Gray carefully observed Solea as she finished the bland soup and stood up.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“What could I possibly have to say to you?”
As Solea left the dining room after spitting out those words, Gray got up with a smirk.
“Now we’re finally acting like real siblings.”
*** *** *** *** ***
Solea intended to return to her room, but as soon as she left the dining room, the head maid Marcilla approached and guided her elsewhere.
“Where are we going?”
“The Duke is asking for you.”
I’ve never understood this since the old days.
If the Duke is looking for me, shouldn’t he come to find me? Logically speaking?
The Duke is looking for me, but I have to go find him? What kind of aristocratic thinking is this?
The thirsty one should dig the well. Clearly, I’m like a sickly princess now, so why should the daughter come and go? Father, who’s in good health, should come to me. Your hair might be silver, but your joints aren’t, right?
I’m usually a person who follows social norms, but being in this unfamiliar place seems to be affecting my thinking.
“You’ve come, Solea. How are you feeling? I said it was fine to call you slowly after your meal, but I guess the children made a fuss.”
Duke Diego greeted Solea with a gentle smile.
“Ah… No, it wasn’t really a fuss or anything.”
Her body seemed particularly weak, and she felt irritated just from walking down the hallway. But seeing this handsome old man smiling apologetically, she couldn’t bring herself to get angry.
Solea sat down quietly with an awkward expression, but the Duke hesitated for a long time before speaking, even though he had called for her.
If this old man were just a little less kind, a little less handsome, I would have gotten up and left.
Having lived a tough life, Ji-yoon was a bit, just slightly, rougher than others.
“Um, why did you call for me…”
Finally unable to wait any longer, Solea spoke up first, and the Duke cleared his throat and pulled out a paper from his chest.
“This is a list of people within the duchy. Is there perhaps someone you’re looking for among them?”
Solea took the paper handed by Duke Diego and scanned the unfamiliar characters with her eyes.
Although the letters were clearly unfamiliar, she could read and understand them naturally without difficulty.
The stack of over ten pages contained personal information of unfamiliar individuals.
‘Schirchien Don / 27 years old / Living alone after wife’s death. Farmer.’
‘Sicillion Emba Don / 18 years old / Claims to have a girlfriend but rumored to be a playboy.’
‘Naeran Nae Don / 31 years old / Married with a family. 1 son, 1 daughter. Neighbors say he’s diligent.’
‘Don / Between 20-25 years old / Slave. Many scars on body but excellent.’
‘Noah Don / 16 years old / Brothel worker / Extremely handsome. Exceptional business skills.’
‘Don Narjuang / 22 years old / Illegitimate child of a fallen noble. Currently living alone at home.’
What is all this?
The conversation from the first day flashed through Solea’s mind. Gray had said:
‘When you were lying down sick, it was fine, but now you jump out and say what? You want to cancel? Do you think this marriage is something you can decide on your own?’
Don’t tell me they want me to meet all these people for marriage prospects?
But it was hard to believe that was the purpose of this list. First of all, there were too many candidates. From what this handsome old man was saying, he seemed to care for his daughter quite a bit, so it didn’t seem likely he’d ask her to meet just anyone for marriage.
‘If this were in Korea, your daughter would run away from home, mister.’
And decisively, the men on the list were all over the place.
Married men, playboys, illegitimate children, and slaves? What’s with that?
Why did they write ‘extremely handsome’? Is that important? ‘Many scars but excellent’? What’s excellent about that?
What could be the purpose of giving me this?
As Solea’s face gradually hardened, the Duke fidgeted and quickly continued.
“Is the person you’re looking for not here? Perhaps the name ‘Don’ could be an alias. I didn’t think of that. You kept calling out for ‘don’ (money)…”
“Ah.”
Only then did it make sense.
They must think that this frail princess secretly suffered from a feverish love and then lost her memory. After all, she was always clamoring about money, money.
Schirchien, Sicillion. And amidst all that, they managed to find something that sounds similar to 1.7 billion.
Solea glanced at Duke Diego, who was watching with a serious face, and bit her lip to suppress her laughter.
She raised her left hand, which was holding the lottery paper, to cover her mouth, coughed a few times, and then put down the ‘money’ list, causing the Duke to frown in disappointment.
“…As expected, just the names weren’t enough information, right? Should I ask you to bring a drawing? Would you be able to recognize it then?”
The Duke sighed shallowly with a troubled expression and spoke cautiously.
“Even if you’ve lost your memory… love can work miracles. If it can make you better, I’ll bring anyone, no matter who it is.”
“Isn’t ‘anyone’ a bit too broad? There are even slaves here. And what’s this? There are even brothel workers. What if he’s a married man?”
Speaking exaggeratedly just to tease him, Diego lowered his eyes.
The veins on his large fist resting on the table bulged. It seemed the stories about his renowned days on the battlefield in his youth were not lies.
Duke Diego continued slowly with a trembling voice.
“…Because you were young, well. Yes. That could happen… You spent most of your time in the Duke’s mansion… You wouldn’t have known much. Still, I thought you were innocent… No, I thought you never left the mansion, but when did you… Yes. When I was young too, no, but still…”
Unable to finish even a single sentence properly and mumbling this and that, the Duke suddenly raised his voice.
“What did I tell you! Your father and brothers are so great that your standards for looks must be high, but didn’t I say to prioritize personality when meeting people!”
“No, what! How can you say such things!”
“You’ve been with me and your brothers since the moment you were born, so of course your standards are high! You should have at least chosen a decent man! How can they all be rakes, slaves, illegitimate children, and even married men!”
“Who do you think you’re raising your voice at!”
“Who is it! If it’s a slave… if it’s a slave, I’ll just introduce you and sell him right back!”
“What if he’s married!”
“If he’s married, you should give up! What are you trying to do!”
Watching the Duke jump up from his seat in disgust, it felt like being in a sitcom.
In the playful atmosphere, Solea burst into laughter, giggling uncontrollably.
With her mysterious violet eyes curved beautifully and her red hair disheveled from laughter, Solea looked brighter than ever before.
The Duke stared blankly at Solea, who looked just like his deceased wife, before quickly coming to his senses.
Where did my daughter just laugh? Surely not…
“…Ma-married man?”
“No.”
Thanks to Solea’s immediate denial, Diego breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing Solea wiping tears from her eyes and shaking her head, the Duke fell into thought again.
He picked up the list on the table, read each page with serious eyes, then put it down and spoke in a lower, more solemn voice than ever before.
“…Still, the brothel is off-limits.”
“But the name was on the list.”
“If I introduce you, who knows how they might try to seduce you. That’s not how they make a living. The world outside this mansion is harsher than you think.”
“I suppose so.”
“That guy sees you as money.”
“I’m looking for money too.”
At Solea’s words, the Duke glanced down at the list with a desperate expression.
If it were really about money, he had raised her without lack, so it must surely be a person named ‘Don’.
Seeing Solea searching so desperately for ‘Don’ after losing her memory, he concluded that even if all memories were lost, the memory of a loved one remained vivid.
Thinking it might help her regain her memory, he gathered all the ‘money’ his daughter was desperately searching for, wondering if it had sparked the flame of love.
He himself couldn’t imagine a life without his wife in his younger days, so naturally, his daughter would feel the same. He understood Solea’s feelings.
So, even if it was someone he couldn’t accept, he was willing to meet them once.
…Still, he hoped it would be someone decent.
The Duke’s violet eyes drooped slightly. After pondering quietly for a while, he slowly exhaled a long breath and spoke firmly, as if he had made up his mind.
“I’m ready. Now tell me. Who is the lover who made you sad?”
Solea put away her laughter and spoke plainly.
“There isn’t one.”
“Huh?”
“There isn’t one. How could I have someone I like when I don’t even have my memories?”
Unless the real Solea liked someone.
But judging by the maids’ attitudes and Gray’s words about how she moved around quietly with a guilty look, Solea must have had a timid personality.
With such a personality, she wouldn’t have dared to sneak out of the mansion for a passionate love affair.
Hearing Solea’s firm answer, Duke Diego finally seemed relieved, letting out a big sigh and smiling brightly.
“That’s a relief. I thought there would be at least one decent guy, but they all had flaws, so I was very worried.”
“I have flaws too.”
“What flaws do you have? Your health will gradually improve. And no matter what, you are my daughter. Please don’t say such things in front of your father. It pains my heart.”
Solea smiled gently.
That’s what a real father says. A father finds it hard to hear his daughter say she’s lacking.
“…You must have loved Solea very much.”
It was a thoughtless remark that slipped out.
Hearing her refer to herself as if she were someone else, the Duke looked at his daughter sitting in front of him with surprised eyes.
Come to think of it, it was a completely different atmosphere from before when she smiled gently with a pale white face. It seemed more fitting to say she had become a different person rather than just losing her memories.
Moreover, Solea’s expression as she said those words looked particularly lonely. Just like an abandoned child.
Even though she was sitting right in front of him, there was a sense of distance as if she were far away.
Diego looked at Solea for a moment, then gently smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth.
“I will always love you.”
Solea’s eyes widened in surprise, then she quickly blinked and lowered her head.
“I’ll be going now. I’m still not feeling well.”
“Alright, take care.”
As she stood up and headed for the door, Diego called out from behind in a playful voice.
“It’s not that there’s no one on this list, but really no one, right, Lea? Don’t make Dad regret this later.”
Standing in front of the door, Solea turned her head slightly to the side to answer before opening the door and leaving.
“…There were only men on the list.”
The color drained from Diego’s face, who had been trying to joke lightly.
“…Wait. What, what did you say? Solea! Lea, come back here! Lea! If not a man? If not a man!”
Ignoring the Duke’s voice echoing behind her, Solea walked quickly down the corridor.
Although she still didn’t know the layout of the mansion well, she felt that if she stayed with the Duke any longer, she might end up confessing everything.
That your Solea is gone, and I don’t know you.
…That I don’t have a father like you.
According to Anne, Solea had been burning with fever for days and couldn’t think straight. She said that although Solea occasionally fell ill, it was the first time since childhood that her condition had been so serious, putting the entire mansion on alert.
Then, suddenly, as if she had fallen asleep, her breathing became quiet. When they put a finger under her nose, her breath was so weak that they couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not.
‘Was she breathing?’
‘…To be honest, I’m not sure. That’s why I was about to call for a doctor. But…’
‘But?’
‘The young lady suddenly opened her eyes wide, got up from her bed, and ran to the dining room.’
‘Ah.’
By that time, Ji-yoon had already entered Solea’s body.
…What happened to the original Solea?”
Jiyun turned back towards the Duke’s room with a bitter expression.
Poor person.
“Solea! How long has it been since you woke up, and you’re already wandering around, especially when you’re not well!”
Hearing Gray’s voice from afar, Solea frowned and opened the nearest door in front of her.
It was a library filled with the smell of old books. Judging by the number of books, it was more like a library than a study.
Solea, as if entranced, walked near the bookshelves and absentmindedly pulled out a book with a deep red cover. Inside, there was elegant handwriting that looked as if it had just been written.
I thought I was opening the door to the company, but it must have been a dimensional door. Why did I end up in such a fantasy world? What about my 1.7 billion?
…What is this?
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