🔊 TTS Settings
Episode 1
Not every mother is good at everything a mother is supposed to do.
Most of the time, she just pretends she’s doing fine.
Because she has to.
“When you get married, everything you want will come easily.”
That was what a fortune teller told me when I was twenty years old.
It was a scam.
Not only did I waste the last two silver coins I owned on that ridiculous fortune reading, but I also ended up giving up on running away and returning home.
Back to the house where a marriage to a man I didn’t love was waiting for me.
Thinking back, it was probably after I got married that my life truly started falling apart.
Not that it had much hope to begin with.
Now I’m seventy-three years old.
I’ve been through all kinds of hardships, so very little surprises me anymore.
But one thing is certain:
I would never want to go back to my youth.
My name is Charlotte D. Arista.
And as of today, I am the mother of Bliss Arista, the new Duke of Arista.
It was a winter afternoon.
Standing outside the mansion entrance, I clicked my tongue at the gloomy sky.
“What a shame. Such a wonderful day, and the weather has to be like this.”
The head butler behind me seemed to notice my concern.
“Madam, please don’t worry. The Marquis—no, the Duke—will return safely despite the bad weather.”
“Of course he will. Do you know who my Bliss is?”
As I turned around with a smile, the elderly butler grinned brightly.
Like me, his hair had long turned white.
Behind him stood every servant and maid in the household.
Seeing them made me emotional.
I knew very well that they weren’t standing there because of Hans, the butler.
They had come out into the cold to welcome my son because of me.
The corners of my mouth twitched.
If someone had told me this forty-five years ago, I never would have believed it.
Who could have imagined that the widowed Marchioness of Arista, thrown out onto the streets with her only son, would someday raise that son into a duke?
My gaze drifted toward the large iron gate in the distance.
Just like my heart, the beautiful gate stood wide open for Bliss.
Maybe that was why even the freezing winter wind couldn’t bother me today.
Unfortunately, I seemed to be the only one feeling sentimental.
Because behind me, some servants were whispering.
“Our lady sure has a lot of energy. She’s been standing here for two whole hours.”
“Can you blame her? Her dream finally came true.”
“Who would’ve thought someone with every possible flaw except gambling, drinking, and womanizing would become one of only two dukes in the entire empire?”
“Feels like the end times.”
“I know, right? Just imagine how much worse his behavior will get now.”
“Seriously. Even when he was only a marquis, he treated us—and even his mother—like dirt.”
Crunch.
I gritted my teeth.
Apparently, these fools thought old age came with deafness.
How dare servants gossip about their master?
I lowered my voice and spoke to Hans.
“Hans. Deal with those idiots immediately.”
“Madam! The Duke has arrived!”
“Ah!”
Hans was right.
A white carriage bearing the Arista family crest passed through the gate and entered the front yard I had carefully tended.
Today was the day a Duke of Arista was born.
I decided to generously overlook those rude servants’ behavior.
The carriage finally stopped nearby.
I hurried toward it.
“Bliss! My Duke has come home!”
“Mother.”
A pleasant voice came from inside the carriage.
A moment later, my beloved son stepped out.
Golden hair shining like honey.
Blue eyes.
A lean physique despite being fifty-three years old.
Even time had treated him kindly.
He had only a few wrinkles, and somehow even those made him look handsome.
He truly looked like the leader of the noble faction.
My eyes immediately landed on the large red envelope in his hand.
“Oh my! Is that the certificate of your ducal title from His Majesty? Let me see!”
But before I could touch it.
Smack!
Bliss slapped my hand away so hard it stung.
I flinched.
He clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. Do it inside. The servants are watching. This is why people talk behind my back and call me a fatherless bastard.”
His harsh words pierced my heart.
“I’m sorry, Bliss. I got too excited.”
“Then try to behave.”
I forced a smile.
“Of course. I’ll do better from now on. I don’t want my Duke to feel embarrassed.”
“Yes. Assuming you even get the chance.”
A strange smile appeared on his face.
Seeing it, I suddenly had a bad feeling.
He’s going to send me away to one of the country estates, isn’t he?
It hurt, but I understood.
No matter what, letting go of a child you’ve raised is painful.
Still, it was probably time for me to retire.
My dream had finally come true.
I had made my son a duke.
For the first time in fifty-three years, I would finally be free from cleaning up after Bliss’s mistakes.
Raising him had been exhausting.
From the age of twenty until seventy-three…
It had been a very long motherhood.
Dinner that evening was awkward.
Only Bliss and I sat at the table.
Bliss twisted his lips in annoyance.
“His Majesty is unbelievable. No celebration banquet, no ceremony. Just a piece of paper. That’s all I get.”
I nearly jumped from my seat.
“Bliss! Watch your tongue!”
“What? Can’t I say what I want in my own house?”
“Bliss.”
“Right. You’re always disappointed in me. Makes sense. You wasted your youth because you got stuck raising someone else’s child.”
“What nonsense!”
I immediately corrected him.
“My dear, I’ve never once thought of you as anything but my son. No matter what anyone says, you are my child.”
Bliss sighed.
Thankfully, he seemed calmer.
“Stop treating me like a teenager.”
“Sorry. You’ll always look like my baby.”
“Still… you’ve worked hard.”
“Huh?”
My eyes widened.
It was rare for Bliss to thank me.
Then he smiled.
A genuine smile.
“If it weren’t for you, I never would’ve made it this far. Thank you. It feels like only yesterday that Father died and we were thrown out of the marquis household. Now I’m a duke.”
“Bliss…”
I pressed a hand to my chest.
My nose stung.
So this day finally came.
My son was finally thanking me.
Bliss stood up and approached me with a wine bottle.
“This is a congratulatory drink from me to you personally.”
He poured me the first glass himself.
I nearly cried.
But I held back the tears.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Though there is something you should know.”
“Really? What good news does my son have for me now?”
“I’m planning to remarry the daughter of Count Chexder.”
My whole body froze.
“What are you talking about? What about Josephine?”
Josephine was Bliss’s wife.
My daughter-in-law.
Bliss snorted.
“Why should I care about a woman who ran back to her parents after a little argument?”
I nervously took a sip of wine.
No…
Up until now, women had been the one area where Bliss never caused trouble.
“Bliss! Don’t say that! Do you know how hurt Josephine is?”
“I’ve already made my decision.”
I couldn’t stop coughing.
“No. Absolutely not. You can’t divorce your perfectly good wife just to remarry! Cough! Cough!”
I choked on my drink.
My throat burned.
But Bliss only sneered.
“No. I’m divorcing Josephine. A woman like her isn’t suitable to be the wife of the empire’s only Grand Duke.”
I stared at him.
“What are you talking about? Grand Duke? How could you possibly become one?”
A confident smile spread across his face.
“Mother. Your dream ended when I became a duke. Mine begins now.”
Something about his smile made me uneasy.
“Soon, even the Emperor will have to watch my reactions.”
Then.
Something surged up from deep inside me.
I coughed.
Black, sticky blood spilled from my mouth.
My entire body stiffened.
I fell from my chair and collapsed onto the dining room floor.
My stomach felt like it was burning alive.
Blood poured from my mouth.
Poison…?!
I looked up at Bliss with bloodshot eyes.
He was smiling.
“A perfect opportunity. With the Dowager Duchess of Arista murdered, I can frame the imperial faction and become the Grand Duke.”
I couldn’t understand.
My trembling hand grabbed his pant leg.
I had to ask.
“Bliss… why? I’m your mother. Why do I have to die…?”
Bliss laughed.
“I just told you. I’m going to become a Grand Duke.”
Then his smile turned cold.
“Don’t you get it yet?”
He looked down on me.
“I don’t need a mother anymore.”
Darkness swallowed my vision.
And then.
I died.
“Gasp!”
I woke up suddenly, struggling for air like a fish thrown onto dry land.
Above me was a ceiling that felt both familiar and strange.
And somehow, I was lying in a cheap, shabby bed.
“Where am I? What was that? A dream? Yeah… it must’ve been a dream. What kind of ridiculous dream is that? Being poisoned by Bliss…”
But then why was my heart racing so hard?
Why were my hands trembling?
I curled into myself.
Loneliness.
Sorrow.
Pain.
Feelings I couldn’t describe overwhelmed me.
After some time, I noticed something strange.
My eyesight was unusually clear.
“That’s odd. How can I see so well without my glasses? And why is it so warm?”
Slowly, I climbed out of bed.
Then I noticed a mirror hanging on the wall.
A young woman stared back at me.
No wrinkles.
No signs of old age.
I knew that face.
Of course I did.
It was me.
Twenty-eight years old.
My eyes widened.
“Wait… don’t tell me…”
I stared at my reflection in disbelief.
“Did I really travel back to the past?”
