My Sister’s Man

I’m thirsty…’

Larne struggled to lift her heavy eyelids. She tried to get up, but her body was as heavy as cotton that had been soaked in water. She just woke up, but she was strangely tired. She forcibly opened her eyes that kept closing.

“Ha, the Marchioness has awakened!”

‘Marchioness…?’

Larne blinked at the terribly unfamiliar title. It was only then that the unfamiliar room caught her eye. What’s more, her hair spreading rivulets on her chest was white. It was very different from hers, which was originally pink. Her eyelashes trembled in shock.

She wanted to say something, but her throat was too choked up to say anything. Larne raised her hand and grabbed her neck.

“Madam, it’s very fortunate that there are no visible injuries. You fainted from shock, but we were worried because you didn’t wake up for a long time.”

Her ears were blocked and she couldn’t hear the maid’s voice properly. There was something wrong with her body.

She had never been healthy to begin with, but it wasn’t this difficult to breathe like she was at the moment.

As the heavy breaths seemed to explode from her lungs and the pain surged through her body, the closed door suddenly opened roughly.

Her head throbbed at the loud noise. Larne squeezed her eyes shut  then opened them. The man who had come closer did not hide the disgust on his face. Facing the gaze filled with contempt, Larne’s body naturally shrank.

“What kind of trick are you doing this time?”

Larne frowned at the sharp tone. The ferocious voice hummed in her head.

“Oh, madam needs to rest, Master.”

“……rest?”

“Who, who…… who.”

The man’s expression twisted at the words Larne barely uttered.

“You said you would accept the divorce obediently.”

Divorce…

Clearly, this was the first time she had seen this man or heard his voice, but her heart strangely thumped.

In addition, it was difficult to endure the icy cold gaze. Larne wet her dry lips and looked away. As she still had her hand on her neck, her quick-witted maid handed her a glass of water. The man laughed as she accepted the cup with trembling hands.

“…Ha, such a cliche performance.”

Hearing the man’s sarcastic voice, Larne worked tirelessly to figure out what was going on. But her thoughts kept wandering.

Her still throbbing head made it impossible to think properly.

“…Who are you?”

“How long do I have to play your ridiculous games? It’s a lame excuse you came up with before the divorce.”

The man was needlessly unkind. She bit her lips hard at the cold reply. She wanted to understand the situation, but the man seemed reluctant to even talk to her. 

Frustrated and afraid. Larne was on the verge of tears, but she held back.

“I’m really sorry, but I don’t remember you.”

Her hoarse voice trembled.

“You just fell while dodging a falling chandelier, so how could you lose your memory? Don’t insult my intelligence.”

She tried to talk again, but all she got was ridicule. Eventually, a loud voice came out of Larne’s mouth.

“….Um, why are you doing this to me? I really don’t know anything!”

 As soon as she finished speaking, Larne lifted her head while holding her neck at the copper taste that felt in her mouth. However, she couldn’t help but lower her head again at the malevolent gaze the man was giving her.

Strangely, the sight of  those red eyes made her heart throb. Like a sinner under the scrutiny of a judge.

Larne pressed her hand against her painful chest. Her face was pale, whiter than a blank sheet of paper. The man’s lips parted slowly.

“…you.”

“Divorce or whatever it is that you want, do as you please. Now please leave this room.”

Larne quickly cut him off, fearing more of his ridicule would come out.

If what the man wanted from her was a divorce, and if he was angry with her for that reason, then all she had to do was to fulfill his wishes.

Divorce would be a big flaw for a woman’s status, but if a man like that was her husband, there was no way she would be happy with a marriage she was forced to maintain.

When she returned home, she would have a family that loved her.

‘Why did I marry someone like that?’

Larne quickly wiped away her tears.

“Carl, bring the papers.”

“This is so outrageous! Divorce the madam who just woke up after a week of being unconscious? Please reconsider, Master.”

“Silent. I need to deal with that woman before she changes her mind.”

“Your Excellency! She was injured because of you, so please reconsider.”

In the room that became chaotic, Larne grabbed her throbbing head. She wanted to say it was too noisy, but her eyes suddenly blurred.

“Madam!”

Larne’s body slumped over, and the cup she was holding shattered with a loud thud.

***

It was two hours later when Larne came to her senses. The angry man was nowhere to be seen.

It was rather fortunate. She couldn’t seem to keep her composure in front of that man. As Larne raised her body, her maid quickly called the doctor. Even though she slept, her tired body and her pounding head were still there. The doctor ordered the maid to prepare a patient meal.

“So… . You mean it’s the 768th year of the Imperial calendar?”

Larne took the prepared soup. She honestly didn’t have an appetite, but at the doctor’s insistence, she forced herself to eat.

“Yes, it will soon be a year since the madam married His Excellency Leandro.”

‘I’m twenty-one…’

Her memory stopped four years ago, in the year 764 of the Imperial calendar. Only the memory of preparing for her debutante remained.

It was also very shocking that she had been married for a year. Did she have an arranged marriage? It was completely incomprehensible to Larne, who had a romantic notion about a love marriage.

And with a man like that…

Not all opponents of  arranged marriages were bad, but that man was especially worse. His attitude toward the person who had just woken up from the sick bed was very rude and inconsiderate.

He didn’t even believe that she had lost her memory. What was the reason why she was not on good terms with her husband?

Larne recalled the man who had visited her bedroom and then stopped. The unknown reason for her chest pain had started again.

“Is there any else you can remember?”

The doctor asked cautiously, but she couldn’t remember anything.

“Nothing.”

Larne cautiously got out of bed. Her weakened legs trembled helplessly.

‘…my body is strange.’

Larne was rendered speechless as she looked at the full-length mirror hanging on the wall.

Gone were the pink hair and purple eyes, the symbols of the Atrice family. In their place were the white hair that didn’t match the pale skin, and the gray eyes like they had lost their color.

She looked so strange like she was a completely different person, but her features were the same.

“Oh, madam! You shouldn’t move like this. Your body is very weak right now…… If you need anything, just let me know.”

The maid supported Larne’s frail body and put her back on the bed. Her body was so strangely ached just from moving only for a moment.

Besides, the changed appearance was also bizarre.

The fact that time had passed without her knowing, the surrounding environment, strange people, her appearance, made her skin crawl.

Her weak body since birth was vulnerable to stress.

Her head started to hurt. As Larne breathed heavily, the maids looked at her with pity.

She wanted to get away from this unfamiliar place as soon as possible. The place where strangers hated her for unknown reasons.

“Call my husband.”

“No! Madame is now in a state where she needs absolute rest!”

“That’s right! You fainted while talking with His Excellency just a moment ago.”

The butler also stopped her.

Larne looked at the two of them with genuine concern on their faces and bit her lips. When her breathing returned to normal, she regained her sanity and offered another alternative.

“…Ah, then Carl. Your name is Carl, right?”

“Calburst, madam. Please feel free to call me Carl.”

“Tell my husband to prepare the divorce papers. I want to go home. I miss my family.”

Carl’s lips were pressed in a straight line at Larne’s exhausted appearance. He had a lot to say, but he couldn’t find the right words.

A lot had happened in those four years that the madam didn’t remember.

Her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Atrice, had passed away, and the newly succeeded Duke, Deron Atrice, declared that he would not have any interaction with Larne Cartel.

The situation was different from what the madam knew. But how could he tell that to a patient who just woke up from a coma?

Even though rumors circulated in society that the Marchioness had fallen unconscious, there was no word from her family.

It was clear that if the fact were to be conveyed as it was, the madam would collapse again.

In the end, Carl couldn’t come up with the right answer.

“Can you please? My husband…….”

The unfamiliar word ‘husband’ hovered around her lips.

“It seems that my husband wanted a divorce.”

At Larne’s earnest words, Carl closed his eyes tightly.

“…Yes, I will deliver your message.”