Chapter 16
Chapter 016. The Princess at 21 (5)
A repeated tapping sound echoed against the window of Sionne’s room.
He got up and opened the window.
But beyond the glass, all he could see was the quiet garden of the imperial princess’s palace. No matter how carefully he looked, he couldn’t find the source of the sound.
At that moment, a small stone whizzed past him.
“!”
Sionne quickly ducked beside the window frame and stared outside. He had been too careless.
Slowly, so as not to provoke whoever it was, Sionne shut the window. Then he scanned the garden once more and sensed a faint presence behind a tree.
The unidentified figure disappeared the instant their eyes met.
As he tracked the direction the figure fled, Sionne turned his gaze to the stone that had landed in the room.
The stone had a piece of white paper tied to it. Sionne untied the paper.
I’m contacting you to remind you that the contract is still valid.
Kill the Grand Duke as soon as you arrive in Anata.
That afternoon, the Emperor had noticed a faint shift in Rosalyn’s expression when Sionne Feitan was brought up jokingly.
In that moment, he realized there was still a chance that Sionne might kill his sister. One mustn’t waste a useful chess piece.
P.S. I heard you can’t kill a woman—but that’s not true, is it? Even if it is, you’ll have to if you want to save your people.
Lucas pulled the reins on Sionne even tighter.
* * *
That night, Perry Jean, a physician from the outskirts of the capital, paid a discreet visit to the Imperial Princess’s palace.
“Have you been experiencing any discomfort?”
“Not particularly.”
His patient was none other than the infamous Grand Duke of Anata.
However, the woman who had lost her memory was completely different from the rumors. Dignified and composed, she embodied the very essence of ‘blue blood.’
“Have you been eating and sleeping well?”
“…I’ve been eating enough.”
“Seems like you haven’t been sleeping well.”
Perry scribbled notes into his notebook, nagging as he did.
“You’re not skipping your valerian, are you? Even if the dosage needs to be tapered off gradually, you should still be taking it for now.”
“……”
When Rosalyn chose silence, Perry sighed and moved on to the next question.
“Have you experienced any return of memories recently?”
“Not yet…”
Rosalyn, who had been absentmindedly answering the doctor’s questions, trailed off.
“Have you?”
“There was one time, very briefly.”
“Please describe the situation when your memory returned.”
Perry adjusted his glasses and asked.
“I saw a man… and suddenly the image of the collapsing royal palace flashed in my mind. He was in that memory.”
“Who is that man?”
Perry’s writing hand began moving more quickly.
“Do I have to say that too?”
“Hmm.”
Scratching his forehead a few times, Perry shook his head.
“If it’s uncomfortable to talk about, that’s fine. But I do suggest you keep that person nearby.”
“Nearby?”
“Yes. If you’re around someone who triggers your memories, other memories may follow. One memory calls another, as they say.”
Perry, who had never treated an amnesia patient before, stumbled through his explanation. He had heard it secondhand, but explaining it clearly was difficult.
“So stay close to him.”
“Close…”
Rosalyn pondered for a moment, then opened her mouth.
“Right. I was thinking of doing that anyway.”
She recalled the words the Emperor had left her earlier that day.
“You’ve been quite diligent lately, haven’t you? I’ve been hearing from various places that my sister is throwing herself into her work.”
Only after hearing that did Rosalyn realize she hadn’t been acting like the ‘28-year-old Rosalyn’ at all. She had believed that what she was doing was only natural—but everything had been wrong.
She immediately started investigating who she had been at 28.
But the information available to her was extremely limited.
The nanny who had been away from her for seven years barely knew anything. All she could provide was the kind of information that could’ve been found in the imperial newspaper.
It was the same with the maids and soldiers who had worked in the princess’s palace. Even when Meriwood tried to subtly prod them, they all shook their heads.
“Your Highness, everyone says they don’t know the details… but they believe Peggy might have known.”
But one cannot seek answers from the dead.
“In the end, the only one who knows who I was at 28 is that man.”
In that moment, what flashed through Rosalyn’s mind were the lashes beaded with tears.
Sionne Feitan. A man she instinctively disliked and felt uncomfortable around.
But she needed him.
“At least until we reach Anata.”
“I’ll keep him with me.”
Rosalyn spoke to the doctor as if reaffirming it to herself.
* * *
The next day, Sionne was brought before Rosalyn once again.
“……”
A strange silence settled between them. Neither spoke first, only sizing the other up.
“Sionne Feitan.”
It was Rosalyn who broke the silence first.
“Before I decide what to do with you, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“?”
“I lost all memories of you after injuring my head.”
“Your memories…? All of your memories of me?”
“Yes.”
Sionne already knew, but feigned surprise, widening his eyes and mouth.
Well, he was a little surprised—he hadn’t expected her to admit it so easily.
Revealing a secret could be a good or a bad sign. Secrets always came with a price.
“That’s why I need to ask something clearly. What exactly was the relationship between us?”
Once again, Rosalyn asked a question similar to the one the Emperor had asked him.
‘…What exactly is your relationship with my sister?’
“We were…”
And Sionne recalled the other question the Emperor had posed.
‘Don’t tell me you locked eyes on the battlefield or something. Then why is my sister so defensive of you?’
“Our eyes met.”
Sionne raised his head and met Rosalyn’s gaze.
“Our lips, too.”
His gaze drifted slowly downward.
“Our bodies—touched as well.”
“Our bodies?”
Reading the dark glint in his eyes, Rosalyn bit the inside of her cheek. She didn’t know why that one word made her lower belly ache faintly.
“…I see.”
Feigning composure, Rosalyn pretended not to be affected and changed the subject.
“These past few days must have been hard on you. Being doubted and distrusted by someone you could call a lover.”
In the study of monarchy, the first lesson was to understand your opponent’s interests and objectives.
A ruler had to consider everyone’s position and pretend to understand them all.
“But tell me, Prince, how long do you think those feelings between us would’ve lasted?”
And all of it was to serve the will of the sovereign.
“It’s clear they would have changed over time. It’ll be easier for you if you think that shift just came a little early.”
Sionne Feitan was needed by the Grand Duke of Anata. But a lover was not.
“Just as seven years of my future arrived overnight, you can think of this as your future arriving early too.”
Rosalyn spoke selfish words to get only what she wanted—words that seemed considerate but were really for her own sake.
“……”
When Rosalyn finished speaking, Sionne lowered his head in silence. Not from despair—but to think.
‘Something’s not right.’
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the situation was contrived. Telling him to move on while claiming to have lost her memory—something about it felt off.
‘She’s too kind. Excessively so.’
“…Why did you tell me you lost your memory?”
Sionne asked.
In truth, she had no reason to reveal her memory loss. It would’ve been easier and safer to stay silent and cast him out.
“You plan to kill me.”
And Sionne arrived at the answer without waiting for her response.
“Hm, and why would I kill you?”
Rosalyn responded with interest, intrigued by the turn of the conversation. The fallen prince of a ruined kingdom was smarter than she expected.
“Because you have no reason to take the risk called ‘me.’”
“Quite the ego you have. What danger could someone like you pose to me—stripped of nation, army, and honor?”
“But now, thanks to you, I know you’ve lost your memory.”
“I could just cut out your tongue before sending you away.”
“Words aren’t the only way to communicate.”
“Then I’ll cut off your hands too.”
Meriwood, who had been listening to the gruesome exchange, shuddered.
“Then please, kill me for old time’s sake.”
“Hah?”
Rosalyn snorted in amusement. But Sionne continued unfazed.
“Now I’m certain—your memory loss isn’t a lie.”
He moved his throat up and down, pretending to suppress sorrow.
“You truly… have forgotten all the time we spent together.”
Trembling eyes. Quivering lips. A voice laced with emotion.
“There’s no way I’d ever reveal your weakness…”
He wore the perfect expression of a man tragically rejected
-
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