Chapter : 78
I staggered quickly.
“Ah… my head…!”
Stumble—.
Then I collapsed into Hartin’s arms.
“Eani!”
Startled, Hartin hurriedly checked on me.
“What’s wrong?! Where does it hurt?!”
“My… my head is spinning too much…”
At that moment, the Duke and Duchess of Seind, who had been observing the situation, rushed over.
I leaned on Hartin, pretending to be dizzy, and looked at the ducal couple.
Then I gave a simple signal with my eyes.
‘Send that father and daughter to the basement.’
“!”
Still, the Duke of Seind was not clueless; he immediately understood my signal and nodded slightly.
Right after confirming that, I closed my eyes, pretending to lose consciousness.
“Eani—!”
Hartin focused only on me, oblivious to anything else.
“Did she really faint?”
“She gave you a signal, right? Then it must have been an act.”
“But why hasn’t she come to yet?”
Flash—!
With that, I opened my eyes.
The duke and duchess, standing by the bedside, recoiled in shock.
“You scared me!”
“Hey! If you’re going to open your eyes, shouldn’t you at least give a warning?!”
I tilted my stiff neck side to side and got up from the bed.
The place I was lying was the doctor’s office, and aside from the ducal couple, no one else was around.
“What about the Nasel father and daughter?”
“Ahem… Hartin tried to execute them on his own, but we barely stopped him and locked them in the basement.”
“Well done.”
I complimented him, and the duke cleared his throat softly.
The duchess glanced at her husband with disdain and asked,
“You really weren’t unconscious, right? Seeing your family triggered your memories…?”
At her question, the duke also looked at me with a tense expression.
They must be anxious because they’ve done a lot of wrong, and they’re afraid I might remember.
“Did you stay by my side all this time because you were curious about that?”
“Stay by your side?!”
“Answer me! Did you recover all your memories?”
“Well… someone seemed to have tormented me terribly—”
Flinch!
The couple’s shoulders twitched.
I tilted my head lazily and smiled at them.
“But if you two keep listening to me like you are now, maybe my memories will never come back~.”
“You call that a statement?!”
“Are you saying we have to do this forever?!”
“That might be better~?”
If I regain my memories, I’ll make sure to get back at all the things I suffered in the past~.
Saying that in a cheerful tone, the couple took a step back, looking horrified.
“Memories are really convenient.”
“Indeed. If you want to recall, you do; if you want to bury, you can.”
“Sometimes in life, these things happen.”
I said this as I walked toward the window.
Outside, I saw the guards and knights bustling around.
Behind them stood Hartin, looking more serious than ever.
“Search thoroughly! Find out how the intruders got into the estate!”
“Yes!”
Seeing his anxious expression made me feel uneasy.
‘Today is Hartin’s birthday…’
I wanted only good memories to remain until the end, but what a mess on such an important day.
While looking outside, I glanced back at the ducal couple whispering softly behind me.
“So, did she regain her memories or not?”
“I don’t know. Seeing her act so slyly, it seems she doesn’t remember—”
“Father, Mother~”
“Ahem! We weren’t criticizing you!”
“Of course! Nobles like us must always maintain dignity!”
I raised the corner of my mouth at their frantic excuses.
“How did you send Hartin on that search party?”
He hadn’t moved an inch next to me until just now.
But when the ducal couple whispered something to him, he jumped up and left the office.
‘It happened before I even enhanced my hearing with magic, so I didn’t catch what was said.’
The couple exchanged glances and sighed.
“That useless man wouldn’t have moved unless it concerned you. We told him we found traces of the culprit who let Baron Nasel and Aldine Nasel into this mansion.”
“And since we said the culprit had to be caught for your safety, he rushed out immediately.”
The ducal couple seemed to understand; they realized the Nasel father and daughter couldn’t have entered without someone’s help.
‘Hartin knew he had to leave for me to move freely and acted first.’
I widened my eyes and joked lightly.
“Hmm, did you really find traces of the culprit? You two aren’t the culprit, right?”
“She says anything! We really aren’t!”
“Exactly! No matter how much you dislike her, you’d never tarnish the Seind name at an important event inviting all the guests!”
“Good. I’ll trust you. Then I’ll leave finding the traces to Hartin and you two.”
The duke frowned at my words.
“The ‘traces’ are just an excuse to get Hartin out of this room.”
“Don’t worry. The culprit must have left some evidence somewhere.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“It’s obvious. The culprit let the Nasels in to stir up a scene at this very banquet for a reason.”
“Reason…?”
“There’s a reason, see?”
Seeing that the couple didn’t understand, I explained further.
“They distracted everyone with those two, then secretly infiltrated the Seind household~?”
“!”
“They might have stolen something, checked records… whatever it was, we should focus on the important areas.”
The duke and duchess’ eyes widened—they hadn’t thought that far.
I spoke gently to them.
“On the surface, it looks like the culprit targeted me using the Nasels, but actually… the Seind household was the real target.”
Otherwise, there’d be no reason to create such chaos.
I tilted my head slowly and asked them:
“You noble Seinds wouldn’t leave that insolent culprit alone, right?”
“Of course not!”
“How dare they underestimate us Seinds!”
The couple jumped up, enraged.
With the motive for catching the culprit now firmly planted, the ducal couple would handle that situation themselves.
I smirked.
‘Then I can have some family reunion time~.’
The duke and duchess left to catch the culprit and tidy up the birthday banquet.
I went down the basement stairs with a knight assigned by them.
And soon—.
“Eani!”
“Finally, I can see your faces up close!”
Clang—!
The Nasel father and daughter, handcuffed, pressed against the bars and welcomed me.
“I told you before, I’m your father. The one who raised you!”
“Eani! I’m your sister! Don’t we look alike?! That’s because we share the same blood!”
“Hmm~.”
“Let us out first! Your father and sister were only worried about you and wanted to see you!”
“Yes! Every night we worried about you so much!”
I didn’t answer, just carefully examined Baron Nasel and Aldine Nasel.
I’d sensed this even at the banquet—
“Are you two not cold? It’s chilly, yet you’re still wearing such thin clothes.”
Their faces turned bright red.
Ignoring that, I continued observing them.
‘The clothes they wear are more like rags than actual clothing.’
They looked malnourished, their cheeks sunken, bodies thin.
Their complexions looked bad, as if they had endured hard labor and were about to collapse—
‘Seems my theory was right.’
I spoke to the knight waiting nearby.
“This might take a while. Is there somewhere to sit?”
“Do you need a private room to talk?”
The Nasels’ faces brightened—they saw hope of leaving this prison.
‘Hmm, they probably shouldn’t hope for that yet.’
I shook my head.
“No need~. A small chair for me is enough. And since it looks like a close family conversation will happen, can you wait a little away?”
“Understood.”
The knight left to fetch a chair.
The Nasels shook the bars and shouted.
“Eani! We’ve been saying it all along! I’m your father! Your parent! Yet you’re keeping your father locked in this cold prison?!”
“Yes! We were a family who cared and loved each other deeply! Even if you lost your memory and are confused, keeping family in a prison like this makes no sense! We’re not criminals!”
“Ah, criminals.”
I stepped closer to the bars and whispered to Aldine and Baron Nasel.
“In the Arestan Empire, those addicted to illegal gambling are treated as criminals.”
“!”
“Even if I’ve lost my memories, I know basic things like this.”
Their pupils flickered wildly at my whisper.
Seeing that, I smiled wider.
“Now, at last, we can start a genuine conversation among family~.”
