My Husband Hates Me, But He Lost His Memories

Chapter 1

My husband came back home with a serious head injury.

I knew he wouldn’t like it if I went to see him.
Even so, since I was his wife, I steeled my nerves and entered his room.

‘…The scent of medicine.’

His room usually had a subtle fragrance of a forest, but now it smelled of bitter medicine.
The doctor in charge seemed to have given him the right medicine already.

“Ah, Your Grace is here.”

As I stood by the doorway, the doctor found me.

From his relaxed attitude, it didn’t seem like my husband’s condition was grave.

Well, it’s not like I thought he’d be in a serious condition…

‘Because he’s such a strong person.’

My husband was behind the curtains of the canopy bed, so he was hidden from my sight.

I hesitated to come closer to the bed, and when the doctor saw this, he raised his eyebrows and started explaining.

“When His Grace arrived, he was bleeding profusely, but now everything is fine.
His Grace is very resilient.”

“Yes, that’s right…”

I wrung my hands together as I answered with a voice as quiet as a mosquito’s.

My husband, Theodore Valentino, was a descendant of a mythical hero, and because of this, he had the physical abilities and resilience that easily exceeded the limits of a normal human being.

I was surprised when I first heard that he got seriously injured.
He had gone to the battlefield near the large fissure where demonic monsters were pouring out, but… it seemed like my worries were for nothing.

‘Even so, he’ll need to rest well, so it would be better if I left quickly.’

With my hands still clasped nervously together, I slipped back.

The doctor saw me and rose from his seat, then asked me.

“Are you leaving already, Your Grace?”

“Um, yes.”

“But don’t you want to see Milord first?”

“……”

The doctor… Come to think of it, they mentioned he’s a doctor from the military.
I guess he didn’t know the situation because he’s not from here.

“Not seeing him would be more helpful for the Duke.
Then, I’ll leave now…”

“Pardon? What do you mean…”

At the same moment, the flustered military doctor stepped closer to me—

Shhhk!

Suddenly, there was a sound of the canopy bed’s curtains being pulled aside.
Before I could even turn towards the door, I froze right where I was.

Vivid blue eyes met my gaze.

It was the face of my husband who I didn’t see for four weeks.

He was still terribly beautiful.
Like the pure darkness of the deep night, his black hair was paired with his vivid sapphire eyes.
And his sculpted, angular features suited him well.

My husband.
The Duke of Valentino.
Theodore.

This man had only one flaw, and that was me.

“Dar…”

I almost called him ‘darling’ without realizing it, but I managed to stop myself.
It wasn’t right that I call him by his name affectionately or with a term used between couples… Because it had never been like that between us.

“…Duke.”

This was perfect.
It was a term I could call him by that was fine for someone who wasn’t close to him.
The appropriate term.
I called him Duke or Your Grace, and he called me Miss Everett, which was my maiden name.

“……”

Right now, he was sitting up on the bed, holding the curtain with one hand as he stared at me.
His eyes grew wider.

One, two, three seconds passed… Time passed by without fail.
In my confusion, I hesitated and wondered when his sarcastic tone would soon burst out.

But why wasn’t he saying anything?

My husband, who continued to stare at me, gradually frowned.
Then, he tilted his head slightly to the side and opened his lips.
I sweated profusely as I wrung my fingers.

Should I turn around quickly? Before my husband would say something, I should just go ahead and say, ‘I apologize for interrupting your rest, I’ll get going now…’

I was used to hearing my husband’s harsh words, but I was still frightened of them.
His sharp, cold voice was like a blade that stabbed right through my heart every time.

I’d since adapted because I kept hearing the same hurtful words every single day, with the only exception of whenever he was away for work.
It had been like this for all one year and six months of our marriage.

My lips dried up, but I licked them a little with the tip of my tongue.
Then, I spoke.

“I apologize for…”

“…Who are you?”

“…Huh?”

What did he say just now? I stiffened and stared blankly.
But my husband looked back with a confused gaze.
At this, I was surprised because I couldn’t see any resentment in his eyes.

He always looked at me as though I were a constant nuisance.
I was an eternal stranger in this household, and this man never welcomed me.

His blue irises were always so cold when they were turned to me, so when I saw that there was an unfamiliar warmth within them just now… I wondered if I’d finally gone crazy.

It’s not strange to say that I could be hallucinating right now.
It’s true that I often daydreamed about a time when he’d finally treat me kindly—so perhaps I must only be interpreting my husband’s gaze however I wanted.

“I…”

—am your wife.

Somehow, it was difficult to say.
On paper, we were husband and wife, but we were no more than strangers to each other.
We never even had our first night.
From the very beginning of this marriage and until now, I had been left alone in solitude.

“Milord?”

On my behalf as I couldn’t answer, the military doctor carefully called out to my husband.
The doctor glanced at him, but my husband never took his eyes off me.

As though he didn’t want to miss any detail, he looked at me closely, and my shoulders shrank down without me realizing it.
What’s wrong with him? Did he really not recognize me?

“Don’t you remember, Milord? She is your wife.”

“Wife…”

My husband murmured as though it was a new word he learned for the first time, then he blinked.
I covered my mouth with one hand as he asked himself quietly.

“I’m married?”

At his reaction, the doctor’s eyes trembled greatly.
He tried to hide his astonishment and calmly asked.

“You don’t remember, sire? You married Her Grace more than a year ago