I Picked Up My Amnesic Ex-Husband - Chapter 19

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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’d lost his memory.
Episode 19

Reuwen laughed lightly and pulled her hand away—shocking words that should have caught her off guard.
“That’s quite the joke.”
The cheerful lilt of her voice dropped to something more measured. As the man’s eyes narrowed, Reuwen exhaled and elaborated.
“Why would I do something like that with someone who doesn’t even know who they are? Besides, you’re not my type.”
“Then what sort of man is your type?”
The question came from nowhere, and Reuwen’s mind went blank. Who on earth was this person?
Here was Kaien—not just anyone—asking her, of all people, a question that screamed he was interested in her.
If she told Ollen and Lenan about this, they’d both recoil in horror as if she’d had a nightmare. And here I am, living it, feeling my own skin crawl.
“A gentle man who believes everything I say—who could call white black and he’d accept it—someone who only has eyes for me.”
So she rattled off her ideal type—the exact opposite of him. Petty, maybe, but it felt necessary.
It didn’t make sense. Even with amnesia, Kaien shouldn’t be the type to lower his guard like this. The man who’d once joked that if he wanted to assassinate her, he couldn’t afford to be careless—where had he gone?
It had been a misunderstanding, but even now the memory grated on her. The way he was acting now was nothing like that.
“Anyway, why would you even say something about marriage? That’s ridiculous.”
“And you—were you truly someone who placed such great weight on marriage?”
His tone had taken on an edge, or so it seemed. Reuwen replied flatly.
“Of course. I’m someone who dreams of a blissfully happy married life. A husband who tells me he loves me once a day—that would be perfect.”
She didn’t actually plan to marry again, yet she harbored some vague ideal of what love should look like.
Life as a Grand Duchess had its own rewards, but the stress had been considerable. And having a husband who resented her—not outright, but noticeably—made it all the worse.
So now she wanted to live freely, to lead an ordinary life. The alimony had been paid in full, after all.
She’d left behind all the information and supplies she’d need for her future.
“……Anyway, if you go down this hill, you’ll find the village right away. It would be best if you stayed there for now and had a physician examine you.”
Beyond the wounds themselves, she needed to understand why he’d lost his memory. A head injury from a fall couldn’t be ruled out, nor could an attack by a monster.
There had even been a similar episode in the original work.
As Reuwen turned to leave, a large hand suddenly gripped her wrist. She looked back with a silent question in her eyes, and the man asked quietly.
“Will you abandon me?”
His gaze held an unusual seriousness. Reuwen answered brightly.
“Abandon you? We’re not even that close.”
She’d simply stated a fact, but the hand holding her wrist went slack. He opened his mouth slightly, then replied softly.
“……I suppose so.”
It sounded like a wounded beast.

* * *

“……Did I do the right thing?”
After barely managing to convince Kaien to stay in the village, the physician examined him and confirmed there were no injuries besides his side wound.
That wound would need more time to heal, so they’d agreed he’d stay at the clinic for a few days.
Thanks to that, she’d finally shaken Kaien off—he’d been following her around like a duckling after its mother—and managed to steal some time alone.
Now, as darkness fell outside, she sat alone in a small, cozy cottage, lost in thought.
The Magic Lamp on the table cast a warm glow across the room.
‘So, what should I call you?’
‘Whatever feels natural to you, Reuwen.’
‘Then… I’ll call you Kaien.’
The name itself was common enough, but saying it aloud felt oddly intimate, like she was using a pet name. She’d quickly moved to correct herself.
‘Oh, if you don’t like it, we can use something else.’
‘That’s fine.’
When she recalled how he’d smiled faintly at that, she found herself at a loss. She muttered with the utmost seriousness.
“……Does losing your memory really change a person that much?”
In two years of marriage, she couldn’t recall ever seeing him smile like he had today.
Of course, it was pleasant enough to see a handsome man smile, but that wasn’t the issue now.
The real problem was what to do with the Grand Duke who’d tumbled into her life out of nowhere. She couldn’t just leave him as he was.
The best option would be to contact Siael and have him sent back where he belonged, but that was absolutely impossible. If she did that, it would reveal that Siael had helped her escape.
That could easily damage the relationship between Alek and Kaien—a risk she couldn’t afford to take for the sake of her future. She had to avoid that worst-case scenario at all costs.
But wait—why were his eyes normal colored? Was he wearing a Magic Device?
If she still bore the Golden Eyes that marked the Imperial Family, there’d be no hesitation—she could report it straight to the Imperial Court without raising an eyebrow. But in her current state, that wasn’t an option either.
Tap, tap-tap.
The patter of drizzle against the windowpane carried an almost cheerful sound. Ordinarily, she would have savored it with a warm cup of tea, but now that this unprecedented problem had landed on her head, all she felt was a dull throb behind her eyes.
“Could he actually be someone else?”
Of course, the moment those words left her mouth, she corrected herself at once.
“That’s ridiculous. There can’t be two faces like that in the world.”
Honestly, in all her years, she’d never seen a man as handsome as Kaien. And if she was being truthful, his face came closest to her type….
The instant that thought crossed her mind, she brought both palms down against her cheeks with a sharp smack.
“Get a grip, Reuwen.”
Don’t chase trees you can’t climb. Had she forgotten that already?
Right now, the amnesia was confusing things, but once he regained his senses, he’d dismiss her as having talked nonsense.
A man who’d looked at her like she was a stone rolling in the gutter. As long as he didn’t kick her into a ditch when she got underfoot, she should count herself lucky.
“…But what if Kaien stays like this? What if he never gets his memory back?”
Demons were wreaking havoc across the western frontier, the Wedden Mountain Range, and Kaien was currently commanding the front lines as Supreme Commander.
Which meant his presence here translated to a critical absence in command. A few weeks might go unnoticed, but if he continued not to return, their military strength would suffer a serious collapse.
“Will the Imperial Court issue a notice? Maybe they’ll sketch a portrait and circulate it. No, wait—that would expose his whereabouts. That won’t work.”
It wasn’t as if they were searching for a missing child. They couldn’t possibly go to such lengths over a Grand Duke in perfect health.
Besides, Kaien was the Empire’s greatest Magic Swordsman. There was almost nothing that could threaten him.
Yet somehow, amnesia. ‘My own worst enemy is myself’—what kind of cruel joke was this?
She hadn’t felt this frustrated in ages. Talking it through did help organize her thoughts, but no solution presented itself either. Part of her wanted to scream, to demand to know what in the world was happening.
…Better not. If anyone saw her like this, they’d write her off as mad.
“But how did he end up collapsed in front of our house in the first place?”
From the Wedden Mountain Range to this village at the far southern edge of the Empire would take at least five days, even if one drove a horse relentlessly.
The state of his clothes, the reopened wounds—everything suggested someone who’d ridden without rest.
“Come on, no way.”
What reason would Kaien have to go to such lengths for her?
The very fact that he’d come alone struck her as strange. Why would the exalted Grand Duke travel all this distance without a single attendant?
The more she thought about it, the more tangled her thoughts became, until she gripped her head and groaned. Then, just as suddenly, she composed herself.
“Right. That’s it.”
Should she run?
Once his memory returned at the Imperial Court, skilled mages would handle it themselves. And once it did come back, her survival would undoubtedly be discovered. So wasn’t fleeing the better choice?
Even if she could convince Kaien somehow, this situation might still pull her into that massive whirlpool from the original story.
She’d been exposed this time, but she could hide more carefully next. If necessary, fleeing to another country for a while wouldn’t be terrible either.
Knock, knock. The sound of someone tapping at the door jolted her from her reverie. A brief silence followed, then the knock came again.
“Yes? Who is it?”
“Are you in?”
That voice sounded far too familiar. She opened the door on a suspicion, and sure enough, a tall man stood there—breathing hard and ragged, as though he’d just run a great distance.
His dark hair was drenched from the rain, and paired with the sadness that lingered in his gaze, he cut a forlorn figure.
“Kai? What brings you out in the middle of the night like this? You’re soaked.”
Her surprise drew only hesitation from him, his words catching in his throat.
“Just….”
Standing in the threshold between darkness and light, he reached out his right hand and cupped her cheek with surprising gentleness.
“I wanted to see your face.”

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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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