“Fried, calm down a little bit! Your wife is in trouble.”
Hastily Tony Andrea in military uniform stops him.
Thanks to them, they managed to free Frederick.
Tony, she is my wife. We haven’t seen each other for a long time. You said you were my friend, why are you interrupting?”
Frederick stares at Andrea.
“No, you, look at your wife’s confusion…”
Frederick gives Liddell a worried look. Who is this expressive person?
Bad and good things are happening all at once and she’s completely confused, and then there’s her husband who looks like a different person.
Then Andrea stands up and greets Liddell.
“I’m Tony Andrea, a member of His Excellency Weller’s staff. Do you remember me from last night?”
Colonel Andrea, thank you for coming all this way. But is this really my husband?”
Liddell thinks it’s a silly question, but Andrea slaps her hand to her forehead in annoyance.
Did he accidentally bring a fake? Or did she notice Liddell’s amazement at his relative and bring a double?
“Okusama, very surprising, he is definitely my boss and friend Frederick. He and I have been together since our boarding school days, and all our old injuries match.”
“What?”
I look closely at Frederick’s face and see that the thin scar on his temple is still there, as are his characteristic ice-blue eyes and sand-colored hair.
No matter how many people there are who look like him, it’s impossible to mimic his old scars or the color of his eyes.
At Andrea’s insistence, Frederick orders his relatives to leave the salon, which they do reluctantly.
After the exorcism, Liddell experienced a startling revelation.
“Frederick was taken into custody when he lost his memory and was wandering around the battlefield. Circumstances indicate that he was hit by an arrow and fell from his horse when his unit was split by enemy forces.”
“You mean the shock made you lose your memory?”
Andrea nodded deeply.
“Yes, it’s all gone. I couldn’t even remember my name, let alone the name of the house. That’s why I was on the missing persons list for a while. But the doctor says he still has procedural memory, so he should be able to manage the property. With Okusama’s assistance, of course.”
Procedural memory?
“Yes, it is a memory that is necessary for daily life. From what the doctor has seen, there are no problems with reading, writing and arithmetic. Of course, I still know how to dance, and I have no problems with horseback riding or sword fighting.”
Even with Okusama’s support – he was on the verge of divorcing Liddell – I wonder how much I should tell Andrea.
But he can’t keep quiet. And Frederick smiles happily at Liddell.
Somehow he was sitting so close that their arms were almost touching. He had been so careful to keep his distance because he said he didn’t like touching people.
“Um … I’m very sorry to tell you this when you’re tired, but I don’t want to take advantage of your husband’s weakness by being silent…”
When Liddell says this, Frederick looks anxious.
“Yes, Liddell?”
The warmth in his voice is more than reassuring; it makes me shiver. So is it a fake after all? It doesn’t sound like him.
Then Liddell presents the breakup letter he just received from Hannah. It was slightly wet with tears.
Hannah-sama told me that the master gave this to her. Now I just have to sign it. I’d like to talk to you about the terms.”
Liddell’s admission created a tense atmosphere.
“Fried, you said you had a good wife!”
“Why, Liddell, are you so unhappy with me?”
Tony is surprised and Frederick shouts.
“No, I didn’t prepare that. The master wrote it and left it with Hannah-sama.”
“By the way, Hannah pretended to be your wife, didn’t she?”
Andrea says suspiciously.
“Oh, that brazen woman. I’m not kidding. My wife is Liddell here.”
“No, but that’s definitely your handwriting, isn’t it?”
Andrea says, disgusted.
“That’s absurd! Liddell, please, don’t leave me!”
Suddenly, Frederick grabs Liddell’s arm.
Again he touched it without hesitation. He looks at him like an abandoned puppy and can’t shake him off.
Liddell doesn’t know how to deal with the completely changed Frederick. She’s not sure she can talk to her husband about it, so she asks Andrea.
“Well, Andrea-sama… do you think your husband’s memories will ever come back?”
“Yes. It could come back tomorrow, it could come back little by little…. The doctors say that it might stay forgotten for the rest of his life.”
“…. I see…”
Despite his answer, Liddell was still at the height of his confusion. After all, nothing had been resolved.
“As a friend, I would say to his credit that he never said a bad word about Okusama when he remembered him, and that he was a pretty good man,” he said. And he was clearly suspicious of his relatives.
And Mrs. Okusama seems to be very popular with the servants, so I hope she will stay with him for a while. Maybe there’s a mistake in these papers.”
Andrea’s words were acknowledged by Frederick with a childish nod. But there could be no mistake in a separation letter in his own handwriting.
“For God’s sake, Liddell, there must be some misunderstanding. I would never consider leaving an attractive woman like you.”
I was more put off by the change than pleased.
But if you can keep her here, I’m grateful for it.
So is she for real after all?
