‘Ah, you mean that patient who came in the morning.’

The doctor, sweating profusely, glanced nervously at him.

Despite the advent of the industrial age, with its commercial development and blurring national borders, power in Levania still concentrated in the central nobility.

No matter how influential capitalists became, it was still the era of the nobility.

The sweating doctor hurriedly pulled out the medical records he had prepared.

‘There were no severe external injuries. But the injury wasn’t to her body, but here…’

The doctor tapped his forehead as he spoke.

When pressed for more details, he added hastily.

‘It seems she has memory problems. She appeared to have issues with memories from the past few years. I didn’t have time for a detailed examination, but it was definitely amnesia.’

…Ha! Amnesia, he said.

Landers laughed in disbelief.

A sudden accident involving the woman he had invited and subsequent amnesia.

‘And it happens right when that man, Karl Winger, arrives.’

The ice in his glass had melted halfway.

He stared intently at the portrait, then downed the diluted gin in one gulp.

If there was something strange, he would find out himself.

“A guest was in an accident while riding a Tartien carriage, so I should personally check on her.”

Turning sharply, Landers called the butler to fetch his coat.

“Where are you going?”

“To the Lashantia mansion.”

“I’ll prepare immediately.”

The butler bowed deeply and responded promptly to Landers’ command.

As the butler said, the carriage was ready in less than five minutes.

* * *

That man.

It had been two days since Karl Winger had visited.

Since then, Lumiere had been forced to have daily counseling sessions with Nore Lyman, who had taken on the role of her live-in doctor.

“…This is really peculiar.”

Today, she had spent two hours half-lying down, chatting under the guise of counseling.

Dr. Lyman was a fairly comfortable conversational partner, making it easy to talk about various things, not just medical matters.

Their conversations over the past three days had followed a similar pattern, and today, it seemed Dr. Lyman had reached some level of certainty.

“Really, this is the first time I’ve seen a case like this.”

Dr. Lyman alternated between looking at the chart and her with a curious expression.

Dr. Nore Lyman was much more meticulous than Lumiere had expected.

He thoroughly examined which specific memories she had lost, what symptoms arose when she tried to recall them, and whether her body had any issues beyond bruises, recording everything in detail.

“This is truly peculiar.”

Dr. Lyman, who had already written over ten pages of reports in those three days, said enthusiastically as he flipped through the pages.

His excited demeanor reminded Lumiere of a certain doctor she had seen right after injuring her head, making her a bit worried.

Surely, Dr. Lyman wouldn’t suggest opening her head and zapping it with electricity, right?

Sipping the herbal tea Tamia had brought, she asked with anxious eyes.

“What do you mean, Dr. Lyman?”

“It’s like…”

He made a humming sound as if choosing his words, then finally came out with the most straightforward statement.

“It’s as if you haven’t just lost your memory, but erased an entire person.”

Erased an entire person.

Lumiere somewhat agreed with him.

She had felt the same way during their counseling sessions.

It was something like this.

‘Do you remember what you did before?’

‘I painted portraits of actors and posters for the Cissus Opera House. Sometimes I took commissions from noblewomen.’

‘When did you start working at the opera house?’

‘About two and a half years ago. When the opera house district was renovated three years ago, my workplace changed. Someone happened to see my poster and gave me my first commission for the Cissus Opera House.’

‘You remember quite specifically for something from two and a half years ago. That’s hopeful. Do you remember who gave you the job at that time?’

‘……’

‘Lumiere?’

‘That’s strange. I can’t remember that part. It’s like it’s shrouded in fog.’

And such responses repeated several times.

‘The scar on your hand seems recent. Do you remember how you got it?’

‘I got it while saving someone…’

‘Saving someone from what?’

‘……’

‘Until half a year ago, you were regularly commuting to the Cissus Opera House. Do you remember the way there?’

‘Yes. I usually took a carriage, but sometimes I got off at Lancer Hall Square and walked. The waffles at the dessert shop on 11th Street were really delicious.’

‘Do you like waffles?’

‘I do, but that person liked them even more.’

‘That person?’

‘…Did I say that person? That’s strange. Anyway, I like those waffles too. Their honey syrup is really special.’

Her memories were like a painting with patches of white paint covering parts of it.

Some parts were clear, while others were so smudged that it was impossible to guess what the original picture was.

Most of the whitewashed parts were memories of that person, her supposed lover, ‘Karl Winger.’

But there was one distinctly different kind of memory loss.

‘Tell me the most recent thing you remember.’

‘I received flowers as a gift. Very fragrant yellow flowers, a lot of them.’

‘From whom?’

‘Landers Tartien…’

‘Do you mean Landers Tartien of the Tartien family?’

‘Yes, that’s right. He commissioned a portrait from me. I actually didn’t want to accept the commission…’

‘And then?’

‘…That’s strange. I can’t remember that part well either.’

Just two months ago, ‘Landers Tartien’ had commissioned a portrait from Lumiere.

It was part of her memories about him.

After finishing her counseling session with Dr. Lyman, Lumiere went to her room and lay down her exhausted body.

All she had done was lie down comfortably and answer questions, yet she felt completely drained.

“A nap is just what I need.”

For the time being, she had no commissioned paintings and no urgent work at the opera house.

A painting she had worked on in a trance briefly crossed her mind, but the warm sunlight quickly made her forget it.

“Are you going to sleep again?”

Tamia, who had followed her in, smiled and placed a cool, freshly brewed herbal tea by her bedside.

“Yes, I’m extremely sleepy. Maybe it’s because of all the things happening recently, but I’m tired.”

“Of course, you should rest. Sleep well, Miss. I’ve found that rest is just as important as exercise.”

She forgot that she had already taken a sweet nap for an hour before the counseling session.

Lumiere smiled pleasantly and closed her eyes comfortably on the bed.

Rest, yes, very important. Right. You need to recharge every day to live well.

…Is that man resting well?

She was startled to realize she was naturally thinking of ‘him’ and opened her eyes wide.

“I must be crazy.”

She let out a hollow laugh.

Tamia, who was tidying up the curtains, turned to her as if asking what was wrong.

“Oh, nothing. I must have dozed off for a moment. I was talking in my sleep.”

“Oh, Miss.”

Tamia chuckled warmly and draped a thin summer blanket over Lumiere’s shoulders.

Being cared for by Tamia made her feel like she was a child again.

“Rest easy, Miss.”

Pat, pat.

She patted Lumiere’s shoulders gently, like comforting a child.

“You’ll have good dreams.”

As if those words were a spell, Lumiere quickly fell asleep.

But less than an hour later, Lumiere had to be forcibly awakened from her sweet slumber.

An uninvited guest had come to see her.