A fierce wind howled outside the window. Clatter, clatter. The window rattled violently, and the darkness settling inside the room made the atmosphere feel icy and heavy.

The Marchioness of Jiles gazed anxiously out the window. Her hands, gently caressing her swollen belly, betrayed her unease.

A new life was expected to be born into the House of Jiles tomorrow or perhaps the day after. She waited endlessly for her husband, who had promised to return last night but had not kept his word.

As her gaze lingered on the storm outside, her personal maid spoke up, worry in her eyes.

“Madam, you shouldn’t stand for so long in your condition. Please, have a seat.”

“I’m all right for now. But do you know when the Marquis will return?”

“I’m sure the Marquis wants to come home as soon as possible. But with this dreadful weather, he probably can’t,” the maid replied, glancing toward the window.

At that moment, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled across the sky. Startled, the maid rushed to close the curtains, but the Marchioness stopped her, shaking her head.

“What if you get scared?”

“I can bear this much if it means I’ll see the Marquis coming home.”

The foul weather outside felt like a bad omen. She didn’t think she could handle giving birth alone.

Of course, there was a midwife, maids, and other attendants. The mansion was full of people. Still, only her husband’s presence could calm her anxious heart.

“A cup of hot tea will help you feel more at ease. I’ll go fetch some right away.”

With a worried look, the maid left the room.

Would tea really soothe this restless feeling? 

She wondered about that when, suddenly, bang—the door flew open with a loud crash. Whoever entered had no concern for the needs of a pregnant woman.

Her personal maid would never behave like this. It had to be one of the clumsier servants of the house. She turned, ready to scold the culprit, but her eyes widened in shock.

“You… you’re—?”

“It’s been a while, Marchioness.”

A woman stepped into the room without a sound, flashing a sly smile. Her sharp eyes and alluring smile still held their charm.

While the Marchioness stared at her in disbelief, the door clicked shut and locked.

“How did you get in here? Open the door right now.”

“I worked here for years. I know every secret passage in this house. Sneaking in is nothing for me.”

“Get out!”

The Marchioness reached for the bell pull to summon help, but she froze when she saw the woman’s belly. She, too, was heavily pregnant.

“You… you’re pregnant?”

“Yes. I am.”

“Were you pregnant when you were dismissed? Don’t tell me you’re going to claim the Marquis is the father?”

Her name was Sally. Until eight months ago, she had worked as a maid in the mansion. She hadn’t been dismissed because of her pregnancy.

Sally constantly tried to seduce the Marquis, and her behavior grew so brazen that they had no choice but to send her away. Otherwise, the Marchioness would have kept her on.

After all, aside from their hair—her own was brown, Sally’s a pale blonde—their appearances were strikingly similar.

She remembered how unsettled and uncomfortable she felt the first time she saw Sally’s face. Yet she hired her, believing that keeping Sally under her watch was the only way to hide that face from the world.

The real problem was Sally’s sly nature and boundless ambition. There was no telling what schemes she would devise. She had tried every trick to ensnare the Marquis.

Fortunately, the Marquis was sharp enough to see through all of Sally’s attempts. He always avoided her traps, but not this time.

“I need to raise a child, but I have no money. Oh, don’t worry. As you know, the father isn’t the Marquis. I wish he were, but it’s just a simple village boy’s child.”

Of course. The Marquis had never spent a night with Sally.

“Then why are you demanding money from me for a child that has nothing to do with me?”

“You cut off my source of income. Shouldn’t you take some responsibility for that? Otherwise, who knows what might happen to your baby?”

Sally’s shamelessness stunned the Marchioness. She had no reason to give Sally anything.

“Do you really think the Marquis will let you get away with this?”

“You’d better keep today’s visit a secret from the Marquis.”

“Why should I?”

“You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“What?”

The Marchioness was so taken aback by Sally’s brazen attitude that she couldn’t speak.

“It makes no difference to me whether I starve to death or die at the Marquis’s hands. So, think of it as charity. Just give me enough so my child can eat and live well. If my child is safe, I’ll leave quietly.”

Sally stroked her swollen belly.

“Stop talking nonsense!”

“We’ll see if it’s nonsense. If anything happens to my child because of you, I’ll curse you forever!”

The Marchioness had no reason to keep listening to this madness. She reached for the bell to call for help and drive Sally out. Just then, a wave of pressure surged from her hips, and pain twisted through her belly.

Labor had begun.

She felt relief that the timing wasn’t too far off from what she expected, but why did it have to be now?

A sense of foreboding told her this was the worst possible moment. Still, there was nothing she could do. The baby was coming.

She pulled the bell cord, summoning the household. She no longer had the energy to worry about Sally. All she could do was focus on her pain.

“Ahhh!”

She screamed, and soon the midwife rushed into the room, followed by the butler and the maids.

After that, her mind went blank.

Agonized screams echoed endlessly through the room. After many long hours, at last, a baby’s cry rang out.

Despite her worries, she managed to give birth safely. However, perhaps because she had pushed herself too hard, the Marchioness lost consciousness before she could even see her child.

* * *

“My baby!”

When the Marchioness finally regained consciousness, everything was peaceful. Most of all, the weather outside the window was clear and bright, with no trace of the storm that had passed.

“Are you all right, my dear?”

The Marquis of Jiles, who had arrived late, sat by her side.

“I’m fine. When did you get here?”

“I arrived last night. I’m sorry I was three days late.”

“Three days? Does that mean I was unconscious the whole time?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, my goodness!”

She felt like she had been struck on the back of the head when she realized she had been unconscious for three days. How could she have slept for so long?

But her confusion quickly gave way to another concern.

“My baby! Where is our baby?”

“A beautiful daughter has been born. Congratulations, Marchioness.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the nurse approached and showed her the child. The baby, with the Marquis’s hair and her own features, looked more precious than anyone.

“Her name is Ariel Jiles. We agreed to name her Ariel if we had a daughter, remember?”

“That’s right. We did say we’d name her Ariel.”

As she held her baby and gazed at her lovingly, the Marchioness suddenly remembered what had happened before labor began.

“Um… what about Sally?”

It was strange. Why had no one mentioned Sally? She had been heavily pregnant and had entered the house without permission.

“Sally? What are you talking about?”

The Marquis glanced at the maids in the room, who all looked puzzled.

“She came to my room just before I gave birth! Didn’t anyone see her?”

The Marchioness looked incredulous.

“No, no one saw her. When we entered the room that day, you were alone.”

“That can’t be.”

She knew she hadn’t imagined it. She could never forget Sally’s shameless demand for money. Why had no one else seen her?

“Maybe you were mistaken?”

“No. I saw her clearly.”

The image of heavily pregnant Sally lingered vividly in her mind. How could that be a hallucination?

For any of this to make sense, someone in the household must have helped Sally. The problem was that it wouldn’t be easy to find out who among so many servants had aided her.

Of course, the most obvious suspect was her personal maid, who had suddenly gone to the kitchen that day. But thinking of the maid’s usual behavior, she doubted it.

The maid would flatter her at every opportunity to gain the smallest favor, and the Marchioness often gave her jewelry when she was in a good mood.

It made much more sense for the maid to curry favor and receive gifts than to risk everything by helping Sally and making an enemy of the Jiles family.

No one else stood out as suspicious.

To find the accomplice, she would have to gather the household staff and question them all.

She wanted to forget about dignity and find the culprit right away, but if she acted rashly, she might only damage the family’s reputation.

Considering everything, it was best to wait and watch for now. So, the Marchioness stopped searching for Sally’s accomplice.

After all, Sally would probably come back for money.