Chapter 14

14

Theo arrived in front of Lily's room but couldn't meet her.

It wasn't because she refused to see him; unexpectedly, she was out of her room.

"Madam just went out. She said she would be back after a short outing…"

"Surely she didn't go alone, right? Who accompanied her?"

"…Well…"

Theo's question left Jenna, the maid, speechless, her mouth opening and closing.

Staring intently at her, Theo raised an eyebrow and asked again.

"Surely no one accompanied her, the Duchess of Valentin?!"

"…"

Jenna had nothing to say. In fact, such occurrences were very frequent. Lily Everett often went out alone, and Charlotte sometimes accompanied her. Apart from Charlotte, no one wanted to accompany her.

For a duchess to go out without a bodyguard was absurd, but it was accepted as normal in Valentin Castle. No one considered Lily Everett the lady of the house.

Moreover, the elders of the household, Lady Seymour, and the head of the household, Theo, were indifferent to Lily. Thus, the servants naturally ignored her as well. Subtle and cunning harassment was an added bonus.

"Unbelievable."

"I-I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"…"

Jenna bowed her head deeply. Logically, even if she had ten mouths, she had nothing to say. However, since the head of the Valentin household had never reprimanded anyone, everyone had turned a blind eye.

"Such incidents happen often, I see."

"…"

"I'll reprimand you properly later, so remember that."

"Yes, I understand…"

Theo gave Jenna a cold glance and turned his gaze to Charlotte. When his eyes met hers, she flinched but straightened her posture and looked down at the floor expressionlessly.

…She seemed to know something. As the only maid who was close to Lily, she must have known. Theo asked in a low voice.

"Do you know where the Duchess went?"

"…I'm sorry, but I don't know."

"But you often went out with her. And you don't know?"

"Sometimes she went for walks by the river outside the city, but I really don't know where she went today."

"…"

Theo chuckled. It was a sharp, glass-like laugh. Charlotte flinched reflexively at the sound. Theo realized she was hiding something but decided not to press further.

Her attitude, pretending not to know, clearly indicated she was protecting Lily.

The Duchess, who received the hatred of the nobles, seemed to have a secret.

What it was, he would find out gradually.

Theo approached the door and, without hesitation, stretched out his arm and opened it. Charlotte was startled and her shoulders trembled.

A lady's boudoir was a place where even her husband should not enter freely when she was not there, according to the rules.

However, Theo entered the boudoir like a ruffian and began to rummage through the room. Charlotte was shocked but had no way to stop him.

Theo examined Lily's various items one by one. Notebooks, sketchbooks, diaries, small keys, jewelry boxes, hand mirrors…

When he opened the jewelry box, the few pieces of jewelry inside sparkled in the indoor light. A simple pair of pearl earrings, a silver ring with a sapphire the size of a fingernail, and a bracelet with a small diamond on a thin chain…

For a duchess's jewelry box, it was a rather meager collection. The only item that caught his eye was a necklace adorned with a large peridot, the same color as Lily's eyes.

Holding the necklace, Theo felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Strangely, it felt as if his heart was being squeezed.

"…"

After staring at the peridot necklace for a long time, Theo put it down and closed the jewelry box. He then began to examine the other items.

He skimmed through the diary, not wanting to read it without permission. The small key was of unknown use, and the notebook contained meaningless scribbles and numbers.

When he opened the sketchbook, Theo couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. The charcoal sketches were so excellent that they could have been done by a professional.

Did she draw all of these? Surprised, he looked up, and Charlotte, who had been fidgeting, sighed and said,

"…Madam drew them."

"Amazing."

"…"

She didn't expect a response, so Charlotte remained silent. She looked at the duke, who seemed to have lost his memory and become a completely different person, with anxiety.

In fact, the duke seemed no different from before in other aspects. He had only forgotten Lily Everett and everything about her, but his attitude towards others remained unchanged.

He was sometimes reckless and unreserved, but he was generally kind to his people. And Lily Everett was the exception to this kindness. He always treated her with cold indifference, as if it were a compulsion. He would make cold remarks and sneer at her whenever they met.

Each time, although she didn't show it, Madam must have been in great pain. Charlotte thought the Duke of Valentin was truly too much. Sometimes she hated him so much that she couldn't bear it. He knew nothing about Madam…

'…!'

At that moment, the duke approached the bedside table. Charlotte tensed, biting her lip. Cold sweat formed on her palms.

The duke opened the bottom drawer of the bedside table. After examining its contents, he suddenly paused and reached in to pull out a small vial.

It was a suspicious vial, with no label, containing white, small pills.

The duke slowly rolled the vial in his hand, and his icy blue eyes sparkled. He then glared at Charlotte with a frightening intensity. He shook the vial with one hand and asked,

"This."

"…"

"What kind of medicine is this?"

Charlotte couldn't meet the duke's eyes and clasped her hands tightly. …Whether she answered or not, the duke would eventually take the vial to a pharmacist and find out. So… there was no way out. She had to tell the truth.

Swallowing a sigh, Charlotte slowly spoke.

"This medicine…"

* * *

"Here, take some potatoes. There aren't many, but…"

"Oh, this is more than enough. Always grateful, miss."

"You're such a kind miss. Coming to the village every time to share food…"

"Before spring, you even gave us blankets. Without them, our family would have frozen to death."

People treated me kindly, dressed as a simple maid. They had no idea I was Lily Everett.

It felt wrong to deceive them, but it was necessary. In this form, I could peacefully distribute food and necessities.

In the Valentin territory, people cursed the Everett family wherever I went. They hated the Everetts so much that they would consider it a disgrace to receive help from the daughter of the Duke of Everett.

So, I had to disguise myself as a maid. The maid I was impersonating had worked briefly at Valentin Castle and now lived far away, so there was no risk of being discovered.

"Life has improved lately. The accursed cracks don't appear as frequently as before…"

"Exactly. Before, we had to worry every day about being attacked by monsters when the cracks opened. It's a relief, all thanks to our lord."

"Right, and our lord's elemental power is getting stronger, so the cracks and monsters can't do anything anymore."

People chatted happily while eating the cheese and potatoes I had distributed. Indeed, the situation in the Valentin territory had improved significantly, and people's lives were gradually regaining vitality.

It was true that Theo's elemental power had grown stronger. More precisely, the elemental spirit 'Seraphim,' originally belonging to his brother Camille, had finally recognized Theo as its new master, stabilizing his power.

Regardless, the only way to repair the world's wounds, known as the cracks, was through the power of an elemental spirit. Therefore, the strengthening of Theo's elemental power was good news.

With the cracks under control, Valentin, no longer needing Everett's aid, seemed to be reorganizing internally to regain its former power.

'…It's a good thing.'

I might really be divorced soon. Theo's absurd condition of temporary partial amnesia was a problem, but regardless of whether he remembered or not, our positions remained the same.

"Hey, miss, are you leaving now?"

"Yes. I have something to do in the evening. Next time, I'll bring some fruit too."

"Oh, fruit? That's too precious. We can just pick some fruits from the mountains."

"Still, I'll check if there's any left in the warehouse. I'll try to find some."

"Thanks for the words."

After exchanging greetings with the people, I hurried away with my empty basket. However, the entrance to the village was unusually noisy.

Frowning in confusion, I approached and saw a young man in his early twenties causing trouble for the villagers.

His back looked familiar, and I froze.

"Veronice's little pests, do you know who I am?!"

'This voice…'

My heart sank. The young man, who had been acting like a hooligan, suddenly turned around. His two azure eyes glared at the onlookers like a wild animal.

I felt a sudden sense of disgust and coldly whispered his name in my mind.

'…Hessen.'