“……Lumiere, Lumiere! Are you conscious?”

Lumiere, who opened her eyes slowly at the voice calling her, jumped up from her seat in surprise.

In front of her stood Elina and Michael with worried faces, and Arwin who had turned pale.

“Why, why am I lying down?”

“You suddenly fainted, are you okay?”

“Fainted?”

“Yes. Not for long, about 10 minutes? Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Elina asked worriedly, but Lumiere was too confused to give a proper answer.

‘Why did I suddenly faint……’

Tracing her memory, she recalled a flash of light in her head like she had been struck by lightning.

‘Why? Suddenly?’

She was just thinking about Karl.

“……Karl.”

Lumiere jumped up from her seat in surprise.

Karl!

Yes, she thought of Karl.

She realized she loved him, that she had fallen in love with him again.

In that moment, goosebumps covered Lumiere’s entire body.

The moment she realized and acknowledged her love for him, memories of love she had forgotten struck like lightning.

……Karl.

Karl Winger!

My secret king whom I love.

The foolish man who endures pain while carrying great duties.

My heaven, my hell, who can’t let go of me, and whom I can’t let go of.

‘I’ve recovered my memories……’

And now, the only relationship sharing a terrible past.

Lumiere recalled a man with black hair and golden eyes.

Her heart naturally tightened at the loneliness and weight of life pressing down on the man’s broad shoulders.

The memories of being lovers and the memories of Philia Buchanan finally became one.

She became Philia Buchanan and Lumiere Lashantia with complete memories, without losing anything.

And like a trick of fate, between those two names stood one man.

The man who lived a new life with the name she had given him.

‘How can something like this happen? How……’

Unable to overcome the surging emotions, she buried her face in her palms.

Her throat tightened like someone was strangling her.

“Lu, Lumiere? Why are you suddenly like this again? Are you crying?”

“No, no. Just surprised, I’m just surprised. Elina, sorry, but could you give me some time alone?”

Elina, Michael, and Arwin stood up with bewildered faces.

“Oh, okay. If, if you need anything, call us. Okay?”

“Yes, yes….. Thank you.”

Their eyes full of worry didn’t want to leave Lumiere who had her face buried in her hands, but they had to reluctantly close the door and go outside.

Lumiere panted, trying to organize her confused mind like she was catching her breath.

[You must not love him.]

The trick hidden in that one sentence.

Her memories were set to return the moment she loved him.

It was a taboo suppressing Lumiere’s memories, a desperate hypnosis Tamia had placed to protect Lumiere.

But the return of memories meant Tamia’s spell was broken.

And when the spell broke, her state of addiction would return.

Tamia had promised to find a cure somehow before the spell broke.

And Tamia seemed to have kept that promise.

‘……Come to think of it, Tamia’s spell really did come true.’

That was also amazing.

She had desperately clung to it when she reached the state of addiction.

She knew that this strange power Tamia spoke of might not work on her, but she had no choice.

She had to cling to anything, whether it was a far-fetched story or mysterious magic.

To protect Karl and herself until he returned.

“……Landers.”

Lumiere recalled the man with eyes colder than ice.

That vicious man who approached with a sweet and kind smile, slowly choking and threatening her.

‘Think. I need to be calm. Think calmly.’

Landers tried to use her to find Karl Winger’s weakness.

He tried to find something hidden between Karl and the king.

He seemed to think there was some kind of deal between them.

His intuition wasn’t completely wrong, but his direction was incorrect.

‘Fortunately for us……’

If she had revealed anything about Karl to him while in the addiction state, she would never have forgiven herself.

Perhaps if Landers had provoked her just once more, it would have been dangerous.

She was truly fortunate to have met Tamia right before that.

This could only be described as heaven’s help.

“……I want to see Karl.”

A longing incomparable to before rushed over her.

The emotions hit harder after recovering the memories of Lumiere Lashantia who had loved him for a long time, than when she vaguely realized she loved him.

She couldn’t bear how much she wanted to see Karl, like she had been waiting for this moment.

‘……What’s there to endure?’

At that moment, Lumiere jumped up from her seat.

She wanted to see him somehow.

Hadn’t she waited enough for him to come until now?

Now it was her turn to somehow go meet him.

* * *

Lumiere immediately ran to the opera house.

The person who knew Karl’s current situation best was there.

“Miss Lumiere! What brings you here so suddenly?”

Chris rose from his seat in surprise when he saw Lumiere looking for him.

“Chris! Where is he? Karl. When will he leave the castle?”

“……What?”

Chris momentarily stepped back in confusion at Lumiere’s question.

Lumiere strode up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and spoke in a strong tone.

“My memories have returned. So tell me quickly. When will he come back?”

“Ah, ah…… um, that, that means, your memories have all returned?”

“That’s right. Don’t you believe me? Chris Gunther! Friend and loyal servant appointed by Grandfather Berhe! You’re afraid of frogs. You’d jump up even from sleep and run away from reptiles. Especially the orange-striped ones from the North Atlantic……”

“Ahhh! Ahhh! Please don’t talk about it anymore! Please, stop! I can imagine it! Don’t say it! Ugh, goosebumps.”

Chris rubbed his raised goosebumps and stopped Lumiere.

Her speaking like that meant there was no doubt she was certain.

‘She really has recovered her memories.’

Being afraid of reptiles was his only weakness, and only Karl and Lumiere knew about it.

Two years ago.

On a rainy day, he followed Karl and Lumiere on an outing to Hansen Forest, which had a pond.

There, he fainted after seeing a frog the size of an adult’s fist.

Though he originally disliked reptiles, even Chris himself didn’t know he would feel such fear since they had never touched his body before.

“Ugh, ughhh.”

Chris shook his head several times to clear the remaining image from his mind.

And he thought of the prettiest things he knew.

Bookshelves organized neatly by year and title.

Trelian’s paperweight set that came out as a new collection recently.

A work list that wasn’t backed up……

Fortunately, it seemed effective, and his heart soon stabilized.

“……Whew! So, you mean your memories have safely returned, Miss Lumiere. Yes, that’s very fortunate. I’m glad!”

Chris clapped his hands and expressed his joy.

“I was actually worried because I heard there are cases where memories never fully return. Ah! And the President won’t be able to return for a while. Landers is staying in the palace now, and the surveillance is strict. He decided to refrain from going out until we find a way.”

Landers Tartien!

He never had even a speck of dust’s worth of helpfulness.

Lumiere sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Then is there no way for me to get inside?”

Chris immediately shook his head.

“That…… that’s a bit dangerous. First, there’s no connection. And there’s no justification to bring you in. If you enter the palace without a proper reason, Landers will sense something strange.”

Lumiere became thoughtful at Chris’s words.

Since the other party was the king, even just going to meet him once wasn’t easy.

If only Landers wasn’t there, she would at least try somehow, but that maniac would watch with hawk eyes to catch any mistake……

She thought hard with her arms crossed, but no good method came to mind.

But she didn’t want to give up like this.

“I see. I understand for now. I’ll have to find another way. Chris, please let me know if you think of any good methods.”

“I will. By the way, Miss Lumiere, since you’re here, please tell me. I heard the script is almost finished, how is it? Has it been completed well?”

“It’s perfect beyond measure. Henkel Raus, he’s definitely a genius.”

Chris wiped his chest in relief at her confident words.

“That’s good. The grand holiday isn’t far away, so we’re also hurrying with preparations. Recruiting actors is quite a headache…… Huh, but we have to manage. Always, I am the capable Chris Gunther.”

Lumiere responded with a faint smile to Chris’s self-introduction full of pride.

He was a person who fully deserved to call himself capable.

“That’s right. With capable talents like Chris and Osman, Karl must feel at ease entrusting the opera house’s affairs to you. Anyway, I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time when you’re busy. I’ll head back for now.”

“Not at all. I was actually about to visit you, so this worked out well. Just a moment, the President left instructions.”

Saying that, Chris hurried to his desk.

He opened the innermost drawer and took something out to bring to her.

“What is this?”