Chapter 2
Rafaella’s neck bore a mark about the size of a fingertip.
“…Raffy, wait a moment.”
Lia gently rubbed the child’s neck with the edge of her sleeve. She started softly, thinking it might erase the mark, but then pressed harder.
“Mom, it hurts!”
Rafaella pulled back, wincing at the pain on her neck. Only then did Lia realize she had been rubbing her daughter’s neck like a madwoman.
‘…I’ve lost my mind. How could I rub Raffy’s neck so harshly!’
Rafaella’s neck was red from the rubbing, yet the mark remained unchanged, glowing as it did before.
“I’m sorry, Raffy. Does it hurt a lot?”
She hugged her daughter and apologized.
The future she had seen in her dream—hers and her daughter’s—was not just a mere nightmare.
Back inside the house, Lia handed Rafaella a mirror.
“Raffy, do you see this on your neck?”
Rafaella tilted her head as she held up the mirror to her neck.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Nothing on your neck?”
“Yeah. Is something on it?”
“…….”
Rafaella couldn’t see the mark.
But Lia could see it clearly, as if it were etched into her skin.
“Look again, carefully. Are you sure you don’t see anything?”
“I don’t see anything! Mom, what’s wrong today?”
Rafaella frowned at Lia, puzzled.
‘I hoped it was just a dream.’
Feeling Rafaella’s warm, living body, Lia wanted to reassure herself that it had all been just a dream.
She didn’t want to believe that the tragic future she had seen could actually happen—to herself or to Rafaella.
But the goddess had engraved the mark on Rafaella’s neck to remind Lia that none of it was a dream.
To ensure she never forgot her daughter’s fate.
‘Maybe it’s fortunate that only I can see it. If anyone else saw this mark, they’d definitely find it strange.’
Lia decided to accept and acknowledge it. Whether it was the future foretold by the goddess or a life she had already lived and returned to.
‘…The goddess said that to change my daughter’s fate, I must change my own life.’
It might be impossible to alter her own fate—to die from an unknown illness—but she had to live differently for Rafaella during the little over a year and a half she had left.
To do that, first…
“Mom! Mom!”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you say you were going somewhere early this morning?”
“…Did I?”
“Yes! You said yesterday that you were going to the city to sell that.”
Rafaella pointed to something with her finger.
It was a large sword wrapped in coarse cloth.
The sword was the only possession of her husband, who had collapsed with no memory.
Lia recalled the day she had sold the sword, as if retrieving a memory from the past.
Lia lived in a small village halfway up Lorem Mountain. The villagers were self-sufficient, living off the resources provided by the mountain.
Unless it was something extraordinary, they rarely ventured down the mountain.
Nearly everything they needed was available on the mountain.
The only person who frequently visited the city was Lia’s grandmother. Lia herself had never left Lorem Mountain.
The reason Lia went to the city was because of the village headman, who had recently returned from the nearest city after preparing for his son’s wedding.
The village headman had gone to the city to get the priest’s permission for the marriage and to bless the wedding attire. Upon his return, he came to Lia excitedly, holding a piece of newspaper in his hand.
The newspaper he handed her featured an illustration of a young man and woman.
Though it was just a drawing, the man bore a striking resemblance to her husband, who had disappeared one day without a trace.
Below the illustration was an article stating that Duke Blumhart, who had gone missing, had returned and was now engaged to the Empire’s princess.
From a newspaper published about two years ago, Lia learned what had happened to her missing husband.
The man, who had remembered nothing, had only recalled one word: “Hart.”
Lia realized that “Hart” was not his name but his surname.
‘…He abandoned us and returned to his rightful place.’
Anger and betrayal overwhelmed her, making her body tremble uncontrollably.
As time passed, her fury grew like wildfire within her heart.
The betrayal of the man who had once professed his “love” was unbearably painful.
Her gaze landed on her husband’s sword.
‘…I can’t stand the sight of it!’
Lia wrapped the sword in coarse cloth.
The very next day, she entrusted Rafaella to a friend and went to the city for the first time in her life to sell the sword.
Consumed by anger, she didn’t even explore the city and instead sold the sword at a weapon shop before returning home immediately.
‘It felt so natural to recall the events, as if I were remembering something I had already experienced.’
Not just the memories, but even the emotions felt vivid and real.
‘…I didn’t receive a prophecy from the goddess through a dream; I’ve returned to a life I’ve already lived.’
Regression.
“Ha-ha….”
The possibility of such a thing was laughable.
Growl.
Lost in thought, Lia was snapped back to reality by the sound of her daughter’s stomach growling.
“…Oh my goodness, we haven’t eaten yet!”
She quickly prepared a meal and shared breakfast/lunch with Rafaella.
‘After eating, I need to think about what to do next.’
While washing the dishes, she dredged up memories from her previous life.
Before her death, after much hardship, she had sought out her husband—the man who had abandoned her and their daughter.
It was then that she heard something utterly shocking.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you.”
“…What did you say?”
“I’ve never seen either of you before today.”
He spoke in a tone so cold that Lia couldn’t believe he didn’t remember the time they had spent together, as his wife, or his daughter.
He truly remembered nothing.
‘At first, I thought he was lying, but his unfamiliar demeanor and gaze made me realize he genuinely had lost his memory.’
When they reunited, he was a completely different person from the husband she had known, sharing only the same face.
Having no memories, he treated the daughter he suddenly had as nothing more than an obligation.
He gave no love or attention to the lonely and grieving child, leaving her neglected.
While Lia’s memories of her life were vivid and clear, her daughter’s life was only partially revealed through the dream.
‘But I know enough.’
Rafaella, who grew up neglected and unloved, became severely twisted. By the time her husband realized this, it was already too late.
Though he regained his memories and tried to change his daughter, who had grown into a villainess, it was futile.
‘Rafaella, raised in neglect, seemed unable to feel anything for him.’
Her husband had to love his daughter regardless of his memories to prevent such a tragedy.
‘To do that, I need to reunite him with Rafaella as soon as possible.’
She had to ensure her husband and daughter grew close while she was still alive.
‘…Winter is approaching. If we don’t leave soon, the roads might become impassable.’
Lorem Mountain was in the northern region, and winters in the Empire’s north arrived earlier than in other areas.
Once winter came, the north was plagued by fierce snowstorms and monsters descending from the “Black Mountain Range,” blocking the roads for ordinary travelers.
‘The sooner, the better. We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow.’
Having made up her mind, Lia visited a village friend and informed them that she would be heading to the capital for a while.
During dinner, she broached the subject with Rafaella.
“Raffy, don’t you want to see your dad?”
“Dad?”
Rafaella tilted her head, spooning stew into her mouth.
“You said Dad is very, very far away.”
When her husband vanished, Lia didn’t know what to tell her daughter.
To avoid shocking her, she lied, saying that her father had gone far away and wouldn’t be able to return for several years.
“Dad can’t come to see us, but we can go to see him.”
“Really? We can go see Dad?”
Rafaella swung her legs excitedly under the chair.
“Yes, but Raffy, Dad’s a little sick.”
“Sick? Where?”
“Well… Dad hurt his head and forgot about us.”
Lia’s throat tightened.
Would my child be able to understand and accept that her father didn’t remember her?
“…He forgot about us?”
“Yes, so Dad won’t recognize us.”
“Mom and Raffy?”
“…Yes.”
“…….”
Rafaella’s emerald eyes began to fill with tears.
“Dad is sick, Raffy.”
“…Is there such a sickness?”
To comfort her sobbing daughter, Lia moved closer to her.
“…Yes, so let’s go tell Dad who we are.”
“…Mom, will Dad remember us again?”
“He will. Someday, he’ll remember us again.”
Lia said this as she kissed her daughter’s crown.
“To make that happen, shall we go to Dad?”
“Yes! Let’s go!”
Rafaella stopped crying and clenched her tiny fists determinedly.
After bathing and tucking Rafaella into bed, Lia began packing for the long journey ahead.
Since she was taking Rafaella along and heading to the capital—a place she had only visited once before in her previous life—she packed only the essentials.
A grueling journey with too much luggage would be exhausting.
Once she finished packing, her gaze fell on her husband’s sword wrapped in cloth.
It had once been a cherished item when she didn’t know why he had disappeared, but after learning the truth, it became something she couldn’t bear to look at.
Now, it evoked no particular feelings.
She placed the sword next to her bag.
In her previous life, when she visited the Ducal estate, there had been no evidence to prove she was her husband’s wife, leading the estate’s people to treat her as a fraud.
Even though Rafaella resembled her father so closely.
It wasn’t until the magic stone confirmed their blood relation that the ridicule stopped.
She didn’t care if she was treated as a fraud multiple times.
But she couldn’t allow her daughter to suffer such humiliation in the Ducal estate.
‘So do your job properly, sword.’
***
The next morning, before dawn, Lia got out of bed and changed her clothes.
Although the sun hadn’t risen yet, she had little time to catch the coach heading from the city to the capital.
Fully prepared, she carried her bag on her front, her sleeping daughter on her back, and her husband’s sword in her hand.
‘Rafaella, this time, I’ll make sure you don’t live like that. I’ll do everything I can to ensure you grow up surrounded by love.’
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