worst part. Do you know what was?”
“What?”
“Neither the court physicians, nor the finest doctors from across the land, could treat you. Even the sorcerers sent by the Imperial Palace admitted defeat. Nothing worked—no medicine, no magic. Isn’t it strange? They were just burns, however severe, yet nothing could heal them.”
“…Even magic failed?”
“Yes. I was on the brink of madness when I went to His Majesty.”
“Endor!!! I beg you—not as Emperor, but as a friend!”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“Then summon the priests of the Holy Nation! I know they’ve already been to the Misty Forest under your sanction.”
“…Very well.”
The Marquis gritted his teeth as he remembered.
“His Majesty sent priests from the Holy Nation. But on one condition: no one could know of the process. No one was to see or hear it.”
“No one… was allowed to know?”
“Yes.”
The Marquis’s voice trembled.
“I grasped at straws and accepted. And exactly five months after the accident, you finally opened your eyes.”
“Was it divine power that healed me?”
“…The priests came, so what else could it have been? At the time, I was only glad you woke up. I assumed it was divine power and left it at that.”
“Then what frightened you wasn’t my injuries?”
“No. The real problem began after you woke up.”
The Marquis’s brow furrowed.
“You opened your eyes, you could walk, talk… aside from the wounds, you functioned normally. But your mind… was not.”
“My mind? How?”
“It was as if… ha…”
He rubbed his forehead.
“As your father, it pains me to say this, but it was like you were possessed.”
“Possessed?”
“You truly seemed mad. You often muttered strange things.”
“Like what?”
“‘We have to run. He’s coming. We’ll all die. There’s no hope. Yes… dying would be better. No… I’ll do it myself.’”
“What?”
The Marquis ran a hand over his face.
“Those were your words. No context. At times, you’d suddenly curl up or bolt as if terrified. Sometimes you were fine, other times you’d beg for your life when a servant approached.”
“Me?!”
The look of disbelief on Belia’s face—utterly lacking any memory of it—made the Marquis pause for breath.
“Yes. You really don’t remember any of it?”
“Not even a trace. I can’t believe it. I said that?”
“It’s better you don’t remember. Honestly, I fear more what will happen if you regain those memories. Because the one who will suffer most… will be you.”
velia sat frozen in shock.
