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III. Diana’s Pure Heart

The Princess’s Bedchamber.

The scratch of a fountain pen was the only sound in the quiet room. Diana, who was confined to bed rest until her ankle fully healed, kept stealing glances at the man working at a desk he’d had brought beside her.

The man sitting in perfect posture, dealing with stacks of documents, was none other than Viern. Under the pretext of assisting the Princess until her recovery, he had moved all his work here. Consequently, Diana was under a form of surveillance, though not officially called that.

“Um.”

Diana, who’d spent the entire day bored in bed, called out to him. Viern, his hand still guiding the pen over the documents, merely lifted his head slightly to look at her.

“What is it?”

“Are you… not busy?”

Unclear of her intent, Viern just stared at her silently. She then averted her gaze and mumbled her reply.

“No… It’s just that I feel like I’m taking up all of your time…”

As she trailed off, twirling the ends of her hair around her finger, Viern, who had been quietly observing, suddenly asked.

“Are you uncomfortable with me being here?”

“Huh? Oh, no? How could that be?”

Diana’s strong denial, as if caught revealing her true feelings, caused a subtle shift in Viern’s expression.

Diana feeling uncomfortable sharing a space with me? This wasn’t the same girl who used to treat his office like her own lounge, constantly flitting in and out, always eager to stay by his side a little longer.

Her starkly different attitude reminded him once again of the fact she had lost her memory.

‘Her Highness the Princess has lost her memory!’

That day, the diagnosis by the royal physician threw the palace into an uproar.

‘I-I thought it was just the ankle, with no other visible trauma… But it seems Her Highness must have injured her head as well…’

The doctor stumbled over his frantic explanation, but none of it reached Viern’s ears. All his senses were focused on Diana. On her, who seemed utterly awkward and uncomfortable, fidgeting anxiously, looking only at the faces around her.

His clenched jaw jutted out sharply. This wasn’t like her. Acting as if she were wary of someone… anyone.

‘H-however, please don’t worry too much! There are no other health issues, so with proper rest…’

‘……’

The doctor’s voice grew smaller under the stark, chilling cold emanating from him.

It was infuriating and absurd. Just four days. That was all the time he had not sought Diana out. In that short span, an accident had turned the Princess into a doll who remembered nothing. Viern’s fury turned towards those who had failed to protect her.

‘……Aisen Erkman.’

After a brief silence, a voice, deep and icy, slipped through his lips.

‘I distinctly told you to look after Her Highness.’

‘B-Brother…’

The cold fury pierced Aisen, who was standing by the door. With an expression that said the inevitable had finally arrived, Aisen squeezed his eyes shut and dropped to his knees.

‘I’m sorry. Please punish me.’

‘From today, Aisen Erkman is stripped of his position as the Princess’s personal knight. He is to reflect on his actions until further disciplinary measures…’

Just as Viern, with not a hint of mercy, was delivering the verdict with a cold stare at his brother…

‘P-Please, don’t…!’

Diana grabbed his sleeve and called out timidly.

‘I heard Sir Aisen saved me. So…’

For a moment, the corner of Viern’s eye twitched as he looked at her. Sitting there all dazed and then raising her voice for the first time, only to defend that fool, Aisen…

Suppressing a strangely twisting feeling inside, Viern calmly explained.

‘Aisen Erkman, as your guard, should have stayed by your side to ensure your safety, but he failed in his duty.’

‘But…’

‘And failing to prevent you from climbing to that dangerous place in the first place was also his mistake.’

‘……’

Cut off by his cold, decisive words, Diana couldn’t argue further and meekly released his sleeve. Viern quietly watched her hand fall so easily from his sleeve and thought, Even this… isn’t like her.

“It’s true! I’m not uncomfortable at all!”

Diana’s voice pulled Viern out of his reverie about that day.

“Your Grace is my most loyal vassal, aren’t you? So why would I be uncomfortable with you?”

She emphasized again with an awkward smile. But Viern couldn’t smile along; he just stared at her with an expression devoid of any mirth.

Your Grace, huh…

From their very first meeting, she had always called him ‘Viern’, by that name. Since his father, the former Duke, passed away, even his mother referred to him as ‘Duke Erkman’. She was the only woman who had ever brazenly uttered his given name.

And now, that same woman was calling him not ‘Viern’, but ‘Your Grace’.

Being called ‘Your Grace’ or ‘Duke’ was still a mercy. More often than not, the Princess, who had become a wary little kitten with her lost memory, still referred to him as ‘hey’ or ‘you over there’.

“D-Don’t stare with such disrespectful eyes! That’s an order!”

Unable to bear his silent gaze, Diana flushed bright red and shouted. At this, Viern couldn’t help but let out a small, suppressed laugh.