‘Thud.
In the silence of the mansion, transitioning from an evening with a crescent moon to night, a sudden noise disrupted the peace.
Betty, a maid in the duke’s mansion, was laying out her bedding in a room near the stairs on the first floor when she turned her head toward the source of the noise.
It was a sound that normally wouldn’t have been heard, so she wondered if something had fallen. Yet, with a foreboding feeling, she stood up. It seemed that the other maids, who had fallen asleep early, had also been awakened.
“What was that? Just now.”
“Hmm, not sure, maybe a picture frame fell?”
Her colleagues were rubbing their eyes as they got up.
“I’ll go check.”
Betty opened the door and hurriedly ran toward the direction where the sound had come from.
Just after she left,
“Aaah!”
“What, what happened? What’s going on?”
“Why are you screaming?”
Betty’s sudden scream completely woke the other maids. Their eyes wide open, they too quickly got up and crossed the threshold one by one.
“My, my lady! Please come to your senses!”
Betty’s urgent voice could be heard.
‘My lady?’
The maids were filled with an ominous feeling. Wasn’t the recent major commotion just the other day? And she had already lost her memory…
The remaining maids quickly grabbed their clothes and ran. They were not the only ones who had heard the loud noise. Other servants also appeared, looking startled, dressed as if they had just woken up.
The scene that greeted them was enough to shock the servants. Betty was holding the shoulder of the fallen Delis. The lady seemed to have lost consciousness. They were so taken aback that they felt dizzy.
The initial loud thud seemed to have been caused by her falling down the stairs.
“Quick, call the doctor!”
“Did she fall from here?”
Just a few seconds after the servants arrived, a figure appeared on the second floor. A maid who recognized him began to speak with a trembling voice.
“Duke, Her Grace…”
Roan’s eyes, as he looked at the scene on the first floor, were unusually wide open. He descended the stairs with such speed, it was hard to tell if he was running or sliding down, and he immediately checked Delis’ condition.
“What happened?”
Roan spoke without taking his eyes off Delis. Unlike the expressions of those around him, who looked like they were about to fall apart, his voice was calm and steady.
“It seems… she might have missed a step on the stairs…”
Roan’s eyes wavered. The doctor, who had been staying at the mansion recently due to Delis’ poor health, arrived soon after. The doctor, looking very surprised through his monocle, quickly composed himself and began to examine Delis. While the doctor was examining her, Alexandra and Dwarf also arrived on the first floor, having been awakened by the commotion. Although there were many people present, a heavy silence filled the air. The doctor soon finished his examination.
Head maid Ellen urgently asked,
“Is the lady alright?”
The doctor nodded as if to reassure her and replied,
“Fortunately, it appears there are no major external injuries, just some bruises. However, the concern is that she may have hit her head hard, as there is a slight bump. We need to consider the possibility of a brain hemorrhage or concussion. She might have lost consciousness due to her frail condition, but it could also be because of that.”
Upon hearing the doctor’s words, Roan clenched his teeth. He should never have taken his eyes off her, not even for a moment. It was a mistake to follow her words when she said she didn’t need to be escorted. Alexandra, whose expression had also hardened, asked,
“And if that’s the case, what will happen?”
“In the worst case, it could mean an artery in the brain has ruptured, and if so…”
The doctor trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Roan’s face grew more grim, and the servants’ faces turned pale.
“To accurately assess the lady’s condition, it would be best to take her to a priest.”
The doctor coughed a few times, as if the air had become oppressively heavy. The moonlight was faintly shining through.
***
In the middle of the night, the duke’s carriage was urgently heading toward the temple. The doctor was seated outside the carriage with the coachman, while inside, Roan was holding the unconscious Delis. Even in the almost motionless carriage of the duke, Roan held Delis tightly to prevent her body from shaking.
Despite everyone’s desperate hopes, Delis had not yet regained consciousness.
Roan’s face was as calm as a winter lake, but inside, he was seething with turmoil. He was barely holding onto a fragile thread of reason, driven by a single-minded determination to save her.
Why does she alone have to suffer such pain? The thought of her no longer existing by his side was something he had never even considered. Even when he had rushed into the flames to save her, he had never imagined such a scenario. But now, a sliver of anxiety was beginning to creep in, threatening to overwhelm him, pushing past his normally steadfast rationality.
When he thought about it, all of this started because of him. If not for him, she would never have been hurt, never been in danger. He knew this, yet…
For the first time, Roan bitterly regretted not letting her go.
When he realized that the noble faction was targeting him, should he have let her go then? Or when he understood that she had become his weakness?
Had he never considered that they might target her instead?
He knew that all of this stemmed from his arrogance and selfishness. He had believed that he could protect her with his own strength.
Delis’s lips were pale and dry. The lively flush that usually graced her cheeks was nowhere to be seen. For the first time in his life, he felt an unfamiliar fear.
‘Delis. Open your eyes. Please, open your eyes.’
He silently pleaded. He meant it. He genuinely felt that if she could just wake up safely, he could do anything.
It didn’t matter if she didn’t love him. It was fine if she never remembered him for the rest of her life. If she wanted to live peacefully somewhere far away, he would gladly let her go. Just knowing that they were in the same world, witnessing the same mornings and nights, was enough for him to keep living.
As long as her soul existed in this world. At the moment he grasped Delis’s hand tightly, as if trying not to lose a handful of sand slipping through his fingers.
“…….”
She slowly opened her eyes.
As her eyelids lifted, her radiant amber eyes gradually came into view.
Roan remained silent, or rather, he couldn’t speak. The shoulders he held tightly showed no sign of movement, making him feel as if he were hallucinating.
“…….”
Delis blinked slowly and stared at his blue eyes as soon as she opened hers. She too, said nothing.
“…Duchess?”
Roan, desperately hoping that what he was seeing wasn’t an illusion, barely managed to force out the words.
Finally, she moved her pale lips.
“…Ro, an?”
Roan’s eyes widened. Delis blinked slowly a few times, then quickly again. She seemed to clearly recognize the person in front of her now, and she spoke his name again with clear eyes.
“Roan…?”
And her eyes, so clear against her pale complexion, no longer looked at him as a stranger. They were warm, affectionate, just as they had been in the past.
“…….”
That day was the first time Delis clearly witnessed the tears streaming down his cheeks.
***
After seeing the stream of tears flowing down his chin, Delis could only utter a bewildered question.
“Roan… why are you crying?”
“…….”
She now understood why he had been so flustered when he saw her tears. Without a handkerchief, she used her sleeve to wipe his tears away.
At that moment, all the scattered memories in Delis’s mind finally settled into place.
“My memory… it’s back. Just when I woke up…!”
Upon hearing this, Roan gave a faint smile, as if he had already known.
Come to think of it, things hadn’t exactly been smooth between her and Roan after she lost her memory. Like the rising tide, all the memories flooded back, leaving her mouth slightly agape.
“Um… so. Ow.”
A sudden pain radiated from her head, and Delis reaches up to rub it. Roan, who had been intently staring at her, quickly grabbed her hand. With a tense expression, he asked,
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.”
“Are you dizzy? Do you feel nauseous?”
Roan bombarded her with questions. She answered in a daze.
“No, not really… It just hurts.”
Ouch. It really hurt, as if she had hit her head hard. She noticed that there was even a bump. Earlier… she definitely had… tripped and fallen down the stairs. She quietly scolded herself for seeming to have given away all her caution to someone else.
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