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Chapter 3
Nadia’s first memories began when she was ten years old.
She had been abandoned in the forest with all her memories gone. After wandering for days, Nadia was fortunate enough to meet the Baron and Baroness of Hess.
The Baron and Baroness Hess were kind people who desperately wanted a child but had never been able to have one. To them, Nadia seemed like a child sent from heaven.
“My dear, would you become our daughter? We may be nobles in name only, but we promise to cherish you with all our hearts.”
Having lost her memories, Nadia had no reason to refuse their kindness.
Hess territory was a tiny place with fewer than a hundred residents, yet it was warm and welcoming. The people did not reject Nadia for suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Instead, they treated her like a true young lady of the estate, caring for her attentively like the servants of a grand household.
For ten years, Nadia was happy.
She enjoyed learning how to manage the Hess estate, working side by side with the villagers from morning until night without barriers, and sharing simple tea times with her adoptive parents using tea leaves she had picked and dried herself.
At least, that was how it had been before Baroness Hess collapsed from illness.
Nadia and everyone in Hess territory sincerely worried for her, tending to her day and night, but there were no signs of recovery.
They barely managed to gather enough money to summon a renowned physician from the capital. The illness was identified, but the treatment itself became the problem. The Hess Baron family could not afford the medicine.
Holding Nadia’s hand desperately, Baroness Hess spoke softly.
“When the time comes, people must leave this world. Just as the time came for you to enter our lives.”
But Nadia shook her head.
“You and Father chose to accept me because you wished to. This time, I will save you through my own will.”
Immediately afterward, Nadia searched desperately for ways to earn money. The villagers could help to some extent, but there was a limit.
If they oppressed the villagers just to save Baroness Hess, the Baroness would sooner take her own life. She cared for the people of the territory that deeply.
Nadia spread out a map and examined every mine within Hess territory.
Even in this barren land, surely somewhere… somewhere…
As if guided by something unseen, Nadia’s hand moved across the map.
To the north, Hess territory bordered the Baldwin Duchy. The instant her finger touched the Baldwin lands, a violent headache struck her, and she collapsed onto the floor.
The loud noise startled the villagers helping her, and they all rushed over to support her.
“Miss! Oh no! You’ve pushed yourself too hard!”
“Quickly, we must take her to her room!”
Though everyone cried out at once, Nadia shook her head and rushed back to the map.
The moment she looked at the map of the Baldwin Duchy, all her memories came flooding back.
She had originally been a woman named Libenya.
She had become a duchess through a political marriage to a young husband, and while traveling to celebrate her husband’s graduation from the academy, she had met with an accident…
Nadia staggered beneath the overwhelming flood of information returning to her.
Yet even amidst the confusion over her identity, she could not forget Baroness Hess’s pale face.
Nadia pointed toward a mine located right beside Baldwin territory.
“Here. There’s a mana stone deposit buried here.”
The villagers looked puzzled.
“Miss, we don’t mean to doubt your words, but this area only ever produced a little coal. Enough for us to survive, perhaps, but nowhere near enough to pay for Madam’s medicine…”
It was true that Nadia had often helped the miners with their work, but as the daughter of a baron, she had never personally wielded a pickaxe or entered the mines herself.
There was no way she should be able to know where mana stones were buried.
But Libenya Baldwin was different.
She had once been someone who held information others could scarcely imagine within the palm of her hand.
“It’s true. Please trust me just this once. If we mine and sell the mana stones, we’ll at least be able to buy Mother the medicine she urgently needs.”
At Nadia’s earnest plea, the villagers nodded.
“Our young lady has always been exceptionally clever. She must have a reason.”
“Let’s repay Madam’s kindness!”
The villagers all picked up their pickaxes and headed to the location Nadia indicated.
The excavation progressed quickly. At first, it seemed hopeless, but before long, actual mana stones began appearing.
Mana stones were valuable even without refinement, so they could be sold immediately.
It worked. With this, they could somehow manage the immediate cost of the medicine.
The villagers cheered, while Baron Hess, who had been watching nearby, looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
Pulling Nadia into a hug, he spoke with overwhelming emotion.
“You are saving your mother. You are the miracle of Hess territory.”
Nadia, too, was genuinely happy that she could save her adoptive mother. Surrounded by her adoptive father and the villagers, she smiled brightly.
But the excitement died down in an instant.
“Baron! Miss! S-someone important has arrived!”
“They’re saying this is Baldwin land and we weren’t allowed to dig here… What should we do about our young lady? Shouldn’t she run away quickly?”
“That’s right! Let’s save Madam first! If anyone must be punished, let it be us!”
At the villagers’ commotion, Nadia’s eyes trembled violently.
“…Baldwin?”
It was not fear.
To Nadia, the name Baldwin was not something terrifying.
Rather, it was a name filled with longing and painful affection that tightened her chest.
Steadying herself, Nadia raised her head.
‘There’s no way Hiini himself would come for such a small matter. At most, perhaps the knight commander.’
“Father, I’ll handle this. There’s nothing for us to fear, so please don’t worry.”
As Nadia stepped forward, Baron Hess panicked and hurried after her. He repeatedly tried to persuade her to let him take charge instead, but Nadia firmly refused.
“I started this matter, so naturally I should resolve it myself.”
Baron Hess was a kind and gentle father, but he often ruined matters because he lacked practical judgment.
Calming him, Nadia stepped before the gathered people.
And in that moment, beneath the cold air, she came face to face with a familiar man.
Hair black as a panther and crimson eyes gleaming chillingly beneath a smooth brow.
The sun stood behind him, casting him in shadow, yet even so, his almost demonic beauty could not be concealed.
The moment she saw him, Nadia’s vision blurred.
This year marked ten years since Libenya Baldwin’s death.
It was also ten years since Nadia had gained a new body.
Never in her dreams had she imagined she would meet Heinrich again on such a day.
Nadia lowered her head deeply. If she continued looking at Heinrich, she felt as though tears would spill out again.
How had she managed to forget for ten whole years?
That lovely person who had once filled her life with warmth and vitality.
Not long after the disturbance between the two territories, a thick stack of documents arrived at the Baldwin Ducal Estate.
They contained evidence supporting the historical claims Nadia had mentioned that day.
Heinrich handed all the documents over to his secretary, Allison.
“Investigate whether the mana stones in that region truly belong to Hess territory.”
A capable secretary, Allison returned with his report in less than two days.
“If this turns into a struggle of power, Baldwin would naturally win.”
“And if judged fairly by logic and law?”
“They belong to Hess. Though exchange between Baldwin and Hess ceased two hundred years ago, there is no record of that small piece of land ever being returned. Most likely, no one simply cared enough about it.”
Seated in his office chair, Heinrich sank deep into thought.
“It was a place no one cared about. So how did that woman know mana stones were buried there?”
“You mean the adopted daughter of Baron Hess?”
“Yes. It’s understandable that she knows the Hess Baron family thoroughly after living there for ten years. Even knowing history from three hundred years ago isn’t impossible. But how did she know that such worthless-looking land contained a mana vein?”
“I don’t know how she discovered it, but it is a tremendous stroke of fortune for the Hess Baron family. Thanks to that young lady, Baroness Hess will survive. Perhaps the saying that heaven helps the good-hearted is true after all.”
Heinrich let out a scoffing laugh at Allison’s words.
“As if. It was merely coincidence.”
If heaven truly helped the good-hearted, then wasn’t there someone who should have received heaven’s favor more than anyone?
Heinrich remembered the woman who had once smiled warmly at him.
A defenseless young duke who had been only eight years old.
A gentle woman who endlessly gave kindness despite him being utterly inadequate as a marriage partner.
Someone who remained courteous and reasonable even toward people of low status.
Libenya Baldwin.
He had wanted to become her true husband. If not that, then at least someone she could rely on. That was why he had wished so desperately to become an adult as quickly as possible.
But now, Libenya was no longer by his side.
“I understand. Transfer that land to the Hess Baron family. Leave an official record so no confusion arises later. Inform Baron Hess as well.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Allison bowed smoothly before leaving the office.
Left alone in the spacious room, Heinrich suddenly felt exhausted.
‘That woman… Nadia Hess, was it?’
He thought of Nadia.
A youthful face that looked barely twenty years old. Vivid red hair. Golden eyes that did not fade even beneath pouring sunlight.
She was unquestionably a woman he had never met before.
Libenya had possessed a far gentler appearance. Even now, when he closed his eyes, he could clearly see her moonlight-like pale blonde hair and calm blue eyes like a quiet lake.
And yet, the moment he met Nadia’s tear-filled eyes, his heart had clenched painfully tight. It felt as though someone had seized his heart and raked it with their nails.
Perhaps it was because the sight of her silently swallowing her tears resembled Libenya.
The thought he had just entertained was so absurd that Heinrich let out a hollow laugh.
‘It’s already been ten years since my wife left me.’
Maybe that was why he kept seeing Libenya in a woman who looked nothing like her.
With bitter eyes, Heinrich gazed out the window. The moonlight resembled his dead wife’s hair so much that it made his eyes ache.
