At that sudden exposure, Adele let out a short scream and covered her eyes with both hands. However, the vivid image had already etched itself into her mind.

His thick, wide chest, slender waist, and arms smoothly covered with muscle. His broad shoulders glistened with an orange hue in the light of the fireplace. The light gently flowed down each taut muscle.

He looked as sturdy as freshly tempered steel. She didn’t know a man’s bare body could look so elegant.

As she stared at that dazzling sight, her own shabbiness only grew. The crudely mended clothes, shadowed eyes, pale complexion, and small stature unlike the northern women…

‘Is that pathetic little thing supposed to be a daughter and a woman? What a joke to try to graft her on.’

A memory from a few years ago became a sharp blade that stabbed into Adele’s chest. She barely managed to exhale the breath that had stopped.

“It seems there are no more large wounds now,” Adele said firmly, tearing her gaze away from his chest. Her voice trembled terribly, but he didn’t seem to notice. It was unclear if he could truly understand her words in the first place.

Adele stood up from her seat, holding the tray. Valentin hastily grabbed the hem of her skirt. His sensitive eyes were already steeped in anxiety.

“Ah… uh…”

If he could speak, he would have demanded to know where she was going. Adele quietly soothed him.

“The water has cooled, so I’ll just dispose of it and come back.”

“Ah-eun, no…”

“You don’t want me to go?”

Valentin stared at her with his mouth tightly shut. He made no gesture of nodding or shaking his head. However, more and more strength entered the hand gripping her clothes. The seam was pulled taut as if it would rip, and veins bulged on the back of Valentin’s hand. Adele suddenly recalled how that hand had crumpled the pewter cup into a mess.

“Now, just a moment.”

Adele put down the tray in shock.

“If you dislike it, I won’t go, so please let go of this. These are really the only clothes I have…”

She added in a small voice that it would be troublesome if they ripped. Her voice trailed off weakly in shame. Valentin stared intently at her face, then obediently released the strength from his hand.

‘Phew.’

Adele felt a little relieved. If it were the old Valentin, he would have flared up in anger, saying horrible things make horrible sounds. Her husband had been quick to despise whatever she did.

There was even a time when a flag she had embroidered the Ansgar seal on, staying up several nights, was returned to her torn.

“Adele.”

Valentin quietly called her name, keenly noticing her deflated mood. Adele looked at her husband’s face with a slight sense of unfamiliarity.

It was still strange that someone who couldn’t properly say anything could pronounce her name correctly. It made her feel unfamiliar and bitter.

As if she was truly something to that man. As if she was an important presence in someone’s life.

Adele smiled faintly.

“When you call me by that nickname, I feel a bit unfamiliar and apologetic.”

“……”

“Your memories still haven’t returned, right?”

Valentin stared at her without reaction.

Adele hesitantly stepped a little closer to him. She carefully brushed back his disheveled black hair. The first time she saw Valentin at the wedding came to mind. When she had peeked at his dashing face through the thick veil and felt her heart race.

Even as the southerners pointed fingers at him, calling him a barbarian, they blushed as if mesmerized by his handsome appearance, both men and women alike.

If one turned away from the deep-rooted hatred towards the Vitzleben region, his grand background as the emperor’s blood would be seen. In the end, they sincerely bowed their heads through that logic.

Even though she knew her father had drawn him into a huge scam, Adele had initially swelled with hope at the chance. Her presumptuous dream had shattered to pieces the moment she entered the wedding chamber, but still…

‘His anger was understandable from his standpoint.’

She heard he had taken several years’ worth of Ansgar’s budget and offered it directly. Even that wasn’t enough, so he sold his family heirlooms to add to it. The healers of Leihenau had always sold for the highest price in the marriage market.

Grand Duke Ansgar’s only mistake was not specifying his daughter’s name in the contract with Count Leihenau.

‘Who would have gone that far anyway. Even the maids working in Leihenau rarely knew of my existence. From the beginning, Father deliberately used that to deceive Your Highness.’

The more she calculated how much Leihenau had profited from Adele’s marriage, the more Grand Duke Ansgar’s noble name was reduced to an object of ridicule. From the standpoint of the Ansgar people, she was truly a detestable ‘southern wench’.

Up until just yesterday…

‘Everyone seems to assume there’s something between His Highness and me, but I know that’s not the case. My name just suddenly came to your memory. No need to think about the meaning. Having lost all your memories, you’re fixating on the one thing you remember.’

It felt as if someone had painfully stabbed her heart. She couldn’t believe the thought she had formed turned back on her like a blade. Adele bit her lip hard.

“Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you when you woke up.”

He had been languidly closing his eyes as if her touch felt good, but he slowly lifted his eyelids. His eyes, glistening crimson in the firelight, stared straight at Adele. They were just upright eyes without any answer or reaction.

“I was curious why you remembered my name first. Not Hermann or Lord Oscar… They were also in the room.”

“……”

“But I know that by the time your memory returns enough for you to answer that, you won’t be with me like this anymore. Because even if it wasn’t my intention, I’m someone who deceived you…”

“……”

“I’ll do as you wish for now. If Your Highness needs me, I’ll stay by your side.”

Adele continued to fuss with his hair, pretending to tidy it up while stroking Valentin’s forehead a bit more. She pressed her lips tightly together and spoke as if spitting out the words.

“In return, I want permission to enter the library in the west tower. I know, only Ansgar’s direct line is allowed to access it.”

Adele hastily added,

“I want to borrow books on herbology.”

Healing arts could only be handled by the few born with power, but herbology was different. Even without innate power, one could learn and master it if taught. The problem was that it required an extremely thick specimen book. And books, as always, were very expensive.

In Leihenau, she had at least learned bits and pieces over someone’s shoulder, but here it was a distant dream. She didn’t even have access to the general library. The only method was to personally pick and dry herbs to taste them one by one. Recently, even that was hitting more and more limits.

“I do have two old books now, but they’re so outdated.”

The ‘Ivory Tower’ of Falkenheim was the only institution that professionally taught herbology. Although not as valued as healers, herbologists from the Ivory Tower were prized.

The illustrated guides they authored over their lifetimes were worth a couple months’ income of a decent territory. She heard there were several of those just left neglected in the library of the west tower.

‘If what Oscar told me is really true.’

Adele added uncertainly. She fidgeted a little with her clasped hands.

“If I learn herbology, I can also be of help to the territory. Working hard… I will repay the kindness I received in Ansgar. If I can operate even a small clinic, this marriage won’t be a total loss for you…”

“……”

“I know it’s difficult to go to Falkenheim right now, but I hope you’ll allow me to leave someday. I’ll work hard to be of help to you and Ansgar in the future…”

Valentin’s breathtakingly beautiful face distorted in an instant. Adele, looking away, failed to notice Valentin’s change in expression and innocently added,

“It would be nice if you fully understood my words. The healers say you’ve forgotten language itself, but somehow I feel like you understand everything I say. So please nod your head if you understand. If not, like this. Side to side…”

“Ah, ni-a…”

“Your Highness. What did you say just now?”

His reddened eyes were desperate. He grabbed Adele’s skirt and waist, clutching and crumpling them.

“No, ah-ni.”

Adele was pulled down onto the bed. He climbed on top of her, casting a shadow. Her wrists were seized, and he placed her thighs between his knees so she couldn’t escape. Forehead pressed against forehead as if overlapping. His bent back curved like a thin tree branch.

“Ah-ni, ah… Adelheit…”

He called her name desperately again.

She had no idea why he was suddenly acting this way. She froze stiffly, at a loss in front of the one-sided, drenching affection pouring out. Then suddenly, the moment she met his anxious eyes, Adele realized.

“No, ah-ni, no.”

This was a plea from the beginning. For her not to leave him.

* * *

Dawn.

It was a brief moment when she had fallen asleep after struggling to soothe and reassure the anxious Valentin. Adele was startled awake by a hand covering her mouth. The familiar voice that barely reached her ear calmed Adele down as she flailed in surprise.

“Shh. It’s me, Miss.”

Adele managed to feel relieved. The ruffian who had intruded in the middle of the night was surprisingly Grita. Adele slowly blinked, driving away the lingering drowsiness. As Adele calmed down, Grita carefully removed the hand that had been covering her mouth.

Grita whispered with her shoulders hunched, warily eyeing Valentin who was asleep beside her.

“I came because I have something to tell you.”

Valentin was fast asleep, tightly hugging Adele’s waist, oblivious to the world. He barely breathed with gasps but made no movement.

“Now?”

Grita, glancing anxiously at Valentin, gestured with her hands and eyes to go outside. Normally, she would have sent her back, saying they could talk in the morning, but Grita’s face, barely visible in the moonlight, looked far too pale.

Adele thought anxiously. She had repeatedly promised Valentin that she wouldn’t go anywhere, but just outside the door might be alright.

“Just a moment.”

Adele carefully removed Valentin’s hand tightly holding her waist. It was strange that someone usually so sensitive and wary didn’t wake up, but now was not the time to worry about that.

As soon as she cautiously left the bedroom, Grita tightly grasped Adele’s hand.

“I found a way to escape from here.”