The moment I spoke those words, the small cabin where we were staying fell into a suffocating silence.
“…..”
Surprisingly, Bianca’s expression remained calm.
No, it seemed more accurate to say that her expression had completely vanished. In one sense, it looked as if she had adapted to everything; in another, as if she had given up entirely.
Yet, despite her bloodless appearance, nothing seemed outwardly wrong.
Leaving behind Bianca’s pale face, I slowly began to speak again.
“And, isn’t that all? I suspect you did everything to steal my memories and imprison me by setting up a strong barrier around this cabin. Am I wrong?”
As I said this, I glanced around the charming cabin that looked as if it had leapt from the pages of a children’s storybook and smiled bitterly.
“No, I believe everything defining the two of us here must have been a lie. Could my assumption be wrong, Bianca?”
“…..”
For a long moment, the heavy silence persisted.
Bianca eventually opened her mouth, her expression still calm and unreadable.
“…How did you figure it out?”
Her words, in truth, were tantamount to admitting that my suspicions were correct.
“It wasn’t anything extraordinary. At first, I didn’t realize how things stood—it was all mere speculation.”
I decided to explain to Bianca the series of thoughts that had led me to my conclusion. Though honestly, it wasn’t something to take pride in, as it was more like working backward with all the answers already in hand.
“Bianca, when I first woke up in this cabin, you told me I had suffered an accident and lost all the memories we shared. You said we had come here to ‘recuperate’ in this small cabin to heal the aftereffects.”
At first glance, it sounded like a plausible explanation. However, upon closer inspection, what Bianca said didn’t add up.
The fact that Bianca—clearly an aristocrat—was alone in this remote cabin without any attendants, combined with the lack of any visible injuries on my body from this supposed accident, raised doubts about my so-called ‘recuperation.’
Additionally, the strong barrier around the area that prevented anyone from approaching was deeply suspicious. Even with my limited insight, these inconsistencies were easy to deduce.
But above all, Bianca made a critical mistake.
“You were too relaxed, Bianca.”
“…What?”
“If we were truly in a relationship, shouldn’t you have shown more concern for an injured lover? Yet, while you expressed worry about my lost memories, you never once inquired about my injuries. As if… they never existed in the first place.”
“…..”
Clearly, Bianca hadn’t had the time to pay attention to such trivial details.
As the saying goes, even an ax handle rots in neglect. Bianca must have been so engrossed in her ‘lover act’ that she inadvertently overlooked the details of the story she had concocted.
“And finally, your magic wasn’t perfect, Bianca.”
“…My magic was incomplete?”
“Yes, the spell you cast to make my memories so elusive.”
I tapped my temple with my index finger.
“I’m not sure what caused it, as I know nothing about magic, but over time, fragments of my memories began to return. While they haven’t fully come back, I can recall enough to piece together what’s been happening.”
In truth, I wasn’t entirely clueless about why I managed to break free of Bianca’s magical influence.
Over the past month, I had done everything I could to recover my memories.
As a result, I noticed that my body was connected to ‘something’—a faint, almost imperceptible thread. It seemed to be aiding my memory recovery.
This was purely conjecture, without logic or evidence, but it was the only explanation I could offer.
Bianca listened silently to my reasoning from start to finish. Then, with a soft sigh, she looked directly at me.
“…You’ve figured it all out. So, it’s over.”
At her words, Bianca bit her lip slightly. A bitter smile spread across her face, though it was tinged with self-loathing.
“Right. Everything you said is correct. There’s nothing wrong with your deductions. I wanted you so desperately that I kidnapped you, erased your memories, and pretended to be your lover. I’m nothing more than a despicable woman.”
She chuckled, the sound hollow and forced, as though trying to embody the role of a villain.
Yet, all I could see was someone trying desperately to act like one. For some reason, I felt as if Bianca was on the verge of tears.
“So? Do you despise me now, Cain? Do you see me as nothing more than a crazy woman? Of course, you must. I tricked you. I lied to you. From our engagement to this moment, there hasn’t been a single time I didn’t deceive you!”
Get More Chapters on Patreon: From now on, FSM Level 2 will become the CN WN Bundle. The price will remain the same which is $10. Also, the price for the KR WN Bundle will also be decreased to $10 to match this bundle.
With this I have gotten rid of the level system. The reason I am doing this, is because I plan to add more chapters to the $5 Patron tiers. Previously the readers got 2 advance chapters when they became a $5 Patron, but now I’ve increased the chapters they will get to at least 5 chapters and more. So the current updated tier system will work like this:
The Individual Tiers ($5) will give you access to 5 chapters or more.
The Bundle Tiers ($10) will give you access to all the chapters of CN or KR webnovels.
The Supreme Patron ($30) will give you access to all the webnovel chapters on Goblinslate.