I Picked Up a Witch With Amnesia

7. Butterfly Dream – 01

Thus, the fight in the banquet hall came to an end.

A gust of wind blows in through the open window. With the wind that cooled the heat in the ceremony hall a little, everyone present was able to regain their senses as if they had awakened from a dream. And, everyone’s gaze was only directed at the back of a young man standing tall alone in the ceremony hall.

…The fact that the battle took place must have only lasted about a minute or so. No, maybe even shorter than that, it could have been only a very short moment.

However, all the guests gathered here thought that the time was close to eternity. Just a while ago, the appearance of them spouting vicious killings at the other, saying that they could not recognize each other, left a great impression on everyone gathered here.

If you think about it, it might have been natural. For most aristocrats who have lived their lives gracefully and elegantly, the sight of a battlefield where such primitive and savage life came and went must have been something of the kind that could never exist or even imagined.

The fight is over.

The loser was lying unconscious, and the winner was left alone, showing only his back to everyone.

Everyone in this seat was just staring at the back of the winner, unable to breathe properly. I dared not even breathe. In the field, there was such an atmosphere that no one dared to touch.

Outwardly, his appearance from behind was nothing short of ugly. His back was drenched in sweat, and the uniform he was wearing was almost rags rather than clothes, probably because he had been cut several times by his opponent’s sword. His fingertips were crushed, and blood and ooze flowed endlessly from his hand, which had countless sword wounds.

His overall appearance, no matter how you look at it, couldn’t be said to be that of a winner. It didn’t suit the look of the winner at all. His appearance was rather close to that of a loser.

…However, no one in this room thought it was dull looking at him. No, rather, looking at his back, everyone in the ceremony realized that their hearts were beating like crazy. Appearance was not important. In their eyes, that young man must have been closer to a victor than anyone else in the world.

…because they saw. As a result, I found out.

In order to protect his fiancée who couldn’t move recklessly, he faced an opponent who was overwhelmingly stronger than himself and fought confidently without hesitation. Even though he had no weapon in his hand, his fighting spirit against him even with his bare hands. All the wounds on his body were medals and, at the same time, honorable war scars.

His appearance was truly brave and courageous. That’s why everyone ended up thinking like this. He said that he faced death not for himself, but for his fiancée, and even overcame death in the end.

“…Cain von Estelle.”

From someone’s mouth, his name flows like a spell.

All the nobles present here knew about him. How could I not know? One of the four great dukes of the Empire. A minor duke of the Estel family. And, a young man who has no special characteristics, and who has nothing to do with being ordinary.

To be honest, it was fine to say that I was underestimating. Unlike the successors of the other four dukes, he did not stand out, and instead, he started to think that he was not worthy of respect as the heir of the duchy. They concluded that they were no different from living witnesses that the Estelle duchy went through decline after decline.

His engagement to Bianca del Castana was also laughed at because it was too much of an engagement for Cain von Estel. He secretly even laughed at him, saying that if he hadn’t been the direct descendant of the duchy, there would never have been a connection with the only heir of the Castana marquis.

…However, it was nothing more than their illusion. He didn’t have to say anything grandiose to convince everyone in this place, but he strongly eloquently demonstrated what kind of person he was through his actions. Through his own actions, he proved his worth to all the nobles in this position.

“….ah.”

…And so, the fight ended.

The gigantic explosion that shook the ceremony hall, and the fierce swordplay that came and went, have already come and gone. The only thing left in this place was a young man with a terrible but unbreakable back.

All the aristocrats, who had been watching the young man’s back, began bowing with respect to his back, as if they had promised. In their eyes, Cain von Estel deserved their adoration.

Around, there was only silence. He was quietly stroking Arya’s head hanging in his arms, whether or not he knew that everyone was bowing their heads towards him.

****

“Kain-nim, are you really going back home now? Yes? You will never come back to such a strange place, right?”

I smiled wryly at Arya, who opened her eyes wide as if she really didn’t like the Marquis of Castana, and patted her on the back.

“…Okay, now it’s really over. Now I’m going back to my real home. aria.”

I gave that answer to Aria, recalling all the sweet, f*cked-up memories I had to go through while staying at the Castana Marquis family. What I said was true.

As we succeeded in catching the traces of the rats who were hiding behind the Castana Marquis family, the contract between Bianca and me was automatically terminated. That was in line with what he said, that it was no longer necessary, Son, to continue the terrifying drama of pretending to be Bianca’s fiancée.

By the way, the engagement ceremony between me and Bianca was put to a halt because of the attack by the guys. Well, if it was natural, it was a natural thing. In the middle of an engagement ceremony held under the name of the Marquis of Castana, an absurd incident occurred in which the parties were attacked. About half of them had a sense of intention, but in the end, it was as if the Castana marquis had disgraced their own faces.

When I asked the Marquis of Castana about this, he only answered my question like this.

– The Castana marquis family is not weak enough to be shaken by such a thing. Rather, since I was able to catch them with something like this, it should be said that they were eaten cheaply.

…Well, from my point of view, it could never be called an advantage, but the family head said so, but as an outsider, I didn’t think it was something to be fussy about. In the first place, the Duke of Estel and the Marquis of Castana weren’t even close enough to say hello like that. After obtaining a promise from the Marquis of Castana to share the information I learned from them, I quietly resigned.

It was over. Because of my age, I didn’t know that if this happened over and over again, my heart would suffer a sudden strain. Now it was time for him to pack his bags, swearing firmly that he would enjoy a leisurely life in the Duchy of Estel.

jump!

Doors open without any prior notice. I turn my head to see if some savage who has not learned to knock has done this rude thing, and I see Bianca standing in front of the door, breathing heavily.

“…Cain, what are you doing? Why the hell are you packing?”

Bianca’s voice trembled as she asked me that question. It was as if he couldn’t stand something rising rapidly inside him. I blinked my eyes when I saw Bianca like that. I couldn’t understand what the hell he was talking about.

“What are you doing? Of course you are packing to go home. As I talked with you at the beginning, I caught all the suspicious guys. It’s as if our contractual relationship has automatically ended. So, the reason I am no longer here is gone, right?”

Since the Marquis of Castana decided to deliver the amount to be received under the contract directly to the Duke of Estel later, there was virtually no reason to remain here.

And, at my words, an earthquake occurred in Bianca’s pupils. It was as if I had never even imagined that I would come out like this.

“Hey, engagement? We decided to have an engagement ceremony. And, you couldn’t even have a proper engagement ceremony because of the raid. By the way, you’re saying you’re going back to the Duke of Estelle now?”

“…? Wasn’t the engagement ceremony just a justification for catching them? As long as that purpose has been achieved, I don’t think there is any need to do such a play.”

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My answer made Bianca’s breath quicken. It was as if I was gradually losing my reason at my insignificant answer. According to the jjambab accumulated during the expedition, her appearance like that must have been her attitude on the verge of an explosion of anger. It was a precursor to great anger. Seeing that, I glanced at Arya, who was standing next to me. If Bianca goes mad and tries to kill me, Arya is my only hope.

“…Then what did you declare in front of everyone that you loved me? what was that?”

“…That was a situation where I had no choice but to say that. They ask why you got engaged, but you can’t say that because of the contractual relationship.”

“…..”

In an instant, Bianca’s rough breathing suddenly stopped. Somehow, it was only speculated that something inside her had crossed a critical point.

“…So, what did you say you wouldn’t leave me alone with? Also, what did you say you would always be by my side?”

“…..”

Only then did I notice that things were going a little weird. And I realized This is just my personal opinion, but it seems that Bianca has become a little too immersed in the house play of ‘false engagement’. Or, what I said at that time touched some of her sensibilities.

“Bianca.”

“…Uh, huh? why?”

When I looked at her with serious eyes, Bianca was looking at me with a puzzled look, as if she had somehow regressed to childhood. Her appearance seemed to evoke nostalgia in me for some reason.

…But at the same time, that was all. I slowly shake my head and draw a conclusion toward her.

“You know very well. I mean, there’s no way that a popular story like Estelle’s descendant and Castana’s descendant will love each other and end up falling in love with each other in real life.”

“…What?”

At my remark, Bianca’s face hardened. However, I don’t even pay attention to those things and continue talking slowly.

“To be honest, I don’t know what you are thinking right now. But I think I can tell that you were taking your false engagement quite seriously. So, there is only one thing I can say.”

“What?”

“I just think I was dreaming. Bianca.”

At my words, Bianca’s eyes seemed like something would overflow at any moment. Looking at her like that, I do my best to deny any assumptions that come to my mind. Because the woman Bianca del Castana must forever remain an incomprehensible woman in my heart.

“…dream?”

Bianca asks me back in a mournful voice.

“Yes, a dream. you were just dreaming When you wake up, it’s such a dream that you forget nothing.”

At my words, Bianca’s hands are soft and trembling.

“…was it a lie?”

“What?”

“At that time, you said it in front of your grandfather. You said it while everyone was watching. He said he made a promise to me when he was young. We promised to do it together. Was that even a lie to you? To you, was it nothing more than a dream?”

At Bianca’s words, I sighed softly.

“It wasn’t a lie. In my own way, I said it with sincerity.”

“Then, then, why? Why are you doing this? why?”

“But, that’s just trivial talk from our immature days.”

At my words, ‘silly’, Bianca’s body completely stopped.

“Bianca. we are adults now That we have become adults who carry too many things on our backs. Why do we not know that we are no longer at an age where we can only think of ourselves?”

“…Cain. you…”

“Bianca, I am a person in the position of a minor duke who should inherit the Duke of Estel in the future. He was born with the duty to take care of all the subjects of the Duchy of Estel in exchange for standing above them. I can’t think of myself alone, even for the sake of all the people who call me ‘The Little Duke’ and believe in me. You can never bend yourself.”

Saying that, I winked at Arya. Arya, easily recognizing my signal, handed me a suitcase that was already packed. I passed by Bianca, who seemed to be in great shock, without any regrets, and left these words.

“Then, bye. Actually, pretending to be your fiancé wasn’t too bad.”

bang!

Perhaps because of the strong wind, the door slammed shut with a loud noise.

And so, everything came to an end. maybe.

****

“…..”

For a long time, Bianca was left alone in an empty room where no one was present. I couldn’t even think of anything. no, i couldn’t Everything that made her up collapsed.

In the past few days, it occurred to her that all the happiness she felt was a false illusion. Yes. I was proud that I had it in my hands and that it was perfect, but in reality it was nothing more than an illusion. It was nothing more than happiness, like a castle built on sand. A phantom with no meaning, ready to collapse at any moment.

dump.

I got down on my knees. He buried his face in the bed in front of him. It was because I thought that if I continued to cry, my voice might leak out.

Suddenly, I realize that his reverberation remains on the bed sheets. When he came to his senses, he found himself sniffing him while holding onto the bed sheet.

“…a crazy bitch.”

I couldn’t let go of the bed sheet from my hand even as I spat self-deprecating curses at myself. To her, the bed sheets were irreplaceable treasures, just because they smelled of him.

“…Ah, black…”

As I smelled him, my longing for him grew stronger. At that moment, Bianca realized. That a woman called herself would not be able to live without him. That once you tasted the happiness of being with him, you can’t go back to a life without him.

…but at the same time I hated him. I hated it. After being engaged to Sarah Cernard, she hated him so much more than when she reunited with him after 10 years.

he denied. For himself, he denied the shining memories of his childhood, which could not be replaced with anything in the world, saying that they were ‘insignificant’. With his own hands, he hammered those memories into the mud.

So he was running away from himself. I was running away from myself. At the end, imagining him leaving himself behind and trying to meet another woman, my hair turned white without my knowledge. With anger and hatred, his fingertips trembled.

again lost again It was stolen by Sarah Cernard, stolen by the other women of the expedition, and even stolen by a white-haired woman. Like that, she had never monopolized him. yeah, not even once. Throughout the past, present and future, not even once.

hate. hate. hate. I hated it now He hated himself, his life, and the other girls who helplessly took him away. I wanted him to look only at himself. I wanted you to love only yourself. I wanted to give birth to his child. In the end, I want the two of us to be happy.

For a moment, a thought crossed her mind. That kind of thought, always leaving only the worst assumptions, and vowing never to act.

“…Well, the answer was simple.”

Bianca’s mouth twists strangely. She giggles as if something is broken, then smiles brightly as if she has found the answer.

“This time, it was just a matter of persuading them to never run away, right?”