Chapter 4
The Blumhart Dukedom, one of the five great ducal families of the Empire, owned vast territories between the capital and the northern region.
Johann von Blumhart.
Now, he was in the drawing room to meet the woman who claimed to have brought back his lost greatsword.
Seated arrogantly on the sofa at the head of the room, Johann exuded elegance and grace befitting a great noble of the Empire.
He heard the sound of footsteps approaching the drawing room, those of the woman carrying the greatsword, as guided by the butler.
As someone with powerful mana and heightened senses, Johann was puzzled to hear three sets of footsteps instead of two.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Your Grace, the guest has arrived.”
“…Come in.”
At Johann’s permission, the butler opened the door to the drawing room.
His icy red eyes turned toward the woman entering the room.
Dressed plainly, the woman appeared utterly ordinary, save for her unusually fair skin.
She had soft brown hair and emerald eyes that shimmered with an enigmatic light.
Her emerald eyes, which seemed to hold much more than what met the eye, stared directly at him.
‘If someone saw this, they’d think I owed her money and ran away.’
Seeing her piercing gaze, Johann felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest and shifted his attention to the child standing behind her.
‘…That child?’
He nearly rose from his seat in surprise when he saw the child, whose features were a spitting image of his own.
Except for the color of her eyes, the child resembled him so closely that it was uncanny. She blinked her eyes and glanced at him hesitantly.
The aide, who had also noticed the child, audibly gasped in shock.
“…Take a seat.”
Suppressing his growing anxiety about the child, Johann spoke calmly.
‘I can ask about the child after I deal with the greatsword.’
After they sat down, the room fell into an oppressive silence.
“Mom, is that man my dad?”
In the suffocating quiet, the child’s clear voice rang out in the drawing room.
Although she whispered into the woman’s ear, the room was so silent that everyone present could hear her perfectly.
Johann’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
The aide and the butler, who stood nearby, swallowed their surprise.
“Yes, that’s your dad, Raffy.”
Watching their whispered conversation, Johann quickly realized that the woman’s purpose for coming here wasn’t just to return the greatsword.
“…Madame, I heard you brought the greatsword.”
Sensing Johann’s growing displeasure, the aide addressed the woman.
“Oh, yes.”
The woman handed the greatsword toward Johann.
The aide took the sword, unwrapped the coarse fabric, and respectfully presented it to Johann.
The moment Johann grasped the greatsword, it vibrated strongly.
‘It must be reacting so intensely because it’s been so long since it last felt my touch.’
He unsheathed the sword, carefully examining the sharp, gleaming blade before sheathing it again.
Now, the issue wasn’t the greatsword but the woman who had brought a child that looked exactly like him.
“Who is that child?”
His voice was as cold as ice.
“…I’d like to discuss this without the child present.”
At her request, the butler escorted the child out of the room.
The aide, however, remained, stepping back a few paces.
“The child… as you may have noticed, is the daughter of you and me, Your Grace.”
The woman hesitated before speaking.
“…….”
Her unwavering gaze held no trace of deceit.
“Her name is Rafaella. You and I named her together.”
A woman and a child he had never seen before in his life—what kind of nonsense was this?
No matter how much the child resembled him, he couldn’t believe it so easily.
“Sorry, but this is the first time I’ve seen you.”
“…I lived with you for four and a half years. We were even married.”
The woman replied with firm conviction.
Two years ago, Johann had found himself walking through a forest.
He remembered that his last memory was being stabbed by a knight while returning from a monster subjugation in the North.
‘I think I barely managed to set the coordinates of the Duke’s castle with a magic circle as I fell off the cliff….’
Surprised by his unscathed body, he had stopped walking and lifted his shirt to check.
The area where he had been stabbed had healed, leaving only a scar behind.
Confused about what had happened, he descended the mountain.
Upon questioning a passerby, he learned that he was in the North and that four and a half years had passed since his disappearance.
Without delving too deeply into why he had been wandering in the northern mountains, Johann immediately headed to the Ducal estate to announce his survival.
This woman was now claiming that she had been a part of his missing years.
“…How am I supposed to believe that?”
His voice was cold.
“You have a stab wound below your left ribs, don’t you? And another on your palm from the same blade.”
“…….”
The woman accurately described the locations of his scars.
“When you went missing, I found you collapsed near a valley close to my village.”
Her clear, honest eyes met his.
‘Didn’t I set the coordinates for the Duke’s castle? How did I end up in a valley?’
“You were unconscious for nearly a month due to monster venom, and you came close to death several times.”
So the blade had been coated with monster venom as well.
Suppressing his rising anger, Johann listened carefully to the woman’s explanation.
“Everyone told me to give up, but I saved you in the end.”
“And then?”
“…When you woke up, you didn’t remember anything. Not who you were or why you were there.”
So that’s why he hadn’t returned to the Ducal estate immediately.
The puzzle pieces of his missing years began to fall into place.
“The only word you remembered was ‘Hart.’”
“…Hart?”
I had only remembered half of my family name?
Scoffing at the absurdity, Johann suddenly looked at the woman with suspicion.
“You knew the greatsword bore the Blumhart family crest, so why….”
“I didn’t know at the time. My village is so remote that we hardly hear any news from the Empire.”
The woman’s expression was one of genuine innocence as she answered his skeptical question.
“…Then how did you figure it out and come here?”
“I happened to see a newspaper with your portrait a few days ago.”
As the successor of the Blumhart Dukedom, a Swordmaster, and the Crown Princess’s fiancé, Johann’s face often appeared in the news.
In summary, he had lost his memory when he went missing, regained it later, and then lost it again.
‘…This is giving me a headache.’
He pressed his fingers against his temple.
“After recovering, you married me….”
“So, what’s your purpose in coming to me now that you know who I am?”
He wasn’t interested in hearing the rest of her story.
Ever since she and the child had entered the room, an inexplicable tightness in his chest had irritated him.
He also resented the version of himself who had lost his memory.
“…Aren’t you curious about the daughter you suddenly have, even if you don’t remember her?”
The woman clenched her fists and glared at him.
It wasn’t the attitude a commoner should take with a Duke, but Johann didn’t bother pointing it out.
“No, I’m not curious. So, is it money you’re after?”
“No. More importantly, do you recognize that I am your savior?”
“…I am grateful that you saved me.”
Saving someone infected with monster venom was an incredibly difficult task.
Even if they survived, the chances of a full recovery were slim.
The fact that his only aftereffect was memory loss was a stroke of luck.
“That’s why I want to repay you. Money seems like the cleanest option.”
“I don’t need money. Instead, I want you to grant my request. No, you must grant it.”
“…What is it?”
“It’s a request from your savior and doesn’t cost you anything, so I hope you won’t refuse.”
The woman’s eyes burned with resentment and anger as she spoke.
Her emotions, directed at a man who didn’t even remember her, felt unpleasant to Johann.
“What is it?”
“Please formally acknowledge Rafaella as your daughter and raise her here in the Ducal estate.”
“…The child?”
Johann furrowed his brow.
“I’ll be leaving, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Are you abandoning your daughter?”
Johann asked, puzzled by her request.
“…It’s not like that. I have my reasons.”
“Reasons?”
“I don’t want to discuss them.”
Johann fell silent, considering whether acknowledging the child as his heir would be advantageous or detrimental to him.
Johann paused in silence after hearing the woman’s request.
He needed to calculate whether formally registering the child under his family name would be advantageous or disadvantageous to him.
‘Since she’s a child born out of wedlock, there will likely be rumors spreading everywhere….’
Other nobles and vassals would surely question the child’s origins.
However, if the child truly was his bloodline, this could be a good opportunity to avoid unnecessary marriages.
‘If I formally register the child, the Crown Princess might break off our engagement.’
Moreover, if he declared her as his heir, he wouldn’t need to re-enter the marriage market after the engagement was annulled.
In that case, formally registering the child would be beneficial to him in many ways.
“And please fulfill your role as Rafaella’s father wholeheartedly.”
“Fulfill my role as a father?”
“Yes, even if you don’t remember, Your Grace, you were incredibly kind to Raffy before losing your memory.”
“Hah….”
Johann let out a bitter laugh.
Kind? He had never even been kind to his younger sister. Was that even possible for him?
“Not just any father. You must be a father who pours unconditional attention and love into your daughter.”
The woman’s expression was resolute.
“That’s a bit….”
“That’s the most important part of my request, so you must agree to it, Your Grace.”
“…Fine, I’ll think about it.”
It was an odd request, but since she truly was his savior, he had no grounds to outright reject her.
‘It’s troublesome, but I can just pretend to go along with it.’
“Then, once you’ve decided to agree, let’s proceed with drafting a contract.”
She was surprisingly thorough, even mentioning a contract.
“…Alright. Is there anything else?”
“I’d like to stay here with Rafaella until she turns eight years old.”
For a moment, Johann wondered if her true purpose wasn’t her daughter’s safety but something related to him.
“Don’t misunderstand. I just want to stay to ensure that you’re properly fulfilling your role as Rafaella’s father and to have peace of mind before I leave.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“If you’re suspicious, we can include this part in the contract as well.”
“…Fine. To make things clear, let’s conduct a paternity test first, consider everything thoroughly, and then draft the contract.”
“Yes. Whatever you decide, I trust you’ll fulfill the request of your savior.”
The woman emphasized each word as she spoke to him.
“You never let a single word slide, do you?”
Johann mocked her.
“When it comes to my child, I can’t let anything slide.”
“A remarkable parent, indeed.”
Even in front of a grand noble, she didn’t cower and responded firmly, leaving Johann exasperated.
“…I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The woman replied with a faint smile.
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