The duke asked. Sophia closed her mouth in surprise. His face softened again with concern and kindness for a lover. Sophia wanted to push him away, but she was confused by his attitude and just let him do as he pleased. The duke gently brushed back her hair, supported her face, and made her look into his eyes. His unique blue eyes quietly scanned her face.
“Did you lose your memory? How much? Do you know who you are?”
Sophia bit her lip and answered.
“Of course. The only thing I don’t remember is what happened that night.”
“The night before you drank the poison?”
“Yes.”
“Oh dear.”
The duke let out a short sigh. His voice was full of regret. He gently touched Sophia’s cheek, his attitude soft and comforting.
“You must have been shocked. To wake up and hear you’re suddenly engaged. They say people often lose memories after drinking poison, but I never thought that would happen to you. Are you really okay? Should I take you back to your room?”
The duke looked down at her with eyes full of worry and regret, as if he felt sorry for pressuring her just moments ago. Sophia looked closely at his face and asked,
“Did I really confess to you?”
“Yes.”
His fingers playfully brushed her nose. Sophia looked at him, her heart a little shaken. At first, she resisted strongly, but the gentle concern and affection he showed was enough to melt her guard.
Besides, seeing his handsome face so close, she began to wonder.
Maybe…
That night, she was definitely drunk—completely out of it. If she had run into him for some reason, she might not have made a heartfelt confession, but maybe she did flirt a little. Still… to be engaged?
“Are we really engaged?”
“Yes. Even His Majesty gave his permission.”
The duke smiled gently, and Sophia was speechless. Even if she did flirt, a single flirtation turning into an engagement was too much. And he was a duke. If she married him, she would suddenly become a duchess.
Maybe sensing her burden, the duke took her hand.
“If you’re worried about marriage, you don’t have to. We can take it slow. For now, just focus on getting better and recovering your memory.”
“But…”
“There’s nothing you need to worry about. You’re the only one who matters to me.”
The duke kissed the back of her hand gently.
Sophia felt strange. His gaze and words all felt sincere. It really seemed like he cared about her and cherished her.
But that didn’t make sense.
If Sophia had thought of the duke as someone like the emperor—a person who existed but would never be close to her—then the duke probably didn’t even know she existed.
Can someone fall in love with someone they didn’t even know existed?
Sophia felt as if something was stuck in her chest. As she stayed silent, the duke naturally stood up and kissed the top of her head.
“You seem uncomfortable around me, so I’ll go now. Take care of yourself.”
She was thankful he left without pressing her further. Despite her confusion, Sophia muttered out of habit, “Thank you, Duke.”
She wanted him to leave quickly so she could think everything over. But just as he was about to leave, the duke suddenly turned back to her.
“Still, can I ask for one favor?”
His voice was gentle, but to Sophia, who had always found him hard to approach, the idea of him asking a “favor” was something she couldn’t say no to.
“Please go ahead.”
When Sophia bowed her head, the duke smiled briefly.
“I’d like you to call me Callas.”
She flinched. It felt too overwhelming. Maybe realizing that, the duke gave an awkward smile.
“Is that hard for you?”
That was all Sophia had been waiting for.
“Yes, I just came to my senses, and… you’re still the Duke…”
“No, Sophia.”
Before she could finish her excuse, the duke gently called her name and cut her off.
“Still, call me Callas.”
It wasn’t a suggestion—it was close to a command. His tone was soft but firm. He looked into her eyes and spoke.
They say there’s a sea frozen solid with ice in the far north. His gaze was like that—blue and cold as ice.
Sophia’s heart shrank, and her back straightened instinctively. She didn’t know why, but the thought of going against his wish scared her.
“…Yes. I’ll do that.”
The duke smiled brightly.
“Good girl.”
He briefly stroked her hair. The light touch was quickly taken away.
But Sophia felt a cold chill lingering on every spot he had touched—her shoulders, wrists, hands, hair, and cheeks.
It was clearly spring now. Yet the duke still smelled like the cold season from five months ago when the ball had taken place.
Did she really drink poison? She couldn’t move her body suddenly. While she sat there frozen, she heard the duke say something to the countess and the countess crying softly in response.
“…Thank you so much. I don’t know how she woke up so fine. She didn’t move at all. Oh my goodness. Heaven helped us, and so did you, Your Grace.”
“I didn’t do anything. It’s thanks to Sophia’s strength.”
“We will never forget this kindness.”
The count said sincerely. The duke didn’t reply but simply shook hands with the count with a small smile.
It was as if he were saying, “We’re going to be family now, so no need for formalities.”
Sophia slowly regained her strength. At first, she couldn’t believe that she had drunk poison. But from the evening the duke left, she began to burn with fever and feel very ill, and she had no choice but to accept that her body had become very weak.
Even though the duke had left early, he sent a doctor as soon as he heard Sophia was sick.
Her throat and chest felt like they were on fire, just like she had drunk poison the night before. But strangely, as soon as she took the medicine the doctor gave her, her fever dropped and the pain lessened.
“You must not push yourself yet.”
The doctor gave a stern warning and left. He told her to boil and drink the medicine he gave every day for a week.
The Countess held Sophia’s hand and stayed with her all night. It seemed like she was afraid Sophia might go to sleep again and never wake up.
But maybe because of the medicine, Sophia was only sick for that one day and quickly got better.
On the fourth day, even her older brother returned from the academy.
“Sophia!”
As soon as she heard that her brother had arrived, Sophia ran barefoot down the stairs.
Felix, who had ridden through the night, smelled strongly of wind. Sophia jumped into his arms and spun around once.
“I missed you, Felix!”
Felix had been studying for six years at an academy far in the north. For the first four years, he had come home every two months, but in the past two years, he had rarely returned.
It was probably because of his conflict with their father. Their father had expected Felix to return right after finishing his four-year education and start preparing to take over the count’s duties. But Felix, who preferred studying over politics, had a big fight with him two years ago. Since then, their relationship had remained awkward.
Sophia had always followed her brother around and copied everything he liked, but she still couldn’t understand why her brother had fallen so deeply for things like magic and fairies—things that had disappeared long ago.
“My goodness, Sophia. You really woke up.”
Felix spoke in a trembling voice, full of emotion. It had been a long time since Sophia had seen her usually calm and kind brother so overwhelmed.
Felix held Sophia’s face in both hands, looked at her closely, then hugged her tightly again.
“I thought I was going to lose you.”
Hearing his trembling voice, Sophia finally realized again that she had truly been asleep for five months.
Sophia only got to spend time alone with Felix after tea time had long passed.
She had to attend the early breakfast with the whole family, and right after breakfast, their father kept Felix all to himself. After staying shut in the study for a while, Felix spent tea time with their mother. Of course, Sophia was there too, but it was hard to talk comfortably the way she wanted.
While her mother held onto Felix, talking endlessly about marriage and studies, Sophia stayed at a distance playing the piano.
The bright sun lit up the drawing room. The walls were covered with golden frames and beautiful paintings, the shiny black piano, the couches embroidered with laurel leaves, and the expensive chairs. Exotic partitions said to be brought from the East were placed in harmony. The drawing room looked beautiful.
Sophia passed the time peacefully, playing a few sweet, familiar pieces.
It was an ordinary day.
Except for the fact that she was now engaged to a duke.
‘What really happened that night?’
Sophia tried to imagine what had happened on the night she supposedly confessed to the duke. What could she have possibly said to him? She never had those kinds of feelings to begin with.
Maybe she had gone crazy and approached him that night, saying, “Hey, you handsome gentleman,” then picked up the glass of wine prepared in front of him and said,
“If I drink this, you’ll be mine!” before downing the drink.
Since the drink had poison, she must have collapsed. The duke might have taken that silly flirtation as a serious confession.
As she kept thinking, wrinkles formed on Sophia’s forehead. Felix naturally sat next to her and added a harmony to the music.
Surprised by Felix’s added notes, Sophia made a strange noise on the piano and stopped playing.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
