Chapter 143
He had no idea that this was his prickly temperament, which now sprang forth unfiltered due to his lost memories, nor that it was the most unvarnished emotion toward her that had been dwelling in his heart even before he erased his own memories by his own hand.
Every time a harsh word slipped out at Cynthia, a part of him still wanted to look after her carefully. He found her adorable, reacting as if burned at even the lightest touch, so he would tease her with a few words now and then.
When he was checking the mirror in a banquet hall littered with corpses and heard footsteps, it felt strangely ticklish somewhere when she abruptly pushed him behind the mirror, telling him to hurry and hide. Maybe it was his palm, or his chest. At any rate, something tingled and irritated him.
“As expected, this is a hassle.”
Why should he, a large man, be left to hide while such a small woman stood outside?
He felt strange as he pulled Cynthia close and hugged her. He figured it would be fine to hide together, but it just made him feel even more ticklish. Thinking she was the one tickling him, he held her tightly so her face was pressed into his chest to stop her from moving, but it was the same.
When he looked down at her, she was frozen, her face tense as she watched the outside. Her round head seemed stiff as a rock. With her body pressed softly against his firm chest, the unfamiliar warmth and the feel of her chest made even him freeze up for a moment.
For a fleeting instant, the beating of her small heart overlapped with his own.
The woman trembled in fear and held her breath, her heartbeat racing too fast. He quietly watched her bury her face in his palm.
Her trembling form was small. Though she easily met this country’s average height for women, she seemed even smaller for some reason. He wanted to stop her from trembling, but he didn’t know why he felt this way or how to ease her fear, and the helplessness frustrated him.
He even felt powerless, as if he were completely useless.
But when they were out from behind the mirror and he honestly told her he’d lost his memories, her reply was unexpectedly hopeful.
“I thought something was off from the beginning, but… you really can’t remember anything at all?”
Did Cynthia already know him?
The thought even made him happy. Segleninde etched the sight of her looking at him with mixed anxiety and anticipation into his eyes, then lowered his gaze, pretending to pinch his lips to stifle a smile.
“…I don’t know. Not at all.”
“Sob… You really don’t remember? You don’t remember what kind of relationship we had?”
The system Segleninde had preset before erasing his memories acted as if it had a mind of its own, making random choices. At least until he regained some memories, every system element—choices, quests, and the like—remained beyond his control.
So it was only after a long conversation that she chose to reveal that she was his fiancée.
“…We’re lovers. We’re engaged to be married.”
“So that means…”
“Yes. I’m your fiancée.”
“My fiancée… you say.”
Fiancée. Even among his lost memories, that word alone surfaced with unusual clarity.
He and she were to be married. Just that fact made him so happy he couldn’t even react properly, but Cynthia kept chattering on about helping him recover his memories and staying together.
He could be with Cynthia forever.
“And, we have to escape together, right?”
She had no idea just how sweet that word sounded to him. ‘Together’.
The thought that this was an opportunity he could never let slip away filled his mind.
The suggestion, sewn into his heart like embroidery, urged him that he absolutely had to keep her by his side. No matter what, under no circumstances, could he allow her to slip away.
He could not let her leave this mansion. Even the thought of her leaving felt outrageous.
“Now that I think about it, why would I leave? This is my house. I heard there were weird rumors about me outside. Are you trying to use them to do something to me?”
“Huh? No, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’ve done way too much cleaning up after those rumors to try and use them against you! Besides, are you really going to keep living in this house where all these weird things are happening?”
“…Ah, right.”
“……”
Without his memories, he was more careless than ever before.
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