The Duke Stole Everything - Chapter 45

Sharti nodded indifferently.

“Uh, no, not just his gender. He’s the opposite sex.”

Birena added an explanation.

Birena was now talking about the difference between the same sex and the opposite sex.

Sharti tapped the note with her pencil lead.

‘Perhaps she’s asking if I’ve ever been conscious of him as a man?’

Fortunately, Sharti wasn’t completely oblivious in this regard.

Sharti also asked herself inwardly.

‘Has there ever been such a time?’

It would be a lie to say there had never been, but it was ambiguous to say there definitely had been.

To begin with, Sharti had no memory of living with others for long besides Bireta’s family.

As a result, she was confused whether she was conscious of Ren as the opposite sex or just observing someone completely opposite to herself.

‘What does it even feel like to be conscious of someone as the opposite sex?’

Ren had deep, masculine features and a muscular physique, not to mention.

His uniquely intimidating aura also made him appear as an attractive man.

Of course, Sharti had trembled at the sight of Ren before.

However, she was confused whether that trembling was due to tension from Ren’s huge build, or if it was a tingling sensation as her guard came down from Ren’s kindness.

“Actually, I’m the same, but grandmother was very worried. Because we let a strange man into the house. What if he had bad intentions.”

“……”

Now Sharti fully realized what kind of worries Bireta and Birena must have had, and how shocked they must have been to hear about facts that weren’t shared beforehand.

Sharti lowered her eyebrows in regret.

‘I was trying to resolve it on my own without causing worry… But in the end, I even received help.’

She had wanted to show that she was different from 5 years ago.

But in the end, she had only shown an unreliable side of herself.

“But we trust you, Sha.”

When Sharti raised her gaze, Birena was smiling brightly.

Far from being a beauty, Birena’s smile was very cheerful and youthful. And Birena’s smile was kind enough to open Sharti’s heart from 5 years ago.

“We believed you would do this− if that man tried anything funny.”

Birena made a chopping motion at her neck.

Sharti burst into silent laughter at the exaggerated action. As if hearing the soundless laughter, Birena’s smile deepened.

“Sha, I’ve never talked to this Ren guy, and I don’t know anything about him, but I do know one thing.”

Birena recalled the teal eyes she had seen in the log cabin at dawn.

The dark eyes that reminded one of a wild beast that distrusts people only cleared their shadows when looking at Sharti.

To Ren, Sharti was like the dawn that drove away the darkness of deep night.

“To that man, you’ve become more than just a necessary person, but an important person.”

Birena had good intuition when it came to relationships between men and women.

“When a man gives flowers, it has meaning.”

And that an amnesiac man gave flowers,

It could be survival instinct, or it could be a natural action to gain favor.

However, Birena ignored all those speculations.

“He wants the recipient of the flowers to smile.”

“……”

“He wants to see that expression, that face.”

With Birena’s explanation full of personal sentiment, Sharti’s thought processes came to a halt.

Only the image of Ren handing over the flowers lingered before her eyes.

“……”

The thought that how could he see her face covered by a hood didn’t cross her mind.

No matter how small her face was, there were parts that weren’t covered by the hood.

Generally it would be the jawline, but when the wind blew, up to the corners of her mouth could be seen.

‘Did I… smile?’

Sharti unconsciously touched the corners of her mouth.

Watching this silently, Birena carefully opened her mouth.

“Sha, if, I mean later on. Have you ever thought about taking off your hood in front of that man?”

“……!”

Sharti snapped back to her senses at Birena’s suggestion.

Fearing that Sharti would recoil in shock, Birena quickly grabbed her hand.

“Grandmother always said we should be careful, and not let our guard down. Of course that’s right. But Sha, haven’t you ever thought about this?”

How long she would have to live in the world as a dead person with her face hidden.

If she had to live like a faceless ghost for as long as she lived, until she died.

Sharti thought of Birena as her best friend.

And like a best friend, Birena saw through the vague sense of frustration that Sharti harbored deep down.

“It’s only been 5 years, but it’s already been 5 years. Many people’s memories of the faces of the nobles of the Kingdom of Cryanet are already fading. And even if that man regains his memories later, there’s a higher chance he won’t be related to ‘that day’.”

I know. That’s why I’ve been unconsciously feeling at ease.

To the point where I can remain calm even after showing my face to him a few times already.

“Sha, how many people do you think we can meet in our lives that we consider good people? When will you meet another person who gives you flowers while being considerate of your feelings?”

Birena took a deep breath.

Birena wanted to see Sharti’s face.

From some point on, Sharti stopped showing her face even in front of the Bireta family. She had become so accustomed to thoroughly and flawlessly building a wall to hide her face.

While feeling hurt by this, Birena also felt pity and concern for her.

“If you can’t take off your hood in front of such a person, you might never have the chance to take it off.”

It didn’t have to be a special occasion. Even a small change could be used as an excuse to create an opportunity.

Birena hoped that Sharti would use Ren as an excuse to overcome that wall herself.

“Sha, sometimes action needs to come before thinking, right? You can just go with your heart and do it.”

“……”

It was an irresponsible thing to say.

But those irresponsible words were pushing her back.

Sharti too was facing that wall.

[You have someone now with whom you don’t need to write notes or wear a hood, don’t you?]

Sharti smiled bitterly.

Is it because she’s Bireta’s granddaughter?

She gives the same hopeful advice.

‘That it’s okay to have… vain hope.’

That even if it’s vain hope, it’s okay to place it on Ren.

When Sharti didn’t say anything, Birena glanced at her cautiously.

“I’m sorry if that sounded like I was pressuring you just now. What I mean is, Sha, whatever choice you make, I’ll support and protect you. Just like our grandmother did.”

“I’m having spoken conversations with Ren.”

“Huh, huh? Umm?”

Birena’s hand trembled at Sharti’s sudden voice.

Sharti swallowed a laugh at the familiar reaction that felt new again.

Sharti carefully took off her hood.

“Ren says my voice is fine. Not just saying it, but it really is fine.”

Sharti smiled as if feeling relieved after taking off her hood.

However, she couldn’t hide the slight trembling in her voice.

“Ren is a good person. I don’t want to burden such a good person anymore.”

“Burden!”

“Relying on Ren as I please is a burden, isn’t it? Since he says my voice is fine, I wonder how my face would be. How about my trauma. How about my… secret.”

“……Sha−.”

Birena covered the back of Sharti’s hand with both of her hands.

The trembling that started from her voice had reached Sharti’s hands.

“The expectations are gradually turning into greed. And eventually……”

Sharti bit her lip.

“I feel like I’ll end up hoping that Ren doesn’t leave.”

“……!”

“Not because my secret is exposed, not because he’s someone who shares my secret, but because he’s someone I’ve come to rely on. I feel like I won’t want to give up on such a Ren. I feel like I won’t want to let him go.”

I feel like I won’t want to lose him.

Sharti, with reddened eyes, grinned.

Seeing this, Birena was about to open her mouth in a surge of emotion but held back.

The smiling face that seemed to know it shouldn’t covet was as pure as a child accustomed to giving up.

Sharti let out a small laugh at Birena’s too honest expression.

“He might have someone who promised him a future, even if he doesn’t remember now. There might be someone precious to him waiting for Ren to return as soon as possible.”

As she poured out her inner thoughts, Sharti suddenly imagined.

The existence that might have been by Ren’s side before he lost his memory. The woman who might have smiled with excitement upon receiving flowers from Ren.

“So I absolutely won’t waver. Because I hope my vain expectations don’t become a burden to Ren. Just this is enough.”

Ren is a good person. He should be nothing more, nothing less than that.

He’s someone who will someday return to his original life, and Sharti is someone who will be alone again.

Sharti didn’t want to add the insecurity of love on top of her already insecure life.

She had neither the leisure nor the thought to see someone as the opposite sex, or to accept them as such.

Not yet.

Faced with Sharti’s firm resolve, Birena couldn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry, Sha. I acted like I knew better, without understanding your feelings.”

Birena had never considered the possibility that there might be someone Ren had shared his heart with in the memories he had lost.

It couldn’t be helped.

Birena was romantic because she was a third party, and Sharti, being the one directly involved, had no choice but to be extremely realistic.

“Shaaaa……”

Birena, with a tingling nose, whimpered.

As she patted Birena’s hand, Sharti thought.

‘What if, just if, Ren says he won’t try to regain his memories… If he says he’ll stay in the old log cabin, by my side, then what would I do?’

The vain hope eventually led to a selfish assumption.

She earnestly hoped that such a day would not come.

And, a small shadow quietly disappeared, eavesdropping on their conversation.

Tein, who had woken up from his nap with even more bright eyes, clenched his small fists tightly.

“I must tell Ren.”

The kind teacher was sad.

So he had to tell the cause of the sadness.

Like grandmother and sister, Tein also wanted to protect Sharti in his own way.

[This is the timeline separator]

In the early evening as the sun set early, Sharti kept her promise with Ren.

Using the darkness as an excuse, Ren climbed the mountain with Sharti without bandages on his face.

In their hands, they held special roasted sweet potatoes made by Birena as their dinner.

While walking steadily without falling despite the lack of light, Ren suddenly spoke.

“Did something happen?”

“……?”

Sharti, who had been focusing only on climbing the mountain, turned around to see Ren standing still.

“You haven’t been speaking since you returned from the village.”

“That’s not it……”

“If you’re tired, rest. There’s no need to push yourself.”

Ren looked ready to return to the old log cabin right away.

Sharti quickly waved her hands.

“It’s because I was chatting with a friend. I think I talked too much today, so I was trying to rest my voice.”

“You had such a long conversation……”

For a moment, Ren felt displeased, as if jealous of this friend.

He was also annoyed, feeling like this friend had stolen the precious conversation time he had just begun to share.

“……I see you enjoyed it.”

In truth, he mostly envied that friend who had such a long conversation.

He was curious about what topics they had discussed, but Ren tried to remain nonchalant as he resumed climbing the mountain.

“The secret is no longer a secret. I ended up causing a lot of worry after all. There might be misunderstandings about Ren too, so I explained.”

“Misunderstandings? What kind……”

Ren recalled the existence of the sister that Tein had mentioned.

Ren cleared his throat.

He couldn’t help but be curious.

“……So, what did you talk about?”

Ren asked in a calm voice, glancing at Sharti.

Expectation could be glimpsed on Ren’s face, hidden by the tree shadows.

“They asked how it was living with Ren. They were worried because Ren is a man, it seems.”

Sharti’s voice was steady without fluctuation.

Ren swallowed dryly.

He sensed it.

Something, the flow was strange.

Sharti shrugged her shoulders lightly.

“So I told them not to worry.”

Just then, the wind blew and Sharti’s hood fluttered.

For an instant, he felt their eyes meet with crimson eyes, and Sharti grinned.

“I said we absolutely don’t see each other as the opposite sex.”

“……Absolutely?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Ren frowned deeply.