The Marquis’ Amnesia Translation

The Marquis’ Amnesia 11

Chapter Eleven: The Children of the Orphanage

I was told by Elsa that the orphanage ran by the marquis was in a residential area where the common folks lived.

Apparently, it used to be a dormitory intended for the servants of a certain merchant house. The house itself was a fairly large, three-story, building with a spacious garden. More than 20 children and some adults lived together in said building.

In the garden of the orphanage, there were many stalls that imitated actual store. They were consisted of desks placed under a canopy made of long, wooden, sticks and worn-out sheets. Sponsored by the orphanage, anyone could participate as long as they paid the entrance fee. The stalls made the place very lively.

There were also stalls selling handmade accessories and appetizing sweets. In the end, instead of heading to the orphanage’s stalls, I ended up dilly-dallying. When I giggled, I could hear someone chuckling. The moment I raised my face, I saw my husband laughing in amusement. I was embarrassed because of my childish antics, and averted my gaze.

“I, I’m truly sorry, how childish of me… It’s just, it’s my first time.”

“First time?”

“Yes, I wasn’t allowed to go out into town, so… The fact that there are so many people in the royal capital—I’m truly surprised…”

My husband and Alphonse, whom were walking beside me, stopped as they shared a look of surprise.

It was almost time for the bazaar to start, so the stall owners were busy preparing. Surely, a lot of customers would come. Just imagining it made me look around.

“…Lily, could it be, this is the first time you’ve gone out.”

“Uhm, no. There are about three times. When I went out with my father when I was seven. Although, an accident occurred, so we had to return home immediately. The remaining two were when I went to submit my engagement to the church. Then, near and during my wedding. As a count’s daughter, I was said to be a disgrace. To prevent my clumsiness from tarnishing the marquis’ reputation, I was told to stay put.”

While saying that, I covered myself with the parasol. Both my husband and Alphonse had striking appearances. I began to notice that everyone around me were staring towards us.

Although my husband and Elsa told me that I was cute, I was still unconfident. In fact, I had almost forgotten that they had told me so.

“What? Clumsy? Who? Oh, does Lily mean her sister?”

As he stared alternately between me and my husband, Al tilted his head.

“No, I meant myself. My sister is so beautiful.”

What?”

As if I had spoken in an entirely different language, Al titled his head as if he failed to comprehend anything. Then, a large hand was placed on top of my hand. When I raised my face, I saw my husband’s face.

“Liliana, as I’ve said many times, you’re very beautiful.”

“That word is enough. Thank you, my husband.”

However, if it was like he said, then my husband wouldn’t forsake me the first time.

Somehow, the atmosphere between us stilled. I felt guilty.

However, a cheerful and youthful voice lifted said atmosphere.

“Oh, Marquis!”

“Marquis! Oh, Al is also with you!”

I heard a lot of lively voices and footsteps. When I raised my face, I saw five children rushing towards us cheerfully.

Their age ranged from 3 to 10-years-old. The boy who seemed to be the oldest was holding the hand of a little girl. The other children happily hugged my husband. My husband also knelt to catch the children. Alphonse also picked up a seemingly seven-years-old girl.

“Bill, you’ve grown.”

“Yes! I ate a lot!”

The boy about eight-years-old proudly puffed his chest as he hugged my husband. Elsa had informed me that before he lost his memory, my husband used to visit the orphanage, too. The children would surely be saddened if they knew that the marquis had forgotten about them. Perhaps, my husband memorized the children of the orphanage through a picture or something similar. Since children grew up fast, it was safe to say that they had grown. The children also liked that word—so did Cedric.

“Hey, Marquis, who’s this beauty?”

A seemingly 10-years-old boy, whom was holding hand with a little girl, spotted me and tilted his head. All the children turned to me at once.

“Wow, how beautiful?”

“Isn’t it? She’s my wife. She’s as beautiful as a goddess.”

My husband introduced me with a giggle.

I lightly lifted the hem of my skirt and greeted them.

“I’m Liliana Lutherford.”

“Older sister Liliana!”

The children beamed all at once.

“Look, this is my favorite!”

A girl hugged by Al showed the ribbon on her brown hair. The white ribbon, which was embroidered with blue birds and green leaves, was donated by me to the orphanage. It was specially prepared as a gift, and not to be put on the bazaar.

“Thank you for the beautiful ribbon.”

The girl’s wholehearted smile made my heart feel full. Her words were neither lie nor flattery—I could feel both her immense gratitude and joy.

Before I could say anything, someone tugged at my hand.

“I’ve always wanted to meet Lady Liliana! Lady Liliana always gave me delicious sweets! Look, this one’s my favorite!”

The boy’s shirt had sword embroidered on its chest part. Of course, I was the one who made it. Upon closer inspection, all the children seemed to be wearing the clothes and accessories I had embroidered.

I bent over and looked at the boy.

“I’m very happy that you liked it.”

Despite the fact that my voice was quivering, the boy grinned widely at me.

“A princess! How beautiful!”

A toddler reached towards my face. I left my parasol behind me and touched the cheek of the crouching girl. Her fluffy and soft cheek had a childish warmth to it.

“Wow, older sister’s eyes have the same color as the stars!”

Bill leaped out of my husband’s arm and looked up towards me. Then, all the children looked into my eyes.

“The stars…” The children murmured.

The children had kindly named the color of my ashen eyes as such. I smiled happily towards them. In response, the children were in awe.

“…Older sister Liliana, are you really a goddess?”

I tilted my head due to Bill’s words.

“Everyone is so surprised by how beautiful Lily’s smile is.”

Al giggled and said so. The children nodded all at once.

“The marquis’ wife is a princess!”

“Older sister Liliana’s hair is very beautiful! Her eyes are the color of the starts, while her hair is the color of the moon!”

The words of children contained neither flatteries nor lies. While not everyone in the world may recognize me as a beautiful woman, I still felt that I could raise my face with much more confidence than I did before.

“…Thank you. Won’t everyone kindly tell me their names?”

Due to my words, the children told me of their names one after another.

The boy hugging my husband was called Bill. The girl picked up by Al was called Alice. The youngest girl was called Julia. The one who held Julia’s hand was Torris. The boy wearing the shirt with a sword embroidery was called Zack.

When I asked if there were more, it appeared that all the children had told me of their names. As I looked up towards my husband, I realized that he was watching over me with a very gentle expression.

“As I said, you’re a beautiful woman.”

…Honestly, it still sounded a tad bit ridiculous. Still, I nodded to his words, which overflowed with warm kindness.

Bill and Alice guided me to the stall ran by the orphanage.

The stall, which was a little larger than the others, had cookies and madeleines baked by the children. There were also accessories such as coasters and hairpins made of yarn. The bookmarks were made from pressed flowers. The table next to it was lined with cushion covers and headdresses that I had made.

“Welcome, Marquis, and also Deputy Division Commander, Alphonse—my, who is this lady?”

A middle-aged man in the tent noticed us and blinked.

“She’s my wife, Liliana.”

The man probably wasn’t aware of Al’s true identity. Since my husband had introduced me, I proceeded to lift my skirt and offer my greetings.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Liliana Lutherford.”

The man and the young woman on the other side of the stall went agape. So was the woman on the other end of the stall. I was worried that I had done something awful, and turned to look at my husband. My husband laughed in amusement as he caressed my cheek.

“Liliana is so beautiful that they’re fascinated by you.”

“…My husband, please don’t tease me so.”

“No, it’s as the marquis said… I’m truly surprised by how beautiful you are.”

The man shyly admitted while scratching his cheek. The women on both sides nodded as well.

“I’m Harrison, the director. This is my wife, Colette, and this is her daughter, Emma.”

I greeted them with a friendly smile. The mother and daughter resembled each other very much. However, even though the daughter had similar contour and red hair as her mother, her eyes were of the same hazel color as her father, Harrison.

“Young lady, are you well enough physically to come here?”

When asked by Colette, I almost couldn’t understand what she was saying for a moment. But remembering that my husband said that I was sick, I nodded.

“Thanks to my husband and our excellent doctor, I’m now able to go outside.”

“Mr. Morgan is a really wonderful doctor. Despite his fame, he’d go out of his way to examine the children.”

“The doctor also said that the children here are all very energetic and well-behaved. Because of that, the children grew even more so.”

Colette laughed and put her and on top of the head of a nearby child.

“It’s true that our children are sometimes too energetic, but they’re really good children.”

“Yes, I agree with you. They are extremely well-mannered and in high spirit.”

When I praised the children, they proudly stretched their small breasts.

“By the way, Liliana’s embroideries are so beautiful, they always get sold right away.”

Alice pulled my hand and pointed to the item I had donated.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Your embroidery is a very delicate work. As such, it sells in a blink of an eye. Since the bazaar has just began, the people are sparse. But by the afternoon, all your embroideries should’ve disappeared.”

Because of happiness, a smile involuntarily appeared on my face, one that I couldn’t suppress.

It seemed that my efforts, along with the trials and errors I had gone through, were worth it.

“Mr. Harrison, since we’ll be visiting other stalls, will you please set some cookies and muffins aside?”

Harrison nodded to Al’s words. Emma immediately secured the treats inside the basket.

“Father Harrison, may we show Lady Liliana around?”

Bill asked Harrison. Apparently, to the children, Harrison was like a father. I was sure that Colette was the motherly figure.

“…Is it alright?”

I turned towards my husband. My husband replied, “I don’t mind.” The children all seemed very happy.

“Listen, don’t be rude? Since the young lady is weak, you must not run or rush her.”

Harrison reminded the children. I wanted to reassure them of the otherwise, but then I’d be revealing that my husband was lying. While feeling guilty, I laughed quietly.

“Lady Liliana, this way!”

“There’s an interesting shop over there!”

While smiling to the children who tugged at my hands, I asked them to guide me and my husband around the bazaar.


***T/N: I want Liliana to experience all the happiness in the world and to be loved…

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