Oblivion (5)

“Oh my! Really? Did something come to mind?”

Then Elena quickly placed her hand on the woman’s head and began checking her condition.

That scene felt like a dream to Greek.

“Si, Siena?”

The person he thought was dead was right in front of him, and the shock and joy were beyond words.

Greek rubbed his eyes furiously, wondering if it was an illusion.

But no matter how much he looked, it was really her.

-Oppa, you must take the bitter medicine no matter what!

Now that he thought about it, Siena always said that when she took care of him while he was sick.

So, Siena knew.

That Greek hated the bitter herbs.

She was one of the few who knew that. Additionally, reading his expressions was one of Siena’s specialties.

“My Lord, do you happen to know her?”

“Yes? Yes. I know her. I’m sure I do!”

Greek nodded vigorously at Elena’s question, but Siena just tilted her head, showing no strong reaction like Greek’s.

Sizzle.

The meat was cooking.

Sweat was dripping from Rurin’s forehead. It was probably from the heat.

Because the griddle was hot.

“Ughhh! Why is this happening to me?”

The reason for this was…

Normally, she never helped properly with the restaurant work, so this was just a holy grail of a reason for her to get used to it.

Rurin grumbled almost every five seconds. The good news was that despite this, she was still grilling the meat.

“I’m hungry too.”

Rurin drooled.

“One more plate of meat here!”

Of course, even amid this, there were orders coming in, so Rurin had no time for herself. This was true restaurant work.

“My lady, there’s an additional order, so we need to grill more, I think?”

“No! I’m hungry too!”

“My laaady?”

From behind, I hugged Rurin and rubbed my cheek against her. The concept was that I had become a bit of a spoiled brat due to memory loss.

It seemed to work well, so she continued. In the usual setting, she would never do something like this.

Me, acting cute toward Rurin.

It was possible because of the memory loss. That’s the excuse.

“Ughhh. Fine. I’m the wife, so I’ll bear it.”

Eventually, with a melted expression, Rurin started grilling the meat again. At this point, though, I began to worry a little about the aftermath. A strong conviction that I absolutely wouldn’t be caught began to form.

Since the setting was that the memory loss would only last until tomorrow, it was best to hold out naturally.

Time would eventually solve everything.

If I got caught, she would probably sulk for a week.

Rurin chuckled and hummed, saying “Wife, wife, I am the wife~!”

Just by looking at that, there is no way I would get caught. No way.

By the way, her hand movements while grilling the meat were quite skilled.

She had already become quite proficient.

Of course, if she were in her right mind, she would never step up like that, so it was only a fleeting happiness for today.

“Welcome!”

Since Rurin was grilling the meat, I was in charge of serving and greeting the guests, so I welcomed the newcomers with a smile.

“Ugh! The door is closed! Stop coming in! Kkik-! It’s hot.”

“Huh?”

“Master?”

The group that entered through the door, those who were directly hit by Rurin’s harsh words, were fortunately familiar faces.

Elena and Greek.

And a young lady I had never seen before.

And even Sereina.

As soon as I saw this combination, I started to break into a slight cold sweat.

I cautiously looked back. Fortunately, Rurin was staring down and grilling the meat.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll talk about it after closing. For now, let’s focus here…”

“What are you guys doing here? I’m so busy, why are you here?”

“Ugh, what is this?”

I was genuinely shocked.

Just five seconds ago, Rurin was clearly grilling meat, and suddenly she appeared next to me.

Rurin, holding tongs in one hand and wearing an apron splattered with oil, was frowning.

“Since El has amnesia, it’s pointless to look for him. You can’t even grill meat, so just go back!”

The situation I had feared had exploded.

Rurin had casually mentioned the memory loss.

Oh no.

I quickly turned my head to look at Greek and Elena. Elena looked very troubled, while Greek’s face was one of shock.

“Master has amnesia too? How could this happen?”

Greek looked like the world had just collapsed.

“Ah, so that’s…well.”

At that moment, I glared at Elena with a desperate face, silently pleading for help.

In that situation, Rurin began staring at me. I could feel the gaze.

I had no choice but to pretend I didn’t know.

“Wh-who are you people?”

“M-Master?”

Then, Elena started to explain on my behalf, sweating nervously.

“Ah, well! El received a big shock while working today, but! It’s a short-term memory loss that will recover by tomorrow…”

“How could such a thing happen?”

Greek grabbed my hand with a shocked face.

“Pffft!”

And from behind, Sereina started chuckling, unable to hold it in.

What’s that?

“Why is she acting like that?”

I pointed to Sereina with a calm face and then shot a sharp look at the Red Dragon.

Sereina received the look and raised her finger with a meaningful expression, making a circular motion.

It was a sign that she would keep quiet in exchange for jewels. She then glanced at Rurin.

Or, it was a sign that she would speak to Rurin.

That thieving Red Dragon.

When I frowned, Sereina suddenly stretched and said,

“Kid, do you want me to tell you a secret?”

“What? What secret while grilling meat! And who’s a kid?!”

“One more plate here!”

“One more plate is not the problem, I’m not a kid!”

“Here too!”

“Ah! I’m not a kid, alright! Wait, I’m grilling it!”

Chatter.

Rurin resumed grilling the meat, unable to settle the issues with the kid comments or the curiosity about the secret.

At that moment, I raised my hand towards Sereina.

There was no choice.

So this is what it feels like to be blackmailed.

I couldn’t complain, since it was my own doing.

Still, I couldn’t be caught. The aftermath was scary, and I wanted to see Rurin clean up the restaurant.

I surrendered to the threat and reluctantly made a circle with my thumb and index finger.

Sereina nodded in satisfaction.

“So, what’s the secret?”

“Ugh?”

Before I knew it, Rurin was in front of Sereina again, still holding tongs.

“W-wifey, is everything grilled? Another order just came in.”

“It’s all grilled. I’ve received all the orders!”

“Already?”

“I’m fast. Hehe. They asked for it rare, so I did it quickly. But what’s the secret?”

I tilted my head robotically and looked at Sereina again.

Then, Sereina shrugged.

“There’s no such thing. Kid.”

“Ughhh! This, this lady!”

Rurin suddenly kicked and, in the ensuing chaos, the guests sitting at the tables stood up.

“It was delicious. We’ll pay now.”

“Ah, yes!”

As a result, Greek naturally took a seat at the empty table.

The awkward situation continued. But well, since Elena explained it, it should be okay for now, right?

Anyway, we continued with the business, and soon the day’s work was over.

“Ughhh… This is hard…”

I hugged the exhausted Rurin tightly.

Since Rurin was clinging to me with the memory loss setting, I didn’t have to give meaning to hugging her, so it was convenient.

“Good job, my lady. But the smell of oil is unbearable.”

“Ughh?”

Then, suddenly, she shoved me away and dropped down, sniffing her body.

“It’s true. It stinks. Ugh, don’t come near me, go wash yourself quickly!”

“No, clean this up first, then you can go wash yourself.”

“…You just hugged me tightly, but now you’re being cold. You seemed like the usual El earlier?”

Well, that was quick.

Ugh.

I started washing the dishes, pretending not to care.

“If you don’t want to wash, then help clean up… Can you do the dishes?”

Rustling-

Rurin continued sniffing her body and, when asked to help with the dishes, dashed off to the rear.

This was the moment.

I approached Greek and Elena, who were still waiting. Sereina had already left, having achieved her goal.

From the beginning, it felt like she followed them because she caught the scent of food.

“So, who is this person?”

“Master?”

Greek responded to my question with confusion, his face showing surprise as if he couldn’t understand why I suddenly appeared normal after claiming to have memory loss.

“It’s fine. I just pretended to have memory loss due to certain circumstances. That’s why I asked you to wait.”

“Is that really the case?”

“The situation is related to Rurin, so don’t ask. But what brought you all the way here? It doesn’t seem like you came here to eat.”

At that point, Elena looked at the woman next to her and began to speak first.

“Ah, Mr. El. So this is the person I mentioned earlier…”

“Ah, the one who was found collapsed on the outskirts of the city and brought here by a villager?”

“Yes.”

“The one who had memory loss?”

“Yes. That’s right!”

Elena nodded repeatedly. She didn’t need to nod that much, but she kept doing it.

Anyway, since I got the idea from her memory loss, I’m doing this.

Everything is driven by my determination to make Rurin do the work.

And this woman…

As Elena said, she was found collapsed on the outskirts. I guessed she might be a citizen of Greek, which is why she asked me to find out.

But what’s her relation to Greek?

“Mr. El, I’ve asked you to inquire, but it seems you don’t need to! Apparently, the Lord knows her.”

“Oh? Lord, do you know her?”

“Yes. Master!”

Greek nodded vigorously.

“She was someone I grew up with, a maid from the castle. She was very close to me, like a younger sister. I even had her call me ‘oppa’. We were very close, but then something happened, and…Dedran…and so on!”

“Wait, wait. Lord, please calm down. Take your time and explain the situation. We’re not going anywhere.”

Even though his explanation was disjointed, I couldn’t ignore how panicked and anxious Greek looked. I grabbed his shoulder to steady him.

Then Greek swallowed hard and looked at me before slowly nodding.

“Ah, I’m sorry. So…it’s just that…”

Finally, Greek, having calmed down, explained the situation. For noble families of count rank and above, there are servants assigned by the Emperor to manage the household.

Since counts and above are given fiefdoms, they need people to manage their households.

They are responsible for everything, from the smallest to the most tedious tasks, and thus, the servants manage the day-to-day life within the castle.

From the steward to the maids, there are various ranks among the servants.

Usually, it’s impossible to have servants from other noble families work there, unless in very special cases.

“So, because of Dedran, you were separated, and you were told she died, but now she’s suddenly here in front of you?”