Chapter 3
Are you going to keep locking yourself in your room forever? You haven’t changed a bit, even after losing your memory.”
The baroness, arms crossed and looking thoroughly displeased, spoke in an irritated tone.
“In three days, Viscount Ross’s birthday party will be held. If you attend and mingle with people, perhaps your memory will come back. Go with Jessica to the party.”
“A… party? Do I really have to go? I’m still—”
I haven’t fully recovered yet. She was about to say that, but the baroness spoke faster.
“Jessica specifically asked your father on your behalf. It took a lot of effort to get his approval. You should be grateful she’s willing to take you. Be thankful for the favor.”
Saying her piece and clearly not wanting to linger in the room any longer, the baroness left in a hurry, leaving Lucy with a troubled face.
That very morning, Lucy had decided to at least try accepting the fact that she might have to live here for the rest of her life.
Fine! If I’m going to face it eventually, I might as well just go through with it head-on!
She had felt a sudden surge of determination, telling herself she would embrace her new life with enthusiasm. But not even five minutes later, here she was, sighing in frustration.
When she opened the wardrobe to check for a dress suitable for the party, all she found were old, shabby clothes.
Even without knowing much about the household’s situation, it was obvious to her that these faded garments would be completely inappropriate for such an event.
What in the world am I supposed to wear to a party?
Just then, Anna came in carrying ingredients for dinner.
“Anna, my mother says I should attend some count’s birthday party… Did I ever go to places like that before?”
Lucy guessed she probably hadn’t. After all, she had lived her life neglected by her family, so she doubted she had ever attended fancy events.
“Of course! My lady often attended the parties of high-ranking noble families. The baron always made sure you went to such events without fail.”
Lucy tilted her head at Anna’s reply.
“If that’s true, why don’t I even have a dress to wear now? And my father doesn’t seem all that affectionate toward me, so why would he send me to those gatherings all the time?”
Anna hesitated for a moment, then gave an awkward smile.
“Lady Jessica always lent you her dresses for those occasions. As for the baron’s reasoning… how could someone like me possibly know?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes and studied Anna’s expression, but the maid simply looked away as if she hadn’t noticed anything.
* * *
On the morning of the party, Jessica sent a purple dress to Lucy through Anna.
It was made of fine fabric and had an extravagant design, but judging from Jessica’s attitude, it was either out of fashion or something she had worn so often that she was tired of it.
When Lucy had first seen herself in the mirror after arriving here, she’d thought that if elves from myths truly existed, they might look like that.
And today, wearing the glamorous dress, she looked even more breathtaking—so much so that “beautiful” didn’t seem enough to describe it.
On the way to the venue in the carriage, Jessica gave her a cold warning.
“You’ve lost your memory, so you can’t afford to make mistakes. I’ll take care of everything. You just stand quietly in a corner.”
Lucy couldn’t understand why she had to be brought along at all if that was the plan. She only gave Jessica a brief glance before looking away.
After a long ride, they arrived at the party, and from the moment they stepped through the entrance, Lucy could feel eyes on her, making her tense.
“Lucy, you came. I heard you were seriously ill for a while—I was very worried.”
As soon as she entered with Jessica, a tall man approached Lucy, greeting her warmly and even calling her by name.
“Ah, yes… thank you for your concern.”
Having had little opportunity to build close relationships in her previous life, Lucy found this kind of social situation painfully awkward.
“Happy birthday. As you may have heard, Lucy is still suffering from memory loss due to the aftereffects of a fever. If she happens to be rude, please be understanding,” Jessica cut in with a sweet voice.
From there, it was as if a dam had burst—young men quickly surrounded Lucy, greeting her and asking after her health.
“Do you know how worried we’ve been since you stopped coming to parties?”
“When we heard what happened, we feared we might never see Lady Diallo again.”
What exactly do they mean by ‘what happened’? she wondered, but the sudden flood of attention left her no time to dwell on it.
Flustered, Lucy looked around for Jessica, but she had already disappeared.
It took a while for her to escape the crowd of men, but eventually she spotted Jessica chatting with a group of young ladies.
As Lucy approached, the girls’ expressions instantly chilled.
“Oh my, Lady Jessica. So it’s true what they say about your sister becoming a half-wit. Normally she’d be too busy mingling with young gentlemen to give us the time of day, isn’t that right?”
One girl covered her mouth with a fan while looking Lucy up and down. Her eyes, visible above the fan, were sharp and hostile, making Lucy flinch.
“She must have been so shocked… Imagine, the groom running away on the wedding day. How pitiful.”
Lucy froze.
“Well, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. She might find a better groom now.”
“Or maybe the groom ran away because she was always behaving so loosely with men.”
The groom ran away… on the wedding day? But Anna told me my fiancé died.
Confusion churned inside Lucy as Anna’s earlier words echoed in her mind.
Faced with such openly hostile gossip, she instinctively took a step back instead of approaching them. In doing so, she bumped into someone.
“Oh, I’m sorry…”
“Lady Diallo, what are you doing here? Everyone’s waiting for you over there.”
A thin, sallow-faced man grabbed her wrist roughly and dragged her toward a group of men.
“Wait, I… I…”
Before she could finish speaking, she found herself deposited in the middle of yet another group of men.
“My lady, it’s been a while. I hear you’ve been gravely ill. You’ve lost so much weight.”
One of them reached out to touch her, but she instinctively stepped back.
“Oh dear, it seems Miss Lucy is upset. I’ll apologize on his behalf,” another man said with a sly grin, clearly not sincere.
What on earth is happening right now?!
Lucy slowly scanned the room. Not just Jessica’s group, but people all around the hall were glancing her way and whispering to each other.
Her instincts told her the truth—she was their evening’s entertainment.
The confusion made her dizzy, and in the next moment, she shoved the men’s hands away and stormed out of the hall.
Outside, she saw the same carriage she had arrived in. The coachman looked puzzled to see her alone, but she urged him to take her home immediately.
All she could think about was getting away from there.
“Lucy, why are you back so early? Where’s Jessica?”
The baroness glared at her irritably when she returned alone not long after leaving for the party.
“Well… I suddenly felt very unwell…”
“My word, even with your memory gone, you’re still selfish. Do you think anyone can just walk into that party? I worked so hard to get you that invitation!”
Scolded harshly, Lucy retreated to her room and didn’t come out.
Later, Jessica returned home, her voice sharp with irritation that carried all the way to Lucy’s room.
“Because of that girl, the whole party was ruined! Everyone was looking for her—I was so embarrassed!”
That night, without warning, Baron Diallo burst into Lucy’s room.
Smack!
He slapped her across the face so hard she staggered and fell to the floor.
“You ungrateful wretch!”
Stunned by the sudden violence, Lucy looked up at him in shock, one hand on her stinging cheek.
“What… what is this…?”
It was the first time in her life she had ever been struck.
“What are you looking at me for?!” he barked, and then his merciless kicks followed.
Lucy instinctively curled into a ball, covering her head with both arms.
And then—it happened almost simultaneously—like a panorama, countless scenes flashed before her eyes. Fragments of memory.
The memories of the original Lucy, the true owner of this body, came flooding into So-hee’s mind like a storm.
She had no choice but to accept all the painful moments Lucy had endured. It was a brutal assault on both body and mind.
Without realizing it, Lucy’s tears poured endlessly from the crushing grief.
And from that day forward, the days of hell began.
