Gio Baden, head of the Count Baden family, and nobleman of the southern frontier, devoted his entire life to restoring his collapsing family. The household was not in that much difficulty during the childhood of the Count. Because it was family with deep history, they maintained their local influence and lived exercising small influence over their region.
His late father overdid himself trying to do business and it went wrong, causing their financial status to decline greatly. His late father was tormented with self-reproach at destroying the foundation of the family; his heart grew weak and passed away leaving the responsibility of settlement to his son. The inheritance taken over by the Count of Baden was a title, an old mansion that existed for generations and a tremendous amount of debt.
It took a lot of money to retain the title. He had to pay a considerable amount of tax to the king every year. The debt increased without him doing anything. But when he thought of his father who passed away with regrets, he couldn't give up the title at all.
The Count busied himself in trying to save his family. Because he was running around here and there, he had no time to take care of his family. He reduced the debt and went out only for the revival of the family. His wife quietly supported her husband, and raised their two sons and one daughter by herself.
One day, his wife suddenly collapsed. The Count was not even at his sick wife's side and could not protect her properly. He thought she would recover soon but his wife left the world sometime after. The absence of his wife who had always been there was too big. His two sons understood their father within reason but his young daughter resented her father for the loss of her mother.
The thing that made him get back to his feet after he was drowned in the sorrow of losing his wife was ironically, his family's debt. He believed that it would be beneficial to his children in the future if the family was brought to prosperity. The Count had no time to comfort his wounded daughter's heart. He believe that his eldest son would take good care of his siblings, in the place of their mother.
When he was away on an important business and couldn't come back home for a while, his youngest daughter ran away. His sons didn't want their father to worry so they didn't tell him. When he asked where the immature child was, they told him she was sleeping at a friend's house for a few days so he didn't look for her and left it alone for a few days. When her brothers couldn't find her after combing through every place they could think of, they finally realized that this was a serious matter. The Count only came to know that his youngest daughter was missing, a month after she had disappeared.
Alone with his son, the Count searched for his daughter for nearly over a year, but he couldn't find a trace of her anywhere. To make things worse, the high-end business he invested in went bankrupt. The family that had risen a little bit, fell back to the ground. As things stood, he wanted to just embrace his sons and pass away but eventually he gave up looking for his daughter.
Over the next 20 odd years.
The Count of Baden lived life diligently. He could confidently tell anyone who asked that he had worked hard. But the heavens did not reward according to the effort put in. Everything he did kept running off course. When he thought things were improving, they would go back to how they were.
During the height of the war, the south enjoyed the peculiarity of war because it was not that far from the battlefield. Everyone was earning money but Count Baden was in the minority that couldn't.
His debt increased. The mansion passed down in the family for generations was about to collapse. The Count, who had never asked anyone for a favor even though he had been living a hard life, made a big decision. He decided to ask his friend in the capital for help.
The Count had lived in the capital for some time when he was a child. There was a friend he had been in contact with since back then. It was the only cord he could lean on.
Because he couldn't afford to take the expensive gate to the capital, the Count of Baden gathered his old bones and arrived at the capital after several months of traveling. When he arrived, the capital was in great excitement over the coronation of the new King. When he found his friend, he was received with great delight and given a room to stay. He hadn't been able to ask his friend for help yet.
His friend was the son of a Count with decent influence. Even if he didn't inherit the title, he was able to receive an invitation to the celebration party in the Inner Palace. Thanks to his friend, the Count of Baden was able to enter the palace for the first time.
At the celebration party, the Count was able to see high-ranking figures that he had only heard of before. He even saw the face of the King. While enjoying a luxurious party for the first time in his life, the Count poked his nose here and there and heard people talking about ducal couple of Taran. The Count was curious because the Duke of Taran was a famous person that he knew about as well.
The Count squeezed into the crowd that gathered at the news that the ducal couple of Taran had arrived. And as soon as the Count saw the Duchess, his heart stopped.
There was a noblewoman there, resembling both his pitiful wife who was buried deep in his heart, and his lost youngest daughter, as if he was looking at the two of them together.
How could someone look so similar? The Count kept stealing glances at the Duchess then he asked his friend and was informed about her.
[I heard she's a princess. I think she's been married to the Duke of Taran for a little over a year? It wasn't too long ago. She's famous in the social circle. Whether it's my wife or my daughter, once they open their mouth, they're talking about things like that, it's very annoying.]
A princess of all things. The Count's expecting heart died down with a thud. It was a status that had no relationship with his daughter at all. His heart hurt, and maybe because he was remembering his daughter after a long time, that night, he saw his daughter in a dream. She looked like a young lady, just like he remembered her.
But when he woke up, he couldn't tell whether he had seen his daughter in the dream or the Duchess from earlier in the day. The memory of his daughter that was vivid enough that he could draw a picture of her, was mixed up in his head. The Duchess resembled his daughter to that extent.
[Can you get an invitation to the ball today too?]
The Count asked his friend. His friend happily agreed stating it wasn't a difficult matter.
Seeing the Duchess again today, the Count felt his heart stop, again. She looked more like his daughter today than she did yesterday. A stranger wouldn't resemble his daughter so much. He passed by a few times, secretly looking at the Duchess who was talking to other noblewomen.
She was the exact image of his daughter when she smiled. The color of her eyes that couldn't be seen from afar were clear amber. Girls in the Baden family with amber eyes were said to be symbols of good fortune so they received a lot of love. The Count fell for the color of his wife's eyes, and was delighted at the birth of his daughter who resembled his wife and had an eye color of good-luck.
The Duchess who had the same amber eyes as his wife and his daughter. The Count felt overwhelmed and his heart hurt like it was being pierced.
Could it be? It can't possibly be. Maybe? There's no way. The Count was agonizing and indecisive. Even if he wanted to approach her and talk to her, there was no chance. There were people densely gathered around her and it was not an atmosphere where an unfamiliar old man could approach her. He saw the Duchess dancing in the hall and the heart was moved. It overlapped with the scene of his daughter dancing at her first ball.
Later, the Duke entered, hugged the Duchess and left the party venue. The Count followed from a distance. As the Ducal couple moved to an increasingly secluded area, he couldn't follow any longer. He snooped around inside the hallway where the ducal couple disappeared and paced around for a while. Then he discovered a familiar maid coming out and his eyes opened wide. He saw the Duchess talking to the maid several times, both today and yesterday.
He took his seal from his breast pocket and stamped it on his handkerchief then he squeezed it in into the hand of the maid, making a request. If the Duchess had anything to do with his daughter, she might know of the Baden family. It was a tiny sliver of hope.
The maid looked troubled but thankfully took the handkerchief. After a while, the maid came back carrying a bag and bowed to the Count who was still standing there then she went inside the room. The Count was anxious and could not turn away from the direction the maid had gone.
***
Lucia looked at the handkerchief and her mind went back to her memories in the dream. According to her uncle whom she met a few years from now, her grandfather died when Lucia was around 21 years old. So, the elderly nobleman who introduced himself as the Count of Baden was definitely her grandfather.
[My father was devastated. The mansion that he thought to be his last fortress until the end, went into other people's hands. He even went to the capital to get help but it didn't work out. In addition, he was old and his body was weakened by the long journey.] (Lucia's uncle)
Her uncle, who succeeded her late grandfather and inherited his title, was her grandfather's second son. In other words, he was Lucia's mother's second older brother.
The eldest son who should have originally inherited the title, was injured in a carriage accident a little while after his father passed away. He ended up unable to use his legs because he could not get proper treatment. Her uncle said that his elder brother was pessimistic of his own situation and spent his days drowning in alcohol, then took his own life.
At the time, Lucia thought that she was an orphan with no family so she was glad to have a relative. There was a feeling of warmth in her empty, lonely heart. She felt bad about the difficult situation of her maternal family so unknown to her husband, she provided money for her uncle who was asking for help. When he asked her to introduce him to Count Matin, she provided a bridge in the middle.
[I want to protect my family in any way I can. I can't lose the title.]
Her uncle said that there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect his family. From the perspective of her uncle who bore the responsibility of a Count family with nothing but its name, the Count of Matin must have seemed like a high-ranking nobleman with enormous power.
Her uncle settled in the capital and went to meet Count Matin on a daily basis. He didn't give Lucia a lot of details but even without knowing what he was doing, Lucia could see vigor gradually return to her uncle's face.
However for Lucia, life as the Countess of Matin was becoming too much to bear. So she asked her uncle to help her get a divorce.
[I'm sorry. I have no power to help you. I need your husband's help. Can't you endure?]
The rejection of her uncle came as a great shock to her. It had been Lucia's one-sided delusion, believing that he was the only hill that she could rely on. Her uncle did not see Lucia as his niece, he saw her as the Countess of Matin.
Lucia knew, realistically, that her uncle was not capable of helping her. Even if she understood it in her head, she felt a sense of betrayal. Who knew how much she had suffered because she gave money to her uncle several times without her husband's knowledge. When she thought that she was the only one who was worried about her maternal family, she felt stupid and resentful of her uncle.
When her uncle began to talk about money again after refusing to help with her divorce, Lucia gave him money for the last time and broke off their relationship. Even though her uncle visited the mansion frequently, Lucia did not meet her uncle again after that.
The Count Matin family was exterminated for treason and Lucia learned later on that her uncle was also caught up in it. The Count Baden family was on the list of traitors.
When Lucia found out about this, she sat down and soullessly looked at the sky. She resented her uncle but she didn't want him to die. She saw firsthand how much her uncle had tried to save his family. When she remembered the figure of her uncle groveling as if to lick the feet of Count Matin, tears fell from her eyes.
She wondered if her uncle who had died in the disgraceful plot of treason was able to close his eyes in death. If they had lived without knowing each other, such a tragedy wouldn't have occurred. In her dream, Lucia hit her chest with remorse. So, in reality, she vowed to never make a tie with her maternal family.
"Vivian." (Hugo)
Lucia flinched and lifted her head. She had fallen too deep into thought.
"Who is it?" (Hugo)
"…I don't know who it is." (Lucia)
A strong hand caught her chin when she tried to avoid his gaze. His red eyes were unusually bright causing Lucia to take a sharp breath.
"Do you know what your expression looks like? I've said this before. You are a poor liar."
Her expression as she looked at the handkerchief kept changing in various ways. Hugo sent the maid out and waited for her to get herself together. However, he couldn't keep watching when she looked like she was about to cry. Hugo looked at her trembling eyes and continued speaking.
"Tell me. Who is it?"
"…"
She stubbornly shut her mouth. Feeling the solid wall she had built around herself, Hugo's insides were boiling.
"You don't know who it is?" (Hugo)
"…"
"He has nothing to do with you?"
"…"
No matter how hard he pressed, Lucia couldn't give any answer. She was confused at the sudden appearance of her grandfather. She wasn't in a state of mind to explain this and that to him nicely.
When she found out about her grandfather in her dream, he had already passed away so she never thought that she would actually meet her grandfather. To her, her grandfather felt like someone who died and come back to life.
"He'll have to pay for his crimes then. He dares to send such a dangerous thing to the Duchess."
"A dangerous…thing?"
"He has nothing to do with you. You don't have to worry about it, right?"
His crimson eyes shone brutally. His icy manner of speaking was scary and Lucia was terribly frightened. It was as if he would change someday and have a cold and cruel expression like he did now. Tears rushed to her eyes from deep despair.
When her amber eyes surged with tears, Hugo was caught off guard. His mind was disturbed and his agitation subsided in an instant.
"Vivian. I was wrong."
Hugo hugged her. She burst into tears and twisted her body, pushing him away as if rejecting him but he hugged her tighter.
"I'm sorry."
Hugo repeated he was sorry many times in her ear. After sometime, Lucia's crying subsided. Hugo lightly patted her back as she calmed down.
"…Don't talk like that. It's scary." (Lucia)
"I won't." (Hugo)
He didn't intend to scare her. He only felt remorseful towards her. Hugo was depressed to hear her say that it was scary. Hugo sighed a moment later and spoke.
"If you don't want to say it, you don't have to. I won't ask."
Hugo felt his cowardice was pathetic. How petty of him. He couldn't tell her his deepest secrets yet he couldn't tolerate her secrets.
"It's not that I don't want to say it. I just…don't know how to say it…" (Lucia)
Hugo waited patiently when she went silent for a while.
"That person is likely…he's likely my maternal grandfather." (Lucia)
"Didn't you say you didn't have a maternal family?" (Hugo)
"I tried to think I didn't have one. My late mother wanted it that way."
Lucia's mother didn't tell of her maternal family's existence until the moment she died. Lucia only found out after meeting her uncle in the dream. Why did her mother do that? It was something Lucia always wondered about.