Chapter 3
Carrying the sleeping Raphaella on her back, leah quickly made her way down the mountain using the strong legs she had developed through years of mountain living.
Even though she didn’t stop to rest, by the time they reached the bottom, it was already lunchtime.
‘Ugh, I’m so tired…’
Growl.
Raphaella had woken up and both her and leah’s stomachs growled at the same time.
They laughed awkwardly.
“Rafi, you’re hungry, right? Let’s eat this sandwich.”
“Hehe, yeah!”
leah found a clean spot and sat Raphaella down, then pulled out the sandwich she had packed the day before.
After eating their first meal of the day, leah stood up, dusted off her clothes, and started heading to the nearest small town.
Because they started moving early in the morning, they managed to catch the last freight wagon going toward the capital.
From there, they hopped from one city to another, switching wagons and public carleahges many times.
Of course, they made sure to rest at inns along the way.
After a long journey that took half a month, they finally arrived at the capital.
It was one of the biggest and busiest cities on the continent, full of sights and people.
‘It’s so crowded… I can’t think straight.’
Worried she might lose Raphaella in the crowd, leah held her daughter’s hand tightly.
‘We need to eat lunch before we go to the Duke’s mansion.’
She looked down at the little money she had left and sighed.
‘I brought everything I had, but now I only have enough for the carleahge ride to the mansion and maybe a couple pieces of bread…’
She bought two cheap rolls of bread from a bakery and sat on a nearby bench to share lunch with Raphaella.
After that, she flagged down a passing carleahge and asked to be taken to the Blumhardt Duke’s mansion.
—
In the carleahge, on the way to the Duke’s mansion.
“Mom, my butt hurts,”
Raphaella whined, leaning on leah after sitting in carleahges for so long over the past two weeks.
leah gently kissed her daughter’s nose and comforted her.
“It’s tough, huh? But we’re almost there.
Let’s hang in a little longer.”
“…Okay.”
“Come sit on Mommy’s lap.
It’ll hurt less.”
After what felt like a long yet short two weeks, they were finally about to arrive at the mansion where her husband was.
Nervous, leah tightly clasped her trembling hands.
‘Even though I’ve been here before, I’m still shaking.’
Last time, she went to the Duke’s family estate, thinking her husband lived there.
But only his mother and younger sister were living there.
Her husband was actually living in the capital mansion, along with his aunt and cousin.
Back then, they didn’t welcome Raphaella.
The aunt was extremely strict with Raphaella, acting like a guardian, and the cousin would always pick on her.
‘Sigh… I only saw bits and pieces of Raphaella’s future in my dream, so I don’t know much about them.’
She didn’t even know why the aunt and cousin were staying at the mansion, or why her husband’s direct family didn’t live together.
Thinking about her limited information, leah sighed again.
She was already worried about how to deal with those people based on the fragmented memories seen through her daughter’s eyes.
—
Clunk.
“Ma’am, we’ve arrived at the Blumhardt Duke’s mansion,”The coachman opened a small window and let her know.
leah paid the last of her money for the ride and got off the carleahge with Raphaella.
She took a deep breath in and out.
‘No more depressing thoughts.
Focus on what I need to do now!’
As expected of a high-ranking noble’s home, armored knights stood guard in front of a huge iron gate.
leah held Raphaella’s hand tightly and walked toward one of them.
The guard looked a little confused seeing a plainly dressed woman with a child but kept his expression neutral.
“Ma’am, this is the Blumhardt Duke’s mansion.
If you’re lost—”
“No! I’m not lost.
I came to see the Duke of Blumhardt.”
A country-looking woman wanting to see such a powerful noble?
The guard frowned slightly.
“…Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but I brought the Duke’s lost greatsword.”
She showed the guard the large sword wrapped in cloth that she had been carrying.
‘It was so heavy dragging this thing all the way here.’
As she unwrapped the sword, the guard’s eyes widened in shock.
The hilt had the black wolf emblem of the Blumhardt family, and a blood-red ruby was embedded in the pommel.
This was the Duke’s personal sword, the one that went missing when he vanished four and a half years ago.
When he finally came back, people were puzzled because the sword wasn’t with him.
The guard stared at the sword in stunned silence.
leah smiled softly at him.
“So… can I meet the Duke now?”
“…Please wait here.
Just a moment.”
He rushed over to the gate and told the other guards to open it.
As the giant iron gate split open, revealing the symbol of the black wolf, the guard rode off on a horse toward the mansion.
Watching him disappear into the distance, leah let out a breath of relief.
‘Whew, it was worth bringing the sword.’
—
Meanwhile, inside the mansion…
The butler was startled when a guard came racing in on horseback.
“A woman is at the front gate.
She’s carrying the Duke’s sword and says she wants to meet him.”
It sounded crazy — a random woman claiming to have the Duke’s lost sword?
The butler was shocked at first, but quickly composed himself and headed to his master.
He walked quickly through the halls and stopped in front of the office.
After a moment to collect himself, he knocked.
Knock knock knock.
“Your Grace, it’s Burns.”
“Come in,” came the voice from inside.
Inside the office, the Duke was sitting casually yet exuded overwhelming presence.
“What is it?”
“…Your Grace.”
“Speak.”
“It seems someone has found the sword you lost during your disappearance.”
“…The sword?”
The Duke looked up from his papers and fixed his crimson eyes on the butler.
“A woman is outside with the sword and wants to meet you.”
“…What?”
“She said she brought it for you.”
—
Back outside, leah didn’t know much about the sword, but from how shocked the guard had been, she realized it was very important to both her husband and the mansion.
Soon, the same guard from earlier returned on horseback.
‘I hope I can talk directly with him instead of his aunt… Please let him be here.’
The guard dismounted and walked up to leah and Raphaella.
“…Please come in.
This way.”
Still catching his breath, he led them inside the estate.
leah held the heavy sword in one hand and Raphaella’s hand in the other as they entered through the gate.
Ahead, a large, beautiful white stone mansion came into view.
Last time, when she came here sick, she didn’t have the energy to take it in.
Now, she could see how elegant and grand it really was.
‘So this is Hart’s real home… It’s nothing like our house.’
Raphaella, too, was amazed.
She clung to leah’s hand and looked around curiously.
Since it was a long walk from the gate to the mansion, they got into a small carleahge led by the guard.
“Mom, look at that!”
Raphaella leaned against the window and pointed excitedly.
A large fountain decorated with detailed statues came into view.
Sunlight sparkled through the water as it sprayed into the air.
When they reached the entrance, a tall middle-aged butler greeted them.
“The Duke is waiting for you in the reception room.”
Thankfully, her husband was here.
They followed the butler up to the third floor, a place leah hadn’t visited before.
‘Last time, I was taken to a small room on the first floor… Maybe it’s different this time because I brought the sword instead of just the child.’
Whatever the reason, her goal now was to meet her husband — or rather, the Duke of Blumhardt.
At the reception room door, the butler knocked.
“Your Grace, I’ve brought them.”
Thump thump.
leah patted her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.
‘The man inside is no longer my husband.
He’s the Duke of Blumhardt — someone who doesn’t care about me or Raphaella.’
So trying to appeal to him as a husband or father wouldn’t work.
If anything would move him, it would be reminding him that she had once saved his life.
Her expression turned serious — not like she was meeting a loved one, but like she was about to face an enemy.
