The sound of the door closing echoed like a reverberation through the quiet hospital room. Grace Benjamin, hugging an ugly monkey doll tightly, sat crouched in the corner of the bed and glared at Herald. She looked just like a cat with its fur bristling.

When they first met, she had called him “elder brother” and been friendly, so why was she wary the second time they met? Herald smiled kindly, as much as he was puzzled, and quietly met her gaze.

Perhaps that worked, as the wariness in her green eyes, identical to Lily’s, gradually subsided. Grace Benjamin glanced at the firmly closed hospital room door, then opened her tightly shut lips.

“Who are you…?”

She wasn’t pretending not to know, she really didn’t know. And she called him “ajussi”. Herald’s eyebrows rose slightly at the form of address he had never heard before.

He knew that Grace Benjamin’s mental state was unstable due to the accident two years ago, but he didn’t know her memory had deteriorated to the point of not remembering him even though they had met just a week ago. Unless there was a big event, it was a bit disconcerting.

“I’m Herald, a friend of Lily’s.”

Herald, who at least understood why Grace Benjamin was wary of him, introduced himself politely. He didn’t mention his surname, as he had no intention of being formal or courteous with her.

“Lily…”

Grace, who had been muttering the name of the daughter who had disappeared from her memory, clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

“You’re my elder sister’s boyfriend!”

A faint smile spread across Herald’s lips as his identity was rapidly upgraded from an unknown ajussi to Lily’s boyfriend.

If Grace Benjamin had forgotten Lily as well, it would have been difficult to continue the conversation, but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps the things she had experienced since her new memories began had not been forgotten. Or maybe it was because Lily was the beloved daughter she had painfully given birth to, so even if she forgot that fact, she couldn’t forget Lily herself.

“Where is my elder sister? Did she go to the bathroom?”

When Grace Benjamin got up from the bed and made a move as if to go look for Lily, Herald grabbed her shoulders.

“Lily did not come.”

“You’re lying.”

Grace shook her head vehemently in denial.

“She promised to come see me every Thursday. She promised to come even if something happened, even if it rained a lot… There’s no way she didn’t come. My elder sister must have come.”

The eyes that had been filled with certainty gradually wavered, and eventually became damp. Herald was about to take a handkerchief out of his pocket, but belatedly recalled that he had given it to Lily and clicked his tongue.

“I apologize.”

Wiping the precariously brimming tears with his sleeve instead of a handkerchief, he explained.

“She very much wanted to come, but she couldn’t because she was sick.”

“Sick…?”

Grace Benjamin’s expression became blank like someone who had been hit hard on the back of the head with a large hammer. The ugly monkey doll she had been hugging tightly to her chest dropped to the floor with a thud.

“Lily is sick…”

Grace Benjamin, who had been muttering to herself with her head bowed, suddenly grabbed Herald’s arm. She looked at him with wet eyes mixed with worry, concern, and more than that, and asked pathetically.

“Wh-where does it hurt and how much? Is it hurting a lot? She’ll be okay, right? Right?”

This was the expression of a parent who had heard news of their child getting hurt. Herald had personally gone to the families to deliver the news whenever someone under his command was injured or killed in action. He had seen it countless times, so he was certain.

Could it be that Grace Benjamin remembered that Lily was her daughter?

“How sick is my elder sister? Huh? Please tell me! I’m telling you to tell me!”

When Herald didn’t answer, Grace Benjamin shouted at the top of her lungs like a madwoman and hit his shoulders wildly.

Grace Benjamin’s head still didn’t remember the fact that Lily was her daughter. What remembered was her heart. It was often said that parents remember their children with their hearts, not their heads.

If so, there was a very high possibility that her heart remembered what happened two years ago as well. No, it was certain. That’s why she had said strange things like a monster was coming when asked before.

It seemed that memories engraved in the heart pop out when there is a big shock. Herald’s eyes flashed sharply as he confirmed that fact.

Using this method could hurt Grace Benjamin, but there was no other way. If he didn’t open it, Lily would get hurt. He could do much worse than this if it meant protecting her.

Grace wouldn’t want her beloved daughter to get hurt either. Having rationalized the deed he was about to commit, Herald grabbed the small shoulders that were trembling like someone with a chill and said in a low, hoarse voice.

“Your daughter Liliana Benjamin, whom you had with Madison Benjamin, was badly injured in an attack.”

Lily hadn’t actually been attacked, she just had a cold, but Herald lied calmly. It would be more effective this way.

“She nearly got killed by the assailant.”

And if Madison Benjamin had really been murdered by someone, if Grace knew something about that part, she would definitely react when he said this. His prediction was spot on.

“Ah, aah…!”

Grace’s face went as pale as if she had seen a ghost. She grabbed her hair as if she was going to rip it all out and shook her head violently. Her chest heaved rapidly with heavy breaths, and her green eyes wandered the floor as if they had lost their way.

“No, no. Don’t kill her. No, no… Aaaaah!”

Herald frowned at the more intense reaction than he had expected, but still grabbed both of her shoulders. Because of that, he had to throw away the drawing he had prepared, but dealing with Grace Benjamin was more important right now.

“Tell me.”

Far from soothing and comforting her like before, he whipped her harshly instead. To open the Pandora’s box that Grace Benjamin had hidden away, even erasing her memories.

“If you want to protect your precious daughter, tell me what happened that day. If you don’t tell me, your daughter, Liliana Benjamin, will be badly hurt. She might even die like your husband!”

“Ugh, uuugh…”

“So tell me. What happened at the Benjamin estate that day? Was Madison Benjamin murdered? Do you know by whom and why he was murdered?”

As if the barrage of questions Herald fired were sharp daggers rifling through her head, Grace Benjamin let out a series of agonized groans with her face scrunched up in pain. Saliva she hadn’t managed to swallow dribbled down.

The focus had completely disappeared from her eyes long ago, and her legs had lost strength, unable to stand on her own. If Herald hadn’t been holding her shoulders, she would have collapsed long ago.

Had he whipped her too harshly? The thin, red lips that had paused the questioning for a moment twisted greatly.

He hadn’t intended to press her like this from the beginning. He was going to list the childhood memories he had heard from Lily and stimulate her bit by bit first.

So when Grace Benjamin showed a reaction as if she knew something about the incident two years ago, that’s when he planned to dig in earnestly. The doctor who had examined Lily had said that would be best too.

But he had discovered a shortcut to the truth and had run toward it without realizing it in his excitement. Herald sighed but didn’t regret choosing the shortcut. There was no turning back anyway. It was wiser to find a way to open Pandora’s box with that time.

“Is the Second Prince the culprit?”

Beating around the bush any longer seemed pointless. Herald asked bluntly, as if he had to find out before Grace’s mind completely collapsed.

“Did the Second Prince kill your husband Madison Benjamin and set fire to the Benjamin estate?”

The moment the Second Prince was mentioned, the trembling of the shoulders subsided as if it were a lie. The hands that had been gripping the hair tightly as if it were the only lifeline slowly lost strength and hung limply. The bent fingers and gaps between the nails were tangled with hair.

“…”

The green eyes of Grace Benjamin that he met as she raised her head were the most pathetic he had ever seen. Like the eyes of someone who had been desperately waiting for something.

“…Who are you?”

Her voice was small to begin with. The pronunciation was slurred, so the first part was incomprehensible, but Herald, who had guessed what she wanted, answered.

“For now, let’s say I’m Liliana Benjamin’s boyfriend.”

More than a boyfriend, the term fiancé would be more correct. That’s what he had promised her.

Herald laughed as if he found the sudden thought amusing. Grace Benjamin, who read the composure emanating from that laughter, moved her lips.

“…The letter… The drawing…”

The even more slurred pronunciation stuttered out the words. Herald pricked up his ears even more and focused on her words.

“…Must get rid of…”

As if she had exhausted her energy by spitting out a few words, Grace Benjamin fainted without finishing her sentence.

“I think it’s about time to give up, Mother.”

At the unexpected words that came out during teatime, the Marchioness of Ariande put down her teacup on the saucer and looked at her son sitting on the terrace railing. His golden hair fluttered in the spring breeze, which was heavily laden with the scent of flowers.

“May I ask why you’ve suddenly changed your mind?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to find it no matter how much I struggle. Which means others won’t be able to find it either, so I think there may be no need to look for it.”

“But there’s that woman. She may not have her memories now, but what if she remembers one day and finds it?”

“What should I do then? I’ll have to kill her, of course.”

Derius smiled brightly as he spat out the gruesome words.

“I have a good hunting dog now, and an audience to stir up my excitement, so I think it’ll be fine to hunt.”