Chapter 43. Memory Remaining in Only One Person

Startled, Iella turned around. However, the now calm wind only filled her vision with the quiet garden landscape.

‘Did I hear wrong?’

Iella blinked at the inexplicable situation. After experiencing so many impossible situations, she wondered if she was now hearing things. She tilted her head in confusion, then straightened it again.

At that moment, she heard the same voice once more.

— ‘Won’t you tell me your name today either?’

This time it felt as if it was echoing inside her head. As Iella instinctively took a step back, she suddenly felt a throbbing headache. While frowning and touching her forehead, she caught a blurry silhouette through her narrowed vision.

A boy was sitting with his back against the old tree. He was looking at her with his head resting on one raised knee, then stood up, dusting himself off.

— ‘Alright. I won’t ask anymore. Instead, come here.’

The boy, who spoke with a voice tinged with both disappointment and amusement, slowly extended his hand toward Iella. She stared silently at that hand.

— ‘It’s okay.’

The boy soothed her as if trying to calm her. Iella’s gaze moved from the boy’s hand to his face. At the same time, the silhouette of a small girl brushed past her side.

“……!”

Startled, Iella turned her body. But the girl’s silhouette passed through her and ran like she was flying toward the boy. Iella’s eyes followed the girl.

With each step the girl took, the ends of the long veil with densely woven lace that she wore on her head swayed gently like flower petals.

Eventually, the girl took the boy’s hand. Iella unconsciously followed the two as they disappeared behind the old tree. The vision before her eyes wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. It even felt strangely familiar.

But when she rounded the thick old tree, the girl and boy were nowhere to be seen, as if they had never existed.

“…Ailexia?”

Instead, an unexpected person stood in their place.

* * *

‘I guess I really shouldn’t go outside.’

How could this happen? Even when she briefly walked in front of the secondary palace, when she walked through the supposedly deserted corridors, and even when she got lost in some unknown place without any sign of people.

‘Why do I always keep running into people I don’t want to meet?’

Iella became genuinely curious. At this point, she wondered if Ailexia’s body was cursed. Otherwise, it couldn’t be explained why she never had a quiet outing.

“What brings you here?”

At that moment, he approached Iella, who was sinking into despair. She silently observed the Grand Duke whom she hadn’t seen in a while. He looked quite different from their first meeting in the library.

His black hair, which had been neatly combed back with pomade, now fell naturally over his forehead, and instead of the meticulously worn uniform, he was dressed in a comfortable shirt with just a jacket thrown over it.

“Have you finally remembered this place?”

And he looked exceedingly elated. His expression was notably brighter compared to their first meeting.

It was a subtle difference that might go unnoticed without careful observation, but since completely different, contrasting emotions were displayed on his face, Iella could easily notice it. The strangely softened atmosphere also contributed to this.

“Hmm?”

Chase prompted her for an answer. Iella finally emerged from her thoughts and pondered.

He spoke as if Ailexia had always known about this place. But for some reason, it seemed she had forgotten it.

‘Then is there any need to pretend I remember?’

She was already at a loss for what to say, not being the real Ailexia. It was natural since she couldn’t know the memories between them.

In such a situation, when the other side was offering a way out, there was no reason not to take it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t?”

“I just happened to discover this place. More importantly……”

Iella, who had been putting on a haughty attitude, paused briefly. She was about to ask why he was here, but suddenly remembered that she didn’t know how Ailexia addressed the Grand Duke.

Because of everything that had happened since the auction, she had momentarily forgotten about his existence and hadn’t thought to ask Vanessa about this.

“Why are you here?”

After deeply contemplating for a split second, Iella finally omitted any form of address. She judged it better than inserting something based on mere conjecture. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind that part.

Rather, he seemed more responsive to her answer. Since Iella said she didn’t know, his red eyes had sunk into a darker shade.

“……Well.”

After a moment, he relaxed his frowning expression and murmured softly. The softly relaxed atmosphere had already faded one layer. Iella thought that her answer must have touched something within him.

That thought wasn’t wrong, as his next words were filled with deep affection.

“I thought by now you wouldn’t come anymore, but I can’t give up. …Foolishly.”

Iella found him extremely unfamiliar.

The red eyes immersed as if longing for someone, the appearance dripping with lingering attachment—everything was distinctly different from what she had seen directly.

‘Wait, why am I examining the Grand Duke?’

She suddenly came to her senses. Iella was appalled at herself for analyzing him in detail. What was she doing, risking getting into a difficult situation by confronting him? Moreover, whatever he was like, it had nothing to do with her.

‘I must have used up all my energy running from Allen.’

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have failed to think about distancing herself from the uncomfortable Grand Duke. It seemed that her ability to detect danger had slowed due to the energy that had been continuously drained.

‘Dealing with more than one person a day is really too much.’

Swallowing a sigh, Iella straightened her legs, which still had only half their strength due to lack of proper rest. She was desperate for rest now.

But since that wouldn’t be possible here, she needed to get to her bedroom as quickly as possible. Of course, that place wasn’t entirely comfortable either…, but at least it was much cozier than the outside world, which seemed cursed, draining her energy wherever she went.

‘Come to think of it, my body has been feeling hot for a while….’

She hadn’t noticed it while in the shade, but her entire body was gradually heating up. She had thought it was temporarily due to Allen’s kiss, but apparently not.

Iella swallowed dryly as she rubbed her hot palm with the thumb of her other hand. Now that she was aware of her body’s condition, her throat also felt parched.

She felt uneasy somehow.

“I’ll go back first. I won’t come here again, even by chance.”

Iella turned around after delivering a farewell that was close to an announcement. But contrary to her expectation that he wouldn’t stop her, Chase called out to her. More precisely, he brought up a topic she couldn’t escape from.

“Tear of Grace.”

Iella, who had been about to step away, stopped. Then, from behind, the sound of footsteps on grass grew closer. His voice likewise approached gradually.

“You purchased it at quite a high price.”

Iella sensed him standing right behind her. Even without turning around, his scent told her that the distance between them was very close. The only fortunate thing was that she couldn’t see his trembling crimson eyes from this position.

‘How could I forget that?!’

She had completely forgotten about winning the bid for 5 million gold. Like forgetting Chase’s existence, she had been too preoccupied with other matters.

‘What happened since I couldn’t pay? Back then, they said they would handle it as usual….’

Iella didn’t know what “as usual” meant, and there had even been a fire at the auction house that day. Could such a precious item have remained safe from theft or damage in that chaos? If it was unharmed and in good condition, where would it be now? These questions arose.

‘Ailexia couldn’t have taken it during the confusion. She has trauma from fires. The innkeeper also said she came in an unconscious state.’

Iella, quickly assessing the situation, turned to look at Chase. Cold red eyes with a peculiar gleam looked down at her.

‘How does the Grand Duke know about this?’

As the ruler of a duchy, he would have the intelligence network to find out such information. Especially since she had won the Tear of Grace at a high price before the fire broke out. If his informant had been inside the auction house when she won the bid, they could have easily obtained the information before the building erupted into chaos.

Given his consistent interest in Ailexia, he would have known her designated seat in the auction house in advance, so identifying the winning bidder would have been no challenge.

However, what puzzled Iella was this:

He seemed to know exactly what had happened to the auction item, while she, the winning bidder, had no idea.

‘Since it wasn’t sent to the secondary palace, either the payment hasn’t been made yet or the auction house hasn’t had the presence of mind to send it…. Wait, could it be.’

Suddenly, a voice flashed through her mind.

[“When you think about whose possessions you’re enjoying right now, shouldn’t your attitude change?”]

The puzzle pieces that hadn’t fit together finally clicked into place.