Chapter 3

So one day, two days, three days passed.

After meeting Kyle, April spent three days as if dead. She drew all the curtains, keeping the room dark, and didn’t take a single step outside—or rather, she didn’t even leave her bed. She didn’t eat, worrying Anna and her family, but no one could force her.

On the evening of the third day, as the sunset colored the western sky red, April, as if bewitched, got out of bed. She knelt beside the bed and pulled out a box she’d hidden underneath.

Inside the elegant box, fit for precious jewels, was a bundle of worn letters. These were the letters she and Kyle had exchanged over the years.

April gazed at the letters full of memories, then picked up the one on top—the last letter she’d received from Kyle.

<To my beloved Lily>

Why did just that greeting make her throat tighten so much? She took a deep breath through her nose to hold back the tears, but it didn’t help. Tears began to well up, and each time April blinked, they fell in drops.

The falling tears smudged the words on the letter, turning the ink blue and blurry. April hurriedly wiped her cheeks, but the writing only blurred further, soon becoming unreadable.

‘To my beloved Lily’ quickly became ‘■■■■ Lily’. It felt just like Kyle’s changed heart.

“What do I do?”

April placed the letter on the table and quickly wiped her tear-stained cheeks. Maybe because she was startled, no more tears came, but no matter how she fussed, the smudged words wouldn’t return.

She had more than one letter, but seeing a precious memory ruined like this made her heart ache. After biting her lip over the ruined letter for a moment, April put it away and lay back on the bed.

‘I should just sleep. If I sleep, maybe I won’t think about anything.’

She curled up under the blanket, wishing that when she woke up, Kyle’s memory would have returned—a useless hope.

* * *

“Miss, Miss!”

On the fourth day of April’s self-imposed isolation, Anna burst into the room in a panic, after quietly bringing meals in and taking out untouched plates day after day.

It wasn’t like Anna, but April didn’t think much of it and pulled the blanket over her head. She didn’t want to talk, so she hoped Anna would just leave again.

Normally, Anna would see that and quietly leave, but now she strode over and yanked the blanket roughly. April tried to hold on, but Anna pulled it away bit by bit.

Having barely eaten in days, April had no strength and was dragged along with the blanket.

“Anna, please just leave me alone.”

“Miss, Miss! This is no time for that! Hurry and get up, hurry!”

“Anna, please…….”

“Hurry! Sir Landen sent a letter saying he’s coming!”

‘Sir Landen? Kyle?’

Surprised by the unexpected name, April let go of the blanket. Anna ended up landing on her backside.

“Oh, Miss.”

April urged Anna, who was rubbing her bottom as she got up.

“Say it again. Kyle? Kyle’s coming? Why?”

“Why else? He’s coming to see you.”

“Really? Kyle said that?”

“Yes, yes. The Master received a letter requesting a meeting with you, and of course he gave permission! So, come on, get up and get ready.”

Anna practically dragged April to the bathroom. She looked her up and down and sighed. April’s appearance was in a sorry state.

Her skin, once praised as pearl-like, had grown rough, and dark circles ringed her eyes from lack of sleep. Her lips, once cherry-red and smooth, had faded and cracked.

‘Poor Miss.’

Even the heavens seemed indifferent. Anna dabbed away her tears with her sleeve. After two years of hardship, why another trial? April would be angry if she knew, but Anna couldn’t help but resent Kyle Landen a little. It wasn’t his fault, but still, how could he lose his memory…

But seeing April’s smile at the news that Kyle was coming, Anna steadied herself.

“Will Kyle be shocked by my ruined face?”

“Don’t worry! Who am I? I’m Anna, with the hands of a Goddess. I’ll make you beautiful.”

With a determined look, Anna washed April thoroughly. She massaged her face and body with rose oil, reserved for special occasions.

Thanks to Anna’s efforts, by the time she was finished, April’s face looked radiant. If you looked closely, you could see traces of her suffering, but compared to before, she was almost a different person.

April looked in the mirror and smiled awkwardly. She hadn’t smiled properly in so long that it hurt her facial muscles, but she practiced stubbornly, wanting to give Kyle a beautiful smile. After stretching her lips and massaging her cheeks, her smile gradually became natural.

When she was finally satisfied with her smile, the Myles family’s butler came to fetch her.

“My Lady, Sir Landen has arrived.”

April forgot all decorum and ran for the drawing room. Anna muttered, “Miss, please slow down,” but April’s feet seemed to fly on their own.

But when she reached the drawing room door, April couldn’t bring herself to grab the handle. She started worrying about why Kyle had come. Now that she thought about it, Anna had only said Kyle was coming, not why.

‘What if he came to break off the engagement?’

Her thoughts kept going in a negative direction. 

‘Did he come for a good reason?’

April truly considered running back to her room instead of meeting him.

But after much deliberation, she grabbed the handle.

‘It’ll be fine.’

She knew Kyle well. He wasn’t the type to demand a breakup just because he’d lost his memory. He must have come for another reason.

‘Even if he does, it’s okay.’

Her desire to see Kyle’s face outweighed her fear of a breakup. April resolved to step aside gracefully if he asked to end things, and opened the door.

Kyle was standing, not sitting on the sofa.

“Ah…….”

April instantly burst into tears. It wasn’t just because she was glad to see him after days.

‘He looks so worn out.’

Maybe he’d suffered as much as she had these past four days; Kyle’s face was haggard. His already sharp jawline was thinner, his cheeks slightly sunken, and his cheekbones more prominent. Maybe that was why he looked even more irritable than usual.

Sensing April’s presence, he turned to her. He started toward her, but stopped when he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Young Lady…….”

The unfamiliar title from his lips made April cover her face and sob. “Young Lady”—that was what he’d called her when they first met. Before leaving for war, he called her not April, but by her nickname, Lily.

She knew Kyle hadn’t used that title on purpose. With his memory gone, she was just someone he’d met twice. Kyle, who valued etiquette, would naturally call her “Young Lady.”

But April felt the distance in that title, as if he was drawing a line between them.

When she burst into tears, Kyle didn’t know what to do. He raised and lowered his hands several times, then finally took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. April dabbed her cheeks with it.

Every time the handkerchief touched her face, she smelled Kyle’s cologne. The scent she’d always missed. The scent that filled his arms when she was held close.

She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she could not. If she wished to respect Kyle, she had to respect his circumstances as well. April took a step back and barely calmed herself. With reddened eyes, she pointed to a chair.

“I’ve shown you an unsightly side of myself upon our first meeting. I apologize.”

Kyle stared blankly at her smiling face before speaking.

“First meeting… this isn’t, is it?”

“Oh, that’s right. We met once at your mansion last time…”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Kyle’s face twisted with a complicated expression. At a glance, it looked like he was annoyed. Anyone seeing him for the first time would think he was in a bad mood, but April was different. She noticed he had a headache.

Almost unconsciously, April grabbed Kyle’s arm.

“Please sit down. If you keep standing, your headache will only get worse.”

“How did you…,”

April answered with a teary smile, guiding him to the chair. Then she rang the bell to call a maid.

“This might take a while, so bring us some refreshments. Oh, and peppermint tea, please.”

Peppermint was the tea Kyle always drank when he had a migraine. Kyle massaged his temples, but couldn’t take his eyes off April.

Until the maid brought the refreshments, silence lingered between them. April didn’t bother to speak to Kyle, instead pouring tea into his cup.

“Please drink. It’ll help with your headache.”

But Kyle didn’t touch the tea and said,

“My Lady, you truly know me well.”

‘Of course, I’m your fiancée’, April thought, but she hid her true feelings and replied calmly.

“You looked like you had a headache. Peppermint is one of the best teas for that.”

“I heard that you and I are engaged.”

At his sudden statement, April nearly dropped her teacup. She barely managed to set it down on the table and asked in a trembling voice,

“Who… who told you that?”

“Everyone seems to know.”

“……”

April clasped her trembling hands together. She had a bad feeling. But sometimes it’s better to get it over with. She asked first,

“Did you come to… ask for a breakup?”

Kyle, reaching for his teacup, paused. He frowned as if he’d heard something he hadn’t expected and asked again,

“What do you mean?”

“I asked if you wanted to break off our engagement.”

“My Lady!”

His voice rose slightly. He was uncharacteristically agitated. April flinched with surprise, and he lowered his voice.

“My Lady, have you wanted to break off the engagement all this time?”

April quickly explained,

“That’s not it! Of course not. How could I…”

“Then why would you say such a thing?”

“Because you…”

She bowed her head deeply.

“No, I just thought… since you don’t remember me, it wouldn’t make sense to continue our engagement.”

“Why wouldn’t it make sense?”

“I thought it would be wrong to force a lifetime on someone who knows nothing.”

Kyle clenched his fists tightly on his thighs.

“The one doing wrong is me. Whatever the reason, I lost my memory and am making you suffer.”

April couldn’t bring herself to deny his words. She knew she should say, ‘I’m not suffering,’ out of politeness, but her lips wouldn’t move. Even now, as she saw his distant gaze, her heart ached as if it would break.

She moistened her dry lips and barely spoke.

“Then… what did you come here to talk about?”

“I want to continue this engagement.”

April shook her head. Kyle was a responsible person, and she had once thought he might maintain this engagement as if it were a political marriage.

But would that bring happiness? What she wanted was Kyle’s love, not just the shell of his body.

“I don’t want an engagement without love.”

“That’s why I came.”

“…Pardon?”

“I want to start over with you, My Lady.”

He declared this to the bewildered April.

“Eleven o’clock, the day after tomorrow. Would you meet me then?”

It reminded her of Kyle asking her out for their first date years ago. So April couldn’t refuse and simply nodded.