Side Story 9

Surrounded by praise, Chloe asked with a slightly flushed face.

“If I do this… can I play catch with Davi and Luca too?”

“Of course!”

“Even if I’m not strong?”

“It doesn’t matter. I play with the Brigadier General too. I even throw better than him.”

“You throw better than the Brigadier General? Really?”

Chloe’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Considering Ruediger’s arms were nearly twice as thick as mine, her reaction was understandable.

“Of course. It’s not just about strength. Watch closely. I’ll hit that tree over there exactly.”

On impulse, I pointed at a tree in the distance.

It looked to be about fifteen meters away.

That was farther than the fourteen meter pitching distance in softball, but compared to a catcher’s mitt, the wide surface of the tree trunk made it feel easy.

The kids, who had only been tossing the ball from about three meters apart, stared with their mouths open at the distance, nearly five times farther.

Only Luca looked unimpressed. He casually asked,

“Want me to catch it?”

“No, I’m going to throw seriously for once.”

Knowing what my full strength looked like, Luca obediently raised his hands and stepped back.

I took my stance properly. I planted my feet, lightly tossed the ball into my glove a couple of times.

As I focused, the center of the tree trunk came into sharp view.

After steadying my breath, I swung my arm wide at just the right moment.

“Hah!”

With a short shout, the ball left my fingertips and shot forward.

It tore through the air at high speed, drawing a near straight arc.

The trajectory was perfect and the speed was solid.

All that remained was for the ball to strike the tree trunk.

If only an uninvited guest hadn’t interfered.

Smack!

A sound painful just to hear rang out.

The dark shape that suddenly cut into the trajectory was a person.

The blood drained from my face.

And that person was…

“R-Ruediger?”

“U-Uncle!”

Wait, why are you here of all places?

Ruediger let out a brief groan, then collapsed straight to the ground.

It would’ve been bad enough if it had just been a wild pitch, but the ball had hit his head.

A full strength headshot…

My face went pale. I flung my glove to the ground and ran straight to Ruediger.

“Are you okay, Ruediger? Why did you suddenly come out there?”

But Ruediger, sprawled on the ground, couldn’t answer at all.

Seeing his unfocused eyes struggling to stay open made my heart drop.

“Ruediger, please wake up. Ruediger!”

I cried out desperately. Despite my frantic calls, Ruediger completely lost consciousness.

I panicked. My head went blank, unable to think of what to do.

As I knelt there holding the unconscious Ruediger in shock, Luca recovered first and kicked off the ground.

“I’ll get a doctor!”

* * *

Thanks to Luca’s quick action, the doctor arrived without delay.

But since Ruediger wouldn’t wake up at all, it was impossible to tell exactly what was wrong.

That only made my anxiety worse.

What if Ruediger ended up in a vegetative state?

Unable to believe what was happening, I paced the room restlessly.

If I could blame someone else, I might feel better, but since I was the cause, I couldn’t blame anyone.

Seeing Ruediger’s eyes tightly shut, tears welled up. I collapsed beside him and buried my face in my hands.

‘Why did I have to do something I never do…’

From what the maids later said, Ruediger had returned home earlier than expected and quietly asked where I was. When a maid offered to call me, he shook his head and went on his own.

It seemed he’d planned to surprise me by coming back early. The plan itself wasn’t bad.

The timing and place were the problem. Why did he walk that way at the exact moment I threw with full strength?

From the path Ruediger came from, the backyard where we were was perfectly hidden. A blind spot.

He could hear us talking but couldn’t see what we were doing. So he wouldn’t have known where I was throwing the ball.

What terrible luck. This had to be a cruel joke from the gods.

I cursed every god that might exist.

‘Wait, what if cursing makes his condition worse? This isn’t the time for that. I should be praying to every god there is…’

Grasping at straws, I suddenly realized that and flipped my attitude completely, begging earnestly.

‘Ruediger is a bit strange, but he’s not a bad person. Please let him wake up…’

Maybe my prayer reached the heavens. After lying completely still for so long, Ruediger finally let out a groan.

“Mmm…”

It was the sign I’d been waiting for.

I hurriedly called the doctor.

“Doctor! Doctor!”

At my shout, Luca, who had dozed off on the sofa, snapped awake, and the doctor waiting in the next room rushed in.

“Did something happen?”

“The Brigadier General just groaned. I think he’s waking up.”

I made a fuss, full of cautious hope.

Soon, Ruediger’s fingers twitched, and his eyelids trembled as they slowly opened.

His pale gray blue eyes appeared, unfocused. He blinked a few times.

Seeing that, the tears I’d been holding back burst out. I grabbed his hand and asked anxiously.

“Ruediger, are you okay?”

At that moment, Ruediger’s hand under mine jerked sharply.

His eyes slowly turned toward me. I expected him to smile and say he was fine, but instead, what came back was an awkward, distant look.

What?

The clear sense of distance in his gaze made me panic as I searched his face.

His eyes slid past me to the doctor standing behind. In a low, heavy voice, he spoke.

“…What’s going on here?”

“The Brigadier General was struck by a ball the lady threw. Do you remember that?”

The doctor asked cautiously.

It was well known how attached Ruediger was to me.

And yet, after waking up, he ignored my question and asked the doctor about his condition?

Sensing something seriously wrong, the doctor’s face went pale.

Ruediger frowned as he processed the words.

“Brigadier General? Lady? What are you talking about. My rank is Colonel. And I’m unmarried.”

Ruediger’s words fell like a bolt from the blue. Something was wrong with what he said. It was as if…

“It seems… the Brigadier General has short term memory loss.”

The doctor murmured with a pale face.

I’d suspected it, but hearing the diagnosis made my head ring. My body swayed without me realizing it.

God, I asked you to let him wake up, but only letting him wake up like this is too cruel!

‘What do I do now? Short term memory loss… does that mean he can recover? If so… how long will it take?’

I clung desperately to hope, but negative thoughts kept pushing their way in.

‘What if his memory never comes back? And how does the current Ruediger see me? The original Ruediger… what kind of man was he three years ago?’

So much had happened since I first met him, and he’d changed so much that it wasn’t easy to recall his past self clearly.

Right. The old Ruediger was noble, knew nothing of love, and had dry, distant relationships with everyone. A sociopath, really.

Would the current Ruediger be lucky enough to fall for me again? I wasn’t confident.

My throat bobbed. Images of how Ruediger treated others flashed before my eyes.

That sharp, decisive coldness. Thinking that blade like attitude would now be directed at me made me feel dizzy, like the ground was caving in.

I didn’t even have the energy to laugh at the absurdity. Memory loss plots used to feel almost funny in dramas, but facing it myself made me want to scream.

“For now… Aunt, step outside. I’ll explain the situation to Uncle. From the looks of it… he doesn’t remember anything from the past three years.”

Luca stepped forward with a stiff expression. Ruediger’s eyes widened when he finally noticed Luca.

“…Jonas?”

He didn’t remember Luca either. The road ahead felt bleak.

But that was exactly why I couldn’t turn away from this situation. I shook my head.

“No. I’ll stay. I’m fine.”

“That face doesn’t make it convincing. Go get some rest.”

What did my face look like?

I turned my head toward the mirror hanging on the wall. A woman, pale as a sheet, stood there staring blankly with her mouth slightly open.