The Strongest Brother Lost His Memory-Chapter 9Vol 2.

Fire stared at Rosie with an expression of disbelief, but—perhaps sensing the mood—kept his mouth shut without barking.

“Well, since the Duke has returned, we should serve tea again.”

As the Empress Dowager gave a glance, the maid standing by the door moved swiftly.

Zahid said to her in a slow tone,

“Ah, for tea food, I’d like cake, please.”

At those words, both the Empress Dowager and Ray were startled—Zahid had never asked for food like this before.

“The most lavish and palatable kind.”

“A-ah, yes.”

After the maid exited, the Empress Dowager tilted her head and muttered, “I suppose he came back because he was hungry.”

Some time later, the maid brought out four slices of whipped cream cake and placed them in front of the Empress Dowager, Linna, Zahid, and Ray.

Just as expected from “the most lavish and palatable,” the cakes were decorated with all kinds of high-grade fruits.

“My cake is—”

Just as Zahid opened his mouth while looking at Rosie—

“Heidi, take a bite!”

Suddenly, Linna scooped up a large piece of cake and pushed it into Rosie’s mouth.

“You haven’t eaten anything yet, right? I can’t eat anyway because of this hangover!”

She moved at lightning speed, too fast for even Zahid or anyone else to stop her.

“Here, this part with the raspberry—eat this too!”

A noble lady feeding cake directly to a maid...

While everyone stood frozen in shock, Rosie accepted each bite without a moment’s hesitation.

“I was craving cake today, milady.”

“Really? Want to try this part too? The cream color’s a bit different!”

“It’s amazing—must be because I’m used to First Class. I’m also grateful to Duke Dyfenril for asking for this kind of cake.”

“What are you talking about? He probably ordered it because he wanted it. I’m the one feeding you. Look at me, Heidi. Only look at me. Your eyes must reflect only me here.”

“Ruff! Ruff!”

<What the hell is this now?!>

It was truly a bizarre sight.

The Empress Dowager let out a few forced coughs, “Ahem, ahem,” but due to the earlier incident where Linna had been falsely accused, she couldn’t say anything outright. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

She forced a smile and said,

“Our Linna, so kind and caring to those beneath her.”

And without so much as glancing at Rosie—who had just devoured an entire plate with perfect composure—she continued,

“We were just talking about ideal types with Lord Ray.”

All Ray had said was that “he liked that kind of style,” but now it had somehow become “ideal type” in the Empress Dowager’s version.

Naturally brushing aside the previous chaos, she resumed her role as the fond elder who doted on Linna and subtly asked,

“Isn’t Lady Linna the sort of style young people these days like?”

At that, Zahid took the pipe into his mouth and chuckled playfully.

“Ah.”

Rosie’s gaze lingered briefly on the two rings Zahid wore on his left hand.

Her round, slightly drooping green eyes seemed to drift toward a distant past.

Meanwhile, Zahid’s violet eyes traced over Rosie’s skull-shaped earring, her choker, and her shoes studded with spikes.

“Well... I don’t mind it.”

At that moment, Linna’s face lost all its energy after feeding Rosie the cake.

As she became the topic of conversation again, she began murmuring to herself while rubbing her chest.

What only Rosie, standing directly behind her, could hear was: “If I throw up now, I’m doomed—hold it in... hold it in, Linna.”

“Ahahahaha! I see! Then does that mean Lady Linna is also Duke Dyfenril’s ideal type?”

“Mm, no. She isn’t.”

Even though he had requested it himself, Zahid hadn’t touched the cake at all. He simply kept his piercing gaze locked onto Rosie through the swirling white smoke.

“Well, if I had to name an ideal type...”

His voice was slow, with a hint of mischief, relaxed.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“An older woman with a lot of money, I suppose?”

“Pfffft! Wh-what?!”

The Empress Dowager, mid-sip of tea, let out a choking cough as if she’d heard the most absurd thing.

Meanwhile, Zahid continued as if reminiscing about the past.

“Someone who, the moment we meet, would shove an excessive gift into my hands and demand a special relationship.”

His slanted smile was directed at one woman only. Half amused, half sorrowful.

“I think I’d fall for her on the spot.”

That peculiar gaze, mixed with heat, filled the room with a heavy atmosphere.

After choking slightly on her tea, the Empress Dowager caught her breath and waved her hand in disbelief.

“Really now, Duke Dyfenril, that’s just too much. I heard you’ve accumulated quite a fortune?”

Then she shook her head and began offering stern advice with a serious tone.

“You’ve grown close to the Noart Count and now you’ve become a miserly vulgarian. You must understand that class is what truly matters. One must value loyalty over wealth, you see.”

Feigning strictness, she lifted her chin and said,

“A nouveau riche house from slave origins can hardly be called true nobility. You were dumped by a fiancée obsessed with magic, and yet you haven’t come to your senses?”

Zahid didn’t look particularly upset at this scolding. He simply leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on Rosie as if carefully admiring a priceless painting.

Under that piercingly blatant gaze, Rosie’s earlobes flushed slightly red.

“Yes.”

Zahid answered in a low voice, toying with the pipe.

“I haven’t come to my senses.”

His tone was so relaxed and nonchalant that the Empress Dowager clicked her tongue in displeasure.

“That girl you only met briefly in your childhood—what is she to you?! If she was that deep into magic, she probably lived in her own world and never listened to anyone!”

“She did have that tendency.”

A truly amused smile played faintly at the corners of Zahid’s eyes.

Though he was conversing with the Empress Dowager, it was clear she wasn’t the person he was speaking to. His gaze remained fixed elsewhere.

“If you tried to be a gentleman and give her the floor, she’d just talk over you and run off.”

“Unbelievable! What a terrible woman! Sounds like a total menace!”

“Still, it’s fine.”

He slowly raised his eyebrows and continued,

“No matter where she goes, I’ll just follow and tell her what I want to say.”

As the Empress Dowager fumed, Zahid gave a light chuckle and took a drag from his pipe. Smoke swirled as he added with a smile,

“She was the kind of woman who would appear like a gift when you least expect it. Of course I can’t come to my senses.”

At that, the Empress Dowager shook her head in exasperation.

“Duke, you really must come to your senses somehow.”

And Zahid’s face—his expression so serene it seemed mad—made the word “senses” feel ironically fitting.

The Empress Dowager clicked her tongue again and tapped Linna on the shoulder.

“Only children get swept up in such cheap, low-quality charm. A duchy like Idra’s is what suits a duke’s class.”

While Linna coughed, “Cough, cough,” the Empress Dowager kept speaking.

“Ah, but wait. The fact that Duke Dyfenril followed Lady Linna here without realizing it... perhaps his heart has already begun to move.”

Then, as if she’d never been angry in the first place, a gleam of interest sparked in her eyes.

Turning to Ray, she added with amusement,

“Ah, and didn’t Lord Ray also say earlier that he liked Lady Linna?”

“Khffft!”

Ray, too, let out an involuntary cough.

“We might get to witness something very entertaining—a duel between two men competing for Lady Linna’s affection!”

Zahid continued to exhale smoke, his eyes locked solely on Rosie. It was clear to everyone that he was blatantly ignoring the Empress Dowager’s words.

“Tonight, before we arrive at the Port of Bellotsa, I hear there will be a fireworks show for lovers aboard the ship. They say the best view is from the First-Class deck.”

But regardless of that, the Empress Dowager clapped her hands once and declared with grave excitement,

“Linna, who will you watch it with? Hmm? Imagine—who would make the night more romantic?”

And at that °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° moment—Linna raised her trembling right hand.

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