Translator: HH Editor: HH

Yes, Your Majesty.

Felix replied with a slightly nervous voice. He looked at me with tense eyes.

He seemed to be frustrated because he wanted to say something to me.

And when Claudes cold voice entered my eardrums.

Why is that girl still in my palace like its her house?

I gaped and lifted my head to look at Claude.

Your Majesty, Princess Athanasia is..

Ive already heard that crap enough to make my ears bleed.

Claude cut Felixs word like he was tired of his jokes.

Princess. A princess.

He made an icy smile.

How amusing.

I couldnt say anything and had to face his derision.

I dont have any children, but what do you mean a princess?

I felt Felix take in a big breath. When Claude looked at me with his frozen eyes, I also couldnt breathe.

Who sent her? Which crazy bastard ordered her to pretend to be my daughter?

Claude was different from the Claude I met 5 years ago, and the Claude I knew up until now. Because the Claude of now was.

Did they say all the gold and jewels would be yours?

Claude was regarding me as a complete stranger. There was no sign of recognition in his eyes.

I dont know what kind of tricks they used to fool Felix and the others, but it wont work on me.

Claude was thinking that someone had used magic to move me into the princess position. Even though I knew that was what he thought, I stupidly called out to him.

Dad..

Dad?

Claude scoffed at me. And he spoke to me colder than ever.

Shut up. If you say that again, Ill cut your tongue off.

At that moment, my heart skipped a beat. This was the first time in my entire life Claude treated me this way.

Cutting your body into pieces is obvious, but since this is amusing, I am letting you go for the time being.

He was going to hurt me or kill me if I didnt listen to him

From now on, I will confine this girl to the Emerald Palace.

As Claude announced that, Felix shouted, Your Majesty! You cant do that! Claude said some more things after that, but I didnt hear. I just stood frozen in place looking at him.

If you value your life, I better not see a strand of your hair outside the palace.

At those warmthless eyes that peered down at me until he turned around to leave.

If I see you again, Ill kill you.

Sunlight shone into my eyes as he left me there. But it didnt matter. His words echoed in my head.

***

Surprisingly, Claude was suffering from amnesia.

I just let out an empty laugh at what Felix told me. Amnesia? Wasnt that just something in books or tv shows? Oh yeah. This is a book. Called .

Haha..ha.

Lili and Felix hesitated and quietly left my room after seeing my shocked face. They looked extremely depressed. The reason why they didnt let me leave my room was because Claude had lost all his memories of me.

He couldnt remember any of the last 9 years that we spent together. No matter how much Felix tried to explain, he treated him like he was under the influence of dark magic. He said that he would never have a daughter until the day he died.

Ha

Dry laughter escaped my lips again. The situation couldnt be more ironic. Everything seemed like a lie. But Felix, Lili, and Hannah were saying this was actually real.

So it was true? The fact that Claude had amnesia? Something that would only appear in a soap opera?

Hahano way.

I collapsed on my bed. Amnesia happened to a completely normal person just like that? This was a joke, right?

I didnt know if this was a dream or reality. I slapped my face twice, but my surroundings didnt change.

Ow! So this isnt a dream! No way.

What about me..

As I kept tossing around in my bed, reality struck me harder than ever. I looked blankly at the ceiling. What was I supposed to do now?

The situation couldnt be any worse. When I thought of Claude, it was like my heart dropped to the ground.

If you value your life, I better not see a strand of your hair outside the palace.

Claude let me live, but under the condition that I stay inside the Emerald Palace forever.

Confinement. That was his order. But really? He would really kill me if he saw me? Thinking back at those cold eyes, it was definitely possible. I never wouldve imagined he would forget about me. Nodid I?

Then why did I stay in my room without going to Claude? Even if Lili and Felix tried to stop me, I wouldve done everything I could to go see him.

AhIm so stupid.

I lied on the bed and covered my face with my arm. No one was looking, but I didnt want anyone to see my face. I mightve been expecting this to happen. That Claudes icy attitude when he woke up wasnt temporary. I just didnt want to see it for myself. Lili and Felix comforted me that Claude would get his memories back someday. Right now, I was hoping that was true.

What if he suddenly opened the door and told me it was a cruel joke? That it was only because I didnt understand how serious the situation with Blackie was? Or what if his memory came back tomorrow?

But I suddenly had a thought. Was I a lucky person. Rather, wasnt misfortune slowly entering my life? There wasnt anyone in the world who could lessen my worries, and I ended up staying awake the entire night.

***

Princess, actually, theres something I need to tell you.

The next day, when I was somewhat calmed down, Lili tightly held onto my hands and spoke.

Blackie wasnt taken by His Majesty.

She looked worried about me. After a pause, she continued to speak.

That day, after everything settled down, Blackie was nowhere to be found.

What? What does that mean?

Exactly as I said. Blackie wasnt in the Emerald Palace or outside the palace.

Lilis words faded away. Lucas said that Blackie was made from my magic and that he would completely disappear someday. He said that the reason why I fainted when I was younger was because contact with Blackie caused an unbalance in my magic power.

Im so sorry. I was hiding it because I thought you would be upset when you found out.

I expected the reason why this happened was similar.but I didnt know Blackie would completely disappear.

Princess, are you okay?

Lili concernedly asked me as I stayed quiet for a moment.

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