“Really?”

“Yes, Sveta. You’re my sister, so I’m giving it to you as something special.”

It was smaller and more frail than the fine, healthy foal Beth rode—but Sveta did not mind.

‘I have a foal of my own!’

Her heart swelled so fiercely that it frightened her. She fell asleep, trembling with happiness. The moment she woke up, she ran straight to the stable, desperate to make sure it hadn’t been a dream.

The foal was still there.

Overcome with joy, she shifted shyly from foot to foot. She even gave it a name — “Roundie” — because its eyes were so beautifully round.

Of course, learning to ride was not easy. Roundie was sensitive and difficult to handle. It often seemed as though it was in pain. It rarely let her get on its back and she was thrown off again and again. She scraped her skin. She bled. She ached.

And yet, she was happy.

Whenever she could, Sveta would linger by the stable, tending to Roundie with quiet devotion.

Perhaps Roundie sensed her sincerity.

Gradually, Roundie began to grow stronger. Once its strength returned, it grew quickly, too.

“Your foal… It seems to have grown a lot lately.”

“Yes. That’s why I’m so happy.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Beth. It’s all thanks to you. You gave it to me.”

“If you’re happy, then I’m happy too, Sveta.”

She wondered if her heart might burst open.

She was so happy that tears filled her eyes.

But that happiness did not last.

One day, Jace Gould broke Roundie’s leg for no apparent reason.

“What should we do, Sveta? They say when a horse breaks its leg, it dies. Perhaps… before it suffers any longer…”

“Sniff… sob…”

“The way you’re acting will only make the horse suffer more.”

“How… How can you say that?”

Beth, who had been pretending to cry alongside her, suddenly thr*st a sharp knife towards her. The grotesque reflection of Beth’s face was visible in the blade.

“It has to be killed.”

“No!”

Sveta was determined not to give up. She found a wooden plank and tightly bound it around the horse’s broken leg, doing everything she could to save it.

She didn’t sleep at all, pacing back and forth outside the stable while tending to Roundie.

But no matter how desperately she prayed, Roundie refused to eat for days.

Clinging to the horse’s neck and weeping through the night changed nothing.

In the end, Roundie died.

Sveta cried until her cheeks were swollen and burning with pain.

Beth approached her as though to offer comfort, then suddenly held out a stone.

“Here. Take it. Think of it as your dead foal. Stones don’t die.”

Sveta clutched the stone and wept.

She hoped that something good would happen again.

But, of course, it never did.

***

“Miss, your bath is ready!”

The maid’s lively voice pulled Sveta from her thoughts.

“Amy. Could you call Beka for me?”

“…Beka? Is my attendance not to your liking?”

Amy asked anxiously.

“No, Amy. I simply have something to say.”

“Yes, then I’ll call her immediately after your bath.”

“Very well.”

Throughout the bath, Sveta kept turning Beth’s words over in her mind.

“Stones don’t die.”

Beth had been smiling then.

The corner of her mouth had curved sharply and deliberately upwards.

At that time, Beth and that stone were her entire world.

She could not bear the thought of losing it, either. She had never dared to defy her. She was too afraid of being alone again.

All the things she had pretended not to notice and all the moments she had dismissed with her childish heart came crashing back now, striking her chest with suffocating force.

Each one had been mockery.

Mockery intended for her alone.

‘So that was it. That’s what it was…’

Sveta let out a hollow breath.

***

After finishing her duties, Amy withdrew. Soon, Beth entered.

With her hands neatly folded in front of her, she walked forward and suddenly bit her lower lip. Her chin trembled as she began to cry.

“Sob, Sveta. Why did you only call for me now? Do you know how much I’ve missed you?”

“……”

The exaggerated expression and tone were achingly familiar.

How had she not realized it before?

Beth resembled Jace Gould so closely!

Even her gestures did.

Like a wolf, Beth stepped closer swiftly. The movement overwhelmed Sveta, who instinctively retreated.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Sveta. Last time I was too caught up in myself. I should have worried about you first.”

Beth threw her arms around Sveta.

The heavy scent of roses wafted over her.

What was once a sweet fragrance now made her feel sick, because she finally knew what lay beneath Beth’s façade.

She shook Beth off coldly.

“Let go, Beth.”

“You lost the child, didn’t you? Hm? Didn’t you?”

Startled by the hand that persistently clung to her and groped at her abdomen, Sveta stumbled backward.

“…What?”

“You should have been full-term by now. But looking at how flat your stomach is… it must have been when that boatman did something to you…”

Beth deliberately let her words fade into silence before leaning closer, her voice dropping to a whisper thick with insinuation.

“Does the Duke know about this?”

The corners of Beth’s eyes were completely dry, as if she had never been on the verge of tears.

Had she even been crying?

Now, all of Beth’s actions seemed suspicious.

“What?”

“I asked whether he knows that you conceived his child and lost it through your own mistake.”

The slight curve of her lips was as sharp as shattered glass.

“Even if it was a bastard, it was still a precious child with the Duke’s blood. What will you do if that man finds out about your mistake?”

“Did you just call it… a mistake?”

“Yes. Our poor Sveta. But don’t worry. I’ll protect you. Just as I always have since we were young. You’re my sister, after all.”

Her ornate words pierced Sveta’s ears like knives.

She was being drawn in again.

Sveta tightened her grip on the stone. Her arm, rigid with force, trembled faintly.

“But what’s that stone?”

“……”

Beth let out a small giggle.

“It looks just like that pet stone you used to play with.”

“Pet… stone……”

As Sveta slowly repeated the words, as she always did, Beth’s eyes lit up.

That was the moment.

Summoning her courage, Sveta straightened her back and lifted her chin.

Perhaps she looked ridiculous.

After all, Beth had once taught her to do this whenever she felt inferior.

But she did not want to back down now.

“Beth. What you just said—do you have proof?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“I asked if you have proof.”

Beth blinked once, then frowned.

What flowed between them now was colder than any river.

“Your threats don’t work on me anymore.”

“What? Threats? No matter what I say, you always twist it like that—”

“I know who you really are. I know you killed Mary. And that you’re the one who made Lady Noma that way.”

This was her first act of defiance.

It could never have been easy.

Tension tightened around her throat. Her heart began to beat violently in her chest.

Her fingers turned white as she gripped the stone tighter, but she endured the silence.

After a long moment, the corner of Beth’s mouth tilted upwards.

She cocked her head.

“But Sveta, you don’t have proof either, do you? I’m Beka Smiden. My past is flawless. My reputation is spotless.”

“……”

“So everything you’ve said is nothing but absurd accusations!”

“……”

Sveta let out a long breath.

In that moment, she felt a sense of relief.

Strangely enough, she was glad that Beth hadn’t apologized.

It might have been cowardly, but it meant she could hate her without feeling guilty.

For that, she was grateful.

Taking a deep breath, Sveta tightened her stomach muscles and spoke.

“There’s something you always used to call me, Beth. A bedroom slave.”

“Ha… What is wrong with you today? Hm?”

“As you said, I may be nothing more than a bedroom slave. But the Duke listens to what I say. What about you? What can you do?”

She spoke with convincing boldness, but she knew the truth.

Beth was right.

There was no proof regarding Mary. Nor about Lady Noma.

Even if there were, Aiden might not listen to her.

But Beth did not know that.

‘So act confident.’

Steadying herself, Sveta tried to appear strong. Her eyelids trembled as she forced her eyes open wide, determined not to show her fear.

“What? Are you saying you’ll kill me? Why are you acting like this!”

Beth suddenly raised her voice, only to quickly shut her mouth in alarm at how loudly she had spoken.

Anxiously, she glanced toward the door.

“That was dangerous, Beth. Sir Pailin is outside. From now on, you’ll have to speak quietly. And cry without making a sound.”

“……”

“I’m no longer on your side.”

“…So, are you going to kill me?”

Traitors are killed.

That was Zloytan’s way.

By repeatedly asking if Sveta meant to kill her, Beth had effectively confessed to her betrayal. For a moment, her eyes became unfocused, as though she were contemplating something.

“Beth, I don’t want you to die. I just want you out of my life.”

“What? You— You really…!”

“I am no longer your shadow. Nor the mirror that reflects you.”

Suddenly, she remembered the day the shackles around her ankles had been removed, and how overwhelming the sense of release had been.

Something lurking at the back of her mind finally burst forth.

The dam holding back her emotions collapsed.

Somehow, she felt lighter.

Sveta hurled the stone at Beth’s feet with all her might.

It hit the floor with a dull thud and rolled to a stop in front of her worn shoes.

“You’ll need it now.”

“……”

“You’ll have many sad days ahead.”

With eyes that had only just regained their focus, Beth stared at the stone.

“I called you here to say this, Beth. I am no longer your slave.”

Beth’s expression twisted with conflicting emotions as she parted her lips to speak.

At that moment, Sveta pulled hard on the bell cord.

“When you start living the same exhausting days that you once forced on a despised slave, there will be nights when you lie awake in fear, terrified that your secrets will be exposed. That is how you will live, Beth.”

Color slowly drained from Beth’s face.

“And I am certain you’ll be exposed soon enough.”

“How— How dare you—!”

Beth clenched her fists and glared at her.

It seemed as though that hard fist might fly at her face at any second.

But Sveta did not waver.

“You take after your father.”

Beth’s whole body trembled as she took a big step forward.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door, which then opened.

The head maid entered, her composure and courtesy unruffled. She looked from Beth to Sveta, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

“You called for me, Miss?”

“From now on, I would prefer that Beka no longer attend me.”

“Has Beka made a mistake?”

The head maid shot Beth a stern look, causing her lip to quiver.