Hiding the Fact That We Are Dating From the Amnesiac Villain - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1
Imperial Year 997.
Decklin Caesar beheaded the enemy king, drawing the curtain on a hundred-year war.
The Castle reeked of blood so thick it seemed to permeate the very stones.
The knights standing in formation held their breath, their eyes fixed upon the man who had severed their sovereign’s head.
Decklin, with hair black as the void itself, possessed a beauty befitting a god from ancient myths—yet those crimson eyes gleamed with the malevolence of a demon wearing human skin.
The Prince, knowing his turn was next, trembled uncontrollably.
‘I don’t want to die. I haven’t done anything wrong!’
Father committed all the sins!
I was merely a good Prince—one who exploited commoners and filled the coffers of the nobility!
He wept bitterly as he awaited his fate.
But then—
‘What is this?’
The demon orchestrating the massacre suddenly stood motionless, his gaze distant and vacant.
Not only the Prince, but everyone within the Castle turned to stare at Decklin in bewilderment as he abruptly ceased his advance.
“Ah.”
A low sigh escaped his lips.
That demon… sighing?
“I can’t remember.”
Having suddenly halted the slaughter, his words revealed a mind grasping at shadows.
‘Has the madman lost his mind?’
In the suffocating silence, Decklin fell into deep contemplation.
Why had he been so desperate to end the war?
Even as he devised battle strategies, even as he breached the Castle gates, even as he severed the king’s head…
There had been a reason. Surely there had been.
A reason he had rushed to conclude this war.
A reason he had needed to return with such urgency.
Yet now, that reason eluded him entirely.
What could it have been?
-Don’t worry about me. I’ll return safely.
In that moment, a voice pierced through his consciousness.
A voice clear and bright as a lark’s song.
-I’ll wait for you. Please come back unharmed.
-You mustn’t get hurt, Hu—
As the mirage-like voice echoed once more, his brow furrowed deeply.
He could not recall it. Or perhaps… had that memory ever truly existed?
“What could that have been?”
At his murmur, the Prince’s shoulders jerked in terror.
In that instant, Decklin’s crimson eyes turned toward the Prince.
“Ah.”
The malevolent spirit smiled as if only then remembering him.
“P-please… save me… gahhk!”
But there was no hope.
As Decklin Caesar wielded his blade, he drew out something that had weighed upon his chest throughout the entire battle.
‘A locket?’
Inside lay a portrait of someone.
I had never possessed such a thing.
Then, how had it come to be discovered tucked within my clothing?
The moment I tried to open the pendant,
thud—
a viscous drop of blood fell, soaking the portrait.
The deep crimson spread along the paper’s grain, completely obscuring the figure’s face.
I stood motionless for a moment, staring at the spot.
A cold irritation bloomed quietly within my chest.
“Sir, I have secured all the spoils as you commanded…”
Inhale.
The knight’s words faltered.
The moment he met Decklin Caesar’s gaze, his body froze at the murderous intensity in those eyes.
“Very well. Let us gather the prisoners and return.”
Decklin Caesar wiped his blood-stained forehead.
Though my entire body was dyed crimson with the blood of others, only the blood flowing from my forehead was my own.
“Sir, you have a wound on your head…! Are you alright?”
Ah, I must have struck my head.
When was it?
From some point in my memory, the scene seemed to have been carved away.
Perhaps that was why I felt as though I had forgotten something important.
A sweet fragrance lingered at the tip of my nose, and a lark-like voice shimmered at my ear, yet…
I could not discern its source.
Decklin Caesar gazed at the blood-soaked portrait for a long while,
then clicked the pendant shut.
Well, it hardly matters.
* * *
Ohhh—
What is this unpleasantly creeping sensation?
‘It’s been happening more often lately.’
Freena rubbed her arms against the chill that brushed past her, despite it being the height of summer.
“Hey! Why hasn’t the food I ordered a moment ago come out yet?”
“Coming right away, ma’am!”
The Imperial Palace’s common dining hall, Daisy Hall.
This place, built for the Empire’s commoner knights and officials, bustled with people as always.
Perhaps that was why.
The kitchen was filled with shouting and quarrels every single day.
“Scrub harder! Make those dishes shine!”
“Are you really stirring the ladle at that pace?!”
“Hurry up and bring it out! The food is getting cold!”
Freena was thoroughly worn down once again.
Carrying multiple plates, I wove between tables countless times, moving with frantic urgency.
‘Sigh, this is exhausting.’
My breath came in short gasps.
I wanted to rest for just a moment, but today seemed to have brought even more customers to Daisy Hall than usual.
“Hey, Freena! There’s a hair in the food!”
A knight suddenly bellowed at that moment.
A single strand of green hair dangled from the tip of his finger.
Freena stared intently at the knight’s hair.
…The exact same shade of green.
“That’s actually your hair, sir….”
“Ahem, just be more careful!”
…Me?
Difficult customers were a common bonus.
But in moments like these, compliance was always the fastest solution.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“That’s right, Freena. I’m forgiving you because I’m kind.”
Freena forced the corners of my mouth upward.
I would endure it by thinking of the wages coming soon.
‘Still, working at the Imperial Palace does pay quite well.’
Despite the grueling labor, it was by far the best position I had ever held.
Soon the knights finished their meals and filed out like a receding tide.
Only then did I have a moment to catch my breath, but today I couldn’t rest as easily as usual.
A troubling matter I had been preoccupied with for days resurfaced in my mind.
“Freena, you don’t look well. Are you ill?”
“Really, you seem particularly strange today.”
As Freena slumped more than usual, my coworkers approached with worried expressions.
“Oh, I’m fine. I’m just a bit tired today….”
I forced a smile, but nothing was fine.
The truth was….
‘Today is the day Hugho was supposed to return! What do I do!’
Hugho, Freena’s lover.
With jet-black hair and crimson eyes, a beauty mark placed at the corner of his eye like the final brushstroke of a masterpiece—he was a beautiful person.
It had already been a year since we were separated.
‘He said he was taking on a position as someone’s bodyguard…’
Hugho was a knight.
He had left to protect his lord, and they had been apart for a year.
And today, finally, was the day I would see him again.
But Freena…
How was I supposed to tell him we should break up?
I had decided to end things with Hugho.
Could I really tell my lover, whom I hadn’t seen in a year, that we should part ways?
But pretending everything was fine and then breaking up later would be strange too…
“You there! How much longer do you plan to laze about!”
That was when it happened.
The head chef emerged from the kitchen, spotted the scattered workers, and bellowed at them.
The workers jolted in alarm and scrambled to their feet.
“Freena! Come here and do the dishes! They’re piling up!”
Freena, who had been standing there in a daze, finally turned her head.
This was really something.
Dishes were stacked like a mountain.
…
First, let me finish the work and think about it later!
* * *
Trudge.
A walking corpse shuffled slowly down the dark night path.
I was utterly exhausted.
By the time my shift at Daisy Hall ended, my body felt like it would fall apart.
And it was so cold!
The night air was much colder than expected. I arrived at the meeting place, shivering.
Leyton Bridge.
It was a famous date spot among lovers.
There was a rumor that the love of reunited couples at this place would last forever.
Ah.
That couldn’t happen.
We had to break up.
Hugho had many secrets. If my intuition was correct, they were likely the troubling kind.
“Anyway, raising younger siblings means you see all sorts of things. By the way, what was Hugho like as a child?”
“I’m more curious about your story, Freena.”
Whenever I asked about his past, he would smile gently and evade the question as naturally as flowing water.
That wasn’t all.
“Oh right, I wanted to send you a letter, but I don’t even know where you live.”
His residence, his family, his past.
Hugho had revealed none of it to me.
Why?
What reason would there be to hide anything if one weren’t a criminal?
It was on a day when suspicion began to take root within her.
“I’ll hurry back, Freena.”
Hugho spoke with pitiful eyes, grasping her hand.
“So you can’t meet anyone else but me.”
“D-don’t worry, Hugho.”
“I’m afraid you’ll forget me. You can’t abandon me, Freena.”
“I w-won’t abandon you.”
“You’ll abandon me?”
“What?”
His gaze intensified as he held both her hands firmly, studying her face.
“You really can’t abandon me. And you mustn’t forget how much I love you.”
Hugho pulled Freena into his embrace, emphasizing the gravity of his words as though imparting something of utmost importance.
But did he know?
That day, in truth….
Freena had meant to tell him they should break up.
The words wouldn’t come—not to a man departing on a dangerous mission.
And so a year had passed.
‘And today he left after we agreed to meet at Leyton Bridge.’
She had wondered whether it was right to break up with him now that he’d returned after so long, but the thought that she could delay no further took hold.
‘Yes. I’ll tell him clearly.’
When Hugho arrives!
And so Freena waited for Hugho.
But even after two hours passed, Hugho did not come.
‘Well, Hugho is a busy man, so it could happen.’
He was returning from distant lands, after all. It was possible.
He would surely come tomorrow.
But the next day, and the day after that, he did not appear.
A week vanished in an instant.
Huh?
…Could this possibly be a silent breakup?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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