Rumble, whoosh.

Even amidst that, there was a clear sensation. It was the sound pouring down from the sky outside the window.

The sound of thunder like a fierce roar, as if chasing someone. The screaming sound of water streams pouring down roughly, as if trying to escape from there.

“I’m sowwy…….”

The hearing that had become more sensitive as vision was restricted seemed to amplify the invisible things even more.

Thunder wouldn’t kill anyone, rain streams couldn’t run away, and…….

Bang!

“I said be quiet!”

Bang! Bang!

At that moment, the left wall confining him transmitted a fierce vibration.

Chersion was startled, but he didn’t know if he had screamed or not.

Perhaps the enormous sound from outside the window, no, from behind the wall, had swallowed up his own voice.

He was scared. It felt like thunder would strike down. It felt like the walls constricting his body would crush him.

Like that time.

Even though there was nowhere to run…….

Bang, bang, bang!

“Save…….”

Rumble, whoosh, bang bang!

“Hic, please save……. I’m sowwy.”

Through the shoulder touching the wall, merciless vibration, no, brain tremor, no, violence poured down.

Or not? Am I thinking wrong?

Or not? Is the teacher just kicking the wall?

Or not? Is it just the sound of thunder?

Or not? Is the teacher trying to kill me like mother?

Or not? Is mother telling me to die? Am I not born yet?

Or not? Is father kicking to strike me with thunder to kill me?

“Pl…… ease save me…….”

He couldn’t understand anything. He couldn’t be sure of anything. Just…….

The terribly unforgettable memory seemed to rummage through his mind and ultimately burst his entire body.

“Mother……. I want to live…….”

But he was suffocating.

How did one breathe again?

When he was in warm water, breathing wasn’t difficult.

How, how…….

What should he do?

At that moment, his breath was cut off.

“Young Master Chelsea?”

“……!”

He came to his senses. Chersion realized he was being held by Joseph.

He soon remembered how it happened.

Recalling his mother who had given him his name, the memory from that time was forcibly pulled out.

Getting caught up and swept away in that flood of memories, he had forgotten how to breathe. Because that wasn’t memory but sensation…….

‘Why am I different from others?’

A few years after first meeting Teacher Rosier, he asked Chersion a few questions and said this.

〈Young master, you have an excellent memory. No, you’re someone who can’t forget anything, unlike ordinary people.〉

Symptoms due to excessive memory that prevents forgetting all events, experiences, and even emotions encountered in life.

This is how he diagnosed Chersion’s condition.

Hyperthymestic syndrome.

〈So shall we do this? When painful memories come to mind…….〉

Say out loud the thing you like most.

“Hyperthymestic syndrome?”

“Yes, madam. That’s why Young Master Chersion, as he wrote in that assignment, cannot forget all the memories he has experienced from the moment he was born until now. Things that happened yesterday, 3 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago…… He remembers them all as vividly as if experiencing them right now.”

“That’s absurd. I’ve never heard of such a thing, I…….”

“I have heard of it before. In one of the numerous research materials in the Tower of Honor library.”

“Then indeed, it means everything the young master wrote here is true. I understand now. The reason why the young lady extremely dislikes others’ hands touching her body, I…….”

“…….”

“We didn’t know any of this and only believed what Baron Baden and his wife said……!”

“You know, Sir Joseph.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“My name was given by my mother.”

“I see. I thought it was a beautiful name.”

“Hehe.”

Talking about his mother definitely made him feel better.

This is why Chersion could like his memories. Although bad memories don’t fade, he can also not forget good moments.

“Once, I was locked in a closet. I was so scared that I fainted, you know? Oh, right. It was the home tutor who locked me in. But when I opened my eyes, mother was fighting with the teacher.”

Chersion remembers that situation so precisely.

“I was pretending to be asleep then…….”

So precisely that he could reproduce the conversation between Lieselotte and the home tutor at that time without missing a single word.

〈I trusted you as a teacher and entrusted my child to you, yet you dare to do this to my child?〉

〈Fo-forgive me. Madam, I truly didn’t intend to make the young master faint……!〉

〈Did you not hear what the physician just said? My child nearly died. Locked in that closet, crying for help, trembling in fear…… He almost died from having difficulty breathing!〉

Chersion saw Lieselotte angry for the first time then.

But even at such times, she never raised her voice above a certain level.

Chersion, squinting his eyes slightly, saw her fists clenched white and trembling.

Suddenly he became scared. Would she hit? Is she going to hit?

He had been told that bad people should be punished. That’s why Brother Kar was always beaten by father.

‘So she will hit after all, right?’

If the home tutor gets hit by mother, it would mean this incident wasn’t his fault.

But on the other hand, he didn’t want to see that person being hit.

He was afraid. Just as father hitting his brother was scary, mother might also become a scary person who hits the home tutor.

〈……As much as I’d like to bury you alive like you did to my son.〉

However, even while emitting a murderous intent that froze the air, Lieselotte did not attack the teacher with those fists.

〈Ma-madam……!〉

〈Consider yourself lucky. At least I’m someone who has the duty to teach children that violence should not be repaid with violence.〉

That doesn’t mean she forgave the home tutor.

Soon, guards and knights knocked on the door. The home tutor, who had been apologizing and begging for forgiveness, was restrained by the shoulders and dragged away.

〈I-I’m sorry. Madam, please forgive me just this once……!〉

〈If you truly wish to be forgiven for your wrongdoing, you should have no complaints about receiving the lawful punishment.〉

Shortly after, Chersion learned that the home tutor had their teaching qualifications revoked and was imprisoned.

It felt strange. He thought it was natural to be beaten when one did something wrong.

‘Mother said that wasn’t the case.’

He recalled the stories the nanny told him every night before bed. Mother seemed like a hero from those books.

The hero never hit anyone, never killed anyone, yet in the end, people repented their wrongs and the world became peaceful.

Chersion loved his mother as much as he loved those stories.

“Mother is like a warrior!”

“Ahaha.”

Sir Joseph listened to Chersion’s story with interest. He didn’t forget to interject with “How wonderful!” from time to time.

“To me as well, the Duchess Daiern is a savior.”

“Hehehe.”

The word ‘savior’ was quite difficult for Chersion.

But it seemed to be a word describing someone as great as a hero, so he liked it.

Above all, Chersion was pleased that Sir Joseph also liked his mother.

After all, one tends to feel a newfound closeness to someone who likes the same things they do.

Especially since Sir Joseph was someone Chersion liked!

“You know, Sir Joseph. I like talking about mother because it helps me forget the difficult times.”

“Yes. You must have had a very hard time. It was indeed difficult.”

The experience of having his emotions validated also made Chersion’s heart flutter. Chersion stretched out his arms and hugged Sir Joseph.

“I wish Sir Joseph could be our teacher for a very long time. Because I like Sir Joseph so much!”

“Ahaha.”

“Actually, this is a secret.”

Chersion, looking around, whispered in Joseph’s ear.

“If Sir Joseph weren’t married, I would have told you to propose to mother.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes! Then we could live together with Sir Joseph all the time. Every day!”

The sound of Joseph’s soft laughter tickled Chersion’s ear. Joseph said:

“I certainly hadn’t thought of that method. If there’s another chance, it might be good to aim for that.”

“Pardon?”

For a moment, he couldn’t understand what that meant.

As Chersion tilted his head in confusion, Sir Joseph suddenly stopped walking.

“Since Young Master Chelsea has shared a secret with me, shall I share a secret with you as well?”