I Picked Up My Amnesic Ex-Husband - Chapter 7

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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 7

From her posture, there was no way the woman had clung to him of her own accord. He had enough discernment for that, so Kaien hastily pulled his body away.
The woman lay sleeping as though watching him, her silver hair catching the faint light and glimmering. Her peacefully sleeping face looked innocent, almost like a fairy dwelling in a forest.
Whether she was having a pleasant dream, a subtle smile lingered at the corners of her lips.
The sheer tranquility of it left him strangely deflated. She’d said she wouldn’t do anything, and she truly seemed to harbor no wariness of him whatsoever.
In fact, he’d been startled from the moment he first saw her. She bore almost no resemblance to the Duke, her father.
Rather…
“Pointless sentimentality.”
A memory from long ago surfaced, and Kaien immediately pushed the thought beneath the surface of his mind.
Yet even as he lingered, unable to tear his eyes from Wendy, the Ash Tree Flower outside the bedroom bowed its head shyly in the gathering dusk.

* * *

In the Imperial Palace Garden stands a gleaming white Gazebo with a rounded roof.
It was nicely shaded and sat somewhat apart from the garden’s center, making it perfect for quietly reading a book or hosting an afternoon gathering.
I’d been absorbed in a book there for some time when my gaze drifted to the trees planted beyond the Gazebo.
“Excuse me, Your Highness Alexei.”
Only then did the boy who’d been hiding behind the trees peek out his head. Alexei, with golden eyes fixed squarely on me, opened his mouth.
“How did you know?”
“How could I not know?”
I’d thought it coincidence the first day, but seeing him trail after me again today made it clear.
“So, might I ask why you’ve been following me around like this?”
I’d expected him to deny he was following me, but surprisingly, Alexei stepped out from behind the tree and trotted over to my side.
Would it be terribly rude to say he looked just like a cat approaching a stranger for the first time with cautious curiosity?
“I don’t understand.”
“Pardon?”
“Aren’t you Uncle’s consort?”
The word “consort” felt rather unfamiliar to me. Ah, and I couldn’t exactly deny it either.
“Even though Uncle said so, why do you react that way?”
He must be referring to what happened in the Dining Hall the other day.
Meeting his bright, childlike gaze, I decided to play innocent first.
“What kind of reaction?”
“You heard everything but pretended not to understand.”
“Well, I simply didn’t want to make the Grand Duke uncomfortable…”
“Tell me the truth.”
It didn’t work, as expected.
Confirming that pretense wouldn’t get me anywhere, I hesitated for a long moment before speaking carefully.
“It’s just… it really doesn’t bother me? A Political Marriage is what it is, after all.”
Even when families with mutual goodwill forge a bond, there’s no knowing how it will turn out—so this forced marriage is hardly something to resent.
In fact, from yesterday until today, Kaien had entered the bedroom later than me and left before I woke.
Being apart during the day was easy enough to excuse as busy, but sleeping in separate bedrooms would look odd between spouses, so he seemed to have compromised on this arrangement.
No matter how political the marriage, there was no benefit in letting the outside world sense friction between us.
“But marriage is sacred, isn’t it?”
“Yes?”
“Shouldn’t you naturally cherish and respect each other?”
Looking at the boy speaking with such earnestness, I found myself at a loss for how to answer.
“Well, I’m hardly the consort His Highness would have chosen.”
In fact, around five years from now, Alexei would begin recruiting talented individuals to prepare for the crisis about to befall the world.
Kaien would become entangled with the maidservant of the male protagonist among the inner circle gathered that way, and by the end of the original work he would confess his feelings—and after the final battle, he would even hold a wedding ceremony in the epilogue.
His wife, who had died long ago, was never factored into this sequence of events. If anything, the villainy of the Dermis Ducal House, who viewed that maidservant as an eyesore, only grew worse.
“He’s destined to fall in love with someone else.”
“What?”
Ah, had I said that out loud?
Watching Alexei blink in shock, I awkwardly scratched at my cheek.
“There’s no reason to be so shocked…….”
You’d have at least four women tangled up in your life by ten years from now. Isn’t that just how Panseo’s harem works?
Thanks to that, the comments sections got pretty heated with heroine debates. Who’s the true wife, who isn’t, all that.
“……It’s different.”
“I’m sorry?”
I leaned in, wondering what he’d said, and the boy lifted his head to meet my eyes directly.
“It’s not unfolding the way I saw it.”
Wait.
The moment I heard Alexei murmur so seriously, a chill ran down my spine—cold sweat trickling in its wake.
I hesitated, not daring to press further, and those golden eyes fixed on me with piercing intensity, as if they could see through anything. When the boy finally spoke, his gaze cut like a blade.
“Who are you?”
I was caught. I answered as calmly as I could manage.
“Wendy Remia Elysion. As Your Highness knows, I am the wife of the Grand Duke.”
Could his Foresight have awakened already? No, even if it had, he shouldn’t be able to see concrete details of the future.
After hearing my answer, Alexei tilted his head slowly, his expression troubled.
“It shouldn’t have changed.”
Whatever I said next would seem suspicious, so I painted on the most innocent, guileless expression I could muster.
My anxiety betrayed itself—sweat beading in my palms, hidden beneath the table.
“Your Highness!”
Just then, a dignified voice called from outside the gazebo. While Alexei frowned, I turned toward the sound like someone grasping at a rope thrown from heaven.
“So this is where you were.”
A handsome man with hair bound in blue-tinted locks approached the gazebo and bowed respectfully toward me.
“Good evening, Your Highness the Grand Duchess. It is an honor.”
I acknowledged him with a gesture, but beside me, Alexei twisted his mouth.
“You found me quickly, Ciel.”
“As expected, I should. How many times must I tell you—even within the Imperial Palace, you cannot wander alone? I was reluctant to believe it, and yet here you are bothering the Grand Duchess again.”
“I was just curious about something. Besides, being here in the Imperial Palace can’t possibly threaten me!”
I sat quietly between the two of them, eyes moving back and forth.
Ciel.
Alexei’s attendant, and by the time the original work begins, already deceased. Yet he feels familiar because the protagonist recalled him constantly—tediously so.
Why does he appear so often in the work? His abilities are so overpowered that the original author killed him off quickly, then only brought him back in occasional flashbacks as a side character.
Knowing who this man really was, that made perfect sense.
“Have you satisfied your curiosity? Then shall we return? It’s almost time for your Etiquette Lessons.”
Ciel spoke coldly, and Alexei protested quickly.
“No, I haven’t solved it yet! There’s something strange!”
“There’s that again. If you wish to skip class, perhaps you should think of a better excuse? Even for a servant, breaking a promise carelessly is beneath a ruler’s dignity.”
So that was it?
I was briefly surprised at something so childishly motivated, but Alexei glared, looking wronged.
“I’m serious! Things are playing out differently from what I saw. This has never happened before.”
If Alexei really had seen the future, then this was undoubtedly my mistake. The stay in the Imperial Palace wasn’t long enough for it to cause real problems, I’d thought.
“So I was trying to ask if there’s a way……. Maybe it’s possible.”
The last part was so quiet I couldn’t make out his words. A troublesome feeling crept over me, so I acted first.
“Your Highness, you seem to have urgent matters. Wouldn’t it be better to return? I should also prepare for tomorrow’s party.”
Using my schedule as an excuse, Ciel nodded in understanding and suddenly hoisted Alexei into his arms.
“Whoa!”
“Let us return now, Your Highness.”
“Wait, I still have more to—! Ugh.”
Alexei reached toward me, his eyes widening. The boy’s body suddenly convulsed, and even Ciel froze in shock.
“Your Highness?”
“……Ah!”
A pained gasp escaped him, and golden light began seeping from Alexei’s body.
The moment I saw it, I sprang from my seat. I grabbed the boy’s face with both hands, and Ciel cried out in bewilderment.
“What are you doing?!”
“Just stay calm!”
Ignoring the man’s protests, I felt along the boy’s neck and sensed something rising beneath his skin.
I pressed down with all my strength, and Alexei’s body jerked upward violently before collapsing. The golden aura that had been gathering like smoke vanished without a trace.
I exhaled in relief as the situation resolved—but then it hit me. I’d acted recklessly to prevent the area from being devastated, and now……
I turned slowly, and saw the man’s face looking at me with an indescribable expression.
Ciel’s lips moved slowly.
“What in the world…….”
But it was unavoidable given the emergency. Let me be clear—I’m someone for whom survival comes first.
Because the true identity of Alexei, revealed in the original work, was…….
“What do you mean by that?”
A dragon.

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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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