Chapter 41

Johann waited for the door to reopen as he surveyed the front of the cabin.  

The crude wooden door, which hardly resembled a proper entrance, a small vegetable patch, and a swing attached to a tree were all there was to see, so his inspection ended quickly.  

“…I’m sorry.”  

Lia, now tidied up with her disheveled hair fixed and dressed in casual clothes, belatedly opened the door.  

“To think I’d be treated like this after coming all this way.”  

He muttered grumpily and stepped into the cabin.  

Placing the bread he had brought on the wooden dining table, Johann looked around the cabin.  

‘I really lived in this tiny cabin for over four years?’  

Seeing it in person, he had hoped that something might surface in his memory, just as when he cared for Rafaella, but there was no spark of recognition.  

Even finding the cabin by instinct had left him somewhat hopeful, but now he felt slightly deflated.  

“How did you get here? Did you follow me right after I left?”  

Lia approached him as he continued to look around the cabin.  

“Sit down. I’ll tell you why I came and how I got here.”  

He gestured toward the dining table chair with his chin.  

His attitude was arrogant, as though he owned the place.  

Once they were both seated, Johann began recounting the events that had transpired at the ducal estate after Lia had left.  

At first, Lia responded to every detail, but as the story continued, she grew increasingly silent.  

“…And that’s why I came here today.”  

Lia silently nodded in response.  

“Rafaella is very healthy right now, so you don’t need to worry about that.”  

“…Thank you for taking good care of her.”  

“…No need for thanks.”  

It felt odd to Johann to receive gratitude.  

He, too, was Rafaella’s parent and guardian, so being thanked for taking care of her felt strange.  

Perhaps in the past, such words would have been welcome, but now they weren’t.  

“I should have brought her with me somehow. I didn’t realize Raffy would suffer emotionally because of me….”  

Lia trailed off, lowering her head.  

“I understand you feel sorry for Rafaella, but she doesn’t want you to be sad.”  

“But Raffy must have been so worried about me that she couldn’t even throw a tantrum to stop me….”  

“You know now, right? Rafaella is still young, so it’s okay.”  

Johann found the situation of him comforting her somewhat amusing.  

‘It feels like showing off in front of someone who’s struggling.’  

“When I go back, I’ll have to be even better to Raffy.”  

Lia muttered with a small sigh.  

“…You’re already doing well enough.”  

He hesitated before speaking.  

“Really?”  

She scratched her cheek, embarrassed.  

“But how did you get here so quickly?”  

Suddenly remembering, she leaned slightly forward and asked him directly.  

“I used teleportation magic.”  

He replied, rubbing his slightly stiff eyes.  

“Teleportation? I heard that’s an incredibly difficult magic.”  

Her eyes widened in surprise.  

“It is. Oh, just so you know, I’d appreciate it if you kept my ability to use teleportation magic a secret.”  

“I don’t have anyone to tell, so don’t worry.”  

Lia nodded readily.  

“…Did you just wake up?”  

He asked, noticing the strands of hair she hadn’t managed to fix.  

“Huh? Yes, I stayed up late last night.”  

Lia blushed, embarrassed.  

“You haven’t had breakfast, let alone lunch, have you?”  

“Well, no.”  

“Harry said you didn’t bring any food ingredients with you.”  

“I thought I’d finish quickly and leave, so I didn’t bother.”  

He pushed the bread on the table toward Lia.  

“Then have this as breakfast and lunch.”  

“…What about you, Duke?”  

“I haven’t had lunch either.”  

Lia cut the bread Johann had brought into bite-sized pieces and arranged them on a plate.  

A very simple lunch was set on the table.  

Having said all they wanted to say, they both began eating the bread in silence, the awkwardness between them now apparent.  

Though both found the atmosphere uncomfortable, neither could think of a good way to ease it.  

“I have something to ask.”  

Having finished his meal first, Johann broke the silence.  

“Something to ask?”  

“When we made our agreement, you included a condition.”  

“What condition?”  

Lia’s eyes widened.  

“You said you’d stay at the ducal estate only until Rafaella’s eighth birthday.”  

“Oh, that condition.”  

She wondered what about that condition had piqued his curiosity.  

‘Is he asking if I can leave earlier?’  

It certainly wouldn’t be that he wanted her to stay longer.  

“You said you weren’t abandoning Rafaella, right?”  

“Yes, I did.”  

“Then why are you leaving her?”  

“……”  

Lia closed her mouth tightly.  

‘I didn’t expect an easy answer anyway.’  

He crossed his arms and silently waited for her response.  

“…Do you really need to know?”  

After a long silence, Lia finally spoke.  

“I want to know. Rafaella likes you the most.”  

“…You’ve changed so much. Saying things like that.”  

“Is that a problem?”  

“No, hearing that makes me feel much more at ease.”  

“Then I’d like to hear your answer to my question.”  

Johann reminded Lia of his question once more.  

“…Honestly, it’s such a sudden question that I’m not sure if I should answer or not.”  

“Is it because you don’t trust me?”  

“No, it’s not that. Just give me some time to think.”  

“…If you need time, I’ll wait.”  

Since she was hesitant to speak, he couldn’t force her.  

‘It must be a heavy topic.’  

After their conversation ended, Johann felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.  

“You seem tired.”  

Noticing his somewhat dazed expression, Lia spoke up.  

“…A little.”  

“You should rest for a bit.” 

She stood up from her chair.  

“Is there a room to rest in?”  

He looked around the cabin, which seemed far too small to him.  

“Don’t worry.”  

The room Lia led him to was Rafaella’s room.  

It was decorated in an adorably charming way.  

“Well, rest here. I’ll be back shortly.”  

“Alright.”  

Lia closed the door behind her so Johann could rest comfortably.  

He cautiously leaned back on the bed.  

‘Lying on the bed of a daughter I don’t remember feels strange.’  

On the dresser opposite the bed were various wooden figurines.  

‘Could I have made those too?’  

Johann stared at the wooden figurines for a while before closing his eyes.  

***

Lia left the cabin and headed to Alma’s house.  

‘He wants to know why I’m leaving because of Rafaella.’  

Had Rafaella’s emotional struggles changed him?  

Even without his memories, her husband didn’t seem to be entirely heartless.  

‘Should I tell him? Could revealing my circumstances bring him closer to Rafaella?’  

She coldly calculated whether telling Johann about her impending death would be beneficial or not.  

Since her death was already a certainty, weighing its pros and cons didn’t feel too burdensome.  

‘…If I tell him, he’ll pity me.’  

She didn’t want pity from a foolish man who couldn’t even remember her.  

Lia bit her lips hard as she pondered.  

With her husband seeming to grow more attached to Rafaella, it didn’t seem like she could keep her reasons for leaving hidden forever.  

Judging by the current atmosphere, if she told him, he might care for Rafaella more attentively.  

Perhaps, in time, they might even develop the close father-daughter relationship they once had.  

‘If it helps Rafaella, I can endure his pity a hundred times, a thousand times over.’  

Lia decided she would finish preparing the medicine for Penelope before telling Johann.  

“Sigh.”  

“What’s with the sighing in front of someone else’s door?”  

“Ah!”  

Lia exclaimed in surprise when she saw Alma standing beside her.  

“They said that guy came, didn’t they? Is that why?”  

“…Did you meet him?”  

“No, I heard it from the villagers.”  

Alma opened the door and entered her house with Lia.  

“If I’d met him, I wouldn’t have let him off easily.”  

“Alma, don’t even think about doing that.”  

“Why? Because he’s some big-shot noble?”  

She dragged out her words as she shut the door with a bang.  

When the village headman showed Lia the newspaper announcing Johann’s engagement to the princess, Alma had seen it too.  

Not just Alma, but several villagers had seen it as well.  

They had wanted to confirm whether the man in the portrait was truly Lia’s husband, worried that showing it to her might hurt her if it wasn’t.  

After some deliberation, they all agreed that the man in the portrait bore a striking resemblance to Lia’s husband.  

Moreover, the timing of Johann’s appearance in Lorem Mountain coincided with the period when the Duke of Blumhart had gone missing.  

Both the portrait and the circumstances pointed to Lia’s husband being the “Duke of Blumhart.”  

The villagers felt a mix of joy and resentment upon seeing Johann in the village today.  

Of course, since he was a high-ranking noble of the empire, they kept those feelings to themselves.  

Alma, however, wouldn’t have held back.  

As Lia’s childhood friend with a fiery personality, Alma might have run up and pulled his hair out.  

‘Alma doesn’t know that my husband has lost his memories.’  

Lia felt relieved that Alma hadn’t encountered Johann.  

“Alma, he doesn’t remember us.”  

“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”  

In her haste to leave for the capital, Lia hadn’t had time to explain things to Alma properly.  

“He regained his memories but completely forgot about living here.”  

“Hah, and I’m supposed to believe that?”  

“It’s true. He doesn’t remember Lorem Mountain, me, Rafaella, or the villagers at all.”  

“What kind of—!”  

Alma exclaimed in disbelief and sat down on the sofa.  

At that moment, Alma’s husband Raul entered the house.  

“Oh? Lia! When did you get back?”  

Raul greeted her warmly.  

Lia, Alma, and Raul had been friends since childhood.  

Once Raul joined them on the sofa, Lia began recounting her life in the capital and her husband’s lost memories, answering their many questions.  

***

Rafaella was playing with Isabella in Penelope’s room.  

Rafaella and Penelope were more like sisters than niece and aunt, chatting and laughing together.  

Isabella found their bond so endearing that she almost cried.  

After all, people shed tears not only in sadness but also in happiness.  

While playing with dolls, Rafaella turned her head to look at Isabella.  

“Grandma, Grandma.”  

“…What is it, Rafaella?”  

She cleared her throat and answered.  

“Do you think Mom and Dad met well?”