I Picked Up My Amnesic Ex-Husband - Chapter 12

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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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I picked up my ex-husband after he lost his memory
Chapter 12

“Is there nothing else?”
“No, madam. The Grand Duke’s Estate has always prided itself on frugality as a virtue. Might you wish to be celebrated on your birthday?”
“Absolutely not!”
I shook my head vigorously in denial.
And with good reason—if I let them celebrate my birthday, I’d have to prepare a banquet for it. Just thinking through the general preparations exhausted me.
Besides, other noblewomen held small gatherings twice a month. How did they manage such tedious affairs every time?
When I was studying the procedures for organizing banquets, I’d first felt grateful that Kaien had no interest in ostentatious displays.
“Very well. By the way, we have received quite a number of invitations. Mostly from noble families within the Grand Duchy.”
I answered without hesitation.
“Can we refuse all of them?”
“As you wish, madam.”
I already had enough on my plate, and I had no particular desire to venture outside frequently as the Grand Duchess. The more my face became known, the less good it would do me later.
In the original novel, Monsters begin to appear in earnest roughly two years from now. It was an important enough event in the story that I remembered the exact timing.
Once Monsters start to proliferate, my movements will become severely restricted. I had to prepare everything I could before that time came.
First things first.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve heard there’s a forest if you go east from the Grand Duke’s Estate.”
Wasn’t it common wisdom that the most important thing in any conflict is supplies?
“Do you mean the Floren Forest?”
“Yes.”
I smiled brightly at Ollendo, who was looking puzzled by my question.
“Would it be alright if I went there for a while?”

The Floren Forest.
A vast forest lying to the east of the Grand Duchy. By the time the original story began, Monsters had infested it so thoroughly that few dared to venture near it.
In reality, it was home to creatures that bewitch people, with at least ten disappearances reported each month—one of the most notorious Dungeons of all. Indeed, in the original novel, Alec himself visits this forest searching for a missing child.
“Wow…”
Of course, that was only how it was in the original story.
Bright sunlight filtered through leaves that shimmered with a soft blue-green luminescence.
Everything—the grass, the undergrowth, even the trees—was tinged with that blue-green hue, and the forest itself emanated an air of mystery.
The song of a bird echoed from somewhere in the distance, and a cricket-like insect hopped across my path with little bounds.
How beautiful a forest could be before it was tainted by Mana corruption.
Surveying my surroundings with servants trailing behind me, I couldn’t help but gasp in wonder.
Who would ever imagine that such a beautiful forest would become a gloomy Monster’s den in the future?
Wait, this is no time for that.
I scanned the area with a keen eye, and soon spotted one of my targets. I knelt down.
“There!”
The moment I saw the flame-shaped plant sprouting up, I found myself humming without thinking.
That was it.
One of the reasons why this place becomes a Monster’s den in the future—Pairance, a Mana Plant brimming with magical power, grows here. Monsters are drawn to places rich in Mana.
‘Rubran, Silakio, and even Mondreud?!’
That wasn’t all. This place was one of the most abundant sources of medicinal herbs frequently used in the original world. Their distinctive appearances made them easy to identify.
Pairance grows by absorbing the Mana that drifts through the air. And it was common knowledge that the richer a place was in Mana, the rarer the medicinal herbs that grew there.
It was only that their properties hadn’t yet been properly documented.
“Madam?”
After bouncing with excitement for some time, I turned to face the servants waiting with a composed expression, holding a large basket.
“Please dig up all of these—this one, that one, all of them. Be careful not to damage the roots.”
As I said before, supplies come first in any conflict.
The future world, once Monsters begin to multiply in earnest, is nothing but chaos. The Empire, which still enjoys the protection of the Dragon of Protection, fares somewhat better, but even so, the damage grows severe the farther one travels from the Capital, where that protection is centered.
The servants looked bewildered but nevertheless began digging up the herbs according to my instructions and placing them in the basket.
After searching through the forest’s edge for herbs and carefully planting them in a wide-spaced bed prepared behind the Grand Duke’s Estate, I had everything in place.
These herbs all grow in dangerous regions in the future, making them difficult to obtain. Even Floren Forest alone is counted among the original story’s most perilous Dungeons, a zone of the highest risk.
That’s why Alec and his party also pursued the method of collecting, cultivating, and propagating these herbs, though it took them roughly a year of repeated successes and failures to manage it.
“Water it three times a day, and replace the Mana Stone set here once a month. Use only the fertilizer I provide, and I’ll adjust the amount slightly for each section.”
It’s a real shame we don’t have Rekio Bone Powder. I’ve heard it’s such an excellent catalyst.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Of course, I’d read the Original Novel, so I knew the method well enough in outline. The problem was that certain materials remained beyond my reach, so some trial and error would be necessary.
Part of me felt guilty, as though I were hijacking the fruits of Alec’s and his colleagues’ labor, but ultimately this was all for their sake.
Once I achieved perfect success with the cultivation, I’d leave detailed records behind — and Alec would know well enough how to put them to use.
The perfect plan crystallized in my mind, and I found myself nodding. I could help without entangling myself with Alec, and I could slip away from the Original Novel without a backward glance.
So I spent more than a week repeating the same pattern: wandering the forest in the mornings, tilling the fields in the afternoons.
Even so, feeling only slightly tired afterward, I marveled anew at just how robust this body had become. Back when I was an office worker, a full day’s labor meant collapsing face-first onto my bed the moment I got home.
“What on earth are you doing?”
I was crouching in the herb patch, setting seedlings and patting down the soil, when a shadow fell across my head. I looked up to find Kaien standing over me, impeccably dressed as always.
“It’s a hobby!”
Kaien’s eyes narrowed at my cheerful reply.
“A hobby?”
“Working the soil puts my mind at ease. Oh, and I’ve almost finished organizing the taxes!”
I insisted I wasn’t shirking my duties, but Kaien fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“I heard you actually organized them quite meticulously.”
“Ah, so you thought I was being careless, didn’t you?”
The way his gaze shifted told me I’d struck the mark. For someone so quiet, he certainly was predictable.
“Your Highness doesn’t seem to realize this, but I’m actually quite sharp, you know? My memory is rather good too.”
…….
“Since we’re on the subject, what would you think about improving the tax system a bit? I noticed while organizing that it’s terribly disorganized right now. Would it be acceptable if I took that on?”
“You would?”
“Yes!”
It wasn’t solely because of memories from my time as Ha Ju-yeon — I’d always had a knack for numbers. Though back then, I never imagined I’d have talent for something like this.
“Still, for a hobby, isn’t this scale rather excessive?”
Kaien gestured with his eyes toward the enormous field that now occupied the entire rear courtyard. Even I had to admit it was rather large, so I scratched my cheek sheepishly.
“I’m also managing the household finances of the Grand Duke’s Estate as a side project.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Wait and see, Your Highness. I’ll make the Grand Duke Household the wealthiest in the Empire!”
Kaien gazed down at me as I made this spirited declaration, then gave a slight shrug.
“Your ambitions are admirable. I shall look forward to it.”
I’m serious about this, though.
The words nearly tumbled out — asking whether he realized just how much these herbs were worth — but I swallowed them back. Frankly, if the cultivation succeeds, in a few years’ time it’ll be an absolute fortune.
Well done, Wendy!
After sending Kaien off, I continued quietly working through the herb patch with the servants.
Summer had come, and it was midday; even beneath my straw hat, sweat dripped steadily down my chin from the relentless sun.
Goodness, it’s hot!
“Ma’am, I’ve brought water!”
“Oh, thank you.”
I accepted the water bottle from Fiona and was wiping my face with a cloth when a brilliant white shape streaked across the sky and caught the corner of my eye.

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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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