As soon as Anne entered the room, she grabbed Celia’s skirt so tightly it might tear and pleaded. Celia, who never intended to punish a maid for sneaking out at night, felt she didn’t have the right to do so, firmly promised to keep this matter secret from Mrs. Letten.

Thinking she was saved, Anne expressed her gratitude repeatedly and was about to leave with the water bottle to fetch water quickly when Celia suddenly asked a question that had occurred to her.

“Do people really just wear masks and play there? Without being curious about who each other is?”

“No one really cares there. What your status is, what family you’re from… whether you’re noble or not, no one knows. This mask takes the place of your face.”

As Anne pointed to the mask while speaking, a strange light flickered in Celia’s eyes.

“Really…?”

“Of course. No one knows. Even when doing that act, everyone wears masks… Oh my.”

Anne hurriedly covered her mouth, but she couldn’t take back the words already spilled.

“You mean they wear masks even during that? Really?”

“Yes. It’s an unwritten rule. Because if we’re discovered, it becomes troublesome for both parties. It’s like a kind of night magic.”

The words Anne had told her seemed to still be echoing in her ears. Celia turned these words over and over in her mind.

If you wear a mask, no one knows who anyone else is.

If you have an intimate encounter in that state, couldn’t everything be kept secret?

“……”

Celia unconsciously stroked her flat stomach. Of course, nothing was in it, and there was no possibility of anything being in it.

If Eugen found out that she hadn’t conceived her father’s child, nor had there been any act that could lead to it, he would certainly not let it slide. Given how confidently she had claimed to be pregnant, she feared the retribution she would face when that lie was exposed.

Even if he were to send her away gently, it would still be a problem. If she returned home without the Duke’s inheritance or the reward for fulfilling the contract, the situation waiting for her would be no different from when she came here.

Every time she recalled this fact, Celia felt as if her chest was being pressed down by a heavy stone. Despite agreeing to a contract that was tantamount to selling her body, betting her life on it, she was left with nothing. Remembering the money Gilmore had borrowed from here and there, boasting that his daughter had become the wife of an important person, Celia felt like she would go mad from frustration.

But no matter how perfectly she covered it up, it would eventually be revealed as time passed.

There was no child in this womb. There was nothing left to prove her legitimacy. Even the contract they had exchanged was in Eugen’s possession, so her marriage to Andros could be easily annulled.

As he said, she could be framed for the crime of seducing Andros to marry him and then trying to take the money, and be thrown in prison for fraud.

In the end, she ended up asking the final question.

“How do you get there?”

***

When she returned from her walk, there was something unfamiliar in the room.

“What’s this?”

Celia approached the glass aquarium placed by the window.

“The master ordered it to be brought in. Isn’t it pretty?”

Anne seemed even more excited than Celia herself.

“When did he leave it?”

“Not long ago.”

It had been done as soon as he said he would place an aquarium.

“It’s really nice to have an aquarium. Look.”

The round aquarium contained fish of various colors. The fish swimming slowly with their fluttering fins were similar to those seen in the pond.

The clear water and fish sparkling under the bright sunlight looked leisurely. It seemed like time would pass well just by blankly staring at them.

“You’re right.”

She thought it was luxurious to watch fish in a pond, but to have an aquarium right in the bedroom to look at. It was a luxury she would never enjoy again.

“It seems to recognize people.”

Anne’s eyes lit up in wonder as she saw a fish with a red tail fin swimming close to Celia.

“Sending even an aquarium like this, he must have high expectations for the baby. His feelings for a sibling are really different.”

“……”

Celia quietly touched her stomach. Because it was a baby that couldn’t possibly exist, her heart felt even heavier. She was trying to soothe her troubled mind by just looking at the fish in the aquarium when,

“Wouldn’t you like to have a baby too, Madam?”

“Of course.”

But Anne didn’t know that it wouldn’t happen.

“Then you can just have one.”

“……What?”

She thought she must have misheard the sudden voice.

“If you just have a child, wouldn’t that solve everything?”

However, as if to prove she hadn’t misheard, Anne spoke to her again.

“……”

“That’s right. If you have a child, just by doing that, you become the Duchess of Hilbert.”

Celia’s eyes widened at Anne’s words.

“Wh-what are you saying?”

“I’ve seen you being anxious all the time. The chances of not being pregnant are high, right? No, you’re not pregnant, are you? Right?”

“That’s……”

“You don’t have to hide it even from me. You know, I’m on your side.”

“Anne?”

“I’ve come to understand the situation roughly. You accepted this absurd arrangement because you were sick of poverty, right? That’s not your fault.”

“Anne, stop it.”

Celia stood up abruptly, startled.

“After 100 days, when that time passes, the lie will be exposed. Then everything will be over.”

“……”

“You’ll be driven out without receiving a single penny.”

Celia’s face turned pale as she listened to Anne’s words.

“This has nothing to do with you.”

“Don’t you want to live as the Duchess of Hilbert?”

Anne’s cry was unbearably sweet.

“You’ve already experienced it all. If you go back home empty-handed like this, what’s left? You’ll have to return to that house with no pretty dresses, no aquarium like this.”

“……”

“I’ll help you. I can help you.”

Anne said, grabbing Celia’s hand. Celia’s eyes were shaking anxiously. Although she understood the meaning of what Anne was saying now, Celia had no choice but to pretend not to know.

“How could you, that’s impossible.”

“No, it’s possible.”

Celia flinched at Anne’s voice, full of conviction.

“That’s why you asked me about the masquerade ball, right?”

“……”

Celia’s eyes widened.

“That place… regardless of status, position, or anything else, people explore each other’s bodies. Everything is hidden under the mask.”

“What… are you saying?”

Celia swallowed dryly. She tried not to reveal her rapidly rising and falling breath, but endless words like a demon’s whisper flowed from the maid’s mouth.

“You just need to have a child in that womb. Whether it’s the late master’s child or not… there’s no way to know.”

“Anne. What are you saying now.”

Celia turned her body away, avoiding her gaze.

“Your thoughts are the same as mine, aren’t they? Aren’t they?”

“……What?”

“I’m on your side. If things go well… give me the position of head maid. That’s all I want.”

Anne grabbed Celia’s hand. Celia couldn’t bring herself to shake it off.

“I’ll help you.”

Eyes shining with firm determination stared at her.

“I, I……”

It was an irresistible proposal. As long as Eugen had promised to recognize the child she bore as a Hilbert child, everything could be resolved if she safely gave birth to a child.

“Seize the opportunity, Madam.”

Anne whispered once more.

***

The private ballroom on the outskirts of the capital allowed anyone to enter as long as they paid. They didn’t check identities, didn’t care about occupations or where one lived. You just needed to be able to pay the entrance fee.

Celia, who had entered with just a few coins, looked around inside with wide eyes.

The inside was already so crowded with people dancing to lively music that there was no room to step. Unlike the cool air outside, it was stuffy inside. There were too many people compared to the size of the ballroom.

“Will you be alright?”

“Of course.”

Celia clasped her trembling hands. She was wearing a mask adorned with sparkling decorations.

“Mrs. Letten is a heavy sleeper once she falls asleep. She doesn’t wake up easily.”