Chapter 1
“This is a magic stone that checks blood relations.”
The magician showed a clear crystal to Duke Blumhardt and leah, one by one.
It was crystal-clear with not even a speck of dust.
“If you drop one drop of blood each from the Duke and Miss Raphaella onto this stone and it turns red, it means you’re related.
If it turns black, you’re not.”
The magician, who worked exclusively for the Duke’s household, collected one drop of blood each from the Duke and Raphaella, who was sitting on leah’s lap.
When the blood touched the stone, it soaked in and immediately turned bright red.
No one in the room looked surprised.
In fact, everyone seemed like they already expected this.
“Your Grace, the young lady is indeed your daughter.”
When the magician handed over the now-red stone, the Duke just nodded without any emotion.
His eyes were cold and indifferent.
“…Only Samuel and Raphaella’s birth mother should stay.
Everyone else, leave.”
He spoke quietly.
The magician packed up, and the butler left the room with Raphaella .
The drawing room fell into silence.
Now that the magic stone had officially confirmed Raphaella was his daughter, only one thing remained.
“Duke, have you thought it over?”
leah took a deep breath and asked the Duke, who sat at the head of the room with a cold expression.
“…Alright.
Since it’s a request from the one who saved my life, I’ll listen.”
At his signal, his aide brought out two sheets of fine paper.
On them, leah would write a contract stating that the Duke would fulfill his role as a proper father.
‘Since he’s lost his memories, there’s no way he has any fatherly love left… a legal contract is the only way…’She sighed softly as she stared down at the blank paper.
“…Now, tell me your conditions.”
“I want you to be a real, involved father to Raphaella .”
leah, making sure to still speak politely as she addressed her ex-husband, began stating her requests.
The entire time, the Duke frowned and looked annoyed.
But she calmly argued back against every one of his complaints.
“…You’re asking for too much.”
Once she was done, he leaned back on the sofa looking fed up.
“I only asked you to do the bare minimum as a parent.”
“You expect me to do all this for a kid I don’t even remember?”
He grumbled, rubbing his face in frustration.
“Just because you lost your memories doesn’t mean she stops being your daughter!”
She snapped, unable to hold back her anger.
‘As if forgetting your child is something to brag about!’leah glared at him, irritated by how bothered he seemed over doing the basics.
“I saved your life, and you promised to do what I asked for our daughter.
So stop complaining and deal with it.”
“When did I complain? I’m just saying it’s all a bit….”
“A bit what?”
leah asked sharply, wanting to hear whatever excuse he had.
“…A bit too much.
I’m busy, you know.”
If not for the difference in their social status, she might’ve grabbed his head and shaken him while yelling.
‘You think I want to leave her with you? I don’t even trust you with her!’
But she had no choice but to leave Raphaella with him.
Because leah only had 1 year and 9 months left to live.
She found out she was terminally ill just over two weeks ago.
—
A young woman, looking just barely an adult, was being dragged to a guillotine by knights.
The crowd surrounding the square was shouting and booing so loudly, it was deafening.
leah stood there, confused in the middle of this packed, unfamiliar square.
‘…Is this a dream?’
She looked up at the woman on the guillotine.
Her messy black hair and faded emerald eyes…
There was something oddly familiar about her.
‘That girl… she looks so much like Raphaella .’
But Raphaella was only six years old, not a grown woman.
Still, she couldn’t take her eyes off her.
Even though it didn’t make sense, she felt sure that the woman on the guillotine was Raphaella .
She didn’t know why she felt that way.
‘That blade… it’s going to fall on her neck soon…’Thinking of what was about to happen made her shiver in horror.
She wanted to run forward, shout that there had been a mistake, tell everyone her daughter was innocent.
But her legs wouldn’t move.
Even if it was just a dream, her body refused to budge.
Then the execution began.
The blade dropped.
‘…No!!’
Just before the blade hit the woman’s neck, everything turned pure white.
The guillotine, the woman, the crowd—all disappeared.
Now leah stood alone in a painfully bright white space.
She looked around, confused.
‘What happened to Raphaella ? Where even am I?’As she wandered, a flood of memories suddenly hit her.
She grabbed her head in pain and collapsed.
‘Ugh… What is this…’
Memories of her and her daughter’s future flashed before her eyes—leaving her daughter with the Duke, dying early, and her child growing up neglected and ending up committing a terrible crime.
[This was the life you and your daughter had.]
After all the memories poured in, an eerie voice—not human—echoed around her.
[If you want to change her fate, then change your life!]
With those final words, leah jolted awake from the terrifying dream.
“Hah, haaah…”
Warm morning sunlight streamed through the window onto her face.
“Haah, haah…”
She was gasping for breath like someone who had held it in for too long.
She couldn’t breathe properly.
‘What was that horrifying dream? Why is it so hard to breathe…’Her head throbbed and even breathing felt hard.
She couldn’t get up like usual.
While waiting for her breathing to settle, she thought about the dream—especially that strange voice.
…Could it have been a god?
‘Everything I saw in the dream felt so real, like it had actually happened to me….’
She wished it had just been a nightmare.
She could handle it if it was just about her.
But her daughter’s future—that, she couldn’t bear.
Wanting to shake off the lingering fear, she wanted to see her daughter.
‘I still feel sick, but I need to get up somehow.’
“Ugh…”
Not just her breathing, but her whole body felt stiff and unfamiliar, like she hadn’t used it in a long time.
It was an awful, creaky feeling, as if she’d come back to life in a dead body.
That thought gave her chills.
She pushed through the discomfort and opened the door.
Moving slowly, she passed the kitchen and went to Raphaella ’s room—but she wasn’t there.
“…Sigh, where could she be?”
Her body felt so heavy that even looking for one small child in a small house felt difficult.
Eventually, she stepped outside.
Raphaella was near the fence, playing with a wooden doll.
leah’s eyes filled with tears.
She ran toward her daughter as best she could.
“…Rafi! Raphaella !”
“Mom? Mommy, you slept in—”Before she could finish, leah wrapped her in a tight hug.
Ah… her lovely Raphaella was really there, warm in her arms.
Feeling her daughter’s warmth made the tears flow even harder.
“Raphaella … you’re really here with me, right?”
“Yup!”
leah wanted to stop crying so her daughter wouldn’t worry, but she couldn’t.
Everything—breathing, walking, touching Raphaella —felt so desperately precious.
A wave of unknown longing crashed into her heart.
‘It really feels like… I’ve been away from her for so, so long.’
leah held her tightly for a long time, until Raphaella tapped her on the back.
“Mom! I can’t breathe!”
“Sorry, Rafi.
Mommy hugged you too tightly, huh?”
leah wiped her tears quickly.
“…Yup! But Mommy, why are you crying? Are you sick?”
Raphaella looked up at her worriedly.
“Mommy’s not sick.
I’m okay.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because I’m happy.
I’m crying because I’m so happy you’re my daughter, Rafi.”
She couldn’t cry anymore.
If she kept going, Raphaella might really start worrying.
leah held back the tears and looked her daughter over.
Black hair like her dad, emerald eyes like leah’s, pale skin and rosy cheeks.
Her precious child.
So different from the grown woman in the dream—still innocent and little.
Then, leah noticed something on her daughter’s neck.
‘…What’s that?’
There was a strange mark.
It looked like
a snake with its mouth open, ready to strike.
The symbol of the Empire’s goddess of magic—Hecate.
It was glowing white and engraved right in the center of her daughter’s neck.
Realizing what it meant, leah’s knees gave out and she collapsed.
It wasn’t just a dream.
