When the One-Sided Love Female Lead Loses Her Memory - Chapter 17

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Of course, if she did something truly terrible—like outright murdering someone—she might receive a rather severe punishment, though not execution. They wouldn’t imprison the kingdom’s sole heir, but a figurehead heir with only her life intact might face a lengthy house arrest. Then she wouldn’t be able to see Viern freely. She didn’t want that either.

So, while she detested his women to death, she didn’t kill them arbitrarily. Not out of any moral sense, but solely because she disliked being deprived of seeing him. She acted only within the boundaries he had implicitly set. That’s why Viern, for the most part, indulged her unreasonable demands…

As long as I exist as the kingdom’s sole heir, Viern can never let me go. Diana knew that better than anyone. Hadn’t she herself tightened the leash around her own neck and placed it firmly in his hand to become his most effective chess piece? But she hadn’t anticipated that while holding her with one hand, he would try to grasp another woman with his other.

‘I got careless. I dropped my guard since he’s been giving in to me so much lately.’

She already knew his feelings weren’t the same as hers. That’s why she strived to become more useful and indispensable, so he couldn’t let her go. Even if he didn’t love her, she wanted to remain by his side for a long, long time. With that foolish, stubborn, and blind obsession.

But it seems she let too much of that heart show. He knows it too. He knows that no matter what he does, she has no intention of slipping the leash he holds. Even if another woman appears for him, she will never be able to break free from him.

So that’s why he’s pulling this wicked stunt of preparing to marry another woman while keeping me around.

‘This feels awful.’

It was just as Diana was grinding her teeth on her lower lip, lost in thought.

“So the rumors that Princess Diana has no shame are indeed true.”

Sophia’s voice turned hard and cold as she glared at Diana with insolent eyes.

“L-Lady Silberk! Please show proper respect to Her Highness…”

Aisen, who had been rowing, flusteredly tried to intervene. He was less worried for Diana and more concerned that an angry princess might cause a scene or harm the lady right here on the lake.

While Diana had caused trouble for Viern’s women in subtle ways before, it had never been excessive, always within a level Viern could manage. But this was an official celebration with many eyes watching. A scene on the lake could easily blow up into something hard to control.

Whether she didn’t sense Aisen’s desperate concern or chose to ignore it, Sophia spoke with a provocative smile.

“It is a good thing Your Highness is a terrible person.”

Sophia smiled provokingly, her grin sharp as a blade.

“Since you admitted the rumors aren’t false yourself, you can’t complain too much about being wronged.”

“……?”

Diana furrowed her brow, looking at her with a puzzled expression. That was the moment…

“Kyaaah!”

Sophia suddenly screamed, leaning her body over the side of the boat, and plunged into the lake with a splash. The boat rocked violently from the momentum, causing Diana to stumble.

“Your Highness…!”

A shocked Aisen tried to grab her, but as the boat tilted and swayed, her body was flung overboard. Icy lake water engulfed her in an instant.

‘Hhk, mmph…!’

Water flooded her nose and mouth. Diana, who couldn’t swim, felt her body sinking. Driven by instinct, she thrashed her limbs and forced her stinging eyes open, but everything was dark and blurry.

‘I… I hate this….’

In the terror of seeing nothing, an old memory flashed before her. The memory of ‘that day’—scraping her fingertips against a tightly sealed door, screaming as a searing heat choked the breath from her moment by moment….

‘V-Viern… Viern…!’

She was sinking deeper, searching for the man who had opened that solid iron door and become her light and breath, when a thick arm wrapped around her. Through the murky water, she glimpsed black hair and blue eyes. Viern? Is that you?

Splash—!

Pulled from the water, Diana gasped and heaved for air. Her eyes hurt, her nose hurt, her throat hurt. Her ears were ringing, and her entire body ached right down to her lungs.

“Your Highness! Your Highness, are you alright?!”

Aisen, soaked from rescuing her, patted the back of the princess who was coughing face down on the boat floor.

“I-I’m, fi—cough cough—I’m fine, hck…”

“Oh, please don’t force yourself to speak. Oh no, you’re hurt here too.”

Only then did she feel the stinging pain on her skin. It seemed her arm had been scraped when she fell overboard.

“Aisen, never mind that—the woman just now…”

At that moment, a splash sounded from not far away. When Diana instinctively turned her head, her expression hardened completely. The brown-haired woman, drenched, was emerging from the water, cradled in Viern’s arms.

“…….”

There had been countless women hovering around him until now, but that embrace had always been hers.