PEMF 9

 Chapter 9

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***

"...Is it possible to wipe out a person's memory?"

"It's not common, but it's not unheard of."

"..."

Feeling momentarily dumbfounded, Elise pursed her lips, unable to answer.

Claude didn’t remember her.

He had erased her................. their marriage.

She had to repeat the doctor's words over and over again before she could face the truth.

He hated her enough to forget their involvement.

How else could he erase just one person as if cut out with scissors?

Her mouth was bitter.

She felt foolish for feeling the slightest bit of sadness over Claude’s death when he hated her so much.

If he'd heard his own obituary, he wouldn't have batted an eye.

"There may be other memories that are missing, like gaping holes. For now, it's assumed that he’s only forgotten memories related to Your Grace, so if you've met him before, he won't remember that either."

Dr. Billman continued.

The fact that he had lost his memories indicated that something was very wrong with his head, and forcing him to recall them could make him more seriously ill, so the best thing to do is to let it happen naturally.

"...Then, Doctor. Is there a chance that the memory might not return over time?"

"I'm sorry to say, but yes."

"..................I see."

Elise felt her vision go black for a moment.

Was she having a nightmare?

Was this an illusion created by her need to see too far ahead?

From suddenly being able to see, to her husband coming back from the dead, and now the news that he'd forgotten her.

Each line was unbelievable, and out of habit, Elise touched her eyelids to make sure she was still awake.

She could feel her lashes fluttering beneath her fingertips. It was real.

So what should she do now?

"Excuse me... for a moment."

With that, Elise left the room, her hand trembling as she gripped her cane.

"Your, Your Grace?"

As soon as she opened the door, he saw Nella standing directly in front of her. She looked as if she'd been eavesdropping, but Elise didn't care.

"I'm going to take a quick walk."

She stepped past Nella and left.

She needed to organize her thoughts.

Elise walked down the long hallway. She needed to think about the future. Her mind was a tangled mess of threads, and instead of being organized, it was only getting more complicated.

In the rush to get through another day of her half-life, she had never been good at planning and preparing for the future.

He didn’t remember her? At all?

And even then?

She thought back to their first meeting, which seemed so distant.

It had been two years before they were married. The war was in full swing.

"Get out of my sight."

A perfect soldier, he was just following the rules, as always. She was just keeping it to herself.

"Have no illusions."

Claude himself had drawn the line at illusions.

"I did my duty as a soldier. You are nothing to me."

Did he hate her so much that he wanted to erase her forever?

It was a moment of indescribable emotion. Elise locked eyes with the man approaching from the other side, and she froze in place.

"He didn't die?"

"No. I was so happy to hear that my brother had survived that I couldn’t wait to come see.”

The Emperor's second son. It was Hans von Tauscher.

***

When he finally regained consciousness, the world had already turned white.

Snow fell from a pale, ashen sky, covering everything in silence.

The horrors of the battlefield lay silently buried beneath it.

It was a terrifying sight, given the pain of being torn alive and the fact that they must have fallen on enemy soil, but it was also beautiful.

Claude stared up at the sky for a moment, dumbfounded.

It's a good thing I'm ...................

A word he didn't know what it meant passed his lips.

It sounded like something he'd been saying since before the crash, but strangely, he couldn't quite put it together.

In the midst of the pain, he suddenly felt a sense of loss, like he had lost something important.

The only thing in my life. I desperately wanted ...................

As he watched the fluttering snow pile up on top of him, he thought of someone.

As pure and white as the first snowfall.......

"..................Ha, Your Highness, you must not lose your mind!"

The sound of a subordinate’s voice calling out to him was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious.

And now when he opened his eyes.

"..."

A woman as beautiful as a snowflake was looking down at him.

For some reason, he felt like he was going to cry.

He barely reached out and grabbed her, and she shuddered.

Who is this?

Who is this woman? Like this..................

"..................don't go."

"I'll be right back."

"Don't go."

That was all he could say.

Don't go.

Don't leave me... anywhere..................

"I'll be right back."

Please.

He didn't know if he got the last word right or not.

He blacked out as if he had a malfunction.

When he closed his eyes, he was afraid she would vanish like a mirage, but his wounded body could not overcome the heavy eyelids.

When he finally opened his eyes, driven only by the need to see her again.

She was not there.

***

"It’s unfortunate."

"What are you talking about?"

"You look good in black, but I don't think it's right to be a widow this time."

Hans glanced at Elise's mourning clothes and burst out laughing.

His face was a strange shade of gray. It was an unreadable expression, neither happy nor sad.

"Well, it's a good thing for you, then, that you've been spared the prospect of being left penniless and without an inheritance, isn't it, Lady Elise von Winterdell?"

What intentions were left here?

The question pierced through Elise like an awl.

What reason could he have for lingering here when the other mourners had long since left the manor?

Had he even seen Dr. Billman arrive?

She couldn't imagine what this man might have seen or heard.

"I beg your pardon for the undue interest in my whereabouts, but I'm afraid His Higness has not yet awakened and will not be able to see you, so will you please return?"

She had to get him out of there before he noticed Claude’s condition.

"Don't make yourself too obvious, Elise."

Hans must have read her intentions, for he closed the distance between them.

"My dear brother is alive and well, and the tables are turning."

Better be careful, in more ways than one.

Elise's eyes narrowed. By tables, he meant the succession to the throne?

She moved her lips, keeping her expression expressionless.

"I don't think that's something a Count who has nothing to do with the throne would say."

As the second son of the emperor, Hans was not recognized as imperial blood.

At the Empress's mercy, he had been admitted into her household and had inherited one of the family's titles. There was a reason why the emperor's son was only a Count.

"Well, I'll call it a day, as I don't think Claude is likely to rise anytime soon."

Suddenly, urgent footsteps approached from the other end of the hall.

"Your Grace!"

Nella, rushing forward, tugged at Elise.

"I think you should come, hurry!"

"Excuse me first."

Nella's white face told Elise that something bad had happened.

What had happened to Claude?

Leaving Hans behind, Elise headed for Claude’s bedroom with Nella.

But the sight that awaited her as she limped up to the door was far from what she feared.

"Oh...."

The servants standing guard at the front of the room sprawled across the floor. And standing before them was….

"Where are you?”

A voice like an animal's growl scratched her eardrums.

His hair was brighter than the sun shattered in the hallway light. It was Claude.

He was subduing men with his upper body completely exposed, without any slippers or gown.

The bandaged back of his head shook violently.

A chill radiated from him that seemed to drop the temperature around him for a moment.

The wave-like presence was the same one she had felt when she first saw him.

Standing alone where others would fall like leaves. Like a solid wall that nothing could break down.

It was hard to believe that he was the same man who had been clinging to her in tears just moments ago.

But this was the face she knew.

Claude looked back, as if he felt her presence.

Elise took an involuntary step backward as she saw the dazzling green eyes. It was at that moment that something strange caught her eye.

When Claude spotted Elise, he didn't blink, and he came straight for her. Closing the distance before she could dodge, he swept her into his arms.

"...Your Highness!"

"Where have you been?"

Their bodies were uncannily hot against each other.

Trembling, Claude tightened his arms around Elise.

"Your Highness, wait...!"

In a state that didn't seem normal, Elise opened her mouth to try to calm him down, but it was no use.

As if seized by some unknown terror, Claude pulled her deeper and deeper into his arms.

"You can never be taken away from me, never again, my, my..................."

My snowflake.

Claude muttered like a madman.

Elise's breath caught in her throat for a moment, then stopped.

***

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