Hiding the Fact That We Are Dating From the Amnesiac Villain - Chapter 31

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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 31
* * *
I left Daisy Hall, seeing off my coworkers.
For now, there would be no reason to return to this place.
Not until I formed a covenant with Caesar’s heirloom and received the imprint.
Perhaps I wouldn’t return even after that. Especially if I had to flee hastily with my siblings.
‘Since things have come to this, I’ll do my very best.’
Even if I only stole the ring, I could change this terrible future. If that happened, Havel wouldn’t need to endure infinite regression either…
“Sister, are you truly giving this up?”
Havel!
The sound of ragged breathing reached my ears.
As if he’d heard the news during training and bolted out at once, thick beads of sweat dripped steadily from Havel’s forehead.
“I learned far too late that something unfortunate had happened to you recently, Sister. I’m sorry I couldn’t be by your side or offer any strength or help…”
“That’s not true at all, Havel.”
I smiled faintly and placed my hand on Havel’s disheveled hair.
Then he froze.
It seemed Havel had also learned that I’d recently been investigated in connection with Count Seiton’s incident.
“You were worried about me and came running.”
“You must have been very frightened, Sister. And I didn’t even know…”
Havel’s expression darkened.
This boy truly worried about me so much. Even though I’d done so little for him.
Perhaps to a young boy, even the small kindnesses I occasionally showed were intensely powerful.
“I’m not leaving because of that incident. I simply haven’t had a proper rest while working, so I’m taking a long vacation.”
“…Is that truly so?”
Havel’s gaze wavered.
“Will you truly return?”
As if he feared I might not come back.
‘But you, Havel…’
You’ll be leaving soon, and you won’t return forever.
I knew that around this time, Havel would begin to leave the Imperial Palace.
But he would hide that fact from me until the very end.
Because Havel had been given a ‘mission’.
The time he spent in the Knight Order throughout his life would be nothing but a fleeting moment.
“Yes. I’ll miss you very much, Havel.”
Saying so, I brushed back Havel’s sweat-dampened hair. By now he should have grown accustomed to it, yet Havel still trembled slightly. But as always, he remained obediently still. I gazed at the reddened tips of his ears and spoke softly.
He gazed at the reddened tips of his ears and spoke softly.
“You must stay healthy. I’ve been concerned for some time now—the Knight Order’s training seems terribly harsh.”
I decided to leave Havel with some earnest reminders before departing.
Since he listened well to my words, he would surely hear out this nagging.
“And Havel, you mustn’t skip meals. You don’t come at all when I’m not at Daisy Hall, do you?”
“Sister, that’s….”
“Make sure you eat well. It troubles me to think of you going hungry somewhere.”
In that moment, Havel’s amethyst eyes, which had been rigidly composed, flushed a deep crimson.
“…Are you crying?”
Was my departure truly so sorrowful to him?
“No, I’m not crying….”
Havel hastily raised his thick arms and roughly rubbed his reddened eyes.
‘If he keeps rubbing like that, his eyes will only swell redder.’
In any case.
His body may have grown, but he still acts like a child.
“Are you sad that your sister won’t come back?”
“…No, that’s not it.”
Yet he looked absolutely miserable, like an abandoned puppy.
You’re the first one to cry when I say I’m leaving, Havel.
I suppressed the urge to tease Havel.
I was beginning to understand why the Coworkers and Knights at Daisy Hall liked to tease him. This wouldn’t do….
“Sister, perhaps….”
Havel’s lips moved as though he had something to say.
He often grew restless like this, watching my expression carefully. Despite the years we had known each other.
Though Havel and I weren’t particularly close, there was no need for him to treat me with such caution.
“What is it, Havel?”
“Would you perhaps be very busy during the first week of next month?”
“Nothing special planned. Why?”
Havel’s face brightened immediately as he studied my expression.
“…The Imperial Court Tournament will be held soon.”
“Really?”
The Imperial Court Tournament, or promotion examination, was conducted by assembling all the Knights and conducting fierce duels.
Knights who achieved outstanding results in the examination received extraordinary rewards.
It was also an event that the Emperor himself attended in person.
“If time permits… I would very much like for you to come, Sister.”
Havel’s voice trembled slightly at the end.
Now that I thought about it, family members and lovers often came to watch the participants in promotion examinations.
‘But Havel… has no proper family.’
Though he was the son of a Duke, he was a fugitive. That’s why he had hidden his identity and entered the Imperial Palace as a commoner Knight.
“Yes. I’ll go.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. I wanted to see you duel anyway.”
The thought of Havel, who had always watched the tournaments alone, filled me with compassion.
A smile that could not be hidden bloomed across Havel’s face.
“Will you really come? You won’t forget?”
Unable to conceal her joy, Havel’s voice trembled with anxiety.
“Would I ever break a promise I made to you?”
“But when you said we’d see the plum blossoms in the Garden together in spring, you never came in the end.”
“…Yes.”
“In summer, you said we’d drink the new tea you’d acquired together, then postponed it for four days. And the autumn demonstration match, and that day you promised you’d definitely attend….”
Havel’s voice grew faster and faster.
There were already so many instances! How could I have been such a wretch!
Freena felt a pang of conscience.
“I’m, I’m sorry, Havel. I was just so busy….”
But this time, I truly intended to go and cheer him on.
‘Perhaps that moment would be the last time Havel and I could face each other with smiles.’
* * *
Freena left Daisy Hall.
I had thought I would continue working at Daisy Hall until the exile.
Indeed, one’s life is something no one can predict even a step ahead.
[D-29, The Nocturne Unveils Its Veil! Auction Begins! – Even the Caesar Grand Duke’s Interest? The Empire’s Attention Focused on a Single Tracking Orb!]
Before long, only a month remained until the Tracking Orb auction.
‘So I don’t have much time left either. I need to hurry.’
Thus, Freena arrived at Caesar Grand Duke’s Residence.
“State your business.”
The guard, who had looked Freena up and down, blocked her path.
Her shabby attire would hardly appear as a guest of Caesar Grand Duke’s Residence.
“Well… I came because I received a job offer….”
“We’ve heard nothing about this beforehand. Who exactly at the Residence made you this offer?”
Though he spoke formally, a subtle irritation seeped through the guard’s voice.
Freena paid it no mind and smiled faintly.
“His Excellency.”
In that instant, the heavy air pressing against the iron gates froze cold.

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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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