🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 4. The Memories of a Certain Daughter-in-Law
At Derfel’s words, I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
What the hell is this bastard even saying?
Was he named Derfel because he deserved to be beaten more?
They say husbands always side with others—so this must be the kind of situation that phrase was made for.
Even under their cold, oppressive stares, I refused to back down and snapped back angrily.
“An apology? If anything, I’m the one who should be receiving an apology, no matter how you look at it.”
Derfel shouted back as if he were exhausted and irritated.
“She’s your mother. Would receiving an apology really make you feel better? Just apologize and be done with it!”
“……And if I absolutely can’t do that?”
At my words, Derfel’s eyes widened in shock.
He looked as though he’d never imagined I’d react so rebelliously.
Scowling deeply, he barked at me in a domineering tone.
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Have you gone crazy again?”
For a brief moment, his words made my chest tighten.
Then I caught something strange in what he’d said.
“Again”? Gone crazy again?
I wanted to flip the whole situation upside down right then and there, but for now, understanding what was going on took priority.
Naturally, the novel didn’t go into detail about the circumstances of Aileen—an extra among extras.
“……What do you mean, ‘again’?”
At my question, Derfel sneered and reproached me.
“Are you pretending not to know? I’m talking about ten years ago, when you lost your memories due to the shock of an accident.”
An accident? Memories?
That was the trigger.
Suddenly, Aileen’s memories came flooding into my mind like a tidal wave.
“Aah…!”
Clutching my head, I collapsed to the floor.
“Aileen, my beautiful daughter. You’ll always live a life filled with love.”
The image of two middle-aged parents smiling warmly.
“Putting on some strange act won’t help. Hurry up and apologize… Aileen?”
“……”
Damn it. The world is spinning again.
“How many times am I going to pass out in a single day…?”
That was the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness.
Fire.
Brilliant red flames spread in every direction. Yet my body didn’t feel hot at all.
“Is this… a dream?”
As I stared blankly around me, I soon realized the truth.
This was inside Aileen Morgans’s memories.
I was watching her past from a third-person perspective.
Surrounded by the raging fire, Aileen screamed in despair.
“No… Mom, Dad…! I am the ■■■■ of ■■■■…!”
What did Aileen just say?
Before I could make sense of it, the scene changed.
Aileen was lying in a white hospital room.
When she opened her eyes after being unconscious for some time, the first thing she saw was Viscount Derfel sitting beside her bed.
“Aileen! You’re awake!”
As he eagerly grabbed her hand, Aileen awkwardly pulled away and asked,
“Where am I…? And why is the viscount here by my side?”
At that, Derfel made a very strange expression.
With an odd look on his face, he asked the newly awakened girl,
“Aileen. Do you really remember nothing? Do you know what year it is?”
“What do you mean…? Isn’t it Imperial Year 523, September?”
Derfel shook his head slowly, a cryptic smile on his face.
“No. It’s September of 524.”
“……!”
“And you’re not sixteen anymore—you’re seventeen.”
Aileen staggered in shock.
Then Derfel revealed the horrifying truth.
The Ketel Viscount family’s estate had been completely destroyed in an unfortunate fire.
According to the guards’ investigation, it appeared to be arson, but they said identifying the culprit would be difficult.
The only survivor of that terrible incident was Aileen herself.
That wasn’t all.
According to the doctor, the shock had caused her to lose an entire year of memories starting from the time of the accident.
In other words, all of Aileen’s memories from when she was sixteen were gone.
“That can’t be… that’s impossible…”
Stammering in shock, Aileen asked,
“Then… why were you the one staying by my side?”
They had only run into each other occasionally at social gatherings—there was no special connection between them.
“…I see. You truly don’t remember anything.”
Murmuring softly, Derfel soon returned with a newborn wrapped in swaddling cloth and showed the baby to her.
The child looked worn and fragile. Aside from the blue eyes, the baby resembled Derfel, but bore no resemblance to Aileen at all.
A baby? Why?
Seeing her confusion, he dropped another bombshell.
“Do you really not remember? …This is our child.”
“……!”
Aileen swayed as if she might collapse.
Derfel continued calmly.
That they had begun secretly dating a year earlier, without their parents’ knowledge.
That a single night’s mistake had resulted in a child.
“You stayed with me for a while, then went to ask your parents for permission to marry. And that’s when the fire happened…”
“I—I can’t believe it!”
Naturally, Aileen didn’t believe him.
She had no memory of giving birth. How could this be her child?
And besides, she was not the kind of person who would ever get pregnant out of wedlock.
“Are you doubting that this is our child? …Even if you’ve lost your memories, I’m deeply disappointed.”
Looking more wounded than anyone, Derfel made a suggestion himself.
“If you can’t trust my words, then let’s request a kinship test at the temple.”
In this world, temples could perform kinship tests—similar to modern genetic testing.
Derfel took Aileen, who hadn’t even fully recovered yet, to the temple and had the test conducted right in front of her.
And the result was—
“There is a 99.99% probability that you are indeed related.”
Hearing the priest’s words, Aileen crumpled to the floor.
“So… it’s really true that I…”
Derfel leaned in and whispered gently, like a devil in disguise.
“Now that you’ve regained consciousness, let’s hold the wedding. My parents have graciously agreed as well, given your situation.”
For a while, Derfel treated Aileen kindly and tenderly.
Having lost her parents, her property, and even a year of memories, it was only natural that Aileen clung to him.
And the child was hers.
For someone as responsible as her, marriage seemed like the only option.
She couldn’t raise a child as a fatherless bastard.
On the first night after a wedding so crude it barely resembled a noble ceremony, Derfel changed completely.
“Ah… finally, it’s over.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m tired. I’m going out for a drink. You go to sleep first.”
As he headed for the door, he added,
“Oh, and don’t let the baby go hungry.”
“But it’s our wedding night. Where are you—”
“Hey! Your husband says he’s going out to take care of business, and you’re already nagging?”
Derfel shouted angrily.
He was unrecognizable compared to the man who had been so gentle until now.
“Your job is to quietly handle the housework and take care of the child! That’s a wife’s virtue!”
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
Just like that, Aileen was left alone with a constantly crying newborn, the household responsibilities of the estate, and her mother-in-law’s severe hysteria.
The ten years that followed played out rapidly, like scenes in a dream.
“Pregnant before marriage—have you no shame?”
“If we hadn’t taken you in, you’d be an orphan on the streets! Be grateful and obey!”
Aileen endured everything, becoming a good daughter-in-law, a good wife, and a good mother.
She simply endured, and endured.
Believing that someday, everyone would understand her sincerity…
“You useless bitch! How dare you ruin my son’s life!”
“Mother, I— Aah!”
What awaited Aileen in the end was a vase swung by her mother-in-law.
Thud.
Red blood soaked into the floor.
As her consciousness faded, I heard Aileen’s regretful whisper.
“…Ah. If only I had known it would end like this, I would’ve lived my own life properly…”
Without worrying about others’ eyes, without hoping that the people who hurt her would someday change.
A life where she did exactly what she wanted, freely and fully…
Soon, her vision went dark.
The last thing Aileen thought of before dying was her kind parents, smiling warmly.
