My Husband Hates Me, But He Lost His Memories - Chapter 3

‘Theodore Valentino…’

I was curious about him, but that was it. I hadn’t seen him in person because I couldn’t even attend the debutante ball held in the capital of the kingdom.

What kind of person was he? Did he resemble the rumors said about him? As people said, was he a great, marvelous man? If he was, then he was all the more a person who I wouldn’t suit.

“Crazy wench. Why are you dressed up like that? Do you think your face would work on that stone-like bastard?”

Hessen, who leaned against the railing of the stairs as I went down, started with me again today. I only stared back at him, then checked my dress.

The rosy, colorful dress was brought to me by the maids this morning. It was under Father’s orders. I hated these kinds of clothes that had such excessive embellishments and a deeply cut neckline, but I couldn’t disobey my father.

Indeed, as Hessen pointed out, Father half-heartedly seemed to be expecting that my face would work on Theodore Valentino.

Should I use it to my advantage? But I think the probability of success was too low.

Despite Hessen grating on my nerves, I smiled at him. Since he had started with these remarks so early in the morning, of course I plan to retaliate.

“I guess I’m pretty good-looking even in your eyes. What do you think? Do you think you’ll fall in love with me?”

Hessen flinched. After a few seconds of prolonged silence, his expression suddenly blew up and his temper flared.

“Have you really gone crazy?! Go back to your room. This vulgar little…”

“Father ordered me to go to the garden.”

I ignored Hessen and jerked past him, but he followed right away and grabbed my arm so tightly that it stung.

“Ugh…!”

Hessen pulled me violently and turned me around, and I could only groan in pain as he clutched my shoulder with his other hand, as if to crush it. However, soon after he did this, he flinched and dropped his hands like a person who touched something he was forbidden to touch.

The dress I had on was designed with my shoulders revealed, so Hessen had just touched my bare skin.

Hessen spat out a few colorful swear words, covering his mouth with the hand that held my shoulder earlier.

“Sh*t, what are you going to do meeting that bastard with a dress like that? Has Father already gone senile…”

“If you don’t like that I’m wearing this for my meeting with the Duke, you should persuade Father.”

This made Hessen scowl. The indigo eyes staring down at me were vicious, but it wasn’t difficult to read the deep sense of defeat and helplessness in his gaze. After laughing at him with a low voice, I shook off his arm and turned away from him.

Hessen didn’t try to stop me from going down the stairs again. Instead, I could only hear his nervous cussing and the sound of him kicking the balustrade.

Hessen was a coward who knew nothing but to throw temper tantrums. He wasn’t someone who could openly rebel against his father dearest.

· 

As Father had ordered, I went to the garden near the entrance of the main building, and I wandered around there for over an hour.

The sky was clear and the sunlight was strong, but since it was nearing the end of autumn, the air was chilly.

As I folded my arms around myself, feeling that my body temperature had already dropped, I regretted that I didn’t bring a shawl.

Even if I tried to order a maid to bring me one, it was impossible because there was no one nearby—Father wanted me to meet Theodore Valentino alone.

It was laughable. It was going to be our first meeting, but did my father really think that Duke Valentino would be tempted by my face?

Of course, Father must not have such high expectations either. He just placed me on display here in the garden as if I was a product being shown behind a window, hoping that the passing customer would buy it.

Step, crunch—

As I walked around, I stepped on the innocent fallen leaves and crushed them.

“…going there right away, sir? I think you should take a short break first before…”

It was then that someone’s worried voice reached my ears.

Hesitating, I stepped away from the dried leaves and raised my head, fixing my posture. At the same time, a man and a woman came into my view.

The woman with short red hair was wearing a uniform and had a sword hanging by her waist so she must be a knight. And the man next to her was…

“……”

I took in a sharp breath. Just by a glance, he was already unforgettable. The man was more beautiful than anyone I had ever met before.

He had black hair that had a bluish undertone and blue eyes that looked as though they were gemstones. His forehead and jawline were smooth and angular, and the shape of his tightly closed lips under his straight nose was perfect, as though it was sculpted.

The man looked quite nervous, but it made him more attractive. Then, the redheaded knight called to him, saying, ‘Milord.’ And so I immediately came to realize who this man was.

‘Theodore Valentino.’

The Duke of Valentino. The man who was in the middle of marriage talks with me.

And he looked very tired.

“I’m done resting. I’ll go straight to the Norford Base. Carmen, you will follow me there.”

“Yes, Milord…”

The knight answered and sighed as she bowed without any other word. Right then, Theodore Valentino turned his head, and his eyes fell onto me. His gaze was like a sharp arrow that had a straight trajectory.

And the arrow seemed to have pierced through me, somewhere on my body. Our eyes met. As our gazes matched, thump, thump— my heart suddenly felt like it had fallen to the floor. It was frightening.

At that moment, all the sounds in the world seemed to have stopped and all the other colors around us became blurry. Without realizing it, I was holding my breath. The only thing I could see was his blue eyes, slightly widened.

His gaze was focused on me, as if it were locked on me. I couldn’t take my eyes off him either. My calm heart began to pound heavily, something I didn’t expect. And the reverberating echo seemed to shake me up.

Then, Theodore Valentino, who had been in a daze, blinked as though he had just come back to his senses. At the same time, I took a deep breath.

I was still breathing slowly, trying to soothe my racing heart, when Theodore Valentino approached me. He walked neither too fast nor too slow.

Finally, he stood before me. And he glanced down at my thin outfit that wasn’t suitable for the cold weather. A sense of shame flooded in me.

Before I met him, I definitely didn’t care about the clothes I was wearing. But I suddenly did. I wanted to avoid his eyes, but my body wouldn’t follow my thoughts.

My eyelids trembled as I blinked several times. As though I was bound to that spot, I couldn’t move as I looked up at him. He was a man who was much taller than me, and up close, he seemed like a huge mountain.

Then, he asked a question.

“Are you not cold?”

“Pardon?”

I asked back foolishly, not being able to think of a sensible answer.

I thought he would ask my name, but Theodore Valentino just sighed, taking off his coat and placing it over my shoulders.

His gaze touched my hair, my eyes, one feature after another. At a glance, the complicated expression he had turned calm, and so I couldn’t read the emotions behind his blue eyes.

With a quiet voice, he muttered.

“White-silver hair, eyes that shine like peridots.”

“……”

“Lily Everett.”

I didn’t deny it. At that moment, there was a strange ominous feeling that swept through me, and I blinked dazedly. My heart was still pounding, but the discord I felt within me was intertwined with the beat of my frantic heart.

A breeze that carried the autumn chill blew. His emotionless eyes soon grew cold. I couldn’t say anything because I knew what this was. Hatred.

As he took a step back from me, Theodore Valentino spoke.

“You look a bit underdressed for an outside stroll.”

“……!”

Sarcasm laced his tone, perhaps intentional. I felt my cheeks burning up right then as I bowed my head. Reflexively, I adjusted his coat around me.

“Let’s go, Carmen.”

“Yes…”

The redheaded knight glanced at me. Blankly, I only stood by and I stared as they walked away. It would have been appropriate to curtsy and see them off with courtesy, but I couldn’t move.

A carriage soon arrived to fetch them in front of Everett’s garden. As it left through the iron gates, I could only stare blankly at the retreating carriage.

· 

It was well after eight in the evening that I found out about what Theodore Valentino and my father talked about that day.

Unexpectedly, it was Hessen who brought me the news. He knocked roughly on my door, then proceeded to sit on the edge of the sofa. He spoke with sarcasm.

“Congratulations, Lily Everett. You’ll soon marry Duke Valentino.”

“……”

“He’d definitely want to strangle you on your first night.”

Hessen reveled in my misfortune. I grabbed the hem of my dress tightly, feeling as though my blood had cooled down.

As I had already expected, Father pressured Theodore Valentino and urged him to marry me. For the sake of sending help to the Valentino Duchy because of the troubles they’re facing with the series of fissures there, this was tantamount to a threat to Valentino, making them bow down to Everett before they could receive aid.

Father wanted to interfere with Valentino’s internal affairs, and so he proceeded with my marriage with Theodore Valentino.

Because if he’d become an in-law, he would have enough justification to ‘share’ assets.

It was a business deal that Father would be profiting from.

But if something would go wrong in the midst of it, it would be more than easy to cut me off and throw me away.

In the first place, I was raised as a tool for this purpose.

‘Theodore Valentino would have had no other choice.’

Delacroix, Avinith, and even the Royal Family—they all could have helped Valentino, but they were already under Father’s thumb.

Theodore Valentino must have known that—that my father, that the Everett family had laid down all the traps to swallow him and his family whole.

Perhaps even the fissures that were appearing more often in the north… No, that might be too far-fetched.

‘Yet wouldn’t someone like Father go that far? If he had a way to do that, he definitely would.’

“Rather than letting the north be destroyed because of all the fissures, he only thinks that it’s best to marry you and get some help from Everett.”

Hessen said this with a smirk on his lips. As I looked back at him, I pushed away the suspicion that popped up in my mind.

“I’m suddenly feeling sorry for him, that bastard Theodore Valentino. Isn’t he just being forced to marry you for the sake of his territory?”

“……”

“But will he let himself be controlled by Father? After the situation calms down in the north and his power gets restored, you’re the first one to be eliminated. You just wouldn’t know when you might die one day.”

Rather than going through a complicated procedure such as divorce, it might just be easier to get rid of me and leave no evidence behind. My heart was heavy with anxiety, and so I raised my hand and touched my chest. What was wrong with me? This shouldn’t have bothered me.

’Are you not cold?’

Why was that man’s face coming to mind?

“Why don’t you grovel in front of me instead?”

“……?”

Before I knew it, Hessen was right in front of me, grabbing my collar. Even though he still had a bitter smile, he seemed to be falling apart right then.

I blinked as I felt perplexed by his actions. Hessen went closer to me and tightened his grip on my collar. With a low growl, he shouted.

“Don’t pretend to be innocent—say it to me! You don’t want to get married! You don’t want to be killed! So beg for your life!”

With a blank look still on my face, I tilted my head to the side. I hid the laughter that was threatening to slip through my lips.

But just as I was about to answer, bang! The door slammed open.