Katarina nearly spit her tea right into the woman’s face. She forced the mouthful down and set the teacup on the table with trembling hands.

“What did you just say?”

Loretta’s eyes were icy—too composed, too sane for words so deranged. She looked at Katarina with a calm, unblinking gaze and repeated her unbelievable demand with even greater clarity.

“Go to my fiancé. Seduce him with your body. Sleep with him. Keep doing it until you become pregnant.”

Each word fell in rhythm with the sharp tap of her fan striking her palm.

“And once you’re carrying his child, you will return to me.”

“Milady… you’re joking, aren’t you?”

“Does this look like a joke to you?”

“But you came to the convent to pray just yesterday. You asked for help to be united with the one you love…”

Katarina’s words trailed off as the realization finally struck her. The person Loretta loved… wasn’t her own fiancé.

A twisted smile rose on Loretta’s lips.

“If I were in love with my fiancé, why would I bother going to the convent to pray?”

“Well…”

Katarina had simply believed her. A young woman praying to marry the one she loved, how else was she supposed to interpret it?

Prayer had always been part of Katarina’s daily life. To her, prayer was little more than speaking to herself under the name of God—rambling on about her day, confiding the small, trivial things no one else would listen to.

So when a noblewoman of marrying age prayed about the person she loved, Katarina naturally assumed she meant her fiancé.

Katarina bit her lip hard and glared at Loretta.

‘No wonder she suddenly claimed to be my guardian.’

Katarina had been abandoned at the Shaieren Convent as an infant and raised there her entire nineteen years of life. Tomorrow, she was finally going to come of age and leave to live independently. At least, that would have happened, if a guardian hadn’t appeared out of nowhere just yesterday.

And that guardian had been a familiar face: Loretta von Pescar.

Katarina had seen her visit the Shaieren Convent several times. She had overheard that Loretta wanted to pray for the one she loved, and had thought it sounded rather romantic. With their ages being similar, Katarina had even considered getting closer to her.

But they had exchanged only a handful of conversations—nothing more.

And yet, the moment Loretta saw her, she offered a stiff, perfunctory greeting—”Happy birthday. You’re an adult now.”—and then went straight to her blunt demand.

“Go bear my fiancé’s child.”

It was so absurd that Katarina didn’t even know where to begin.

“Why me?”

She finally managed to ask.

Loretta answered as if the question were trivial.

“Because I pulled you out of the convent.”

Katarina pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Excuse me? Pulled me out? I was going to walk out on my own tomorrow anyway. It’s not as if the place was a prison.”

“But thanks to me, you tasted freedom a day early. And you even slept in a luxurious bed as a bonus.”

A luxurious bed.

Until yesterday, Katarina had slept on nothing more than straw. The feather-stuffed mattress she had lain on last night had been so soft, she felt as if her whole body were melting.

But still…

“And you think that’s all the price should be, for bearing the child of a man whose face and name I don’t even know?”

“I spent quite a lot of money to give you that one day of freedom. I donated three months’ worth of the convent’s operating expenses. If you refuse me, that money becomes a loss. Are you going to compensate me for it?”

“Wow… wow. Lady Loretta, I didn’t think you were this kind of person…”

To take it upon herself to do something no one asked for, and then threaten her with money?

Katarina had no idea how much the convent’s operating costs were, but she was certain it was far more than a newly-turned adult like her could ever repay.

“Let’s say I agree to what you want. What do you plan to do after making an innocent girl pregnant? Will you take responsibility for my future?”

“Of course. As your guardian, I’ll take responsibility—for your future.”

Katarina was struck speechless again.

“…How, exactly?”

“Once you come back pregnant, I’ll let you stay in this villa until you give birth. You can sleep in that luxurious bed every day. You won’t have to worry about food, clothing, anything. And once the child is born, I’ll take care of everything.”

A hollow laugh escaped her.

Have a stranger’s child, give birth, and then let Loretta take it away?

Katarina’s expression twisted, but Loretta didn’t seem to notice. She continued speaking calmly.

“And I’ll find you a good marriage match. You’ll have that white house by the sea you always dreamed of. You can live there peacefully, start a family of your own, and never worry about going hungry again. Just give me one child—that’s all.”

Loretta’s promises were like a fantasy, but Katarina didn’t bother listening.

“So, in order for you to marry the person you love… I have to give birth to a child? Why?”

Katarina already knew Loretta wasn’t genuinely devout. Loretta believed in anything if she thought it might work.

So the objects of her prayers included not only the Almighty but every spirit and superstition one could imagine.

A chilling thought crossed Katarina’s mind.

“…What exactly are you planning to do with that child?”

“I’m going to hand the baby over to the father. As the heir of his family.”

It was a far more reasonable answer than she had expected. Katarina let out a long sigh. For a moment, she had wondered if Loretta planned to use the child as some kind of strange curse. Knowing that wasn’t the case was… a small relief.

“…So it’s basically, ‘I gave you an heir—even if it came from another woman—so now you should release me’? Why twist it into something so absurd? If you’ve fallen for someone else, why not just say it outright and end the engagement honestly?”

This time, it was Loretta who sighed.

“You don’t understand what a noble family’s marriage is.”

“Noble family or not, I do know this much, no one brings in another woman before the wedding just to produce a child.”

Katarina barely kept herself from blurting out Then have the child yourself, Miss Loretta.

“Lady Loretta, there’s a very traditional and effective solution in situations like this. Do you know the word elopement? You could simply run away with the man you love. Why not go reclaim that donation money from the convent and use it as your escape fund instead of spending it on taking someone like me?”

“Katarina, I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

Annoyance seeped into Loretta’s voice. She snapped her fan shut with a sharp sound and lowered her tone.

“If you don’t listen to me, Katarina Shaieren will be declared missing by tonight. You’ll leave a note saying you felt burdened by the convent’s donation and ran away. And about a month from now, an unidentified woman’s body might be found in the sewers near the Elz River.”

“You’re… going to k*ll me?”

Katarina shot to her feet, her face drained of color. Loretta smiled faintly.

“Leaving already? Was the tea good?”

Katarina froze in her tracks.

Her gaze fell upon the two teacups on the table. The one in front of her was more than half empty. Loretta’s, on the other hand, was still full.

In a trembling voice, Katarina spoke.

“You… didn’t drink your tea.”

Loretta slowly unfolded her fan and crossed her legs.

“Sit.”

Katarina clutched her skirt tightly in both hands and sat back down as ordered. Loretta flicked her fan playfully as she watched, then suddenly let out a soft whistle.

Whiik, whik.

A sharp, short whistle cut through the air, and a flurry of wings answered. Only then did Katarina notice the birdcage tucked in the corner of the room. A small bird fluttered out, landing neatly on the finger Loretta held out.

“Good.”

Loretta pressed a gentle kiss to the yellow bird’s head, then tilted her other hand. She poured the tea from her cup into the saucer with a soft trickle.

“W-wait, stop!”

Katarina shot up and reached across the table. But her fingertips never touched the cup.

With graceful ease, Loretta lifted the saucer and held it near the bird’s beak. The bird dipped its head and drank the tea. As she watched, Loretta murmured quietly.

“I didn’t want to go this far either.”

Katarina’s eyes widened as the tiny bird suddenly stiffened and fell into Loretta’s palm. After it had stopped moving, Loretta slowly stood up and put the lifeless bird at the bottom of the cage.

“It takes longer for the effect to show in larger beings like humans. But instead, their bodies break down little by little until they die. Depending on the person, it takes about a year, doesn’t it?”

Loretta turned back to Katarina, smiling sweetly.

“Don’t worry. Once you return pregnant, I’ll give you the antidote. The sooner you conceive, the less your body will deteriorate.”

Ultimately, Katarina had no choice but to obey her.

She wasn’t even permitted to unpack the few items of clothing she had brought with her from the convent. Instead, she gathered them up again and climbed back into the carriage.

Loretta watched from the window as the carriage carrying Katarina left the villa. Only after it had vanished from sight did she step away.

Gently opening the cage, she lifted the small bird onto her palm and stroked the back of its neck with her fingertips.

She whispered quietly.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Katarina. But I still… don’t want to die.”