Ah, my mother is calling for a moment. You two continue talking.

Like one who had been enraptured, Illeon’s mind returned to its place only then, as he stared at Elysia blankly.

“Your Highness Duke. Would you like to try this dessert?”

Carina spoke to him with a cheerful smile, but Illeon was preoccupied with thoughts of Elysia, who had just left her seat.

Today Elysia looked cheerful.

She somehow resembled ‘Lona.’

Lona was always lively and bright. With a pleasant voice that was enjoyable to hear, she chatted about this and that. Such that to the point where everything seemed bright in his blind world, she was energetic and positive.

But Elysia was different.

Still, his sensitive intuition told him that Lona and Elysia were the same person.

The same voice that was clearer when he closed his eyes, the light footsteps, and the fragrant cherry blossom scent that wafted whenever she moved close.

But when he opened his eyes, she seemed like a different person.

‘Why doesn’t she look happy?’

In Illeon’s memory, Lona easily found happiness in small things. Whether the food tasted good today, or she got cookies as a snack, or when Bernard gave her a bonus for her hard work.

Thus, her world, as she described it, was filled with beautiful things. The words were the only warmth and light in the dark world of a blind man.

‘Wasn’t she happy and delighted to find her family?’

The Lona who went to Café Cardinal disappeared as if evaporated. Without leaving a trace, she had left everything behind, including the items she used in the duke’s residence and her carefully saved salary.

He was baffled when he couldn’t find Lona, but now he understood her position. Being a noble lady of a ducal family, she couldn’t possibly confess to having worked in the duke’s residence while she had lost her memory.

She had to sever everything, like cutting out the very fact that she worked and lived there, lest there be gossip created more from imagination than reality.

Illeon visited Elysia every day. She looked like a lifeless herbivore, reminding him of a rabbit that only blinked its eyes calmly and ran away if he reached out to touch it. Only when facing Illeon did liveliness seem to return to her eyes.

‘I wanted to see you smile.’

Even the servant saw a face I never saw. Just thinking about it made him want to send Bernard, his capable servant, to a remote territory to manage and not return. Of course, Bernard’s detailed description of Lona’s smiling face was due to habits from the time when he was blind.

Even after Illeon regained his sight, Bernard continued to describe things as if he could see them, unable to easily shake the habit.

Knowing that, Illeon was still jealous. Of those who saw Lona’s past, who saw the Lona that I could not see, enough to drive them all out of the duke’s residence.

Illeon became obsessed with Elysia’s smiling face, as described by Bernard, wondering when he could ever see such a bright smile.

But looking at Elysia, who didn’t seem to welcome his visits, his heart grew anxious.

‘Should I tell Elysia that I know she is Lona?’

How would our relationship change then?

You don’t have to pretend to be Elysia in front of me, you don’t have to pretend you don’t know me.

Will you remember the blind man who groped his memory by your description of the sunlight at dawn, and the moonlight during night walks?

You haven’t forgotten me, who imagined the slightly old and vintage Café Cardinal landscape just as you described it beautifully or quaintly, have you?

That there was a time when I relied solely on you, and without you, there was nowhere to place my heart, I will say.

Would it change then?
Every time he saw Elicia sitting as if she were a lady who had lost her memories of the Duke of Uter, dealing with a stranger, Illeon’s mind was filled with all sorts of random thoughts.

But today, for the first time, he forgot all his worries and concerns at the sight of Elicia’s smiling face.

Illeon managed to fold and gather his unorganized inner feelings little by little. Sitting at the tea table, he looked at him, and Carina Drepein smiled subtly at him.

“Are you not fond of sweet desserts?”

When there was no answer, she briefly glanced around and pushed a lidded bowl toward the side where Illeon was sitting.

“Then try this. It’s preserved fruit brought from the East, sprinkled with salt, so it has a unique taste.”

Carina, as if waiting for Elicia to move aside, spoke to him more actively as soon as they were alone.

‘What is this situation?’

Illeon unwittingly narrowed his eyes.

「Miss Elicia.」

A moment ago, the maid who had come to serve her had only found her master.

But what about Elicia’s attitude?

「Ah, my mother is calling. You two continue to talk.」

The maid had barely stated her business before she abruptly stood up and disappeared, saying ‘Mother is calling’.

‘…Could it be?’

The thought that suddenly popped into his mind made him uncomfortable.

Failing to answer Illeon’s question properly, Carina Drepein seemed disheartened.

“Your Highness.”

“Speak, Your Grace.”