Chapter 3
Ria, carrying the sleeping Raphaella on her back, swiftly descended from the mountains using her sturdy legs trained from rural life. Despite walking without rest, they arrived at the foot of the mountain in time for lunch.
“Ugh, it’s tough,” Ria muttered under her breath. Meanwhile, both Raphaella, who had awakened from her sleep, and Ria, who had been descending diligently since dawn, were simultaneously alerted to their hunger by the growling of their stomachs. They laughed awkwardly.
“Raphi, are you hungry? Let’s eat sandwiches quickly.”
“Hehe, yeah!”
Ria sat Raphaella down in a relatively clean spot on the ground and took out sandwiches she had prepared the day before from her bag. After Raphaella’s first meal, Ria stood up, dusted herself off, and headed towards the nearest small town.
Thanks to their diligent descent since dawn, they were able to catch the last wagon heading in the direction of the city. They traveled from city to city, changing wagons and carts several times along the way, and of course, they didn’t forget to stop at inns for rest.
Finally, after a long journey, they arrived in the capital after two weeks. The capital, one of the largest cities on the continent, was bustling with activity and sights to behold.
“It’s so chaotic here…”
Ria held her daughter’s hand tightly, afraid of losing her amidst the hustle and bustle.
“We should deal with lunch first before heading to the Duke’s residence.”
She sighed softly as she looked down at the money in her hand.
“I brought all this money, but it’s barely enough for the carriage fare and maybe one or two loaves of bread at the Duke’s residence…”
After purchasing the cheapest meal bread from a nearby bakery, Ria sat on a nearby bench and had lunch with Raphaella.
Then she flagged down a passing carriage and asked to be taken to the Blomhardt Duke’s residence.
Inside the carriage heading to the Duke’s residence.
“Mom, my butt hurts.”
Raphaella, who had spent the past fortnight sitting in the carriage, grabbed her mother’s arm and leaned against her, whining.
Ria lightly kissed her daughter’s forehead and comforted her.
“Is it tough? We’ll be there soon, let’s hold on a little longer, okay?”
“Ugh…”
“To make your butt hurt less on the way, how about sitting on Mom’s lap?”
With time that felt long when it was long and short when it was short, they arrived at the Blomhardt Duke’s residence, where her husband would soon be.
She found herself inadvertently tensed, her trembling hands clasping tightly. “Even though I’ve been there once, I’m still nervous.”
Before her regression, thinking her husband was at the duke’s residence, she had gone there first. Only her husband’s mother, the duchess dowager, and his younger sister resided there. Her husband lived in the duke’s residence in the capital, while his aunt and cousin were entrusted with the management of the duke’s estate. At the time, they didn’t take kindly to Raphaella’s sudden appearance. Her husband’s aunt had disciplined Raphaella too harshly under the pretext of being a household elder, making life difficult for her daughter, while her son constantly picked fights with and tormented Raphaella whenever he saw her. “Ugh, the information about my husband’s aunt and cousin is too lacking, as if I only glimpsed my daughter’s life in a dream.”
She didn’t understand why her husband’s aunt and cousin were living in the duke’s residence, nor did she know why her husband’s immediate family weren’t living together. She sighed, recalling the scant information she had.
Already, she was worried about how to deal with them based on her fragmented memories of seeing them at her daughter’s eye level.
Drrrring.
“Madam, we have arrived at the Blomhardt Duke’s residence.”
As she was immersed in her uneasy thoughts, the coachman opened the carriage door to announce their arrival.
Using the last remaining money to pay for the carriage fare, Ria got off with Raphaella and took a deep breath. “Let’s stop thinking about losing energy and focus on what needs to be done now!”
True to the grandeur of a nobleman’s mansion, armed knights guarded the massive iron gate of the Blomhardt Duke’s residence. Ria tightly held Raphaella’s hand and approached one of them.
The guard looked puzzled at the sight of a casually dressed woman and child but politely addressed Ria. “Madam, this is the entrance to the Blomhardt Duke’s residence. If you are lost…”
“No! I’m not lost. I’ve come to see the Blomhardt Duke.”
It was apparent that a woman from the countryside like her had some business with the noble Blomhardt Duke. The guard narrowed his eyes slightly.
“…Have you made an appointment with His Grace?”
“…No, but I’ve brought the sword that the Blomhardt Duke lost.”
As she spoke, Ria showed the sword she held in her hand to the guard. “It was quite a hassle to bring it here due to its weight.”
As Ria unwrapped the sword from its cloth, the guard’s expression was filled with astonishment and awe. Engraved on the hilt of the sword was the emblem of the Blomhardt family, a black wolf, and the blade was adorned with rubies as red as blood. It was indeed the missing sword of Johan von Blomhardt, which had disappeared when the Duke vanished.
Everyone had been puzzled by the absence of the sword in the Duke’s hand upon his return after four and a half years of disappearance.
The guard was momentarily speechless as he beheld the symbol of Johann von Blomhardt, the Blomhardt Duke, in Ria’s hand. Ria smiled faintly at the guard who was staring at the sword in a daze.
“Can I meet the Blomhardt Duke now?”
“Just a moment, please wait here.”
The guard hurried to the iron gate and instructed his fellow knights to open the gate. As the gate, adorned with the emblem of the “Black Wolf” of the duke’s residence, split in half and opened, he swiftly entered.
Watching the knight ride off towards the mansion, Ria breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, it was worth bringing it.”
* * *
A while ago, the steward, seeing a guard riding frantically towards the main gate, thought something serious must have happened and approached him.
“There’s a woman with the duke’s sword who wishes to meet His Grace at the duke’s residence.”
The steward was surprised by the unexpected news that came out of the guard’s mouth.
A woman had brought the sword lost by the duke when he went missing.
Momentarily thrown off by the sudden turn of events, the experienced steward quickly made his way to inform his master.
Arriving at the office with quicker steps than usual, he knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Your Grace, it’s Burns.”
After a moment, the voice of the duke calling him to come in was heard.
As the steward entered the office, he saw the imposing figure of the duke sitting askew in his chair.
“What’s the matter?”
“Your Grace.”
“Speak.”
“It seems that the sword lost when Your Grace went missing has been found.”
“The sword?”
The duke glanced up from the documents he was looking at and fixed his red eyes on the steward.
“A woman has brought Your Grace’s sword to the duke’s residence.”
“…What?”
“And she wishes to meet Your Grace.”
* * *
Ria didn’t know much about the sword, but she sensed its significance not only to her husband but also to the people at the duke’s residence.
Seeing the guard’s surprise upon seeing the sword, and how his wary gaze shifted away from her and towards the duke’s residence as he hurried off, struck her as odd.
In the distance, she noticed the guard from earlier riding towards her.
“I hope he’s there; I’d prefer to talk directly to my husband rather than his aunt if possible.”
The guard dismounted and approached Ria and Raphaella. “Please come with me; I will escort you inside.”
The knight, out of breath from his swift journey back and forth to the mansion, said to her.
With the sword in one hand and Raphaella’s hand in the other, Ria followed the guard into the duke’s residence.
In the distance, she saw the majestic white stone mansion.
Before her regression, she hadn’t had the chance to properly observe the Duke’s residence due to her illness. Now, she realized it was a remarkably elegant and beautiful mansion.
“So, this is Hart’s real home. It’s quite different from our house.”
Even Raphaella seemed amazed by the grandeur of the duke’s residence as she held onto Ria’s hand tightly, her head swiveling around.
Due to the considerable distance from the entrance to the mansion, walking would have taken quite some time. Therefore, they boarded the carriage driven by the guard.
“Mom, look at that!”
Raphaella exclaimed, rising from her seat and leaning close to the carriage window, beckoning Ria over.
Beyond the window, they saw a magnificent fountain adorned with intricate sculptures. The sunlight reflected off the water jets, sparkling and breaking into fragments.
As the carriage reached the entrance of the mansion, a tall middle-aged steward welcomed them.
“His Grace is waiting in the reception room.”
Fortunately, her husband was indeed at the Duke’s residence. Following the steward up to the third floor, Ria felt puzzled as they headed to a place she hadn’t seen before her regression.
“I remember going to a small reception room at the end of the first floor back then…”
Perhaps it was because she had brought her daughter last time, and this time she had the sword with her. Whatever the reason, her purpose remained the same: to meet her husband, or rather, the Blomhardt Duke.
The steward arrived at the door of the reception room and knocked.
“Your Grace, they have arrived.”
Thump, thump.
She gently patted her chest around her pounding heart, calming her nerves.
“The man inside is no longer my husband; he’s the indifferent Blomhardt Duke, who has no interest in me or Raphaella.”
So, appealing to him to acknowledge Raphaella as her daughter would likely be futile. Unless I stake everything on the fact that I saved his life.
In Ria’s eyes, instead of the husband she missed dearly, there was now a sense of determination akin to facing an adversary.
