Hiding the Fact That We Are Dating From the Amnesiac Villain - Chapter 8

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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 8
* * *
About a year ago.
A time when we were deeply infatuated with each other.
“Freena, try this too.”
Hugho remembered the snacks she loved on every date and brought them along,
“Freena, it’s getting cold.”
On chilly days, he would slip off his outer coat and drape it over her shoulders,
“Hold my hand, Freena.”
In crowded places, he would extend his hand first, worried she might stumble.
He was truly a kind and considerate man.
Yet in truth… whenever I met Hugho, I often felt inexplicable chills running through me.
Why?
Because Hugho harbored so many secrets?
Of course, I had secrets too.
The fact that I was an illegitimate child of a great Noble House—I intended to take that to my grave.
No matter how close someone was to me.
‘Still, Hugho is hiding far too much! I only concealed my origins!’
After more than half a year of dating, I didn’t even know where he lived—wasn’t that excessive?
Regardless, there were moments when this man with such tender eyes frightened me.
So I reduced our meetings.
[Freena, is something wrong?]
[I miss you, Freena.]
I didn’t know how to respond.
I needed time to sort through my thoughts.
Soon after, winter arrived.
Yes, winter.
A season overflowing with abundant winter delicacies.
‘Mmm, delicious.’
That day, I was strolling down the street with cheerful steps, savoring winter treats.
I placed the warm food in my mouth and let it cool, and white breath dispersed into the air.
It was just as I was relishing this rare moment of happiness.
“…Ugh.”
A moan echoed from somewhere.
‘What, what is that?’
At first, I thought I’d imagined it.
I tried to pass by without stopping….
“P-please… help… Ugh.”
Though it was barely more than a dying gasp, it struck my ears with unmistakable clarity.
A narrow Alley, devoid of even a single ray of sunlight.
What was happening beyond the carriage was invisible to the naked eye.
‘The Guard Corps! I need the Guard Corps!’
An alarm bell rang in her mind.
I couldn’t go in directly—I had to alert the Guard Corps.
‘But those guards never do their jobs….’
The thought flickered past, but there was no other option.
That was when it happened.
Clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter!
Like a wild beast descending upon prey, rapid and rhythmic footfalls thundered through the street.
Without even seeing it, my instincts screamed a warning. Something was hurtling toward me at a ferocious speed.
Freena froze in terror.
But instinct shoved her forward.
‘If I stay still, I’ll die!’
I had no time to see where I’d thrown myself to hide.
All my fingertips touched was something flat and cold—metal.
The bitter winter chill bit at my knuckles, but there was no time to think.
Who had come rushing out,
what state the person groaning in the alley was in,
I truly knew nothing.
Freena held her breath for a long time.
Then—
“Freena.”
A familiar voice, low and calm, called out to her.
Freena lifted her head.
As I slowly raised it, lustrous black hair cascaded down beneath the cold winter light.
The crimson eyes meeting mine were infinitely gentle, as they always were.
But why had he appeared here, of all places, at this moment?
“What are you doing under the carriage?”
“….”
“You must be freezing. Come up.”
Hugho was impeccably dressed.
Like someone who had just been walking beneath brilliant sunlight, utterly out of place in this damp alley.
“I came because I wanted to see you, but why are you hiding here?”
“….”
“Were you eating a snack here? Oh, you dropped it.”
“….”
Freena stared blankly at the snack that had fallen to the ground.
“I saw a shop on the way here that looked like something you’d enjoy. Let’s go together. I’ll buy you another one.”
Hugho was truly kind.
He gently grasped Freena, frozen in fear, and lifted her to her feet, then brushed the dirt from her knees with his own hands—he who despised filth so much that he wouldn’t let a single fingertip touch anything unclean.
“But why are your hands trembling? You must be quite cold, Freena.”
The concerned voice circled my ears, but my gaze remained fixed to the ground, refusing to lift.
Between his polished shoe heels, that red, viscous liquid I’d been watching from beneath the carriage still clung wetly and congealed.
Despite the bitter cold of midwinter that bit at the skin, the sensation of cold sweat trickling down my spine was oddly, unnervingly vivid.
* * *
Wind brushed against my cheek. In the Black Forest, the unconscious Workers lay sprawled exactly where they had fallen.
The chill I’d felt then crept over my body once more.
I couldn’t fathom how I’d managed to live with this forgotten. It was as if shock had temporarily erased my memory.
‘What if Hugho was also…’
Had he really killed someone?
Just like today?
If so, then after killing someone, Hugho had approached me with brazen composure and…,
bought me warm bread as though nothing had happened.
I’d shoved that bread into my mouth almost compulsively that day. I felt I couldn’t bear it otherwise.
I’d tried desperately to suppress the screams for mercy and death rattles echoing in my head, along with the sudden suspicion of Hugho that kept surfacing.
But had Hugho truly not understood her heart?
Seeing me stuff food into my mouth in such anguished desperation, he’d said my cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel’s. He’d laughed for a long time, saying I was so adorable.
‘That madman.’
The more I thought about it, the more my skin crawled.
…How could he be so composed after killing someone?
Perhaps it really was best to part with Hugho for good. I no longer even felt like returning the ring.
“Hah, hah-ack!”
The Workers who had been lying unconscious came to their senses.
“Ugh, where is this….”
“Gasp! I thought I was dying from suddenly not being able to breathe…!”
The Workers, awakening together in the middle of the forest, bore clear signs of confusion.
They seemed unaware they’d been consumed by magical corruption.
‘It’s fortunate, really. If they knew I’d purified them, it would become troublesome.’
I was deliberating whether to claim I’d given them medicinal herbs good for detoxification, but it seemed unnecessary.
“…Are you all coming to your senses?”
Only then did the Workers’ gazes turn toward me.
“Ah, did you save us, miss?”
“I merely gave you some water….”
“Ah, is that so? Miss, thank you so much, thank you!”
The Workers who’d regained consciousness thanked me repeatedly.
Fortunately, those who’d awakened after receiving my purification appeared perfectly fine.
I tried to quietly rise to my feet.
Ping—
‘Ugh. I must have used too much holy power.’
I’d clearly overextended myself with such a meager amount. Dizziness crept up the back of my neck.
It seemed best to hurry back and rest.
“See you next time, Freena.”
Suddenly, Hugho’s parting words came back to haunt me.
‘I’ll never see him again.’
I resolved never to set foot in the Black Forest again.
“I know the way out. Follow me.”
* * *
The Military Camp lay shrouded in darkness.
The moon hung luminous in the sky.
“General, you’ve arrived?”
The Knights who spotted Decklin approaching the Military Camp with unhurried steps bowed in unison.
They were waiting for the triumph that would soon come.
“An assassin was on my tail.”
Decklin, stepping into the tent, spoke casually to the Aide who followed behind him.
“That was my oversight. I should have dealt with them before they could approach you, General….”
“It’s fine. I handled it myself, so don’t worry.”
Since things had come to this, I lured them into the Black Forest. My plan was to interrogate them about their backer in that quiet, isolated place.
But it wasn’t as isolated as I’d thought.
When I entered the forest, I sensed multiple presences. But judging by their fading breaths, they seemed to be succumbing to the magi corruption and would die soon anyway.
So I was about to ignore them and continue the interrogation when she appeared.
A woman with disheveled pink hair, her crimson lips parting in surprise.
For some reason, I didn’t want to show her my gruesome side.
So I cleanly finished off the assassin.
‘Why did I go that far?’
It was my own way of being considerate toward her, but unfortunately, she seemed completely unaware.
Instead, she trembled with fear and avoided my gaze.
‘Freena, was it?’
It was quite a peculiar connection.
I kept running into her at moments when I was about to kill someone.
Well, one time she didn’t catch me, so that doesn’t count?
‘Freena.’
I turned her name over in my mind again and again.
Whenever I faced her, I felt a strange sensation that I was forgetting something.
But the memory that seemed so deeply buried never surfaced.
Even though I shouldn’t be capable of forgetting anything.
“…I’ll hurry and investigate the backer.”
“There’s no need. I’ve already found out.”
Decklin set down an old pocket watch he’d retrieved from his pocket.
It was the collateral Count Seiton had given to the assassin when commissioning the assassination—his noble seal mark remained perfectly intact, proof of his identity.
“Count Seiton must have been quite anxious when he couldn’t reach his spies.”
“They must have tried to kill me before the triumph. Otherwise, I’d be branded a traitor afterward.”
Count Seiton, who had planted the spy, was a cadet branch of the Caesar Family. He had long resented Decklin’s grip on real power.
So while Decklin was away at war, he hatched his conspiracy.
He embezzled the war funds the Imperial Court sent to Caesar, then falsified the ledgers to make it appear he had secretly funded the Religious Order.
His intention was for His Majesty the Emperor to discover this later, thereby destroying Decklin’s trust.
“Count Seiton isn’t old enough to be senile. For him to misjudge so badly…”
It was a cunning scheme, but now that it was exposed, House Seiton would have to face the end.
He’d best prepare his neck and ready himself for the executioner’s platform as a traitor.
“I think it best to settle matters after the triumph.”
“I shall obey your orders.”
Decklin gestured for him to leave, and the Aide was about to step outside the tent when—
“Ah, wait. How many high-ranking Holy Purifiers are currently stationed in the camp?”
“About ten, sir.”
“And among them, how many are of high purity?”
“…As you well know, sir, high-purity Purifiers are rare. We currently have only three in the camp.”
It was commonplace to traverse countless battlefields and witness lands rotting with demonic energy and the people consumed by it.
The greater the amount of holy power one possessed, the more demonic energy one could purify in a single casting.
But there was one exception.
Mere abundance of holy power could not purify “corrupted minds.”
Only high-purity Purifiers could accomplish that.
“Why do you ask, sir?”
“Look into whether there’s someone named Lenia Feltra among those registered with holy power.”

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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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