The Duchess and the Devil - Chapter 86.1
When he learned about the obscene deal between the Emperor and Derrick, questions arose one after another. Is it true that Duke really lost his memory? Mental problems such as memory loss are things that can be easily faked.
The doctor, of course, diagnosed amnesia. But only Derrick himself could know whether this was true. And if the Duke was only pretending to have lost his memory, although it would only cause more problems for Judith, Vincent had to deal with him as soon as possible.
So, on the day of the consecration, the Marquis asked his sister while Derrick was away:
Is it true that Derrick lost his memory?
Judith looked at him suspiciously, as if she didn’t understand why he was asking such unexpected things.
– This is true.
Vincent could no longer doubt it. After all, the Duchess was closest to Derrick, and now she answered so confidently and without the slightest hesitation. Thus, Vincent found himself in a situation in which he could not cast aside doubts, but was also afraid of ruining everything.
Moreover, when he saw the couple in the banquet hall, he was extremely surprised when Derrick hugged his wife around the waist, and Judith did not refuse touching at all. And among other things, the Duke kept whispering something in her ear, creating an even more friendly atmosphere that no one had seen between them before.
So Derrick attracted everyone’s attention by leaving the hall with Judith in his arms.
“If it were that Judith, she would hate being touched like that.”
Vincent knew this very well, because he always watched his sister at banquets. And now everything that was happening seemed even stranger.
– Maybe I know too little? – the Marquis wondered.
He doubted everything, because he had never talked about it openly with Judith. Vincent always made decisions based on his assumptions. It was impossible to replace a childhood habit.
In the end, the Marquis calmed down, seeing such mutual understanding between the spouses. But unexpectedly for everyone, an incident occurred in the villa…
Vincent knocked carefully on the closed bedroom door. There was no response from within. After hesitating a little, the brother opened the door, saying:
– Judith?
The bedroom, where the sun constantly penetrated and was warm, now felt slightly cool. Almost no one entered the quiet room, except for the occasional maid. Covered by a canopy, Judith lay on the bed, not paying attention to anyone. And even when Vincent came in, her thoughts were still somewhere outside the window.
Placing the tray on the side table, he pulled up a chair and sat down directly in front of his sister.
“You must eat,” he said.
Judith, who had been staring intently out the window, turned her gaze to him, but said nothing.
“I heard you missed dinner yesterday.”