Chapter 82

The accident that happened on the way back from the monster subjugation was something Nine hadn’t anticipated.

However, an injury caused by a monster was not particularly surprising to him.

What truly flustered him was immediately after his return to the main castle.

“Your Grace!”

“Brother!”

It wasn’t unusual for Nine to be away for monster subjugation for days at a time. It had also been a long time since his family came out to greet his return after the death of the former Duke, Milo.

But the servants genuinely welcomed Nine’s return.

Even the awkward Adel called out to him, looking happy to see him.

‘What is this?’

The Eclipse Castle Nine remembered was stark, cold, and rigidly focused on everyone doing their job.

But now, it was gentle and even affectionate.

However, there was something even more surprising.

‘Chacha Blueberry.’

An academy classmate who had no connection to him had firmly established herself in this castle.

Nine remembered Chacha. Perhaps it was because of her rare pink hair. He had thought she looked like a spring fairy when he first encountered her at the academy.

Like one of the characters in the stories Kate read to him when he was young.

But that was only for a moment. Nine, who generally didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings, quickly withdrew his interest in her.

He only remembered that she was always with Lady Helena, who frequently caused trouble.

A spring fairy, indeed. Despite her plausible appearance, Chacha Blueberry was merely Helena’s subordinate who tormented others.

But why was that woman in the Eclipse main castle?

‘Did Lady Helena cause trouble again?’

Annoyed by the most rational suspicion that came to mind first, Nine couldn’t tolerate the hand rudely stretched out towards him.

Nine brushed off Chacha’s touch and asked coolly.

“Lady Blueberry, why are you here?”

He couldn’t understand what followed.

Far from driving out the unwelcome guest, everyone looked at him in shock and even forcibly ushered him into his bedroom.

Nine frowned at Van’s rudeness, which he had never experienced since inheriting the Duchy, but since he was indeed injured, he quietly waited for the doctor.

Van looked hesitant, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t open his mouth.

Tully, the family doctor, examined Nine and asked a few questions.

“Your Grace, do you remember what Imperial Year it is?”

“That’s a strange question. Isn’t it Imperial Year 146?”

“…”

At Nine’s answer, the faces of Van and Tully instantly darkened.

Tully hesitated for a moment, opening and closing his mouth as if choosing his words, before beginning to speak.

“Your Grace, it seems your memory has been affected due to your injury.”

“What?”

“It is currently Imperial Year 147. Your Grace graduated this year, held a wedding, and it is now May.”

“…A wedding?”

“Yes. The person you just saw is Duchess Chacha Eclipse.”

Nine’s face instantly twisted.

It was such a preposterous story that he couldn’t easily believe it, even though he knew they wouldn’t tell him such an outrageous lie.

‘I married that woman? Is everyone under a monster’s spell?’

It was suspicious, but given the changes he had observed in Eclipse Castle upon arrival, he had no choice but to partially believe it.

In the end, Nine conceded to the amnesia and was advised to rest for a week.

A week wouldn’t cause a major problem with the post-subjugation procedures.

During that time, Nine couldn’t rest quietly.

He had to hear the same things repeated for that whole week.

“Your Grace, Lady Chacha is the rightful mistress of Eclipse. Your Grace genuinely loved the Duchess.”

“I understand that you cannot trust Lady Chacha since you have lost your memory, but Lady Chacha is indeed the mistress of the North whom your Grace personally acknowledged.”

“Nine! You supposedly even mobilized the army in the capital for Chacha, and you plan to keep avoiding her just because you completely forgot you are married?”

Van, Norman, and surprisingly, a sober Roana, all came to him in turn, informing him that Chacha was the legitimate Duchess and how much Nine loved her.

It was clear they wanted him to go and talk to Chacha, but Nine never sought out Chacha once.

‘I married that woman who served Lady Helena?’

He had never directly clashed with her.

But the mere fact that she was a close associate of Lady Helena made Nine feel a strong aversion to Chacha.

‘I don’t know how she deceived everyone, but I won’t be fooled.’

Then one day.

“And don’t you know that unauthorized entry is forbidden here?”

“I-I apologize.”

Nine, who had visited the greenhouse to rest, sensed the unusual atmosphere and diverted his steps inward instead of turning back.

Since the Eclipse greenhouse was a space used only by the family within the Duchy, he naturally expected Roana or Adel to be there.

But two women who were not family were standing there.

One stood with a stern face, and the other was flustered and hesitating.

‘It’s happening again.’

It was a scene he often saw at the academy.

Frowning at the behavior, Nine said sharply.

“What is going on here?”

As he stood in front of the woman he had saved, as if protecting her, the Countess’s daughter surprisingly didn’t answer.

He had expected her to raise her eyes and retort audaciously like Helena.

Contrary to his expectation, the Countess’s daughter left immediately and silently, with a face that looked hurt for some reason.

Oddly, the moment he saw her leave, his heart felt like it sank.

“Um, Your Grace…”

Furthermore, after hearing that he had simply misunderstood and she had done nothing wrong, his heart grew even heavier.

In the end, even on his way back to the bedroom to rest, the sight of the Countess’s painful, twisted expression did not leave Nine’s mind.

***

Thud.

Norman placed a stack of documents on Nine’s desk.

Nine had come to the office to catch up on work after a week of rest.

He looked at the height of the document stack and tilted his head.

“Is this everything?”

Even though a large volume of documents should have accumulated from the day of the subjugation until now, the documents Norman brought didn’t look like even a week’s worth.

To Nine, who was puzzled, Norman said.

“Lady Chacha finished almost all of the post-subjugation procedures for the Kardan Forest monster incident. What remains are matters concerning the approval of compensation for the damaged estates and the punishment of vassals who failed to report.”

Nine frowned at the news that Lady Blueberry had handled the Eclipse Ducal Family’s affairs.

He glared at Norman with displeasure, but Norman met his gaze with a look of confidence, sighed, and muttered softly.

“Oh, right, you lost your memory.”

Norman pointed to the stack of documents he had presented and reported.

“This is the report Lady Chacha wrote summarizing the work of the past year, and the rest are the existing estate affairs.”

Even after hearing that, Nine’s furrowed brow did not relax.

‘A work summary report?’

What did she know to even think of writing such a thing?

Nine began to skim through the documents with dissatisfaction.

As someone who attended the Dragonia Academy, she might be smart, but what she learned there was theoretical estate management and administration.

Nine’s belief was that in reality, the situation was different for each estate, and one needed to be directly involved in the practical work for several years.

“…”

However, the documents he flipped through were perfect and highly readable.

It was truly appropriate conduct, which would have been impossible without an understanding of each estate and the nobles who governed them.

Even Nine, who had been managing the estate for over eight years since childhood, found no fault in the documents.

“She truly is the Duchess.”

Norman added an unnecessary comment, seeing Nine’s expression relax, but Nine ignored him and continued reviewing the documents.

The mountain of documents piled in front of Nine was finished in about a quarter of the time it would usually take for the same amount of work.

Leaving the office earlier than his original schedule, Nine had no choice but to acknowledge the Countess’s estate management abilities, if nothing else.

***

Thanks to finishing the paperwork early, there was quite a lot of time left until the next schedule.

‘Should I swing a sword for a bit?’

Not only documents but also his sword hadn’t been touched for a week, so Nine walked toward the training ground for the first time in a long time.

However, the Second Training Ground, which he had expected to be empty, had a Knight and an unexpected person training.

“Lord Adel. You need to center yourself so your lower body isn’t unstable there.”

“Yes!”

It was a Knight famous for training squires well within the Silver Wolf Knights, and Adel.

At the Knight’s words, Adel immediately lowered his stance to stabilize his center.

It was a very different appearance from the reckless troublemaker boy Nine remembered.

‘What the hell happened in the past year?’

Nine was surprised inwardly and meticulously scrutinized Adel’s posture.

Noticing that Adele’s grip was slightly loose as he focused on his lower body, Nine anticipated that the boy would drop his sword.

And as he predicted the direction the sword would fly and looked that way.

“…”

The Countess’s daughter, who hadn’t been seen all week, was sitting and watching Adele while drinking tea with a maid.

“Ah!”

With Adele’s shriek, the sword flew off, just as Nine had predicted.

Since it was a training sword with a sharp edge, it was a situation where a serious accident could occur.

The knight, who couldn’t react in time, shouted.

“Lady Chacha, look out!”