Since I Don't Know Anything About It, Shall We Break Up, Your Majesty? - Chapter 45

Lumiere was the one who single-handedly raised the crumbling Lashantia.

The image of her working with her parents until her hands and feet were blistered was vivid, in a situation where the legitimate heir of the viscount family had run away leaving only debts, not knowing if he was dead or alive.

Although she’s doing well with her paintings now, before that, she had literally done everything.

The sight of her saving money by cleaning chimneys, walking dogs, being a nanny for disobedient twins, and even cleaning fountains was clear in her mind.

She gave more food and better rooms to Cindy and Jeffrey, who worked without pay, saying she was grateful.

When winter came, she secretly replaced their blankets with thicker ones, and when summer came, she spent what little money she had to buy ice for them.

And all these actions continued even after the Viscount and Viscountess Lashantia died.

‘I must see our Miss happy!’

This resolve was not just Cindy’s, but Jeffrey’s as well.

Although he seems to have lost half his senses these days because his father is dating, his loyalty was incomparable to Cindy’s.

“…No, but the more I think about it, it’s really funny.”

My dad dating.

You see all sorts of things if you live long enough.

Cindy chuckled quietly as she arranged the flowers and put them in a vase filled with water.

‘I wonder if they’re together today too?’

Cindy glanced at the wooden house next to the stable, barely visible through the dining room window.

The cottage built separately for Jeffrey, the stable keeper, had somehow become their dating spot.

Since they were busy with their own work during the day, they had been staying at Jeffrey’s cottage lately.

“Oh my! Am I really going to call her mother one day?”

Perhaps because she didn’t have many memories of her mother, she didn’t particularly feel averse to it.

Her only concern was how to treat someone she used to command as a superior.

Oh, it’s awkward.

Is this how you get a stepmother and a younger sibling all at once?

As Cindy was giggling to herself, she suddenly turned around.

She was so startled by the sight of someone who had appeared silently that she dropped the vase.

“Eek!”

Crash–

The vase shattered with a loud noise as Cindy fell on her bottom.

They say even ghosts appear when you call them, and there stood the person Cindy had been thinking about.

“Lau-Laurel? Why are you there? You scared me! You could have made some noise!”

Laurel, who had suddenly appeared without a sound, smiled apologetically at Cindy and held out her hand.

“Sorry, I just came out for a moment because I was thirsty. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Ah… Did, did you run out of water?”

“Yeah. I drank it all.”

Laurel awkwardly shrugged her shoulders.

‘No, then why didn’t Father come out instead of sending Laurel? That old man really has no sense…’

As Cindy was grabbing her hand to get up, she was startled by Laurel’s ice-cold body temperature and opened her eyes wide.

“Your hand is really cold, Laurel. Were you outside for a long time?”

“Yeah, I took a bit of a long walk… Are you okay? I’ll clean this up, you go inside.”

“Ah, no. Since these are flowers the Miss brought, I’ll pick them up again and put them in a vase. There’s water in that kettle, so take it with you.”

“Okay. Sorry for hurting you.”

“I’m not hurt at all, it’s nothing. Anyway, hurry and go out. The twins will lock all the doors soon.”

Cindy hurriedly cleaned up the broken vase, waving her hands as if it was fine.

‘Phew, that’s a relief. Not a single flower was damaged.’

Even as Cindy quickly collected the broken pieces, the shadow cast in front of her didn’t disappear.

“What is it, Laurel? Do you have something else to say?”

“…Cindy. I have something to ask.”

Feeling that Laurel was a bit strange today, Cindy asked back.

“What is it?”

“I heard from Jeffrey that the Miss fired a gun that day.”

Oh no, why did Dad say such a thing…

Cindy was momentarily flustered but soon smiled and shook her head.

“Is that so? That’s strange. We don’t really know either. We came down after it was all over… Karl Winger was there too, so we thought it was his guards who did it.”

“Then did Mr. Winger fire the gun?”

“Well, that’s also not…”

As Cindy was insisting that they didn’t know much about it, she was startled when she saw Laurel’s face.

It was a face that seemed to be crumbling.

“…Laurel. Is something wrong?”

At Cindy’s question, Laurel quickly shook his head and smiled kindly.

The strange expression disappeared like a mirage.

“Ah, no. Nothing. I was just curious all of a sudden. I thought you might know more, Cindy.”

“Ah… I don’t know well either. It’s late, Laurel. You should go in now.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll go. Good work tonight too.”

“Yes, be careful going out, it’s dark.”

After wiping the wet floor for a while and rearranging the flowers, Cindy suddenly thought.

‘…But didn’t he say he came to get water?’

Why didn’t he take the kettle?

* * *

“Is the water temperature okay, Miss?”

“Hmm… I’d like it a bit hotter. Could you add a little more hot water?”

“Yes. I’ll bring it right away.”

As Tamia left, Lumiere closed her eyes while soaking in the bathtub.

Sinking into the warm water, her unsettled mood from earlier improved considerably.

“…It’s just a kiss.”

Yes, just, a kiss.

Lumiere touched her heated face after dipping it halfway into the hot water and pulling it out.

Her water-wet lips kept drawing her attention, unlike usual.

As she lazily licked her lips, she recalled another person’s tongue that had stirred inside her mouth as if it was its own territory.

As if proving their past as lovers, he skillfully and naturally pushed her.

It was gentle and careful, but like someone who knew exactly what pleased her.

‘There’s no need to make a fuss over one kiss.’

Lumiere decided to be bold.

There were many people who would spend the night together and go their separate ways the next day as if nothing happened.

In a world like today where love is free, what’s the big deal about one kiss?

“Okay. Right. That’s not what’s urgent now.”

Memory. Lost memory!

Let’s recover that.

Headache or whatever.

Now, the thought of finding her memories had become firm.

Besides…

‘I need to find and return the item that man entrusted to me.’

Goodness, a family heirloom.

She couldn’t even imagine what kind of amazing item he might have entrusted to her.

She thought that man might have rashly entrusted her with something like the family head’s ring.

‘…The family head’s ring. That’s too much.’

There’s no way, right?

No way.

…No way?

“No. No. That’s really not it. It shouldn’t be.”

Lumiere tried hard to deny it.

She firmly believed that even if that man was a bit crazy, he wouldn’t be that crazy.

He wouldn’t entrust such an important thing to a lover who would be a stranger once they turned away, right?

“The important thing is, how to recover the memories…”

Should I have another accident?

If I give a strong shock to my head, maybe the memories will come back?

‘…But I might become permanently stupid that way.’

However, she couldn’t think of a way to find her memories step by step.

How on earth can one slowly recover memories one by one?

And it’s not like you can deduce memories lost in an accident like solving a mystery.

‘It would be nice if someone could magically pull up the forgotten memories all at once…’

After all, memories aren’t like water or ice, they wouldn’t suddenly vaporize from the brain and fly into the sky.

“Miss, I’ll pour some more hot water for you.”

Tamia, who had gone to get hot water, returned.

And the moment she poured water into the bathtub with a long-necked kettle, a memory from the past flashed through Lumiere’s mind like lightning.

“Tamia!”

“Y-Yes?”

Tamia, who was pouring hot water, stepped back in surprise.

Lumiere grabbed Tamia’s skirt hem desperately and shouted.

“Tamia, you said you could do that. That thing!”

“That thing…?”

Ah, why did I think of this now?

Lumiere shouted with a brightened face.

“Hypnosis!”

Tamia’s face immediately stiffened.

* * *

Tamia Moom.

The Moom family came to Levania about 170 years ago.

Tamia’s grandmother’s grandmother, and her grandmother’s grandmother were said to have been born on some island.

It wasn’t Levania, of course, nor was it Berhe or Ingston.

Grandmother said that our roots were in a very distant place that took months of sailing to reach.

Like the holy power that has almost disappeared now, the Moom family’s power is also almost gone, but it is said that they once knew how to do many strange tricks.

Grandmother said that knowing a lot about herbs, ways to flee from ominousness, and methods to read the weather were wisdom passed down from that time.

And the spell that Tamia cast on Lumiere was one of them.