Chapter 314: A Strange Path
“—Ah.”
When Armand opened his eyes, he found himself curled up in the corner of the library.
Even though the room had heating and a soft carpet on the floor, it still felt cold. So, he had wrapped a blanket around himself... probably.
Armand didn’t really know what had happened. He just woke up and was already there.
Because Armand’s “public image” was that of someone who didn’t read or study, his library wasn’t as big as other people’s. Still, even if he didn’t use it often, having a library was a basic part of owning an estate. As the master of the estate, he still had a fairly large study room.
Also, thanks to the crown prince’s planning, the heating system in the estate was excellent, and the study room was no exception. It was already a quiet place, and with the warmth, it was one of the best places to sleep, besides the bedroom.
Armand clearly took advantage of that. He had fallen asleep leaning against a bookshelf in the corner of the study room. But he had no idea why he was sleeping there, or how long he had been asleep.
“......”
Armand blinked and lifted his head, looking at the shelves filled with thick books. He could still read, so he could tell this was the “pharmacology section.”
The book in his hand was also about herbs. It looked like, before he fell asleep, he had been searching for some way to “save himself.”
“...Haa.”
Armand let out a sigh, looking a bit troubled.
He flipped through the dry, hard-to-read medical book in his hand. While turning the pages, he noticed a cut on his finger. Not too deep, but not shallow either. It must have happened not long ago. The wound hadn’t fully scabbed over, and if he pressed it, a few drops of blood could still come out.
Of course, Armand didn’t remember how he got it. He couldn’t even remember some important things clearly, so how could he remember a small cut like this?
“Forget it.”
He really didn’t have the mind to keep reading. Holding the blanket, Armand stood up. Even though he had just woken up, he let out a big yawn. His head was still foggy, and he was only able to think clearly enough to get by.
…Maybe I should go find Eve. Just seeing her might help me feel a little better.
In his hazy state, Armand felt a constant sense of unease, like his mind wasn’t fully awake. So, by instinct, he wanted to find Evelia, the only person he could rely on right now. If he could just see her, even if he had to fall asleep again, at least she could stay with him for a little while.
He knew she was probably busy, but… just a little while should be okay, right?
Armand stumbled a bit as he opened the door to the study room and stepped out into the hallway.
Maybe because he had almost never used the study room since the estate was built, walking down the carpeted hall felt unfamiliar.
The estate was usually lively, but not every area had servants. The study room wasn’t used often, and it was supposed to be a quiet space, so other than daily cleaning, people rarely came here, including Armand himself.
Because of that, after wandering around the hallway outside the study room for a while, Armand realized he was lost.
The proud leader of the Royal Knights… got lost in his own house.
The carpets, wallpaper, and paintings all looked the same, so everything blended together. Armand walked the same “this looks familiar” path over and over, holding his blanket and unsure which way to go.
“So annoying…”
Feeling embarrassed, Armand scratched his head. A moment ago, he felt cold. But now he was sweating from the stress.
He could get here on his own, but now he couldn’t even find his way out?
—Ah, right. He had already forgotten how he got here in the first place.
Armand had been trying to stay positive, but now... this was clearly not something he could laugh about anymore.
Who gets lost in their own house? Sure, the estate was big, but not that big.
Outside, the weather looked nice. Sunlight came through the windows and filled the hallway with brightness. But because he couldn’t find his way out, everything still felt cold and creepy to Armand. It was like he had run into some kind of ghost wall that kept turning him around.
Things couldn’t really be this bad, right?
Even forgetting something small wasn’t a big deal. But getting lost in his own home?
Fear and anxiety suddenly filled Armand’s heart. He knew he’d eventually get out. Even if he collapsed and fell asleep again, the servants who cleaned the halls would find him the next day. He wouldn’t end up as some dried-up corpse lost in an old mansion.
But that wasn’t what scared him.
What scared him was the fact that he actually got lost.
Maybe it was because everything around him looked the same. He even started to feel dizzy. The path was clearly there, but he just couldn’t get out.
This place wasn’t even a maze. There were only two or three turn-offs at most. Even if someone took the wrong path, they’d be out in ten minutes. But now? Armand just kept walking in circles, repeating the same wrong turns, like his brain wasn’t working right. Either his eyes had a problem, or his mind did.
If he was already getting lost at home... what else would happen later on?
And what time was it now, anyway?
He could tell his condition was getting worse. But he couldn’t remember when it had started.
How long had it been since he first started feeling like this?
His last clear memory was still stuck in autumn, when he confessed his feelings to Evelia. He knew he had forgotten things. But from that last memory until now, he had no idea how much time had passed, or what exactly he had forgotten.
His last strong memory was discovering Evelia’s true identity. After they both revealed their real feelings, and after he learned she was “Red Crow”, he remembered being with her...
As Armand thought about it, he touched his pocket. He still remembered that Carle had given him a ring. That day, he had planned to propose to Evelia.
But everything after that was blurry, so blurry that he didn’t even know if he had given her the ring.
He searched his pockets and checked every place it could be. The ring was gone.
That meant… he must have already given it to Evelia.
So... were they already together?
Even now, Armand still wasn’t sure.
When he first started to panic, his instinct had been to go find Evelia. But the truth was, he had forgotten so many things. He was just following his blank mind’s gut feeling, his instincts were leading him toward Evelia.
“Forget it,” he muttered.
He didn’t want to walk in circles in that hallway anymore. Just like before, his panicked heart was desperately trying to bring him back to Evelia. Being with her would at least help him calm down a little.
He looked out the window. The second floor wasn’t that high for him. But when he opened the window, the cold wind hit his face and made him wince.
Still, he needed to get out of here. If he could get outside and find someone, or make it to the garden, he’d figure out where to go.
So, Armand pulled the blanket tighter around himself, found a good angle at the window, and, without any hesitation, jumped out.
“Whew… So cold.”
The fall didn’t hurt him at all. He landed safely. But the freezing air felt like it could kill him. He was glad he at least still had the blanket.
“Hah—better hurry back,” he muttered.
Letting out a cold breath, wrapped in the blanket, Armand ran toward the tall building in front of him.