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chapter 10
“……”
If this were the Edith I knew, she would already be seething with anger or screaming in frustration.
Maybe because he didn’t get the reaction he wanted.
The man muttered, slightly dazed.
“…Amnesia?”
“Yeah.”
“I… can’t remember?”
“Right.”
A heavy silence settled over the table.
Vincent rested his chin on his hand, quietly observing me.
But only for a moment.
“Pfft… Puhahaha—!”
Suddenly, loud laughter filled the reception room.
“What? Amne- si- a?”
“……”
“So that’s the best your stupid head could come up with? Amnesia, Edith? Ahahaha!”
“……”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. It’s just too funny… Hah, seriously, that’s hilarious.”
He looked like he genuinely found it funny, even wiping tears from his eyes as he laughed.
I stared at him expressionlessly.
Honestly, whether he believed it or not didn’t matter to me. I was just getting irritated.
My nose itched like I was about to sneeze.
‘Should I open the window again? No. He’ll leave soon anyway.’
Maybe he noticed I was thinking about something else.
His laughter slowly faded.
“Alright. Enough joking around…”
“……”
“Where’s Rirelin?”
As if the smile from moments ago had never existed, his eyes turned chillingly cold as he glared at me.
At the sudden question, I blinked in confusion.
“The Purifier? Why are you asking about her here?”
“Stop this ridiculous act. It’s not funny.”
“I’m not acting.”
“So you expect me to believe this nonsense about amnesia? Then you should’ve at least reacted when I used my ability earlier, Edith.”
“……”
“Or are you too stupid to think that far?”
His condescending tone made anger flare up in my chest.
But I clenched my teeth and held it back.
Getting angry here would only amuse him.
“I said I was surprised, Vincent. And I already knew you were an Awakened who controls wind—I heard it from the butler.”
“……”
“And isn’t it rude to ask a guest who they are when you supposedly don’t remember them?”
Vincent let out a hollow laugh.
“Did that butler also not tell you what you and I are to each other?”
“He did mention we’d known each other for 13 years…”
At that, his expression turned smug in an instant.
As if to say I should know my place after all those years.
As if waiting to see how long I’d keep pretending not to know.
I scratched the bridge of my nose and muttered to myself.
“Does that matter?”
“…What?”
“After seeing you today, I don’t think we were that close anyway.”
“W-what…?”
Denying our relationship was something the original Edith would never have said.
She had clung to those 13 years so desperately.
Vincent, who knew that better than anyone, stared at me in disbelief before suddenly shouting.
“You’ve known me for 13 years, Edith! You chased after me like crazy since you were seven, and now you’re saying this nonsense?!”
“Really? That’s surprising. You come to someone who just came back from the brink of death and start insulting her—I thought we must’ve had some kind of terrible grudge.”
“……!”
My blunt sarcasm shut him up at last.
Only now, as if he was beginning to believe my amnesia claim, confusion flickered in his eyes.
“Sorry to say, but I really don’t know where Rirelin is. I did hear I used to dislike her. I understand why you’re suspicious.”
“……”
“But that won’t happen anymore. So let’s just leave the past behind. You were my old friend, weren’t you? Can’t you do that for me, Vincent?”
I thought that was a decent conclusion.
I even wanted to say, “Think whatever you want,” and leave, but from Vincent’s perspective, I was probably just a cruel woman who kidnapped Rirelin.
‘With his temper, he might lose control and use his ability…’
But unlike me, Vincent didn’t seem satisfied.
“Ha! There’s a limit to how shameless you can be… You nearly killed someone and now you want me to forget it?”
He let out a sharp, incredulous laugh before glaring at me like he wanted to kill me.
“Edith Blake. Fine, I get it—you’ve just woken up and aren’t thinking straight.”
“……”
“But think before you speak. Don’t just say whatever comes out of your mouth. What are you going to do when your memory comes back? You planning never to see my face again?”
That was absurd.
Wasn’t that exactly what I should be saying to him?
I asked, dumbfounded.
“So nearly killing someone wasn’t your fault too?”
“What?”
“You chose to save Rirelin and ignore me—I’m not supposed to know I almost died because of that?”
Did he think Edith wouldn’t bring this up once she woke up?
‘Just how stupid did he think I was?’
His face turned pale in an instant, as if I had struck a nerve.
“Who… who told you that?! Who said something so ridiculous—!”
“You literally just said you thought I might’ve been seriously injured.”
“That was—!”
“Thanks to that, I was unconscious for a week, lost all my memories, and apparently became an idiot. So thank you.”
I was only stating what happened, but he exploded as if he’d been attacked.
“That was just an accident! The Gate… the situation wasn’t good! Look, you’re alive anyway!”
“Fine. Whatever. I don’t remember anything anyway, so let’s just call it an accident like you said.”
“It’s not ‘like I said’—it’s the truth! Who told you that nonsense?! Was it Ethan? Or Dylan Frederick?!”
“What does it matter? I’m saying I won’t make a fuss about it anymore, so I hope you’ll do the same.”
“……”
“You’re smarter than me, so you should understand what I’m saying.”
Returning his earlier words back to him, I watched him stare at me in stunned silence.
I didn’t care whether he understood or not.
“I think we’re done here. Take care on your way out.”
With that, I stood up.
I had just turned toward the door when—
Something suddenly tugged hard at my skirt from behind.
“……Edith.”
“……”
“I’m in pain.”
A strange feeling washed over me as I turned back.
Was I seeing a ghost?
The man who had been so eager to belittle me just moments ago was now looking up at me with a pitiful expression.
His pale face and bloodshot eyes really did make him look unwell.
Vincent had changed his demeanor in an instant, clutching my skirt like a child afraid of being abandoned.
“My head is dizzy… and I can’t breathe properly. I think too much mana has accumulated.”
“……”
“If this keeps up, I might lose control again. Are you really just going to leave me like this?”
That reminded me of his background.
“Vincent loses his mother in a rampage right after awakening, spending his childhood in instability.
His father, unable to lose his only son, borrows an ancient relic from the imperial family to temporarily seal his ability.
Vincent eventually stabilizes and grows into an S-rank Awakened, but remains deeply fearful of mana corruption.
This trauma later becomes one of the reasons he falls in love with Rirelin.”
Right. That setting existed too.
I looked at Vincent again.
In the original story, he was a reliable, almost partner-like figure—but whenever he sensed even a hint of losing control, he would cling to Rirelin and beg for purification like a child.
A so-called male lead designed to trigger maternal instincts.
‘So it wasn’t just with the heroine.’
It seemed he had always acted like this when things turned against him.
Given Edith’s past feelings for him, she would’ve found him pitiful and given in every time.
I closed my eyes briefly.
And when I opened them again—
The number above his head: 71%.
The rampage level.
It was high enough to need purification soon, but not immediately dangerous.
Compared to Eston, it was still manageable.
I decided then to be honest with him, to break through the remnants of Edith’s lingering softness.
“So?”
“…Huh?”
“So what?”
“E-Edith?”
Just as I thought, confusion flickered in his eyes.
He probably couldn’t understand why I wasn’t panicking over him like before.
His trembling lips, which had been trying to look pitiful, stiffened.
“Go find Rirelin and get purified, or go home and isolate yourself. Don’t cause trouble here.”
“Trouble…?”
Vincent’s expression went completely blank.
It seemed like this was the first time anyone had ever spoken to him like this.
Too bad.
The foolish girl you knew isn’t here anymore.
“Yes, trouble.”
I smiled faintly.
“Why? Planning to ignore me at the Gate and then get me killed by your rampage too?”
That seemed to hit a nerve—his grip on my skirt began to tremble.
Even that disgusted me.
“How disgusting.”
Smack—!
Without hesitation, I slapped his hand away from my skirt.
As I turned to leave, something caught in my hand.
Looking down, I saw the jasmine flower he had given me earlier—now half-crushed.
With a sigh, I dropped it at his feet.
“And I don’t like flowers.”
“……”
“I’m allergic to pollen. Or was that intentional, and I just didn’t realize how stupid I was?”
See? That 13 years meant nothing.
With that final thought, I left the reception room—leaving behind his once-brilliant golden eyes, now shattered in shock.
