Please Forget Me - Chapter 293

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

Only after taking a deep breath was I able to turn around. Even then, I couldn’t bring myself to meet your eyes, so I fixed my gaze on your white apron, mottled here and there with reddish-brown stains.

“My name is Killian Ackroyd.”

I wished my voice would fail me like it used to. The fact that it came out so easily felt cruel.

“We met once, long ago, at my family’s estate.”

“Ah…”

What were you about to say after that soft sound of surprise?

The boy who couldn’t speak? The brute who lashed out with his fists when things didn’t go his way?

Or perhaps something even worse. If it were Rupert—that despicable bastard—he would have had no qualms about turning me into some grotesque figure in your mind.

“So you’re Father Ackroyd. Or should I call you Sir now? Either way, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Unexpectedly, you welcomed me. Of course, it wasn’t because you remembered me fondly.

“I had no idea the Immortal Priest had been assigned to our regiment. If they were bringing in such a legendary hero, they should have held a proper reception. I really don’t know what our commanding officer was thinking.”

To you, I was only the Immortal Priest. Whether that was fortunate or tragic, I couldn’t tell.

“Still… why are you here, Miss Loveridge?”

Since I’d already failed to avoid you, I asked the question that had been weighing on me.

“A young person from Falkland can’t just stand by when the country is in danger.”

“And Marquis Mansfield agreed to this?”

“Of course. He came with me.”

Listening more closely, it became clear that this decision hadn’t truly been yours, it was Rupert’s.

As soon as the war broke out, Rupert took the officer’s exam and then suggested that you accompany him as a wartime nurse. Suggested, he called it. But considering everything he had done to you, coerced would have been more accurate.

‘Why would a man bring his wife-to-be to a battlefield like this?’

If it had been to serve at a hospital far from the front, I could have understood. But this was the front line, one of the most dangerous sectors of all.

What kind of man throws the woman he loves into mortal danger? Into a place crawling with crude, ill-mannered soldiers?

When we first met again, a soldier had been gripping your wrist. It was clearly harassment.

I was just about to rush over when you dealt with him yourself. I was relieved. But at the same time, my chest ached at how swift and practiced your response was.

How often must you have been harassed, to handle it so effortlessly?

And where, during all those times, was Rupert?

…Perhaps back then, I still had the right to ask that question. But not now. I had failed to stop Felkner in time myself.

…Dana, thank you, but you don’t need to defend me.

The fact that you hid what happened means you didn’t trust me. In the end, that’s on me.

Still… I was furious at Rupert. For stealing the most precious person in my life and then abandoning her in the harshest place imaginable.

And I despised myself for the fleeting hope that maybe—just maybe—you had broken off your engagement.

“So… it’s been ten years, hasn’t it? I’m surprised you recognized me. I must look quite different now.”

In saying that, I all but admitted that I had never forgotten your face, not for a single moment in ten years.

Ten years. Long enough for a girl to become a woman. You had changed, unmistakably. Back then, you were a child imitating adulthood. Now, every expression and every word was simply adult-like.

And yet your fairy-like beauty remained unchanged. The blue eyes that had first captured my heart were still there, shimmering like forget-me-nots beneath the winter sun.

You were unbearably beautiful to look at, beautiful enough to hurt.

“I thought your face looked familiar, too. You’re Rupert’s cousin, aren’t you? He’ll be delighted to hear you’ve joined the same unit.”

Your innocent smile, so radiant, so painfully beautiful.

“Killian! It’s been ages! To think I’d run into you here—what a joy.”

Perhaps you told him, because that afternoon Rupert came to the chapel at the camp to find me.

I had no idea how to face him, but he acted as if nothing were wrong. He seemed genuinely pleased to see me…

“How’s Ted doing? Mother told me Aunt’s been terribly worried. I hope he’s holding up. It must be hard.”

He even asked after my brother.

The Rupert I remembered had only ever cared about himself. Whenever he spoke of concern for others, it was always to belittle or mock them, never out of genuine care.

And yet here he was, speaking of concern like it came naturally to him.