In Place of Losing My Memory, I Remembered That I Was the Fiancée of the Capture Target - Chapter 6.1

“Wow!”

The long-awaited donuts!

I couldn’t help but cheer at the sight of the donuts lined up on the table.

There were plain donuts, ones with dried fruits, and others covered in melted sugar… they all looked delicious.

“They smell so good.”

“Such unusual pastries.”

“They’re quite big.”

The others watched curiously as Rebecca arranged the donuts on the table.

Today, we’re having a donut party to celebrate my recovery. Initially, it was supposed to be just Rebecca and me, but Patrick and the others heard about it and wanted to join, making it a bit of a bigger event.

We’re in the student council’s reception room. The participants are Rebecca, Patrick, Liam, the prince, Bridget, and me, making six in total.

“Well then, let’s celebrate Xia’s return to the academy.”

With donuts and tea set up, the tea party began with the prince’s words.

“Let’s dig in.”

Let’s start with the plain one.

I held the donut in both hands and took a big bite.

It was fluffy and slightly chewy… delicious! I could eat so many of these!

As I was savoring the nostalgic and delightful taste, I suddenly noticed that everyone was looking at me.

“That’s quite a bold way to eat.”

Bridget, who was cutting her donut with a knife and fork, frowned. I know it’s not very polite, but cutting it would change the texture. Besides, donuts are meant to be eaten by taking a bite!

“It does look tastier eaten that way.”

Patrick, sitting next to me, put down his knife, picked up a sugar-coated donut with his hands, and took a bite just like I did.

“…Yeah, the texture and taste are good.”

When our eyes met, Patrick showed a truly pleased expression, which made me smile in a rather unladylike manner.

“Even though your memory has returned, you seem more childish… even different from before.”

“But I think the current Xia is cute too,” the prince said with a smile, despite Bridget’s frown.

In the past, Bridget would have been angry if the prince praised another woman even a little, but now she just looked at me with exasperation.

After being poisoned by Theodore again, I ended up with partial memory loss. I lost memories of Theodore after he was adopted into our family.

I still remembered attending the academy, repeating a year and meeting Rebecca, and my interactions with Patrick, but anything involving Theodore was hazy. It was like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces randomly missing.

As my body recovered, all my memories returned, and my mind finally cleared up.

—Although the mixture of my current life memories and those from my past life seemed to have changed me again compared to who I was before losing my memory.

Currently, Theodore is officially considered ill and is being taken care of at a church infirmary.

It has been kept secret that he poisoned me. A scandal in our family would also tarnish the queen’s reputation.

Even though it was temporary, the fact that I only forgot about Theodore was a significant shock to him. My father, who visited him, said that he’s behaving quietly at the infirmary. Since he’s physically healthy, he’s helping the apothecaries.

Apparently, Theodore’s skills in making medicine are quite advanced. In his real family, the Lestancourt family, he often ran away because he felt out of place. He would wander into the fields and mountains, develop an interest in the plants there, and learn about medicinal herbs and how to make medicine on his own. I remember he knew the names of many plants since he was a child, but none of us, neither his real family nor ours, realized he was making his own medicine.

I don’t know what will happen to Theodore in the future, but I hope he can let go of his obsession with me.

“These fruit-filled ones are delicious too. Would you like to try?”

His Highness cut a piece of donut and put it on Bridget’s plate.

His Highness seemed to have had a lot on his mind after all the incidents and said that he would try to face Bridget.

Although he hadn’t opened up to Bridget as much as he did to me, recently they had been spending a lot more time together and having more conversations.

Thanks to this, Bridget seemed to have found more peace of mind, her personality becoming gentler, and her features softening.

His Highness and Bridget are beautiful, and I think they look very good together.

“Why is this bread so fluffy?”

“It’s the difference in the flour. We use a flour that is less sticky than regular bread…”

Rebecca explained to Liam, who tilted his head while eating a donut.

—Though these two had grown closer, their conversations often lacked sweetness, being mostly about studies and politics.

The prince had mentioned that for Liam, who wasn’t good at romantic subtleties, a partner like Rebecca, who could discuss and exchange opinions on subjects he excelled in, was ideal.

Though the two didn’t have a particularly romantic atmosphere, there are times when they are in a good mood, with Rebecca blushing at Liam’s words.

It seemed that the day Rebecca would receive a necklace wasn’t far off.

Speaking of necklaces… I returned the sapphire necklaces the prince had given me twice. After sorting out my returned memories, I met with the prince and Patrick.

———I wanted to talk to the prince alone, but Patrick wouldn’t allow it.

And right then and there, I apologized to the prince, saying I couldn’t keep my promise and that my feelings had changed.

It wasn’t that I had come to dislike the prince.

He is still important to me.

But Patrick had become an even more significant presence in my life.

“———I see. I understand.”

After listening to my story, the prince took the necklace from the table.

“Then I’ll hold onto this for now.”

…For now? Hold onto it?

“My feelings for you won’t disappear so easily. You never know what might happen, and you might come back to me someday.”

“That won’t happen.”

Patrick, sitting beside me, held my hand tightly.

“No matter what happens, I won’t ever let go of Xia.”

“Xia is my most prized treasure I’ve cherished.”

The prince said, looking straight at Patrick.

“If you ever hurt her, I’ll take her back immediately.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Patrick replied, meeting the prince’s gaze.

“… I’m truly sorry, Your Highness.”

I bowed my head.

At that time, we had indeed pledged our love to each other, promising to love no matter what.

“Xia. Look up.”

I raised my head at his urging and his gentle eyes were looking at me.

“Don’t apologize. That vow… it was my selfishness. I didn’t want to lose you to another man. I wanted your heart to be mine, so I bound you to me. —But if I truly cared for you, I should have wished for your happiness.”

“…Your Highness…”

“When you fell down the stairs, I was terrified that you might die. Because of my selfishness, I almost lost the most precious person in my life.”

It was the first time I had seen such an expression on the prince’s face.

“Xia.”

As I recalled that time, Patrick spoke to me.

“Open your mouth.”

Following his prompt, I opened my mouth, and Patrick popped a piece of his donut into it.

“This one’s delicious too, right?”

He smiled as he watched me chew and swallow the donut he had given me.

“Oh, you got some sugar on you.”

Suddenly, Patrick’s face came closer, and he licked the corner of my mouth.

What?!

“…Student Council President.”

With a loud bang, the prince stood up.

“You’ve got some nerve to do that right in front of me.”

“Jealous?”

Patrick responded nonchalantly, wiping the corner of my mouth with his fingertip before licking his own finger.

“That’s… pretty suggestive…”

“…I feel nauseous.”

Rebecca and Bridget were half-lidded. Liam continued to eat his donut silently, but his ears were slightly red. The prince’s eyes were becoming more and more fixed… oh, this is bad.

“Prince… Leopold.”

I picked up a new donut and offered it to the prince.

The prince blinked for a moment, then smiled, leaning forward to take a bite of the donut.

“…It tastes even better when fed by you, Xia.”

Seeing the prince’s beaming smile made a pang of pain strike my chest.

———Will the day come when this pain disappears?

.

.

.

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After the donut party ended and we finished cleaning up, Patrick and I were the only ones left in the reception room.

“Xia,” Patrick said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as we sat side by side on the sofa. He pulled me close, and I leaned into him.

His strong arms, his warmth, his scent… everything was so comforting and reassuring.

I closed my eyes, savoring the warmth, and felt something touch my head.

“I’m glad you chose me,” Patrick said, planting another kiss on my head. “When I heard your memory had returned… I was afraid you might hate me again.”

“Rick…”

“But here you are, by my side.”

“…Yes.”

I pressed my head against Patrick’s chest, and he hugged me tightly.

When my memory returned, I remembered my feelings for the prince, but I also realized that those feelings belonged to the past. This change had started even before I lost my memory, little by little.

“I… I’ve been feeling so conflicted,” I said.

“Conflicted?” Patrick asked.

“My relationship with His Highness was opposed, and we ended up getting engaged to different people. We swore we’d never forget each other, but I wondered if that was really the right thing to do.”

The prince had said “someday,” but the king’s orders were absolute.

Before that “someday” came, we would probably both end up getting married. In that case… I doubted that “someday” would ever come.

“Rick, too… You were suddenly engaged to me by royal decree because of us. I thought it was rude of me to keep rejecting you.”

When we first got engaged, I was determined never to love him. But without criticizing my rude behavior, he just looked at me with eyes full of unspoken words… And after joining the academy, hearing about Patrick’s excellence and character…

I started to question if it was right to keep rejecting this person who was tied to me by engagement. Amid my confusion, I realized that, perhaps, I had slowly been drawn to Patrick.

“I see, Xia, you were suffering too,” Patrick said gently, stroking my shoulder.

“I’m really… sorry,” I apologized.

“It’s all in the past now,” Patrick said, lifting my face by my cheek. “I should have stopped being afraid and talked to you sooner.”

“Rick…”

“Sure, there were tough times… but now we’ve come to understand each other. It’s alright.”

Patrick’s face came closer. When I closed my eyes, I felt a soft, warm touch on my lips.

“Xia, I love you.”

“I love you too,” I replied.

We looked into each other’s eyes and shared a long kiss once more.

The End.

Translator Notes: Hello guys! Thank you for reading until this last chapter! I was planning to update the ending as soon as possible, but I got sick for almost a whole week (poor me just like Alexia). But I hope you enjoy this sweet ending! You can also see a bonus chapter from Theodore’s POV after this ^^