I Picked Up My Amnesic Ex-Husband - Chapter 9

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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 who had lost his memory.
Episode 9

Grey Mabel Dermis, Grand Duke.
Master of the Dermis Dukedom, located in the southeastern reaches of the Elysion Empire. He was also my father.
I’d anticipated we might meet once I came to the Imperial Palace, but I never imagined it would happen like this.
With his back to the flickering curtains of the Ballroom, my father broached the subject with deceptive gentleness.
“Well, you haven’t been in touch for so long I thought something terrible had befallen you—though it seems that’s not the case.”
His words were sharp enough, though his voice carried the warmth of an affable smile.
Essentially, he was reproaching me for not sending word.
“I’ve simply been preoccupied with adjusting. I never meant to cause you concern.”
Too exhausted to resist outright, I answered with measured politeness, and Father’s tone shifted to something more insinuating.
“So, then. How is it?”
“How is what?”
“Does that fellow seem reasonably tractable?”
He was speaking of Kaien, though the way he referred to the Empire’s sole Grand Duke was remarkably indiscreet.
More than that—was this truly what a father said upon meeting his daughter for the first time in barely a month of marriage?
“I’m not certain, Father. As you well know, His Highness is an exceptionally busy man… I scarcely see his face at all.”
Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to speak so openly. Real conversation, after all, requires another person present.
I tilted my head artfully, giving it my best effort, and Father’s eyes narrowed.
“Your efforts haven’t been lacking, have they?”
Damn. Had my slacking been noticed? Had our family’s informants reported something?
Whether my father could sense my internal alarm or not, he gripped my shoulder firmly and continued.
“Men are invariably susceptible to beauty—it’s in their nature. The only asset worth anything in you is that face, so you’d do well to put it to active use.”
A line straight out of a fantasy novel’s villain handbook.
Watching Father expound with such exaggerated fervor, I felt oddly unsettled.
I’d never given it much thought before, but it suddenly struck me that this world I inhabited was merely someone’s creation.
And yet, whether here or there, a place where people live is still a place where people live, isn’t it?
I’ll die eventually anyway, so there’s no reason to stop living. People should live positively. Don’t you think?
“But Father, I fear His Highness wouldn’t spare a glance for someone like me. By your own words, I’m useless and talentless—a failed experiment.”
I pulled a long face and recited, with practiced calm, the words I’d grown sick of hearing since childhood.
“Isn’t that precisely why you married me off to His Highness?”
A useful connection to the Grand Duke’s house, yet dispensable enough to incur no real loss to our family. An expendable piece, to be discarded without hesitation should I become worthless.
My selection as Kaien’s bride had been that simple.
“What nonsense, daughter. Now that you are Grand Duchess, you are more noble than your father.”
“Am I?”
Hadn’t he just said my only use was my face?
“So serve His Highness faithfully, but never forget—you are a proud member of House Dermis.”
His grip on my shoulder tightened.
“As I’ve told you before, stay closest to His Highness. Do not forget what your role is.”
A very roundabout way of saying I should spy on Kaien.
But being a rational person, I set aside honest words and instead responded with a brilliant smile.
“Of course, Father. Don’t worry.”
Faithful? As if I’ve lost my mind and would do as he wishes.
I’ll grit my teeth and endure for three years until I exit in the Original Work. Father, meanwhile, is destined to ruin himself thoroughly—though that takes ten years.
The smile I’d forced onto my face trembled. The thought that he’d meddle like this for all three years made irritation flare up inside me.
Why should the family’s collapse take a full decade?
If I’m going to be unfilial anyway, I might as well commit to it thoroughly. After all, for me to survive, I need to cut ties with my family cleanly.
“Good. Then listen carefully. This time, there’s something I want to bring into the Grand Duke’s house….”
As I half-heard his words, maintaining my smile while my lips twitched with effort, I felt grateful that dealing with difficult people was something I’d grown accustomed to—whether as Ju Ha-yeon or as Wendy.
But in my distraction, I failed to notice the faint shadow that flickered beyond the curtain and then vanished.
Only after Father finally exhausted his tiresome instructions and left did I slip out onto the balcony, glancing about in search of Kaien, when several people approached me.
“You are the Grand Duchess Wendy Lemya Elysion, aren’t you? I am Count Tarion.”
“I wonder if you might have an interest in gems? It so happens that our mine recently yielded a most precious Emerald….”
“Our family is planning to host a tea gathering in the near future, and should you find the time, we would be honored to extend an invitation to yourself and the Grand Duke.”
Fielding all these people crowding toward me alone felt, frankly, a bit overwhelming.
Whether I attend business matters or parties is entirely up to him—I’m nothing but a figurehead Grand Duchess!
Someone help me!
Just then, something tugged insistently at my skirt hem. I turned to find Alec standing there, staring at me blankly.
“What is it, Your Highness?”
“Father’s calling for me.”
“His Majesty the Emperor?”
Alec nodded and tugged at my dress again. After excusing myself to the disappointed guests, I followed him out of the ballroom.
I studied the back of the boy’s round head as he walked ahead. He turned down a corridor leading outdoors rather than toward the inner passages, and I asked carefully.
“Aren’t we heading to the manor?”
Alec glanced back at me and came to a halt. Beneath the pale moonlight, the boy answered matter-of-factly.
“I lied.”
“Pardon?”
“You looked uncomfortable. Were you actually enjoying yourself?”
“No! Thank you for rescuing me.”
Alec studied me intently as I spoke with firm conviction, then clasped his hands behind his head and let out a casual remark.
“So, have you thought about it?”
“About what?”
“Like I said before, I tried everything to change what I saw. But in the end, I couldn’t fully escape the current.”
The boy rattled on regardless of whether I played along or not.
“Will you be leaving soon?”
“Most likely.”
If your mind changes, write to me anytime. I’ll probably need your help with something eventually.”
His certainty was deeply unsettling. I hesitated, then asked carefully.
“……Did you see something?”
“Who knows?”
Alec answered playfully and, with that, wandered away. Left standing alone, I exhaled softly.
“He’s formidable……”
Truly, he deserves to be called the Original Work’s protagonist.
Yet the way he looked back at me one last time lodged itself firmly in my chest—those delicate golden eyes, trembling weakly beneath his composed tone of voice.
After a moment’s thought, I set off again.
There was someone I needed to find.

* * *

“Your Highness, where are you?”
Meanwhile, Ciel wandered outside the ballroom, searching for Alec, who had vanished without warning.
The man, dressed neatly in the white shirt, black jacket, and dark brown trousers distributed to the attendants, loosened the tie that had gripped his neck so tightly.
He’d said at least to keep him at his side, yet lately the frequency with which he wandered alone had grown far too often.
He didn’t understand what grand secret warranted all this, but having sworn to be the very hands and feet of his lord, it struck him as somewhat unreasonable.
What kind of king acts with authority without a crown?
Just then, Ciel stopped in his tracks. From the opposite end of the outdoor corridor came a woman walking briskly—a refined beauty who brought to mind a single lily of the valley, and the moment her eyes met his, she called out.
“Found you! There you were!”
The woman approached him with lively steps, her voice bright and animated.
It was strange for someone who should have been addressing him with deference to act this way suddenly. Ciel skillfully concealed his bewilderment and asked politely.
“What brings you here, Grand Duchess?”
“Don’t you want to live?”
At this abrupt turn of conversation, Ciel nearly forgot who he was speaking to and almost uttered something disrespectful.
“What in the—what do you mean?”
“I’ll explain everything tomorrow at noon, at the place where we first met.”
Indifferent to his reaction, the woman continued.
“Or is it Alec you want to save?”
Watching Ciel’s pupils dilate in shock, Wendy grasped his collar and smiled enigmatically.
“Don’t forget.”
Tomorrow.

Leaving Ciel frozen in bewilderment behind her, Wendy passed through the corridors of the Imperial Palace and emerged into the garden outside.
Scattered throughout the twilight garden, the lights crafted from magical stones cast a soft blue glow between the flower beds.
In the quiet and beautiful landscape, a gruff voice reached Wendy’s ears as she gazed slowly around.
“You.”
The moment I turned my head, my eyes met Kaien’s across the span of three paces—he stood regarding me with an intensity I couldn’t quite place.
Snow-white petals drifted between us on the wind, like a veil drawn across the moment.

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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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