I Picked Up My Amnesic Ex-Husband - Chapter 31

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I picked up my ex-husband who had lost his memory.
Episode 31

The signal had arrived.
“Pardon? What did you send me?”
Kaien’s gaze found my cheek as I nodded along with practiced ease. Regardless, I flashed a steady smile toward Alec.
“What do you mean you didn’t receive it? You haven’t been writing back, so I wondered if something was wrong. Didn’t a pure white creature come find you?”
“A pure white creature?”
“It looks like a pigeon, but it’s not actually a pigeon—think of it as a rather unusual lifeform. Anyway, I sent a letter by way of that creature. You really didn’t get it?”
“Um…….”
I glanced at Kaien as though carefully reading the room. Sure enough, his mouth had gone rigid with evident bewilderment.
He was clearly thinking of Momo, just as I was. After a measured pause, I spoke up with a touch of awkwardness.
“I believe I may have seen a similar creature. Wouldn’t it be best if you verified it yourself, Your Highness?”
Explaining the full circumstances here, where so many eyes were watching, was absolutely out of the question. With that meaning in mind, I looked toward Kaien, and he released a small sigh before gesturing to a servant.
The attendant who had left the Banquet Hall at his direction soon returned carrying a gilded Birdcage. The moment Alec laid eyes on Momo perched on the rod inside the cage, his eyes went wide.
“Well, there it is, alive and well? Hand it over.”
“For His Highness.”
“Of course.”
“Coo.”
The instant Alec wrapped his arms around the Birdcage and lifted it, Momo let out a single cry. I caught its bewildered gaze for a brief moment, then clenched my fists behind my back.
Perfect.
The crux of this little performance was simple: demonstrate that the Messenger Beast conveying the Crown Prince’s letter to me was Momo, and have Alec carry it away personally.
I had asked for his cooperation beforehand.
‘If your mind changes, write to me anytime. I’ll likely need your help again.’
Perhaps Alec had foreseen this moment when he’d said those words to me months ago. Certainly, the need for his aid had arisen sooner than expected.
The whole affair wasn’t going to end simply with spiriting Momo away safely.
If Momo simply disappeared, Kaien’s suspicions would naturally deepen, and he’d insist on investigating anything remotely suspicious to find the missing creature—including me.
But if it were proven that Momo was merely a harmless animal, I could not only clear myself of suspicion but continue to use it as a Messenger Beast as I had before.
In that regard, Crown Prince Alec was the most reliable guarantee I could ask for.
“Here, Wendy.”
But then Alec held out the Birdcage to me. I watched Kaien’s eyes narrow and quickly protested.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“I’m giving it to you. We’ll need to stay in contact, so isn’t it better you have a means of communication?”
“But didn’t you say it was an unusual lifeform? This feels far too generous for me…….”
“Too generous? Come on—if you’re that concerned, consider it a wedding gift. Surely my uncle wouldn’t complain about me giving you a single bird to raise, would he?”
He threw a glance Kaien’s way as he said it, shameless as could be.
“Do as you wish.”
The reply came out calm enough on the surface. I held the Birdcage and let my eyes dart uncertainly about.
How on earth had things gotten like this?
Of course, I’d handed Ciel two versions of a script beforehand—one for if Alec had already seen Momo before my request, and one for if he hadn’t.
‘He’s improvising far too freely!’
I hadn’t meant for him to be quite this affectionate, Your Highness.
It was odd enough that he kept calling me by my name, but now to present me with a gift in front of all these people while mentioning we’d need to communicate often? He was as good as publicly declaring his affection for me.
“Thank you, Your Highness. I’ll raise it with great care.”
I felt the eyes of everyone present fix on me at once, but faced with an Alec who looked genuinely pleased, all I could offer was gratitude.
Of course, I had no right to complain. If anything, I should have been grateful for his help alone.
If the price was publicly being associated with Alec, I’d simply have to accept it.
“Yes. It knows a few simple spells, so keeping it around should prove quite useful.”
In truth, if someone had suddenly asked me to spirit away a Homunculus bird, I would have found it suspicious, but he’d agreed so readily that I could only feel grateful. After all, it meant deceiving Kaien, my uncle.
I’d only asked Ciel to deliver a letter, so he probably didn’t suspect we were particularly close.
……Probably.
“What a precious gift you’ve received, Grand Duchess.”
I turned toward the voice and found Elena, as expected, standing with Richard and Clyde at her side. She opened her fan and smiled, partially concealing her lips.
“I had no idea you’d grown so close to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Here we go.
“I can only be deeply grateful for his kindness.”
I dismissed the comment lightly and clutched the birdcage containing Momo closer to my chest. I’d considered leaving it with a servant, but given how unpredictably things had been going, I decided to keep it with me for now.
Elena added in a warm tone.
“When I saw you earlier, I thought the same thing—you two seem to have such a wonderful bond.”
Her crimson eyes flicked toward Kaien’s hand, which still rested across my shoulders. As I was mulling over how to respond, that hand slipped down to encircle my waist, pulling me gently toward him.
What?
“As one does.”
My back pressed against something as solid as a wall. Following the flat tone of his voice, I looked up and found myself face-to-face with the sharp line of his jaw.
While the murmuring crowd receded into the background, I gazed up at Kaien with bewildered eyes. His expression was far too austere to match the tenderness one might show a beloved wife—and yet.
So this was him settling on the appearance of a well-matched pair, then?
“Isn’t that so, Grand Duchess?”
One corner of his mouth curved into the faintest arc, prompting my response. Was he actually smiling?
Beneath his dark brows, a gaze of melancholy gold poured down upon me. The shift in his expression from that slight movement of his lips was strikingly intense—as though a sculpture had suddenly drawn breath.
Was this what it felt like to behold a living work of art?
“O-of course!”
For a moment I found myself lost in the sight of his face, but then I caught myself and deliberately stammered like an innocent girl.
“Rather, I worry that I’m not quite worthy enough for Your Highness…….”
I forced down the corners of my mouth that threatened to rise of their own accord.
There’s an old saying that one can’t help but smile at the sight of a beautiful man, and looking at Kaien, I was beginning to understand exactly what that meant.
“Don’t speak of being unworthy. Even Alec himself said there is no match for you in all the world.”
Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?
Curious, I glanced sideways and found Alec grinning proudly, giving me a thumbs-up. What on earth were these two saying about me behind my back?
As I accepted his hand cradling my cheek, I noticed that the atmosphere around us had grown quiet. Looking toward Elena, I saw expressions of every possible shade across the faces around us.
‘……Hmm?’
Or was it just my imagination? Clyde’s complexion seemed paler than it had been a moment ago.
Since I’d grown closest to Clyde among the three brothers, I’d learned to read his expressions to some degree. Now he’d become an impudent creature quick with biting remarks, but still——
As I was trying to discern what was wrong, Elena snapped her fan shut and changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, our house has prepared a special gift for His Highness the Grand Duke. I do hope it pleases you.”
Following Elena’s gesture, Clyde stepped forward with a small box in hand.
“Here, this is…….”
Clyde murmured quietly, extending the box with both hands. To all appearances there was nothing amiss about it. Kaien seemed to share my assessment, hesitating only briefly before accepting it.
But as Clyde released the box, confusion flickered across his eyes. It was the look of someone seeing something go terribly wrong—and a chill of premonition washed over me.
“Your Highness, wait——”
“Agh!”
The moment I opened my mouth, Clyde gasped harshly. An ashen aura began spreading from his hand and immediately transferred to Kaien’s, who’d taken hold of the box.
“What—what is this?”
“Get back!”
A swirling miasma erupted outward from Clyde, and the floor beneath his feet began to frost over in white, spreading outward in all directions.
While the crowd stumbled backward in panic, I found myself locking eyes with Clyde, who was breathing heavily.
The moment I saw those green eyes swirling with white vortices, the truth hit me.
‘This is bad, this is——’
Magical Runaway!

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————