Please Forget Me - Chapter 228

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

“We’re finally back in our homeland, right?”

I whispered, staring at his pale face. Even though I already knew the answer, I asked because Killian still looked like someone captured by the enemy rather than a man returning home.

He nodded as if it were obvious, yet he still carried the weight of a man being led through enemy territory.

“So now… we’re going home, right?”

This time he met my eyes and smiled, nodding, but the awkward curve of his lips couldn’t hide his worry.

‘What is he worried about?’

I wanted to ask, but the soldiers in the front seat made me hold off. That didn’t stop my mind from spinning, filling in its own speculation.

“No matter what anyone asks, don’t answer them.”

I remembered Killian’s whispered instructions while we waited for the soldier to deliver the letter to the commander.

“If you can’t remember, just say that, or tell them to ask Ackroyd.”

“Even if they ask my name?”

I asked because I didn’t understand why he hadn’t allowed me to even say our names. Killian nodded, as if it were obvious.

“Ask someone else for my name?”

“That’s right.”

“….”

“Yes, you have to say exactly: ‘I don’t remember anything, so please ask Mr. Ackroyd.’”

The more I listened, the less I understood. He had taken my hand secretly, speaking quietly while the soldiers guarding us couldn’t see.

“No matter what happens, never forget that our love is real.”

Even in this confusing exchange, this last piece of advice puzzled me the most.

‘Why is he suddenly emphasizing this?’

It wasn’t the first time he had said something like this, but now he seemed far more desperate than usual.

And then instinct spoke to me:

‘This man… he’s hiding something from me again.’

That had to be the reason. If I found out, I might leave him, so he gave the warning in advance.

‘What could he be hiding?’

No matter how I asked, he only lied and never answered honestly.

‘I warned him I’d leave if he lied again. Could this be the reason?’

Was he afraid I would find out something that would make me abandon him?

‘Are you worried… that I might recover my memory of not having loved you?’

It was a ridiculous worry. Even after regaining those memories, I had never considered leaving him.

‘Because I love him?’

Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure I could confidently say I loved him right now. I didn’t know if my love was real or just an illusion. Should I trust the past me who didn’t love him, or the present Killian who had become someone I could love? I didn’t know.

‘But he is still my husband.’

Even if Killian returned to the man I could never love, I wouldn’t leave him for that reason alone. We were a married couple, bound for life, and that decision was mine. Even if I couldn’t remember, it was my duty to honor my promise.

And, above all, he had protected me, stained his hands with blood, and broken his own principles to keep me safe. To abandon a man who had sacrificed himself for me? No human could ever do that. I wasn’t even resisting the thought; there was no reason to.

‘I will not leave you. What a needless worry.’

That had been my instinct. But now, I wasn’t so sure.

“We’re almost there. The base is in the town ahead.”

Following the soldier’s kind guidance from the front seat, Killian’s gaze shifted toward the town. If he was worried I might regain my memory and leave him, he didn’t need to look at the military base as though he was going to die.

From the feeling in my gut, he was hiding something far bigger than I could guess.

‘Surely we’re not Falklanders… right? No, that’s impossible. Then what is he so afraid of?’

Fear spreads easily. I had no idea what he was so scared of, yet that fear transferred to me. Just as I was beginning to relax, thinking we were safe, unease crept back in.

“Ah…”

I unconsciously reached to pick at a hangnail, and Killian grasped my hand.