Terran decided to break off the engagement with Grace. He hadn’t told anyone yet because he needed to meet Aiden first and organize his thoughts.

‘It’s heading towards a broken engagement.’

Somehow, it felt like the whole world was fervently hoping for him and Grace to break up.

Flowers were delivered to the duke’s residence every day. Even foreign nobles were sending love letters to Grace.

‘A man who genuinely cherishes Grace would be better than me, who has no feelings.’

The problem was that even though he made the decision to let her go every day, his mood didn’t improve at all. Instead, he was consumed by depression and irritated by everything.

Sometimes headaches would come as if memories were trying to return, but they were only momentary.

“Ugh…!”

Terran suddenly felt dizzy and his vision spun. For a moment, he saw a woman leading a horse on a meadow.

‘Who is that?’

The woman walking towards him with flushed cheeks and breathing heavily looked very much like Grace.

‘No, that can’t be.’

Now he’s even seeing visions. He still couldn’t remember Grace, but he didn’t know where this memory came from.

That wasn’t all. She even waved at him and called out something.

Her voice was very clear. Then, as if struck by electricity, there was a loud ringing in his ears.

“Hah!”

Terran couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Your Grace!”

James, startled, ran over in one breath to support him.

“Oh my!”

Terran’s condition was serious. He was suffering with a pale face and cold sweat.

“I’ll call Doctor Wilson.”

James took Terran to the bedroom.

Doctor Wilson, who came urgently, gave Terran a nerve stabilizer injection.

“He’s asleep now.”

“Why isn’t he getting better? His memory isn’t fully back either.”

“It seems he suffered a very big mental shock on this battlefield.”

Moreover, it would take time for the accumulated poison in his body to disappear completely. After all, Terran had been going to war since he was seventeen.

He had been fighting constantly since then, so his mental fatigue would be higher than anyone else’s.

“If only Miss Grace were here at times like this.”

James was too heartbroken. Knowing better than anyone how much the two cared for each other, it was hard to accept this situation.

Somehow, it felt like if only Grace were by Terran’s side, he would immediately shake off his pain and get up.

“For the time being, please make sure he gets enough sleep rather than activity.”

Doctor Wilson gave the prescription medication and left the duke’s residence.

James nursed Terran for half a day.

Looking at him lying alone in bed, James felt that Grace really needed to be with Terran.

‘I must prevent the broken engagement.’

Someday his memory would return, and Terran wouldn’t be able to handle what he had done.

By then, he would truly be beyond saving. James left the room after entrusting Terran’s care to a servant.

“Are these flowers again?”

James asked as a servant entered the lobby carrying a flower basket.

“Yes, they’re for Miss Grace.”

“From now on, return any flowers that come. Don’t accept any love letters for the Duke either.”

“What should I say when returning them?”

“Say that Miss Grace and the Duke are not breaking off their engagement.”

“Understood.”

He had to salvage the situation himself; he couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore. Even if he was cursed at now, how could he just stand by when it was clear that Terran would be ruined later? In the end, it was just a matter of time.

‘It must be a process for their love to become stronger.’

After all, love that has gone through trials doesn’t break easily.

* * *

Lea spent time with Vitello every day.

He courted her more actively with each passing day, and Lea began to find Vitello burdensome.

Even during conversations with him, all her attention was focused on Terran.

‘Why is there no news from the duke’s residence?’

In last night’s dream, Terran was in a lot of pain. So all day she felt anxious and found it hard to endure.

“Lady Bizac, please marry me.”

Vitello, not wanting to drag things out any longer, proposed to Lea directly.

Only then did Lea snap to her senses.

‘What am I doing? Terran is at the duke’s residence. I should go to his side right away.’

Last time, she had been hurt by Terran and resolved to do as he wished, but now she didn’t want to.

“I’m sorry. I still consider Terran my fiancé.”

Lea rejected Vitello’s proposal.

“But the Duke doesn’t remember Lady Bizac, does he?”

“That’s right.”

Lea fell into deep contemplation at Vitello’s words.

Terran still doesn’t remember her even after so much time has passed. That’s why her heart is so pained.

Yet she waits every day for news from the duke’s residence. The good news that Terran’s memory has returned. But why should she just wait?

‘I remember Terran.’

Is it really necessary for both of them to remember together? Even if Terran can’t remember, it doesn’t mean all the emotions built up over time disappear at once.

Even if he’s not the same Terran as before, they can rebuild the crumbled memories and feelings.

“It doesn’t matter if Terran doesn’t remember me. I remember everything. How much I loved him, how much I want him.”

Lea honestly confessed her feelings to Vitello.

Vaguely rejecting him would only be deceiving him.

“I see.”

Vitello felt Lea’s sincerity towards Terran in her answer.

Another woman would not have forgiven a man who couldn’t remember her. She would have demanded to break off the engagement first, saying her honor had been tarnished.

However, she seemed to be waiting for Terran to come to her. Knowing this, he still couldn’t give up and courted her passionately because he wanted her so much. But…

“I understand Lady Bizac’s intention.”

Vitello shed his lingering attachment with a bright smile.

Lea finally realized that love is never given easily.

‘I won’t give up. I won’t just stand by and let Terran forget me.’

She hadn’t yet made her best effort for Terran. She had only waited for him to get better.

Vitello left Lea’s side without regrets. Afterwards, Lea had to meet Vivian.

“I heard from Vitello.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“No, there’s no need for that. I knew from the start that it wouldn’t work out between them.”

It would be a lie to say she didn’t covet a lady like Grace.

Part of her hoped for a dramatic connection with Vitello, but that was just a small selfish desire. More than that, she wanted to give Terran a strong medicine.

It was a kind of encouragement for Terran, who had lost many precious things since childhood, to find and desire what was his.

So she secretly informed her maid Mary of her plan, and she gladly agreed to be a stimulant between Terran and Grace.

Terran would probably make a fuss when he found out later.

“What will you do now?”

“I don’t think anything will change. Terran may have lost his memory, but I remember everything. We can start anew.”

Vivian smiled warmly at Lea’s words. How could even this tenacity be the same as hers?

The perseverance to not give up on the man she likes. She liked it very much.

“I heard from the duke’s residence that Terran’s physical condition isn’t good.”

“What?”

“It’s not like he’s going to die. Well, he’s catching a cold for a big realization.”

Vivian spoke casually, but Lea’s heart ached.

Terran was sick? Where, how, how much? Had he taken medicine, would he look for her? A thousand worries filled her mind.

“Out of concern, let me say this: wait until Terran comes looking for Grace.”

“Is there a special reason?”

Lea was curious about Vivian’s intentions.

She said she hoped Terran would realize what he had lost and find the answer. Only then could he know how precious love is.

But Lea’s thoughts were a bit different.

Shouldn’t we refrain from judging him carelessly when no one has been in Terran’s position?

Even she couldn’t perfectly understand how difficult what he went through was.

‘Love is done by two people.’

It doesn’t work if only one person realizes it. When two people walk hand in hand and one person’s foot gets stuck in the mud, it’s natural for the other to pull them out.

‘Terran’s foot is stuck in the mud right now.’

At times like this, she should help him. Couldn’t they realize it together?

Suddenly, a storm of longing for Terran swept over her.

‘I’m worried and I miss you. My Terran.’

Just thinking about Terran made her eyes sting and her chest tighten.

* * *

While down in the territory, Luke told his parents about Chainer.

That he would get engaged to her. But his elderly parents couldn’t accept Chainer and pushed another fiancée onto him.

“Luke, how much longer will we live? And that’s not love, it’s sympathy and pity.”

He couldn’t give his parents a definite ‘no’.

Because even he wasn’t sure yet. He just liked Chainer who came to save him.

To the point where her face kept floating before his eyes.

‘Do I really love Chainer?’

Honestly, he didn’t know. He liked her so much, but it was hard to say confidently that he could handle living with her for a lifetime.

‘There’s no way she came because she really loves me. Chainer is kind and innocent, that’s all.’

He doubted whether he was misunderstanding Chainer’s immature emotions.

So in the end, he had no choice but to agree to the engagement his parents recommended.

“I will get engaged.”

It was also true that it was difficult to bend his parents’ strong will.

But as soon as he saw his fiancée, he desperately wanted to see Chainer. He couldn’t understand this psychology at all.

‘I have no conscience.’

Even though she was a pretty and innocent-looking woman, Chainer’s face kept overlapping with hers.

The face of Chainer crying while saving him when he was hanging from a tree wouldn’t leave his mind.

‘No, it’s just a passing emotion. That child can’t know real love.’

It’s an emotion that will disappear as if it never happened when time passes.

Even an adult like him shouldn’t be swayed. It would only hurt Chainer needlessly. He could repay the debt he owed her in other ways.

‘I’m sorry, Chainer.’