Chapter 00
The First Farewell
――Twelve years ago
It happened in the spring when Safinia was only six years old.
Outside the window of the detached palace, the young leaves swayed.
“Uhh… sniff… Mama… Mama… sniff, sniff…”
In the stillness, the sorrowful cries of a child echoed.
A silver-haired, beautiful little girl clung to a woman lying in bed, sobbing.
That woman was her mother, who now lay on her deathbed.
“Mama… please, don’t die… I don’t want you to die…! If you die, Mama, what am I supposed to do…?”
The girl’s name was Safinia Estman, six years old.
She was the third child of Duke Estman, with twin siblings—an older brother and sister four years her senior—and a younger brother one year younger.
Despite her noble birth, Safinia lived secluded in a small detached palace with only her mother.
Why was a duke’s daughter driven into seclusion with her mother?
Because Safinia’s mother had been a maid.
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The Duke of Estman was a lecherous man.
His political marriage was to Josephine, the daughter of a marquis—a woman of high status, but not blessed with beauty.
Dissatisfied with his plain-looking wife, the duke grew obsessed with young, beautiful women, and eventually set his sights on one of the maids.
That woman was Safinia’s mother, Rose.
Rose was only seventeen at the time. The duke took a liking to her, summoned her to his chambers one night, and forced himself upon her.
Deeply wounded, Rose wanted to quit being a maid and leave the ducal estate.
But she had no family, no place to return to.
With nowhere else to go, she had no choice but to continue working.
The duke, having developed a taste for her, repeatedly forced unwanted relations on her… until eventually, Rose became pregnant.
When she told him, the duke’s face twisted with displeasure.
Though he was the father, the mother was nothing but a mere maid.
To save face, he grudgingly acknowledged her as his concubine, and cast the pregnant Rose away to an old, forgotten detached palace on the estate.
Though he provided her with a monthly allowance, Rose had effectively been abandoned.
Alone, she gave birth to a daughter.
She named the girl after a flower, like herself—Safinia.
With no one to rely on, Rose devoted herself to both household work and raising her daughter.
But because she forced herself to work without proper rest after childbirth, her body broke down.
By the time Safinia turned six, Rose had grown frail and bedridden.
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“Sa… finia…”
Rose called her daughter’s name in a weak voice.
“Mama!? You’re awake!?”
Safinia lifted her tear-streaked face.
“Open… the drawer, next to the bed… There’s a letter inside…”
“Okay!”
Safinia opened the drawer and found a white envelope.
“Mama, I found the letter!”
She held it up to show Rose, who smiled faintly.
It was a letter Rose had painstakingly written, even though she had barely been able to read or write.
“If… if Mama doesn’t wake up again… you must… d-deliver that letter… to the main estate… Do you understand…?”
Rose knew she didn’t have much time left.
If she died, her six-year-old daughter could never survive alone.
So she had written a letter entrusting Safinia to the duke.
“Yes, I understand. I just have to bring the letter to the mansion, right?”
Tears welled up in her eyes as Safinia nodded firmly.
“Yes… that’s right… You can do it… Safinia… I love you…”
With those last words, Rose exhaled her final breath.
“…Mama? What’s wrong…?”
Safinia called out to her mother, but there was no reply.
“Mama, Mama… please open your eyes…”
She shook Rose’s unresponsive body.
“Mama, wake up! Mama! Please open your eyes… Mama―!”
Clinging to her mother’s lifeless form, Safinia wept uncontrollably.
That day—
Rose passed away at the young age of twenty-four.
It was a spring day, just after Safinia had turned six years old.
