Duke Heidegger had a dream.

He seldom dreamed, but that day, the dream was unusually vivid.

Long ago, a past he had tried to forget resurfaced before his eyes.

“Hmm…”

A white light poured out, almost blindingly so.

Following the light, he saw a slender figure and a silhouette that felt familiar.

It was his wife.

His wife appeared in the dream, waving her hand and smiling brightly.

Eyebrows like a crescent moon.

Her warm eyes slightly drooped, her smile was just as it had been before.

How much he had longed to see her.

Stunned by this unbelievable sight, Heidegger opened his mouth.

He looked again and again; his longdead wife appeared as if she were alive, unchanged in her eyes, nose, mouth, or hair color.

Just as he remembered her last.

“Le…”

Heidegger tried to call out her name, but his voice wouldn’t come out.

The moment he saw the wife he thought he’d never see again, his throat tightened.

Instead, when he tried to reach out his hand toward her,

The pure white light that guided Heidegger engulfed his wife’s entire body.

“Huh!”

She vanished like a mirage in the desert.

At the same time, Heidegger woke up.

He stared intently at the palm he had reached out.

“Haah…”

He had never experienced such a vivid dream.

Squeak.

When he opened the window, cold night air entered.

He saw the pale moon outside.

It was still dawn.

“Hu.”

Heidegger sighed as he looked out the window.

Among nobles, it was common to have multiple wives.

Especially the higher the rank.

However, Heidegger had only one wife his whole life.

‘Lena.’

Unlike the robust Heidegger, his wife Lena had a frail body and struggled with the harsh northern cold.

She passed away not long after giving birth to Leo.

When she closed her eyes in search of her husband, Heidegger was on the battlefield.

He couldn’t be by her side in her final moments.

Because of that, he had always felt guilty toward his family.

If only he had paid more attention to them.

Perhaps things would have been different.

The two sons left behind by his dying wife.

The firstborn Casus, who had already grown up, and the thirteenyearold Leo.

Perhaps it was because he had spent little time with his sons,

An invisible wall had formed between them.

What could he do about it now?

In his younger years, he took part in every fight he could win.

Heidegger regretted expending all his energy in bloodshed.

However, because of that, he was able to secure a vast amount of territory and material resources.

Immense wealth and power.

It was only natural that families wanted to marry him, a man who had lost his wife early on and had only two children.

Adding to that was his captivating appearance.

Despite the animosity between the royal family and the Wellington family, attempts to engage him in marriage took place covertly.

Yet, Heidegger never paid them any attention.

His conduct was entirely different from other nobles who had multiple wives.

But that didn’t mean he was on good terms with his sons.

Now even sharing a meal had become awkward.

Heidegger wanted to mend his relationship with his sons, even now.

But no proper method came to mind.

“Huuuu…”

Heidegger sighed briefly as he looked up at the predawn sky outside the window.

Atia had many similarities to Lena.

Both struggled with the harsh northern cold, and both were frail.

After observing her for several days, he realized she was a warmhearted person.

He didn’t fully trust her yet, though.
Initially, Heidegger had no intention of showing affection towards Atia.

But before he knew it, he was calling her ‘daughterinlaw’ and recognizing her as a member of the Duke’s family.

A few days ago, Atia had visited Heidegger’s office, offering him a massage.

Busy as he was, he told her to leave.

Heidegger himself didn’t want to say it so coldly.

He could not bring himself to sacrifice others for his own wellbeing.

Ever since he had heard that a doctor visited for her examination, things had changed.

(This is a time divider.)

That morning.

Atia examined her frail left forearm with the thumb and index finger of her right hand.

‘Still so thin.’

Like a twig that could snap with the slightest pressure.

Her frame was naturally thin, and she had so little muscle that the urge to exercise waned as well.

“Sigh…”

A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

‘It’s like pouring water into a bottomless jug.’

Keisha, with whom she had exercised, had gained abs, but she had made little to no progress.

She had certainly gained stamina, but the results were frustratingly slow compared to the effort.

Even for Atia, who possessed indomitable will, this was severe.

‘Ah, the fun in exercise is seeing your body grow.’

She stood before the mirror and turned slowly.

Smooth, feminine curves.

Atia, a collection of estrogen, could make any outfit look like it was modeled, but she wasn’t satisfied.

If she could, she would make a deal with the devil for an average body.

She would start from scratch, even if it required painful bone shaving.