I Picked Up My Amnesic Ex-Husband - Chapter 16

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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 amnesiac ex-husband.
16

“Yes, that’s right!”
I spoke with a bright smile, and his handsome face darkened with displeasure. I pressed my case stubbornly.
“She has an exceptional Magical Aptitude. She’ll be of use to you, Alec. There’s no downside whatsoever!”
I wasn’t lying. The child did possess the caliber to become a Dungeon Boss in the future, after all.
“I wondered why you insisted on coming yourself.”
“What if something happened to the girl? I trust Ciel.”
“You’re quite persuasive.”
Despite the sarcasm in his tone, his grip on Sheri’s arm was careful and gentle.
For all his cold and curt manner of speaking, Ciel was soft-hearted when it came to vulnerable things. That much was evident even in his letters.
“What do you think?”
“……She certainly does overflow with vitality.”
Which meant my assertion was at least correct, didn’t it?
I didn’t understand why I felt as proud as a parent hearing praise for their child. Perhaps it was because we’d spent more than ten days together.
“First—how many people know of this girl’s existence?”
“Only a single maidservant, and she’s my personal attendant, so she’s trustworthy. I’ve kept the girl’s existence hidden from the stable hands.”
Ever since I’d found her, I’d kept her in an Inn Room, visiting every other day.
My walks through Floren Forest were routine, so no one at the Grand Duke’s Castle found it unusual.
“Quite the formidable little thing. I can’t say where you found something like this, but……I won’t pry.”
“Ah, ha ha.”
“Because you’re planning to laugh it off anyway.”
Since I’d just done exactly that, I scratched my head sheepishly. But telling him wouldn’t change anything, and I didn’t know Sheri that well either.
I didn’t want to plant prejudices by mentioning she’d become a calamity in the future.
Then I felt my sleeve being tugged. Sheri, gripping me with hands small as fern fronds, whispered softly.
“I like Wendy.”
Watching stubborn Sheri say this, I pressed my lips together, overwhelmed. It felt like watching a stray cat that used to run from people crouch down at my feet.
Ciel, standing with his hands on his hips, let out a quiet sigh.
“I’d leave you with her if I could, little one.”
He bent down and tapped Sheri’s head lightly. Then, meeting the eyes of the child staring fixedly at him, he spoke.
“Unfortunately, the power you possess is far from trivial. It would be difficult for anyone less capable than I am to handle.”
Even as Sheri’s lips remained firmly sealed, Ciel drove his point home in a lighter tone.
“If you don’t come with me now, Wendy could be put in danger. Is that what you want?”
Sheri’s pupils trembled violently, and her grip on my sleeve loosened just slightly.
“But……”
“You can’t trust me, but you can trust Wendy, right?”
“Still……”
“Grow up strong. Then I can visit again later.”
“……Really?”
“Wait, hold on!”
What kind of promise were they making without the person most involved?
As I fumbled to join the conversation, Ciel glanced at me and straightened up. Toward me, who could only open and close my mouth, he added in a flat tone.
“You don’t intend to die.”
“……Well, that’s true, but——”
“Then plan to survive even if it kills you. I’d rather not have nightmares.”
I knew the future this world would reach, yet I didn’t know my own.
Sometimes I agonized over that gap, and there were nights I couldn’t sleep from the fear of not knowing what lay even one step ahead.
What had seemed light when I only knew it through a novel became unbearably heavy once it took on flesh and became real.
And yet, hearing those words, the emotions that had been pressing down on my chest seemed to lift, just a little.
“I understand.”
Ciel nodded at my solemn vow as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And then, soft footsteps sounded from beyond the door. The moment I noticed them, I turned my head.
“What——”
The footsteps drew nearer without hesitation, and the door handle rattled sharply. Ten seconds later, the door opened, and when I saw the face that appeared, I was startled.
“……Your Highness?”
A beautiful man with a cold face—Kaien—was looking at me.

* * *

The moment I yanked the door open, Kaien’s gaze swept swiftly across the room.
Aside from an old wooden table and chair, and a single bed, the room was so bare and cramped it looked barely habitable for even one person.
“Your Highness?”
Wendy, who had been standing alone in that room, stared at him with wide eyes. Kaien muttered under his breath.
She’s run off.
“How did you find this place?”
I’d rushed here immediately after receiving word that the Magical Device attached to the Grand Duke’s carriage had detected a surge of mana—what a shame that I’d arrived too late.
“Are you alone?”
“What? Of course I’m alone!”
Fortunately, the moment footsteps sounded, Ciel and Sheri—understanding the situation at once—had already vanished. Wendy breathed an inward sigh of relief.
“Your Highness, why did you suddenly come all the way here? How did you even know I was in this place?”
But that was beside the point—there were things she needed to ask about.
Beyond the violation of her privacy, what if he’d somehow caught on to something? Otherwise, how could he have known to search for her here, today of all days?
A cold sweat seemed to trickle down her spine, but Wendy forced herself to stay composed, clasping her hands behind her back.
“You, on the other hand, said you were going to the forest, yet I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been visiting this village frequently of late.”
“Well, I stopped by the forest before coming here.”
“Is that so?”
“Um…”
Stay calm, Wendy. Even if a tiger tears you apart, you survive if you keep your wits about you!
Making one desperate resolution after another in her mind, Wendy managed to scrape together the most plausible excuse.
“I just… wanted to have some time to myself.”
It was half-true, anyway.
“Time to yourself? You could do that at the Grand Duke’s Castle just as easily.”
“No, I mean I want to be in a place where no one knows me. Everyone at the castle knows who I am.”
“…What difference does that make?”
“The difference is that I don’t have to be the Grand Duchess here.”
Speaking so earnestly, she saw Kaien’s eyebrows twitch slightly. Thinking she’d won him over, Wendy rattled on in a rush.
“Not a single person in the castle calls me Wendy. The Grand Duke himself only calls me ‘you.'”
So she’d been trying to steer the conversation toward saying she’d come out for air, for some relief—but Kaien, who’d been listening quietly, asked softly in return:
“That sounds almost as though there were someone here who calls you by name.”
Ugh, he’s sharp.
“That’s just a figure of speech!”
She should have realized that Kaien would grow suspicious, given that she’d lately been going out without an escort. And since she barely saw him, she’d let her guard down.
“If that troubles you, would you be willing to spend time with me instead?”
She tilted her head with a playful smile, and Kaien, whose brow tightened slightly, looked away. Wendy hummed softly to herself in triumph.
Good, that worked!
It’s almost funny how he acts like he can’t stand looking at me when I smile like that. I’ve never even heard anyone say I’m ugly.
Though with a face like his and a status as the Grand Duke, he’s probably seen so many beauties he could crush them under his heel. I’m probably nothing but a pebble rolling along the street to him.
In any case, being an annoying woman was better than being interrogated.
Thank heavens he hadn’t run into Ciel. I could explain away finding Sheri easily enough, but if he asked why I was with the Crown Prince’s attendant, I’d have no excuse whatsoever.
As if saying, “I did it to prevent a future catastrophe!” would convince him!
“So, what were you doing here?”
“What do you mean ‘doing’? I was just… being here.”
“…In a place like this?”
“Isn’t it cozy because it’s compact?”
No, not at all. Big houses beat small rooms any day. When I lived in a studio apartment back then, the place was so cramped I felt suffocated.
Her words went against her true feelings, making her mouth feel raw, but Wendy forced the corners of her lips upward.
“You are… sometimes impossible to understand.”
“Really? I think I’m quite ordinary, actually.”
“I wonder.”
Kaien slowly reached out and traced the nape of Wendy’s neck lightly. Even at his gentle touch, she tensed instinctively, looking up at him—and Kaien whispered softly:
“Will you betray me?”

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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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