Chapter 184: Loose Leash
I woke up right before becoming the male lead’s wife, and it felt pretty awkward. Everyone here was very friendly. Not that it was bad; it was just that I felt uncomfortable with the sudden favor everyone was showing me for no apparent reason. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Also, the fact that the Darkness had kept me alive instead of killing me left me wondering. I vaguely heard stories about the darkness. Considering its destructiveness and hostility, making me lose my memory was a very lukewarm attack, and I still couldn’t comprehend why it did that.
“Fiona, how are you feeling?”
Sigren was always there for me. Today, I walked with him in the imperial palace garden, where flowers were in full bloom. The flower petals fluttered every time the wind blew.
“I’m all right…”
As soon as I looked around after responding, a white snowfield overlapped the flower garden. The image of a boy and girl building a snowman together appeared like a mirage and quickly disappeared.
“Fiona?” Sigren called, waking me from my daze.
“Ah.” It was a hallucination. I was still standing in a bright garden. I shook my head lightly. “Sigren, have we ever built a snowman together?”
“We did it quite often.”
Then was that scene just now a remnant of the past, lost memories?
“Anything else?”
“There was a time when you were sledding and hit a pile of snow—you got buried. Abel was so surprised that he had to pull you out.”
Hmm, that was a bit of an embarrassing memory. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Sigren lightly touched my forehead. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yes… I’m okay. I just feel like I can’t remember anything.”
Sigren reached out his hand to my cheek but stopped halfway. Instead, he gently patted the back of my hand. “Don’t push yourself too hard.”
The sullen whispering he had expressed when I first woke up was nowhere to be seen. I gave up trying to figure out Sigren’s character. “Last time, you seemed to want me to regain my memory quickly.”
“On second thought, there are a lot of unpleasant memories.”
“Have we had a lot of bad experiences?”
Sigren hesitated. “Because you were on the battlefield.”
Well, I was.
“How was I?” I wondered if I had done well as a person in such a place. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“You were a strong mage and a reasonable commander. Many soldiers looked up to you.”
“It seems like a lie.”
“It’s the truth. You always made the best judgment without hesitation, even if it meant sacrificing yourself.”
If so, that was a relief.
I muttered in shock, “I must have had a strong sense of responsibility.”
“Absolutely. Sometimes I wonder if you’re here out of responsibility.”
What did that mean?
When I looked at his face, I caught a hint of bitterness that quickly disappeared. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Was it a criticism or a simple remark?
I was once again convinced that this was not an engagement for an arranged marriage.
“Sigren, did I tell you I love you?”
“Hmm.”
“Then don’t doubt it. I’m sure I meant it.”I didn’t know if my words would be comforting, but I hoped he wouldn’t suffer too much.
Sigren looked a little surprised, then smiled slowly.
I was relieved to see that it was a genuinely peaceful smile.
***
A girl trapped in a small box. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
A woman opened the box, looked down at the girl, and whispered, “I wasn’t meant to give birth to something like you.”
The girl couldn’t even cry upon hearing those cold words. “Mom…” she muttered feebly.
However, despite the girl trembling like a small bird, the woman’s expression did not change. She simply said calmly, “I don’t need anything like you.”
BANG!
The lid of the box slammed shut.
The woman’s last words pierced the girl’s ears through the door.
“Go away. Just disappear.”
***
“Hukk…”
I woke up, struggling to breathe. My forehead was damp with cold sweat, and I pulled the blanket off my legs.
“A dream.”
Was this one of the memories I had forgotten? It felt different from before. Rather than being my memory…
“Original Fiona’s memory?”
That seemed highly likely. In the dream, Fiona was very young—around four or five years old. Why did I dream of her memory?
I glanced around the room. I had just turned off all the lights, so everything was dark. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Fiona, are you there?”
Of course, nothing changed. I was just muttering to myself, sounding like a strange person calling my own name.
I got out of bed and went out of the room to get a glass of water. There was one room in the hallway where the light was still on. That was Sigren’s cousin Carl’s room.
Did he fall asleep without turning off the light?
I knocked cautiously, just in case. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Carl?”
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