The Impact Of The Villainess’ Fake Marriage On The Ending - Chapter 72
Chapter 72
“They… completely erased my memory?” Adeline asked back in disbelief.
“Very cleanly. As clean as the engraved snowdrop.”
“How could that…”
“It seems that some people are afraid of what you have seen or know.”
Adeline’s eyes wandered from place to place. She couldn’t believe her memory was completely erased. It was hard to believe or accept.
“How do I get them back? It’s a memory that existed, so I’m sure it can be restored.”
“You don’t. You can’t get them back. I told you, they wiped it clean, like that flower.”
Not only Adeline, but also Kael and Simeon, who were listening by her side, were shocked.
“Even if you try to search your memory and hear from others about what happened before, you won’t remember anything.”
“…”
“It’ll just be like listening to someone else’s story. Even though it definitely happened to you.”
Everything Kasus said confused Adeline.
It was definitely a time Adeline had lived, a time she had to know, so she could not accept that she wouldn’t be able to get it back.
“If I can’t get my memory back…”
“You can’t get it back, but you can see it. And when you see it, it will be different.”
Adeline frowned, confused by what he said about seeing a memory. She couldn’t afford to solve the riddle calmly.
“You just have to look at the recorded time. No magic works in that place, so if you see your records in there, you can recover your memories.”
“That place?”
“The repository of time. It’s called Repositio. You would know, Grand Ducal Highness.”
As Kasus looked at Kael, Adeline’s gaze naturally followed him. As he said, Kael seemed to know where ‘that place’ was.
“We have to go up now. Relief time is about to end.”
There was no chance to ask where it was. After checking the time, Simeon signaled to Kael and Adeline that they had to go up.
They couldn’t delay it, and they had heard all the answers they had to hear from Kasus, so there was no reason to hesitate.
Adeline pursed her lips and eventually retreated from the iron bars. After silently showing him her gratitude, she quickly pressed down the hood of the robe and followed Simeon.
“Your Grace.”
“I’ll be right behind you. Take Adeline out first.”
“There’s no time. If you get caught…”
“I’ll never get caught. I’ll follow you right away, so you should go first.”
Kael was totally determined. Even Adeline, who tried to stop him saying it was dangerous, simply nodded and dragged Simeon up the stairs.
When his blue-grey eyes sank deeply, it was a waste of time to try to stop him. Adeline knew this well.
“You grew up a lot, Grand Ducal Highness. If it weren’t for those eyes, I wouldn’t have recognized you.”
When the two were left alone, Kasus spoke with a small smile.
Kael didn’t answer, just stared at him.
It had been ten years since he faced him like this. The look of humility and old age made Kael feel disturbed, incomparable to the last time he had seen him.
“I heard you wouldn’t open your mouth at all while in prison. And that no one has heard your voice for 10 years.”
“Because I have nothing to say. There’s no reason to do it.”
Kael, who was going to say more, closed his mouth and turned around. The memories that still remained stopped his feet from moving and leaving this place, but his head only became more complicated when he faced him more closely.
“Grand Ducal Highness.”
But Kasus stopped Kael once more.
“Does that woman you love know about your curse?”
The words that she was the woman he loved flew into Kael’s heart.
He turned back to face Kasus.
“Do you know that your love can lead to a curse?”
“I don’t know. And I’m not going to let it lead to that. I never told you she was the woman I love.”
“You came to see me to find out what happened to that woman, but she’s not the woman you love?”
Before and now, Kasus was always sharp. Kael, who had been caught off guard, just stared with sad eyes at the man he shared a long relationship with.
Kasus was right. If it hadn’t been for Adeline’s situation, he would have never been able to step foot in here and face Kasus.
Kasus was his father’s old friend. He often visited the north, gave him frequent advice, played with Kael and his brother very endearingly, and left.
[Believe me. There’s no reason not to respond. Why would you miss an opportunity to expand your horizons? Trust the Emperor.]
But that one piece of advice was the problem.
It was a time when the previous emperor, who had been called the wise king sent down from heaven, had become impaired in his judgement due to illness. When Kael’s father, who sensed this, hesitated to join the war, Kasus, who was on the emperor’s side, persuaded him.
His father believed the words of his old friend, and ended up losing his life along with Kael’s brother in the battle. Kael, the only survivor, received his curse there.
Two years after the devastating battle shattered the Inver family, Kasus failed to assassinate the emperor.
That battle was the reason for the assassination attempt.
By deceiving even Kasus, the emperor deceived the previous Grand Duke Inver. Kasus, who had pushed his friend to death with his own hands, tried to soothe his anger and guilt with the emperor’s life.
“The more you refuse to acknowledge your love, the harder it will be for you. The same goes for that woman.”
Kael knew it wasn’t Kasus’ fault. He also knew the righteousness and courage that made him run to the emperor at the risk of his life.
However, when he thought of Kasus, he remembered the battle of that day, and the happy past of being with his father and brother came back to haunt him.
So he didn’t look for him. Though he couldn’t find him, he also didn’t want to find him. Only his feelings for Adeline led him here, and since Kasus knew this well, the lie that he didn’t love Adeline had no way of working with him.
“It’s not your place to intervene, is it?”
“…”
“My curse won’t hurt that woman. I won’t let that happen. I will stop it no matter what.”
Kael, who spoke as coldly as he did harshly, turned around and left the prison.
However, even if he moved away from Kasus, his words, ‘Your love will lead to a curse,’ rang in his ears.
They hardly faded away.
***
Kael got out just in time and they got on the carriage right away. It was close, but he didn’t get caught. Adeline, who had been on edge the whole time, let out a sigh of relief.
There were many things to ask, and many things to hear, but no words were actually said inside the carriage.
Both Adeline and Kael’s minds were too complicated.
After arriving at the mansion and heading to Kael’s study, Kael and Adeline faced each other.
“Repositio, was it? The place he mentioned earlier.”
Adeline asked Kael about Repositio. She had to know exactly what that place was and how to find it.
“That’s right. Repositio. The repository of time.”
“If it’s a repository of time…”
“It’s a place where the lives of all who are born and breathe are recorded. A place in the North.”
“Every life is recorded?”
“Yes. Not a single person, and not a single moment, are left out.”
It was a much bigger place than expected. Adeline looked at Kael in surprise.
“Why is such an enormous place unknown? This is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a place.”
“As you say, it’s a huge place. It is the place most feared by those who try to conceal the truth. So, its existence itself is not known. It’s a very secret place.”
Unlike Adeline, who was startled, Kael calmly continued his explanation.
“It’s a place hidden at the highest spot in the North, and it only appears during midwinter when the blue moon rises.”
“The blue moon?”
New information that she didn’t even know existed kept pouring in. Adeline’s eyes widened upon learning that the blue moon existed.
“It’s a very rare phenomenon only seen in the North. However, it’s hard to tell when it’ll appear because there’s no fixed cycle. Sometimes, it appears for two consecutive days, but it is so arbitrary that there are recordings that it only reappeared 800 years after the last time it was seen.”
When she heard it reappeared after 800 years, Adeline was dazed.
“Is it completely unpredictable?”
“You can use the magic tools to estimate the approximate time. There is a magic tool connected with the aura of the blue moon, and on the first day of the new year, if the tool shines blue, the blue moon will appear in the winter of that year. You can know like this.”
The more she listened, the more difficult things seemed to be.
Adeline’s only way to find her memories was to go inside Repositio, but if something went wrong, the blue moon might not show up while Adeline was still alive.
Adeline let out a long sigh as she pressed her forehead. She was frustrated, thinking that nothing was easy.
“But this year, it shone blue.”
Adeline looked at Kael in amazement at the words he added calmly.
“This year?”
“Yes. This year. But the blue moon hasn’t risen yet.”
“In that case…”
“It means you can still enter Repositio.”
The embers of hope that had been extinguished came back to life. Adeline moved closer to Kael with trembling eyes.
“When Repositio shows up, is there some kind of gateway I have to go through to get in?”
Kael shook his head at the carefully asked question.
“There is no gateway. The door only opens to those who are allowed to enter in the first place.”
“Only those who are allowed?”
“Repositio only opens to the master of the North.”
Adeline’s eyes shook when he mentioned the master of the north. According to Kael, it meant that the door of Repositio would only open to him.
“Ah… Then…”
As Adeline trailed off, Kael furrowed his brows slightly. Adeline’s perplexed reaction seemed incomprehensible.
Then, he guessed the reason and called Adeline.
“Adeline.”
“Yes?”
“I’m not the only master of the North.”
“What does that…”
“So are you. The northern masters allowed by Repositio are the grand duke and the grand duchess.”
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