Chapter 60
He thought she might be angry enough to refuse to see him, but she didn’t. So, for the past half month, Viern dutifully waited for Diana’s memories to return, spending time with her visiting the ducal estate and various places around the palace.
The problem was that every single time, the clueless Aisen was there with them.
“Aiseeeen~! There you are!”
“Eek, why are you doing this to me, Your Highness? S-Scary, don’t get so close!”
No. Perhaps the clueless one wasn’t Aisen, but himself. Viern had to swallow his torment watching Diana and Aisen’s sweet, close interaction.
“Look. I baked cookies for you.”
“I-I hate cookies more than anything in the world! Aah!”
As Aisen even ran away screaming in terror, Diana let out a deep sigh and began airing her worries to Viern.
“I think Aisen hates me. He acts like I’m bullying him or something. Hey, Duke. Could it be… in the past I don’t remember, did I maybe treat Aisen badly?”
“……Impossible. That boy Aisen is just hopeless, that’s all.”
Unable to bear seeing her crestfallen, Viern forced himself to comfort her.
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Diana beamed. Following her lead, Viern pulled up the corners of his mouth in a strained smile and took a bite of the cookie Aisen had rejected. The cookie she’d made tasted bitter. Just like the ache that throbbed painfully in his chest every time he looked at her.
‘Once Her Highness’s memories return… Once they just return…’
Wouldn’t everything be resolved then? Viern waited for her memories to come back. But Diana’s lost memories showed no sign of returning.
In the meantime, the news of Diana’s affection for Aisen spread like wildfire. Just like when she had fancied him, it was because she couldn’t hide her feelings for Aisen and let them show. To the point where everyone in the palace knew.
Even when busy with work, the moment he was left alone, a sudden question would arise.
‘Even if her memories return… will things change?’
Perhaps her emotions might not return along with her memories. Just because old memories surface doesn’t mean current feelings disappear.
‘What if her memories return, but she still likes Aisen? What do I do then?’
It was just as Viern was swallowing his anguish with a darkened, sinking expression.
“Your Grace! Your Grace!”
“What is it?”
He asked, frowning at his aide’s flippant manner of bursting through the door.
“Her Highness the Princess… she’s disappeared!”
“What?”
In an instant, his face hardened completely.
* * *
At the same moment, Diana was sneaking into the King’s bedroom, slipping through a window to avoid prying eyes.
‘Regarding the keepsake of Lady Anais that you found for me last time, Your Highness. It requires a separate key.’
The key for the keepsake she had promised to deliver to the Ersha remnants, who had helped in her previous abduction drama, was with the King. It was a huge bother, but a promise was a promise. After finding the key and evading people, Diana had scaled the wall from the 4th floor, where her bedroom was, up to the 5th floor, where the King’s bedroom was located.
Although she was currently restraining herself because Viern disliked it, scaling walls and climbing to high places was one of the old hobbies she had cultivated during her years imprisoned in the tower. Having easily infiltrated the King’s bedroom, Diana concealed her presence and moved stealthily.
Despite being the floor directly above where she resided, Diana had never come up here before. Her interest had always been singular, and she had deemed everything else worthless.
After rummaging through the drawers in the inner part of the bedroom, Diana found what she was looking for.
‘There it is!’
As she was hastily gathering it to leave, the man lying still on the bed caught her eye.
‘Is this man my birth father?’
He was a middle-aged man with somewhat coarse platinum hair. Diana stared fixedly at the man’s hair, then idly touched her own.
‘Is it similar to mine?’
She tilted her head, observing the man’s face.
Flicker!
The man’s eyes, closed all this time, suddenly flew open. Her gaze met his unfocused, blurry pupils. Diana flinched, swallowing a gulp of air.
“…….”
“…….”
In a silence so deep not even breathing could be heard, as the two—father and daughter—stared at each other, a glimmer of light returned to the man’s hazy focus. Simultaneously, he jolted upright.
“Ah, ah… Anais…”
The man stared into empty space, stumbling forward, then in an instant collapsed to the floor.
“Anais is dead… Because of me, my doing…”
“Um, excuse me…”
Just as Diana, who had been watching him with bated breath until then, cautiously tried to speak, the man suddenly grabbed his head and began to scream like a madman.
“Aaaaaaaaaah! I killed you, Anais! I killed you…!”
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