Chapter 10

A sharp headache slammed into his skull like a hammer.

Ludeville clutched his temples, struggling to steady his breath.

'It's starting again.'

Every time he tried to recall his memory, an inexplicable wave of pain would follow.

“You say you lost your memory? But I’ve never once seen you with a woman who had blue eyes, my lord. Precisely, you've never kept a woman by your side at all.”

"On the contrary, you've kept them at a distance. There were even unspeakable rumors about you, about... being incapable. Ahem. Anyway."

"Since the day you took me, a slave, into your ranks during your days as a boy soldier, I’ve never left your side. If I don’t know, then no one in this empire does."

Every time he mentioned his memory loss, his subordinates invariably reacted with bewilderment.

'What illusion am I even chasing?'

Ludeville closed his eyes, weariness painting his face.

Every night, women with various shades of blue eyes visited the banquet hall, but not once had he found what he sought.

Sometimes, there were moments of confusion. Moments where he wondered if they were really the eyes he's looking for. No, perhaps he knew it wasn't, but he was simply exhausted. There were times when, heavily intoxicated, he would reach out in a daze, seeking that piercing longing. But if the woman tried to embrace him, an indescribable revulsion would surge, and he would push her away. It was a maddening craving. The sensation of chasing a mirage that was always just out of reach.

"...Ha."

Ludeville leaned against the wall, quietly breathing. He just had to wait for the headache to pass, just as he always had.

But then...

A cool touch pressed against his forehead.

Simultaneously, the pain vanished. His mind cleared. His blurry vision became incredibly sharp, as if by magic. Ludeville opened his eyes in surprise. He realized that while he was enduring the headache, someone's shadow had fallen over him. He saw the frayed edge of a worn black hood. He raised his head. The woman he had ignored earlier was standing on tiptoe, her hand on his head.

"I'd like to continue our discussion about the deal I mentioned earlier."

"..."

"Is this sufficient as a bargaining chip?"

The headache was gone. Completely gone.

The sharp pain that had plagued him daily for the past three months. The constant torment that followed him like a shadow, whether he was on the battlefield, attending to state affairs, or enduring sleepless nights alone, had now vanished as if it never existed.

Ludeville stared at Odely for a brief moment, his eyes blank. Then, his expression slowly hardened.

"...Who are you?" He sharply slapped away her hand on his forehead.

"What did you do to me?" His voice was low and rough, scraping like something across the floor.

But Odely answered calmly, unwavering. "I relived your headache."

"Who asked you that?"

"Then what exactly are you referring to, Your Excellence?"

"..."

Ludeville was at a loss for words. Did she truly know nothing? Or was she just pretending not to? She was answering as if she had merely healed a headache. But what he felt was not simply the absence of pain.

"You..."

Ludeville unconsciously swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.

‘You felt like the center of the world. That for a moment, everything that was awry seemed to return to its rightful place.’

But saying it out loud would be no different than admitting her nefarious trickery had worked.

He roughly gripped Odely's chin.

"Approaching me undefended, without revealing your identity, and playing tricks... Do you think I haven't seen your type before...?"

It was at that moment. His gaze met the eyes hidden beneath her hood. Her sky-blue eyes, nestled beneath pale eyelashes, were impossibly transparent. Ludeville's heart pounded wildly for a moment.

'These eyes...'

At that instant, countless memories, memories that had never existed before, flashed through his mind. Sad eyes hidden beneath faintly trembling eyelashes. Fierce, venomous eyes, sharpened with the resolve to lose everything. Fragile eyes that she tried to hide by looking away, but that ultimately revealed themselves. Clear, gentle eyes that looked at him with a shy smile. A gaze filled with tears, ready to break at any moment.

'What is this...?'

It was a sensation distinctly different from anything he had ever seen before. Ludeville was thrown into confusion. With trembling hands, he pulled off her hood. Her hair spilled down her shoulders like moonlight over snowy fields. A woman entirely of white and cold colors. He felt as though she would melt away before he could even touch her. She seemed like a scene from a dream, standing on the boundary between reality and unreality. Ludeville unconsciously held his breath. It felt like a broken clock had suddenly begun to tick again. His heart, long frozen, beat once more in rhythm with that ticking.

But it was only for a moment.

"My name is Odely Cardel."

Those words shattered his thoughts.

'Cardel...'

Only then did he truly see the snow-white, silver hair, the symbol of the Cardel family. The fragments of memory that had just flashed through his mind all blurred, like a scene viewed through an opaque window. Instead, what was superimposed was the unpleasant family name 'Cardel' and suspicion.

'The third daughter of the Duke Cardel who recently went missing.'

There was no way he wouldn’t know. An imperial decree had spread her missing person notice across the entire empire. All sorts of conjectures surrounded her disappearance, kidnapping, eloping, elopement... And now, even pessimistic rumors that she might already be dead were circulating. It had been three months since she disappeared, after all.

"I never thought you'd come to the North." And in such a disheveled state, like a vagrant, no less. Ludeville scrutinized Odely from head to toe, then twisted his lips as he asked, "What business does a delicate flower from the noble Cardel's greenhouse have in this desolate land?"

But Odely remained unshaken by his taunting words. She neither flinched nor backed away—just met his gaze directly and said,

"I wish to form a marital bond with you, Your Excellence."

Silence followed.

It stretched longer than it should have.

'Is this woman sane?'

Ludeville studied her even more.

Cardel. No citizen of the Luminere Empire could be unaware of that family. There were countless historical records publicly available. The Knight of Azure Flame who prevented the Empire's disaster, the Saintess of Sacred Blood who purified the Emperor's curse, the Sage of the West who first revived the ancient barrier... All were heroes with Cardel blood.

Yet, a young lady born into that 'noble' family, who had grown up loved by all, was proposing marriage to a lunatic with an unclear background and past?

He let out a short, hollow laugh. Is she naive, or is she, indeed, a 'Cardel'?

"Did you just say 'marital bond'?"

A hint of laughter laced his words, but his eyes held no amusement. Ludeville languidly tilted his head. "Seeing as you entered here in disguise, you must have even faked that scar."

"How truly devoted. Oh noble savior of Cardel... did the gods send you to rescue this wretched madman with your divine hands?”

...Or was it something else?

Ludeville's voice deepened. "Is it the title of Grand Duchess you so desperately desire?"