Chapter 2

What a devoted "cousin." And what a tender caretaker Lilia pretended to be.

She meant to use my amnesia to bury her grubby little affair and to openly snatch everything in this castle that belonged to me.

I sneered inwardly, but on the surface I fashioned a helpless, trusting expression.

I glanced nervously at Lilia, then at Albert. "You're my cousin? Then you are both kind people?"

Lilia nodded with enthusiasm. "Of course. We are the ones who love you most."

Albert swallowed hard, caught off guard by the innocent, defenseless look in my eyes. I stared up at him like a newborn lamb.

For a hundred years, as the heir of an ancient pureblood line, I had always stood before him strong, proud, and unyielding.

He had never once seen me so vulnerable and dependent.

As though drawn by some invisible force, he reached out to touch my hair.

But in that moment, I evaded his hand and clutched Lilia's sleeve instead. "Since you are my cousin, will you stay with me tonight?

"I do not like him. His face frightens me. Please do not make me stay with him."

I pointed at Albert, my gaze full of rejection.

His hand stopped in midair, his expression darkening.

Lilia's smile turned rigid.

She had planned to take advantage of my injury tonight and slip into Albert's room to seduce him and secure his favor.

There was no chance she wanted to spend the night in this cold, gloomy sickroom, tending to me.

"My lady, but Albert is your husband. It is only proper for him to—" Lilia fumbled for an escape.

Tears welled in my eyes, threatening to spill over. "You said you loved me most, yet it was all empty words. Are the two of you scheming against me?"

"No, not at all!" Lilia floundered.

She was so accustomed to playing the fragile maiden, but now that I had turned her own tricks against her. She was utterly at a loss.

Seeing my distress and afraid I might fall apart completely, Albert clenched his jaw and turned to Lilia. "Lilia, you will stay with her tonight. See that she stays calm."

He studied me for a long moment. Then he turned on his heel and strode from the room.

The moment the door shut, all the warmth drained from Lilia's face.

She snatched her sleeve from my grip, revulsion written all over her face, her eyes going cold. "Enough of this pitiful act. Memory or no memory, Albert loves me. You are nothing but a title to him.

"Since you remember nothing, allow me to offer you a friendly reminder. You would do well to treat me with courtesy in this castle."

I shrank into the corner of the bed and said nothing, trembling like a frightened doe.

But as she turned away toward the chaise, a predatory gleam of crimson flared in my lowered eyes.

The true performance was only beginning.

*****

For the next two weeks, I played the part of the naive, helpless lamb. I was amnesiac, fragile, and wholly dependent on my darling "cousin."

Whenever Albert appeared, I would flinch and press both hands to my head as though the very sight of him brought me pain.

He could not approach me without sending me into a fit, and so he was forced to push Lilia forward every time to pacify me.

Lilia found herself well and truly trapped.

By day, she trailed after me through the gardens and halls, enduring my endless, meandering prattle. By night, she was banished to the outer chamber, reduced to the role of a sleepless nurse.

Her once-luminous complexion grew dull and haggard from the accumulated exhaustion and my relentless demands. Dark crescents settled beneath her eyes like bruises.

Each day, I found new ways to keep her occupied. The moment the faintest shadow of irritation crossed her face, I would scurry into the nearest corner and curl up, trembling like a frightened doe.

Whenever the castle servants happened upon such a scene, they would fix Lilia with looks of unmasked contempt.

Who did this lowly human think she was, tormenting the poor, ailing countess who had lost her memory?

Albert, too, began to sour on her.

He realized the woman before him was no longer the luminous, moonlight-kissed beauty who had once stolen his breath.

Now she was a hollow-eyed, worn-out creature who did little but whine and complain.

*****

Late one night in the study, Lilia flung herself into Albert's arms, sobbing with enough abandon to rival a storm, certain her tears would thaw his heart.

She cried, "Albert, I cannot endure another day of this! She has gone completely mad.

"She made me pluck every thorn from the rose bushes with my bare hands. Look at my fingers. They are shredded!"

Not long ago, Albert would have lifted her bleeding fingers to his lips and kissed each wound tenderly, then turned on me with righteous fury for such cruelty.

But tonight, he pushed her away and pressed his fingers to his temples, his patience worn to threads. "Lilia, see reason. She has lost her memory. She is little more than a frightened child now.

"You are the only soul in this castle she trusts. Would a sliver of compassion destroy you? Or would you rather she recover her memory and watch the Council strip me of everything?"

Lilia's eyes flew wide with disbelief. "You are blaming me? You are the one who pushed her!"

"Enough!" Albert's hand came down, shattering the heavy oak desk into splinters, his gaze dark and feral. "If you had not insisted on going to the clock tower for that worthless view, would any of this be happening?

"Know your place, Lilia. You are a human, nothing more. Do not turn yourself into a problem I have no use for."