Chapter 043
“When did I come to my room and fall asleep?”
Still groggy, I blinked slowly, but exactly five seconds later, I took a deep breath and shot up from my spot.
“What is this?”
Unfamiliar memories kept unfolding in my mind against my will.
They were too vivid to be just a dream.
As the memory of collapsing while tightly hugging Evan came back to me, I quickly checked the space beside me.
Fortunately or unfortunately, I was alone in bed.
I got out of bed with a confused expression and pulled the bell cord to call Lucy and Vera.
Knock, knock.
A few minutes later, the twins entered the room with energetic voices.
“Good morning, Madam! The weather is really nice today.”
Lucy said, pulling back the curtains and looking outside with an excited expression.
Just as they said, the weather was indeed bright and sunny today.
As I stared blankly at the sunlight pouring into the room, I forced a smile and said, “Yeah… the weather is really nice.”
In contrast to how I felt inside.
I casually spoke to the twins, who were busily tidying up the room.
“Where is Evan right now?”
At that, the twins, who had been diligently cleaning, suddenly stopped in unison and looked at me.
Their eyes seemed to shine particularly brightly today.
“The Duke went to the border area of the Duchy early this morning.”
“And he said to give this to you when you wake up!”
What Vera brought me was an herbal tea said to be good for relieving hangovers.
“You should drink it while it’s warm for it to be effective, so please try it quickly.”
“…Thank you.”
As I accepted the tea with a reluctant expression and took a sip, Lucy, who had been looking at me with an excited face, spoke up.
“Yesterday, the Duke carried you to your room, and it looked just like a scene from a fairy tale!”
“What?”
I choked on the tea I was taking a sip of, trying to soothe my burning throat.
“Evan brought me to my room? And he carried me?”
“Yes! Just like this!”
At my words, the twins immediately sprang into action and reenacted the classic “princess carry” pose often seen in fairy tales.
With their faces beaming with joy, I couldn’t bring myself to deny it, so I asked the twins to bring me another cup of tea.
Finally, alone again, I exhaled the breath I had been holding.
“Ha…”
How long had I been groaning, holding my head?
The feeling of confusion still lingered, but as time passed, my rationality seemed to return.
‘I didn’t even touch any alcohol yesterday.’
Since what had happened was already done, finding out why it occurred was my priority.
Then suddenly, a scene flashed through my mind like lightning.
‘That potion.’
I remembered I had drunk the potion I bought from the magician before going to meet Evan.
At this point, the only explanation for what had happened was that potion.
Without hesitation, I left my room and ran straight to the suspicious magician’s house I had seen yesterday.
Bang, bang.
I knocked hard on the wooden door, but after a few minutes, there was still no sign of the magician coming out.
How long has it been?
As my palms began to hurt, I withdrew my hand from the door.
“Hey! Is anyone there?”
I called out for the magician loudly, but the tower’s owner remained silent.
‘I hope he didn’t leave already.’
Thinking of his light demeanor, I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me—what if he had already departed?
“If you’re here, please respond…!”
Clunk.
Without thinking, I pulled on the handle, and the door that had resisted me so far opened easily.
Peeking into the entrance, I began to survey the interior.
“Hello—.”
Even though I spoke softly, the naturally quiet space amplified my voice throughout the tower.
Yet, there was still no sign of anyone.
‘If he really has left, checking would be the quickest way to find out.’
Fully stepping into the tower, I made my way to the spot where I had spoken with the magician yesterday.
Creak—
As I opened the door, the scene inside was exactly as it had been the day before.
The potions on the shelves were unchanged, which suggested that the magician was still inside the tower.
‘Then where could he be?’
At that moment, I noticed a long staircase next to the door.
Feeling a sense of intuition that the magician might be up there, I cautiously began to climb the stairs.
The old tower was only two stories tall, so it didn’t take long for the stairs to end.
Finally reaching the second floor, I saw a single door in front of me.
Knock, knock.
Before entering, I checked to see if there were any signs of life inside, but there was still nothing.
I cautiously pushed the door open a little.
In contrast to the relatively tidy first floor, the interior was dark and messy.
The floor was covered with papers filled with indecipherable writing, leaving no room to step, and the desk was in a similarly chaotic state.
“Ugh, dust.”
I wondered how long it had been since the room had been aired out, as dust particles sparkled and floated in the sunlight streaming through the curtains.
“Hmm?”
As I pinched my nose and turned my gaze to the side, I discovered large shelves filled with unknown plants submerged in a dark green solution.
‘This looks similar to what I used to see in my mother’s lab.’
It reminded me of my mother’s laboratory, where she professionally studied herbs and brewed potions with various plants and animals kept in glass jars.
Seeing this made it clear that someone here truly knew how to make potions.
Thud.
While exploring the shelves and walking forward, I bumped into something with my toes.
It was a small sofa, just big enough for one person to lie down on.
‘Found it.’
I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed a leg sticking out from the end of the sofa.
As I moved closer to the sofa, I saw a man lying there, seemingly dead to the world.
Since he was lying down, his hair, which covered his entire face, had slipped slightly back, revealing his nose.
“What the… he’s cleaner than I expected…”
Seeing him, I was secretly surprised by his skin, which was clearer than that of most noble ladies.
Moreover, judging by his smooth jawline, the magician looked to be around my age at most.
“Ugh…”
Just then, the magician, who had been sleeping so quietly that I couldn’t even hear his breathing, began to groan and murmur in distress.
His breaths grew increasingly ragged, and incoherent words spilled from his lips.
“Don’t let go…”
“Hey!”
After watching him for a moment, I decided it would be better to wake him up, so I shook his shoulder.
How long did I shake him?
The magician gasped for air as if he had just come up from underwater and then suddenly gripped my wrist tightly.
“No, don’t…!”
“Ugh.”
I grimaced at his unexpectedly strong grip.
As our eyes met through his dandelion-like hair, I saw his green eyes widen.
At the same time, his mouth began to open wide, and he let out a scream that could shatter eardrums.
“Ah! Wh-what is this—a ghost?”
Thud!
The moment our eyes met, the startled magician flailed on the sofa and tumbled to the floor with a thud.
“My back…”
Now lying on the ground, he clutched his back and groaned.
“Are you okay?”
As I cautiously approached and asked, he quickly turned his head toward me.
Once again, his hair covered his face, but he soon spoke in a dazed voice.
“…You’re that customer from yesterday, right? How did you get in here?”
“I thought you had left, so I came in to check.”
“No, not that. How did you open the door and get in?”
The magician, now standing up, crossed his arms and stared intently at my face.
HeathBar
This is completely her missing older brother with amnesia