Chapter 331: A Carefree Attitude
Just like that, the two people who weren’t good at talking stayed frozen in place. It wasn’t until a cold wind blew and made Armand sneeze that Evelia quickly led him to a quiet spot in the garden that was shielded from the wind.
But even after they sat down on the steps, neither of them said anything. They just sat there like two statues. Armand even sat more upright than Evelia, clearly showing he had received some sort of training.
Evelia sat there and turned her head slightly to look at the current version of Armand, who felt completely different from the one she knew. Something came to her mind again.
She remembered when Carle had visited their home once, he had talked about some things from the past between him and Armand.
It seemed to be something from a long time ago. Back then, Armand was still a new recruit in the knights, and from Carle’s description, Armand was already a quiet and reserved person at that time, just like now.
“So... is this the Armand from when he just joined the knights?”
“......”
Evelia’s cautious question made Armand turn his head to look at her.
Since Evelia could say something like that, it showed she knew a bit about him. But how much did she actually know?
After all, she was now his “wife.” It was normal for a couple to know some secrets about each other. But just how much did she know?
Did she know who he used to be, or where he came from?
Couples were supposed to be honest with each other... but no matter how he looked at it, this 28-year-old version of himself clearly hadn’t told his wife everything. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be looking at him with such a strange expression.
...Could it be that he was caught up in something unusual? Maybe this memory loss wasn’t something he could just brush off.
There were no injuries on his body, no signs of being hit in the head, and yet he had lost so many years of memories. It really was strange.
“Was I right?” Evelia asked.
Armand didn’t react much, he just looked at her, so Evelia wasn’t really confident.
“Yeah,” he nodded.
It was as if he was giving the answer she was hoping for.
“From what I remember, I’m probably at the point where I just recently joined the knights.”
“Whew... I thought so.”
It was like solving a riddle. When Evelia heard Armand confirm it, she felt a little proud and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Then, if you don’t mind, could you tell me how you figured it out?”
Armand wasn’t really concerned about whether her guess was right or wrong. What he cared more about now was learning more about Evelia and how she knew.
“That’s because Carle told me. He said that back when you had just joined the knights, you were very quiet and didn’t talk much, just like how you are now. I guessed it based on that.”
“Carle...”
Armand repeated the name to himself. It wasn’t completely unfamiliar, but it didn’t feel close either.
“You don’t remember Carle?”
“Not exactly. I wouldn’t say I forgot him... just that I’m not close to him yet. So that means Carle and I became friends?”
“Yeah. You two became close friends who talked about everything.”
In a way, Evelia even felt a little jealous of the friendship between Carle and Armand. Even though she and Armand were now “husband and wife,” the amount of time they had spent together, less than a year, still felt too short compared to someone who had been by his side for ten years.
“I see. That’s a good thing.”
There’s nothing more comforting than having a friend who truly understands you, and Armand understood that well.
Even though he never thought someone like him would end up making a real friend, if he really had one, then that was something worth being happy about.
Yeah… a friend.
That friend of his… what happened to him?
Because his memory was stuck in the past, he felt even more sorry toward that close friend, much more than his future self did. You could say his future self didn’t really feel much better either. Even after so many years, he still lived with deep regret.
Even after starting a family with Evelia and believing he had saved others, he had never truly let go of the past.
Maybe… if he had let go, he would have left this place a long time ago, instead of being weighed down so heavily by responsibility that he couldn’t even breathe.
Sometimes, having too strong a sense of duty can be a painful thing.
“Mr. Armand, aren’t you even a little curious?”
Seeing Armand go quiet again, Evelia kept trying to find something to talk about. Anything would be better than just sitting in silence like this.
Besides, Evelia was honestly curious. Why was there such a big difference between the Armand of now and the one from the future?
And… if Armand’s personality was actually a bit like hers...
Then maybe, one day, she could become someone like him too?
Without realizing it, Armand had become someone Evelia looked up to. Just like the gray dove admired the red crow, Evelia also wished she could become someone like Armand someday. And now… it didn’t seem so impossible anymore.
“Curious about what?” Armand asked.
“For example, aren’t you curious what kind of person you become?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
But this version of Armand wasn’t easy to deal with. He shut down the conversation again with just a few words.
Evelia had thought that, as someone with memory loss, he might be curious about his surroundings or life.
But this Armand wasn’t like that. He didn’t panic because of his memory loss, and he didn’t seem curious about anything either. He just sat there quietly and calmly.
Even though he said he wanted to go out and walk around, they hadn’t gone far. He did glance around a little, but it was clear he wasn’t really paying attention. It was like he had no worries at all.
“It doesn’t matter?” Evelia asked, confused. “Aren’t you even a little interested in the kind of person you’ll become?”
“It’s not that I’m not interested. It’s that it doesn’t mean anything.”
Armand breathed out a cold puff of air, and watched it disappear into the wind.
“This isn’t some time-travel story. It’s just memory loss. Even if I find out how I change in the future, it doesn’t really matter. I’m not the person from the past anymore. I can’t change anything that’s already happened. So knowing or not knowing makes no difference.”
“......”
Armand was saying those kinds of things again, words that sounded harsh to Evelia, but somehow also made sense.
She couldn’t help but think of herself in the past.
She remembered when Armand had asked her what kind of person she wanted to become in the future, and her mind had gone completely blank.
She didn’t know what she would become. She didn’t know what the future held. Back then, she kept thinking it doesn’t matter, because I can’t change anything anyway.
Now, looking at Mr. Armand and how he just went with the flow…
It was exactly like how she had once given up on herself.
What kind of past did he have to go through to become like this…?
“Eve.”
Just as Evelia was lost in her thoughts, imagining what Armand’s past might have been like, his voice suddenly pulled her back.
It was rare for him to be the one starting a conversation, so Evelia quickly focused and looked in his direction.
“Yes, Mr. Armand? What is it?”
“Rather than wondering what kind of person I became… Right now, I’m more curious about you, Eve.”
“...What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’m more curious about what kind of person you are.”
Armand quietly looked at Evelia.
There was no hostility in his eyes. There was no affection either.
Only a calm, steady gaze, like still water with no ripples. His blue eyes didn’t reflect anyone’s image at all.