Melina Solberg sits alone in a hospital, secretly waiting for her test results. The brain tumor has returned and grown. Surgery is no longer possible. She may only have three months left to live.
She tells no one. She doesn't want to burden her fiancé, Adrian Falk. She has spent her whole life trying not to be a burden.
When she was a child, her mother Elise died in a fire while saving her. After that, Melina's father Henrik blamed her for the tragedy. He remarried Vivian, his former secretary
Reborn: No Longer Your Fool - Ally's Return, a Move to Turn the Tide
The fog still clung to the city.
Frosthaun in February was dark even after morning arrived. Gray air seeped into the cobblestone alleys. The smell of the sea, and cold dampness. Her breath clouded white and murky.
Melina Solberg stood outside the gates of the new Solberg estate.
Her platinum blonde hair was tied low into a single tail. Her deep brown-hazel eyes gazed quietly into the fog. The old burn scar on her left wrist throbbed faintly.
(*I'm being followed again.*)
One presence. No—two now.
She left the main street and stepped into the narrow alleys of the old town. Old stone buildings pressed in from both sides. A maze-like street, dim even in daylight. This was a place with many escape routes.
Footsteps approached from behind. At a steady interval. Deliberately loud enough to be heard.
(*They're provoking me.*)
In her first life, she would have been terrified, turned around, and fled. But not now.
She turned a corner. Then another. She quickened her pace. Her heart pounded heavily.
(*There should be a dead end further in.*)
She headed there deliberately.
She stopped abruptly.
Behind her, the footsteps stopped dead.
She turned around.
In the fog, two figures.
A young man and a middle-aged man in police uniforms. Both had cold eyes.
"You're the young lady of the Solberg family, aren't you? We'd like a word."
The younger one stepped forward. His hand was already reaching toward the baton at his waist.
"Are you sure you don't have the wrong person?"
Melina's voice was low and cold.
"Playing dumb won't help. You'll be coming with us to the station."
The other one circled around from the right. They intended to cut off her escape.
(*So she's started, Vivian.*)
That woman wasn't satisfied with just surveillance footage—now she was trying to have her detained using the police.
(*The move on Sofia came too fast. Someone pressured the police.*)
She traced the burn scar on her left wrist gently with the fingers of her right hand.
"...What a shame."
A faint smile rose to her lips.
(*I can't afford to be caught here.*)
"So what?"
The middle-aged officer spat out irritably.
At that moment.
From the side of the alley, a man in a black coat appeared.
"—And where exactly do you two intend to take this person?"
A low, commanding voice.
Both officers flinched and turned around.
The backlight made his face hard to see clearly. But that voice was unmistakable.
Nikolai Berg.
He silently planted himself in front of the two officers.
"Wh-who the hell are you?"
"Nikolai Berg, of the Berg Law Office. I am this person's legal representative. If this is a field inquiry, I will be present. ...However, you have no authority to compel her to accompany you to the station without probable cause."
His eyes pierced through the officers sharply.
"Tch..."
The young officer stepped back.
"...We're leaving."
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue in frustration.
The two of them vanished into the fog.
---
Silence returned to the alley.
"...You saved me, Nikolai."
Melina exhaled quietly.
"We need to leave. I've brought the car around."
He didn't touch her shoulder, but began walking as if to guide her.
"Where to?"
"The Morgen Café on Strand Street. ...There's someone I want to introduce you to."
His voice was slightly heavier than usual.
---
Morgen Café.
42 Strand Street, in the heart of the old town. The ground floor of a ninety-year-old brick building. Even at this early hour, the fragrant aroma of coffee and the sweet scent of cinnamon rolls filled the interior.
A table in the back.
Through the large window, the color of the sea peeked through the slightly thinning fog.
As Melina took her seat, the owner, Birgitta, silently placed two cups of coffee on the table.
"This is the place you always bring me to."
The shop he had brought her to after they first met that day.
"Yes. ...Birgitta's coffee is the best in Frosthaun."
He said this, picking up his cup.
A small clink.
"So, this person you wanted to introduce me to—"
"She'll be here soon."
He glanced at the wall clock.
The appointed time.
—The café door opened.
A woman walked in.
Mid-forties. Graying blonde hair pulled back tightly. Deep wrinkles etched around her eyes. She wore a worn black coat. In her hand, an old leather bag.
The woman scanned the room carefully.
Then she saw Melina's face at the back table.
In that instant, the woman's body trembled.
"...It can't be."
She murmured, then stumbled over.
"M-Melina... young lady...?"
A trembling voice.
"...You are—"
Melina stared at the woman's face.
Something stirred at the bottom of her memory.
"I'm Maren. Maren Aas. ...I was Lady Elise's former secretary."
She bowed deeply before the table.
"Maren..."
Yes. Her mother's secretary.
After the fire, she had suddenly quit the company and vanished. In her first life, Melina had never learned what became of her.
"So you were alive."
Her voice was slightly hoarse with surprise.
"...Yes. I've been hiding in this city all this time. To escape Lady Vivian's eyes."
Maren sat down, clutching her bag tightly.
"Young lady. ...That fire was no accident."
She lowered her voice.
Melina's heart pulsed hard.
"You know something?"
"I don't have complete proof. But... Lady Elise had been investigating irregularities in the company at that time. And she said she had an idea who was behind them."
"...Vivian."
Maren nodded silently.
"After the fire, Lady Vivian ordered me to rewrite the company's confidential information. ...The accounting ledgers that Lady Elise had been examining."
"And you refused?"
"...Yes. I refused. And then I got scared and ran. I'm a coward."
She bit her lip self-deprecatingly.
"No. You were wise. If you had defied that woman, you would have been killed too."
At Melina's words, Maren's eyes widened.
"...You're strong, young lady. You resemble Lady Elise so much."
"Maren. Thank you for telling me. But why come to me now?"
"Lord Nikolai found me. ...I heard that you were working to prove Sofia's innocence. If that was true, I felt I should no longer stay hidden."
She pulled a single old envelope from her bag.
"Lady Elise may have sensed her own death coming. She entrusted this to me a few weeks before the fire."
Melina accepted the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Familiar, gentle handwriting.
(*Mother's writing.*)
*'To Melina.*
*By the time you read this letter, I may no longer be here.*
*I love you more than anyone in this world.*
*The company, the inheritance—none of it matters anymore.*
*There is just one thing I want to tell you.*
*The truth lies beneath the oak tree.*
*From Elise'*
"...The oak tree."
She pressed the letter to her chest.
"A secret place Mother told only me about. ...A large oak tree behind the old estate. We used to have tea together beneath that tree."
Tears spilled from Maren's eyes.
"Lady Elise always told me: 'Maren, my Melina is my pride.' ...And also, 'My little saying—Maren, if you don't put the milk in first, the aroma of the tea escapes.'"
At those words, Melina caught her breath.
—*If you don't put the milk in first, the aroma of the tea escapes.*
Those were words her mother had truly said often.
"...Maren."
She reached out.
She gently took Maren's trembling hand.
"I believe you. I believe in you. ...Thank you."
Maren, beyond words, nodded again and again.
---
"Now, there's one more person I'd like to introduce."
Just as he said this, the café door opened again.
"Sorry I'm late."
A young, clear, bright voice.
The woman who entered was tall and slender.
A bright platinum blonde bob that reached her shoulders. Narrow, blue eyes. A black turtleneck and gray slacks. A silver pendant at her neck.
She looked to be in her early thirties.
"...You are—"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Astrid Dahl. Former marketing manager at Elise Natural."
She smiled brightly.
"Astrid deeply sympathized with Elise's management philosophy. After leaving the company, she started a small cosmetics business of her own."
"Pleased to meet you, Melina. I always heard stories about your mother. ...Even after leaving the company, I've kept investigating it all this time."
She sat down and took a sip of coffee.
"You too, against Vivian?"
"Yes. ...After Elise's death, there were several suspicious stock transfers in the company's shareholder registry. I nearly got my hands on the evidence. But that woman moved first, and I was forced out."
Her voice dropped slightly.
"Astrid has connections to an investor group that wants to stop Vivian's takeover plan."
Melina stared into her blue eyes.
(*...Can I trust this?*)
(*An investor group. I smell money.*)
"What are you planning?"
Her voice was cold.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not doing this for money. ...I just don't want to hand over the company Elise built to that woman. My goal is the same as yours, Melina."
Astrid met Melina's gaze directly.
There was no lie in those eyes.
(*...But I can't trust her right away.*)
"I can't believe your words—no, not yet. But your desire to protect my mother's company is the same as mine. ...For now, that's enough."
Astrid's lips relaxed slightly.
"Thank you. That's enough."
---
Around that time, in the basement interrogation room of the police station.
Nikolai sat facing a young officer.
Simon Halvorsen.
Still in his mid-twenties, thin. Only two years on the force. His body trembled visibly even through his uniform.
"...You're not the one who tampered with that footage."
Nikolai's voice was quiet, but cold.
"N-no! I just—I just moved the data like I was told to..."
"Who told you?"
Simon fell silent.
"Right now, I'm your lawyer. And I will guarantee your safety. ...So tell me everything you know."
He stared into Simon's eyes.
"If I talk, I'll be killed. They're in the upper ranks of the police too. ...And I have a wife. Children."
His voice shook with fear.
"I'll protect your family too. ...If you side with the law and the truth, I promise."
"Liar! You lawyers—whoever pays more wins, isn't that right!?"
His eyes were wet with tears.
"...You're wrong. At the very least, I'm not here for money. ...Nor for justice. I'm simply here to stand beside someone I believe in."
Simon fell silent.
A long silence.
The ventilation fan hummed low.
"...Pier warehouse number four. The original surveillance footage is there. I copied it onto a USB and hid it in a personal locker in the evidence storage room."
"What number?"
"...37. ...Please. Protect my family."
Simon pressed his forehead to the desk as if in prayer.
"Yes. I promise."
---
The sun rose higher.
The fog had completely cleared.
The heavy doors of the police station opened.
A small figure emerged.
Sofia Nilsen.
She stumbled down the steps.
"...Melina?"
Deep shadows under her eyes. She must not have slept for days.
"Sofia."
Melina supported her by both arms.
"I—I didn't do anything, but the police arrested me, and I didn't know what to do anymore..."
She broke down, crying loudly and ungracefully.
"I was so scared...! I didn't steal the editorial department's book! Why—why me...!"
Melina gently patted her trembling back.
There were no tears.
(*If I cry now, this girl will only feel more anxious.*)
"...It's all right. It's all right now. I will protect you, no matter what."
She whispered.
"Melina...! Thank you...! Thank you so much...!"
Sofia clung to her shoulder.
"Information is always before the curve."
With her tear-streaked face, she smiled weakly.
"...No, it's fine. You don't need that anymore."
Melina gently stroked her head.
---
At the same time, at the new Solberg estate.
Vivian Solberg sat on the deep green sofa in the salon.
In her hand, a white porcelain cup. Rose-scented tea.
"...Sofia Nilsen has been released?"
She set the cup down quietly on the table.
*Clink.*
The small sound echoed unnaturally through the room.
"Oh my. Nikolai does get things done, doesn't he? ...But it's hardly a problem."
He
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.