Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Side Story 18

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Side Story 18

Translator: Yonnee

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* * *

Among those attending Adela’s birthday party was Liam.

Having brought seafood and various cooking ingredients from his territory, Liam had entered the palace early in the morning and was now strolling down the corridors.

He intended to inform Albert of his arrival and then get some rest in his room.

“Your Majesty, Duke Liam Masen has arrived.”

It was at that moment.

Liam’s memories returned.

‘…What is this?’

Unable to withstand the sudden flood of unfamiliar memories, he stumbled momentarily.

“Are you alright?”

The attendant beside him caught him and fussed over him. Liam, pressing his forehead, furrowed his brows.

…The past had changed.

And he hadn’t remembered that past until now.

‘Did my liege also…?’

No, it wasn’t the same. In Liam’s memories, every moment Albert had visited him remained vivid.

Albert had always acted as if he knew what would happen.

The half-hearted sparring with wooden swords had turned into real matches, and even after that, Albert had regularly sparred with him.

Liam had always known that Albert was careful and observant of those around him.

He had considered himself lucky to be counted among Albert’s people.

But that wasn’t it.

Their previous lives had already connected him with Albert.

There were no memories of the banquet. Liam was no longer Albert’s greatest ally in leading the rebellion.

Albert had ascended to his position with his power alone.

Liam’s father, Duke Masen, was vocally against Albert.

Because of this, Liam thought he might fall out of Albert’s favor. But Albert had always treated him the same.

It made Liam uncomfortable that Albert, who was strict with everyone else, was so lenient with him. He wondered if it was because Albert coveted his territory.

So, while following Albert’s orders, he kept a reasonable distance.

To show that he had no desire for the throne, he even dedicated himself more to traveling.

‘I thought he was just a benevolent emperor.’

He lamented how he could have forgotten all those moments.

“…So you remember now.”

At the familiar voice, Liam looked up. There stood Albert, arms crossed.

“…How could you not say anything, sire?”

Albert responded calmly to Liam’s resentful words.

“Weren’t you happier?”

“Your Majesty remembered everything but didn’t say a word to me.”

“I thought it would be better for you not to remember.”

“……”

“I wanted to give you the chance to live more freely, without the burden of guilt.”

That was the kind of person his liege was.

“This was the best I could do for you.”

A man who tried to do everything himself, without leaning on others, even though he had the ability to do so.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the strain, but he never showed it and always handled everything himself.

…That’s why Liam had never regretted serving Albert.

Not in the past life, and not now.

Liam approached Albert. Pressing his lips together to suppress his emotions, Liam slowly asked,

“Please, sire. Let me hit you once.”

“…Hit me?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead.”

As soon as Albert gave his permission, Liam landed a punch on Albert’s face.

It was strong enough to swell one side of Albert’s cheek, but Albert only rubbed his cheek without showing any pain and spoke.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“That’s for not returning our memories all this time.”

He could understand changing the past upon returning.

But after everything was over, Albert could have returned their memories, yet he hadn’t. That was what hurt Liam the most.

Albert had remembered everything, while Liam couldn’t.

“I understand it was a choice made out of concern for us. But…”

“……”

“Not every moment was only painful.”

The guilt and shadows of the past had always lingered since childhood.

He knew it was a burden he had to bear for life.

But even so—

He had never regretted that life.

Even if it was less happy, even if it was less smooth.

Because all those moments led him to meet Albert and truly follow him as his liege.

“I was happy just to be by your side then.”

“……”

“That was enough for me.”

Watching Liam plead earnestly, Albert narrowed his eyes.

He had thought it was right not to restore their memories. He believed it would make them happier.

…But he and Jung-in had been wrong.

“I’m sorry.”

Albert readily admitted his mistake. And he corrected Liam’s misunderstanding.

“But aside from that, I never returned any of your memories.”

“Never? Then…”

The birthday girl of the day popped into Liam’s head.

“Princess Adela?”

Albert chuckled and nodded.

A faint smile spread across Liam’s face as he thought of Princess Adela, whose birthday was today.

“I should prepare more gifts for Her Highness.”

“I feel like I’ve received the best gift for Adela’s birthday.”

…A gift that couldn’t be exchanged for anything else. There was a hint of laughter in Albert’s softly spoken words.

* * *

It was the day of Adela’s birthday party.

After seeing off Albert, who had woken up early, I slept a little more and then headed to the hallway to meet Adela.

Adela’s room was right next to mine and Albert’s.

“Adela, are you still asleep?”

As I knocked on the door, I was startled by a bustling sound and looked around.

To my surprise, Mercy was running towards me from a distance.

“Mercy?”

She was supposed to attend the party today, but why was she here so early? I thought she was meeting Schubert today.

Was she coming to see me instead of Schubert? That didn’t seem like her usual behavior.

Given how respectful Mercy always was, I was even more worried.

Seeing her face up close, her red-rimmed eyes made it look like she had been crying.

“Mercy, is something wrong?”

“Sister.”

That was the first thing Mercy said when she saw me. I was at a loss for words, my mouth opening and closing soundlessly. It was completely unexpected.

“Um, have you decided to call me that now?”

I managed to smile as I spoke, and Mercy bit her lip before hugging me tightly.

“I’m sorry for not remembering anything until now. I remember now—all of it.”

“What do you mean?”

Her attitude toward me was different from before. Her tone, her words…

…even the way she addressed me.

I instinctively felt that she really had remembered everything.

I was bewildered. How? No, it might be a misunderstanding.

“Did you think I’d be happy about this? Ha, seriously. Both you and His Majesty are the same. Asking if we had any regrets was all because of this…”

With those words, there was no denying it—she had regained her memories.

…This was the Mercy I knew.

I felt relief that everyone was as I remembered, but I also felt remorseful. She seemed happier when she didn’t remember anything in this life… Was it selfish of me to be glad now?

Perhaps reading my mind, Mercy quickly spoke again.

“Never mess with my memories again. It’s already a lifelong embarrassment to think about how distant I’ve been from you. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

Mercy released me from her embrace and firmly warned me.

I could see the shadow I had first seen on her face reappearing. It pained me deeply.

“I thought it would be better for you not to remember.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to forget how His Majesty helped me overcome those tough times, or the memories I shared with Schubert and you.”

“……”

“Because they are all precious.”

All the unspoken feelings I hadn’t shared with Mercy, accumulated throughout the years, melted away. Mercy continued speaking immediately.

“It would be a lie to say it wasn’t hard, but all those things made me who I am. I was going to live accepting everything.”

Mercy smiled at me, looking relieved.

“And that’s the right thing to do.”

Just like when I first met her.

“It might be strange to say this now, but…”

She extended her hand to me.

“It’s nice to meet you again.”

We shook hands.

It was strange. I thought I had been happy enough in this life.

Now, however, it felt like everything had finally fallen into place.

“But how in the world did you remember everything?”

Albert and I had vowed never to touch their memories, so how did she suddenly regain hers? I was confused and began to think there might be some unknown threat.

At that moment, Adela’s door creaked open.

“Adela.”

She was already awake. This reminded me so much of Albert.

“Adela, happy birth…”

I started to wish her a happy birthday, but the bright smile on her face left me momentarily speechless.

In a mature voice, Adela spoke first.

“Since it’s the day Momma brought me into this world… I wanted to give Momma a present too.”

As soon as I saw Adela’s smile, I understood.

“Dadda said I should use my power wisely, so I used it just right. I didn’t just use it for nothing.”

All these miracles were thanks to Adela’s power.

Adela had stepped in for the forbidden task that Albert and I would never touch.

I hugged Adela tightly.