Under his persistent gaze, Celia felt like a piece of meat placed alive on the dining table. He seemed like a greedy gourmet who had already dissected and butchered her, laying her out on the table.

“Please don’t say such things. That would never happen, Eugen. Just look forward to having a cute younger sibling.”

Celia said with a forced smile.

“Then rest. If you need anything, feel free to ask anytime. I’ll provide everything for you.”

“……”

“While you’re in this mansion.”

He left those final words, flashed a smile, and turned to walk away. Celia blankly watched him go before turning around herself. Her steps back to the annex gradually quickened, eventually breaking into a run.

The child that couldn’t possibly be in her womb, the wedding night that never happened. All of these weighed heavily on her chest.

5. The Night of the Masquerade Ball

No matter how much she lay down, sleep wouldn’t come. Celia tossed and turned several times before sitting up abruptly.

As time passed, the fact that her lie would soon be exposed increasingly tightened around her neck.

So even the sweetest food tasted bitter, and even lying in a warm, cozy bed felt like lying on a bed of thorns.

No matter what kindness Eugen showed, it was nothing more than a temporary reprieve. It was just a temporary consideration, and once everything was revealed…

Since she hadn’t conceived a child, she would be driven out of this place and wouldn’t inherit even a penny of the estate. She would become penniless again and return to her poor home. In that house, there was also her father, soaked in alcohol. The doctor who had been treating Sophie would no longer treat her sister either.

“No……”

Every time she recalled this fact, Celia felt suffocated. She wanted to somehow end that poverty, that terrible daily life.

For that, for that…

She needs a child.

At that moment, Celia’s eyes flew open at the words that poured into her ears like a demon’s whisper.

“A child……”

Eugen had said he would give a grace period of 3 months to decide whether to recognize her inheritance rights, during which he could confirm her pregnancy. So within those 3 months.

If she just gets pregnant.

If pregnancy is confirmed, she could receive the inheritance, and then if there’s a miscarriage or whatever after that…

She was afraid to think such thoughts about a child not yet conceived, but she couldn’t think of any other way.

Even doctors said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly when a child was conceived, so if she manipulated her menstrual cycle appropriately, couldn’t she pass as pregnant?

The thought that had suddenly occurred to her continued quite concretely before abruptly cutting off.

“What am I thinking.”

Celia shook her head. Backed into a corner, all sorts of absurd imaginings were floating around in her head.

She got up. Feeling a burning thirst, she reached for the water bottle on the bedside table, but the water that should have been inside was already gone. She had already drunk plenty of water due to her repeatedly occurring thirst.

Celia pulled the cord beside the bed. It was a bell that rang for the maid on night duty. But no one came to her room. Thinking they must have fallen into a deep sleep, she decided to take the water bottle herself and get up.

She intended to go to the annex kitchen and fill the water herself. She found a lamp, lit it, put on her slippers, and left the room.

It was her first time wandering the corridor in the middle of the night. As she had no reason to come out alone at night, this space looked completely different from during the day.

Moonlight poured into the long, dark corridor, creating shadows of the statues. Celia walked between them, unconsciously shrinking her body. The statues she had only thought of as beautiful looked quite bizarre when seen at night.

The kitchen was on the bottom floor, so she began to slowly descend the stairs.

The lamplight in her hand cast down to the lower floor. Seeing her own shadow stretched long in that light made her fear well up even more. Should she go down, or not? While she was hesitating for a moment, about to take another step,

“……”

Whisk. Feeling something moving in the darkness, Celia’s hair stood on end.

She hoped it was just the sound of the wind, but the windows in the corridor were tightly closed.

Celia couldn’t shake the feeling that she was with someone in the darkness. She wanted nothing more than to return to her bedroom, thirsty or not, but her feet were rooted to the floor as if nailed down.

To make matters worse, the lamplight was growing dimmer and dimmer. It seemed she had brought it without realizing the oil was almost gone.

“No.”

With the flickering light, her field of vision narrowed in an instant. Now the light barely illuminated just below her feet. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her in the darkness.

‘Stay calm.’

I must have seen wrong, that must be it.

Rustle.

At that moment, at the sound of clothing from the darkness, Celia stepped back and ended up bumping into something.

“Kyaa!”

“Kyaaa!”

Sharp screams burst out simultaneously in the darkness.

“Ah, aah!”

Celia flailed her arms wildly.

“It, it’s me, Madam.”

“……”

Hearing the urgent voice, Celia stopped her wildly waving hands.

“Anne?”

“Yes, it’s me, it’s me.”

Anne spoke in an almost tearful voice. She was the maid who often kept Celia company with her characteristic cheerfulness.

Somewhat relieved by the familiar voice, Celia blinked and raised the lamp. The dim light then clearly illuminated the figure of the woman standing in front of her.

What met her eyes was a woman wearing a red mask.

“Kyaa.”

She screamed once again.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Anne hurriedly apologized and took off the mask she was wearing.

“You, why are you.”

Celia looked back and forth between Anne and the mask with a shocked face.

“I’m sorry.”

“You, was it really you?”

“Yes… I was trying to avoid you since you were wandering the corridor, and then…”

Anne spoke with drooping eyes like a puppy being scolded by its owner.

“What is all this?”

Celia’s gaze fell on the mask Anne was holding. The mask had shiny glass beads and feathers attached to it, and she was even wearing a shabby but quite fancy red dress. Celia was dumbfounded at the appearance that was completely different from her usual modest and plain attire.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

Anne spoke with tears in her eyes and knelt down.

“You seemed to be sleeping deeply, so I just… went out for a moment. I was curious about what kind of place it was. Please forgive me.”

“Where did you go?”

Even as she asked, looking at Anne’s attire, she could guess roughly. She must have been to the masquerade ball held at the ballroom on the outskirts of the capital. A ball where nobles and commoners alike mix, dance, and mingle.

A place where elegance and dignity are nowhere to be found. A place where one can mingle freely, hiding one’s status and name behind a mask.

Celia knew that such wild parties were held in such places, but she had never been to one herself.

“Did you go to a masquerade ball?”

“……Yes.”

Anne hung her head low under the flickering light.

“Please forgive me. I’ll do anything, okay? I really can’t be thrown out.”

Anne pleaded with her with a desperate face. Understanding her desperation, as a maid on night duty would certainly lose her position if Mrs. Letten found out she had neglected her duties and went out to play.

“Let’s go upstairs and talk first.”

Celia quickly helped her up, finding it strange to keep standing in the dark corridor.

As Anne, who had risen unsteadily, opened her eyes wide, she nodded as if to say ‘follow me quickly’. Anne grabbed her excessively long dress hem and hurriedly followed behind her.

“By the way.”

Celia, who was walking ahead with the lamp that was about to go out, stopped.

“Was there really no one else in the corridor besides you?”

Anne nodded her head repeatedly.

“Yes. Is something wrong……”

“No, nothing.”

Celia shook her head and hurriedly began climbing the stairs before the lamplight went out completely.

***

From before dawn had fully broken, Celia was sitting blankly on the bed.

What filled her mind were the words Anne had spoken the night before.