WDYKM 04

Chapter 4

Dry air.

The sound of horses’ hooves echoed the moment the rough tent flap was lifted.

This was a battlefield—

More precisely, a military base preparing for war.

Inside the dim tent serving as temporary quarters stood a man with a dark expression.

It was Royden.

Running a hand over his worn face, Royden let out a deep sigh. Dark shadows lingered beneath his purple eyes.

“I’m tired.”

He no longer remembered how many years these nightmares had continued.

‘Ruby was born… so it’s already been six years.’

Even now, the memories of the day that caused his regression remained painfully vivid.

—Are you… my father?

Cracked lips.

Bruised, battered calves.

—Please. Help me!

The desperate plea of a child clinging to life.

—Please, please… find her instead of me…

The child’s agonized screams.

—Ah, that? I simply educated her a little. Though there was one woman who kept interfering midway.

And for the first time, madness inside Vanessa’s blue eyes.

—Don’t mind the rumors, dear. Who would dare question me, the Duchess?

By the time the war ended and he returned to the ducal estate, peace no longer existed.

Falling from the empire’s strongest knight to a worthless father took only an instant.

The war had ended.

Peace had finally come to the empire.

So why—

Why was young Ruby still trapped in hell?

‘Wasn’t she our child? Why would Vanessa do such things to Ruby…?’

Before he left for war, she had promised him.

—Don’t worry about the child or me. Royden, just come back safely.

She had spoken so confidently.

—I love you, Royden.

Were all those words lies?

Had he known things would turn out this way, he would never have left his child behind to go to war in his previous life.

On the battlefield, where flesh was torn apart and people died every day, the only comfort he had found was writing letters to his wife.

Thinking about how Vanessa must have mocked those letters left him feeling empty.

For over ten years—

He never even realized that the enemy threatening his child was her.

“……”

If only he had regressed to an even younger age.

If only he had returned to a time before meeting Vanessa…

‘If I hadn’t returned to the day Ruby was born, would it have been easier to sever my feelings?’

“But why do I keep…”

—I want our child to be happier than anyone.

Why did the image of Vanessa from that day continue to haunt him?

Why had she looked so pitiful, covered in blood?

Royden quietly lowered his head.

At that moment—

—Foolish child. Do you regret your choice now?

A harsh voice from long ago echoed in his memory.

—Regret changes nothing. Never forget that time has already begun to move.

‘That’s right. Someone like me has no right to regret anything.’

The only thing he needed now was redemption for Ruby’s sake.

‘In this life…’

He had sworn to make his daughter happy.

He wanted to become a good father.

He wanted Ruby to know she had someone on her side.

Even if he could not stop the war…

‘Vanessa is gone now.’

Perhaps Ruby would finally be able to live more peacefully.

‘And maybe Vanessa too…’

Royden stiffened at his own thoughts and clenched his teeth.

Even now, the idea sounded absurd.

‘How could someone who threw away her second chance possibly change?’

Had he forgotten what happened less than a month after Ruby was born in the previous life?

Royden forcefully pushed thoughts of Vanessa away.

“I wonder how Ruby has grown.”

This time, there should be no scars.

No bruises.

And unlike before, someone would remain by Ruby’s side.

“I can only trust in this variable.”

Just then—

“Your Grace! Your Grace!”

Voices grew noisy outside the tent.

Normally, Royden would have frowned at the disturbance, but—

“It’s a victory! The kingdom has surrendered!”

The joyful news greeted him warmly.

A knight, even more excited than Royden himself, spread his arms wide.

“We can all finally return home!”

It was time to go back.

After returning to her room, Melia searched through all of “Melia’s” belongings, but nothing particularly unusual appeared.

There were only a few gold coins and documents containing her identity.

“Melia Harper? I’ve heard of the Harper Barony before.”

Royden once mentioned it.

A prestigious old family ruling over a remote rural territory.

The baron had no sons, only two daughters.

The eldest daughter became interested in magic and entered the Mage Tower early in life…

Right.

Before Vanessa died, she had heard rumors that the younger daughter of the Harper family had come to the capital for business.

“So the younger daughter was Melia’s sister.”

Melia nodded slowly.

“A noblewoman from a respected family becoming a nanny would certainly reassure people.”

And a mage from the Mage Tower at that.

She must have possessed enough ability to protect a child.

‘Though it seems she earned double the salary of ordinary mages.’

Closing her eyes, Melia tried to sense the magic inside this body.

In truth, during her academy days, Anemone had briefly taught Vanessa the basics of magic, so she could roughly estimate how powerful “Melia” was—

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, Melia’s shoulders tensed.

Though strangely enough, it was not a bad sign.

‘What kind of body is this…?’

If anything, it was astonishingly good.

Compared to when she was Vanessa, Melia’s body contained overwhelmingly abundant mana.

Warm energy circulated smoothly throughout her entire body.

So this was what a mage from the Mage Tower was like?

The amount of mana was so immense that it would not be an exaggeration to say she had been chosen by the gods.

‘Which only makes things stranger.’

Why would someone capable of protecting herself and everyone around her end up coughing blood and dying?

‘Why do I have such an uneasy feeling?’

Vanessa, who died years ago.

Melia, murdered in the same manner as the previous nanny.

And Vanessa awakening inside Melia’s body.

‘There has to be something behind all this.’

“Could it be…”

Was the one inside her original body actually Melia?

“No… that can’t be right.”

According to the maids, “Vanessa” took over her body immediately after her death.

At that time, the real Melia should still have been alive.

The timeline simply did not match.

—Milady.

“Ah.”

At that moment, a voice resurfaced in Melia’s memory.

The maid who handed her the poisoned tea leaves.

“Was it her?”

Melia shook her head again.

No.

If it had been that maid, then she would have been Royden’s assassin.

And if the maid truly entered Vanessa’s body, then Royden himself would have been involved.

‘If that were the case, they would never have divorced.’

If she had truly been on Royden’s side, he would have kept her close.

That was the kind of person he was.

‘Then who exactly was that maid?’

Melia carefully recalled that day.

“Ahh…”

But strangely, a throbbing headache wrapped around her mind, rejecting the memory itself.

The only thing she could vaguely remember was—

A maid acting under Royden’s orders.

“A maid…”

A maid?

Was she really a maid?

What color was her hair again?

Blonde?

No, silver?

Or perhaps brown…?

“Ah.”

Melia pressed a hand against her forehead.

Her mind felt strangely tangled and disordered.

As if someone had buried her deep beneath dirt, preventing her from thinking too deeply.

Ring—

A sharp ringing noise filled her ears.

…Scratch.

…Scratch.

Then came another strange sound.

Or perhaps she only imagined hearing it.

“Ugh…”

After that, nothing remained in her memory except the lingering headache.

Finally, the next day arrived.

From early morning, Melia carefully prepared herself.

She ironed the uniform she found among her belongings and put on low-heeled shoes comfortable enough for movement.

Worried that yesterday’s headache might return, she had already obtained headache medicine from the estate physician.

And in front of the mirror, she practiced smiling so many times that the corners of her mouth had begun to ache.

‘I can’t cry in front of her.’

Today was finally her first day working.

‘Ruby.’

The day she would meet her child.

“Hoo…”

Melia let out a trembling breath.

Just one more step forward.

One knock on the large door—

And she would finally meet Ruby.

Melia hesitated, clenching her fists.

If she knocked now, she could see her daughter.

“Maybe I should tie my hair back after all.”

Suddenly afraid the child might dislike her, she could not bring herself to open the door.

“What if Ruby turns her head and my hair accidentally hits her?”

Now she was worrying about ridiculous things.

‘There’s still about thirty minutes before work officially starts anyway.’

“I’ll go back to my room, find a ribbon, and then go see Ruby.”

She hurriedly turned to run back toward her room.

“……?”

Until she glanced out the window.

“Oh my goodness.”

Outside the second-floor window stood a large tree.

And sitting on one of its branches was someone Melia could not tear her eyes away from.

‘Ruby.’

The child she had longed to see so desperately.

“Am I imagining this?”

Melia froze in shock for only a moment before tears slowly filled her eyes.

Through her blurred vision, she saw golden-blonde hair.

The soft strands and round eyes looked exactly like her own.

If not for Ruby’s crimson eyes, Melia might have thought she was looking at her younger self.

‘So this is how you grew up…’

It was the first time.

The first time she had seen her daughter stretching out her arms freely.

Not long ago, Ruby had been a baby sleeping peacefully in her embrace.

Yet now, the child had grown enough to climb trees by herself.

‘They said six years had passed since my death.’

Ruby was already seven years old.

Only then did the passage of time truly feel real.

“Who are you?”