Chapter 3.1

“Ah, would they really show leniency if I confessed first?”  

Aness stroked her belly, murmuring with anxious eyes. It hadn’t been her fault that she’d made him drink the tea laced with a drug that night.  

She had only followed the orders of that wretched guild master. The more she thought about it, the more resentful and bitter she became—what kind of relationship did that person have with her, to use her and dare to provoke the Duke’s temper, and why did it have to be her who got tangled up in all this?  

“That’s right. Just tell him everything honestly. If you say you only did what you were told, that you weren’t at fault, I’m sure they’ll take your circumstances into account.”  

Dana gently patted the poor youngest Miss’s shoulder, soothing her anxiety. In truth, ever since that shocking night, Aness had avoided going out and had quit her beloved matchmaking work as well.  

How stifling it must be, to be cooped up at home like this, making apple pies and helping her mother with sewing. On top of that, she had to struggle to hide her steadily growing belly.  

If she didn’t come up with a solution soon, she wouldn’t be able to hide her pregnancy much longer. Living with this kind of anxiety, she couldn’t help but conclude that it might be better to go to him and confess everything herself.  

“Girls, come here now. It’s time for your lessons.”  

At that moment, the Baroness, sitting in the small living room, called her daughters. She couldn’t afford to hire a tutor, so she had always taught them herself. They learned simple arithmetic, history, and knitting, but above all, she emphasized education on premarital chastity.  

“These days, it feels like the world is coming to an end—everyone’s become so loose and immoral. Can you believe rumors are going around that a noble lady keeps a male concubine? It’s the end of times, I tell you.”  

When the three daughters gathered and sat together on their chairs, the Baroness began in a lamenting voice.  

“Did you hear? Olga, the youngest daughter of Marquis Bordeaux, apparently opened her door in the middle of the night and let that scoundrel Gilbert from the Marquisate of Bastide inside. The whole family was thrown into chaos because of it. Even though she’s unmarried, that man is such a notorious womanizer, isn’t he?”  

“……”  

Each of the three daughters wore a different expression. The eldest, Imelda, sat quietly in front, her head bowed and listening attentively, while Aness, feeling guilty, furtively touched her lower belly with her hand.  

She absolutely could not let her mother find out. Meanwhile, Erika, sitting by the window, was turning paler and paler.  

“Of course, Olga clung to her family, weeping and begging, so now they’re formally discussing marriage between the two houses. If it weren’t for the reputation of the Marquisate of Bordeaux, they’d be utterly disgraced—if it were a humble family like ours, it would be a complete scandal.”  

The Baroness let out a deep sigh and continued. In truth, it wasn’t easy to find a suitable noble family for her daughters.  

Who would propose to a family that couldn’t provide even a penny of dowry? That’s why the Baroness was all the more insistent about premarital chastity.  

If they behaved properly and waited, the opportunity would come one day—but if a dirty rumor spread, they’d lose their chance to marry forever.  

She herself had been a young lady from a decent family, but her current husband had spread rumors to force her into marriage, and she had suffered ever since.  

So she wanted to protect her daughters’ honor at all costs. Even if she couldn’t marry them into prestigious families, she wanted to see them marry with dignity.  

“So never give yourself away lightly. Even after thirty, there’s still a chance to meet your match. You’re only just twenty…”  

It was at that moment. Erika, who had been sitting by the window, finally couldn’t bear it and collapsed sideways with a thud. Her face was already deathly pale.  

“Erika!”  

The Baroness, startled, rushed to her second daughter. Dana, who had been serving tea, hurried over and was the first to catch her. In that instant, quick-witted Dana realized why Erika had fainted.  

There were several layers of cloth tightly wrapped around Erika’s belly, and she’d been unable to breathe properly. Hearing her mother’s words pushed her further into shock, causing her to faint from lack of air.  

Until now, Dana had been able to care for the youngest, Aness, but Erika had always been prickly and wouldn’t let her get close, so she hadn’t noticed her condition.  

‘Oh no, her belly is already quite big. So it was that night—something must have happened then.’  

With a devastated look, Dana held the frail, thin Erika in her arms and met the Baroness’s gaze. The Baroness, too, sensed something as a woman, and her face turned white.  

The eldest, Imelda, hurried to the kitchen to fetch water, while Aness, at a loss, leaned against the wall, her hand on her belly, tears streaming down her face.  

The misfortune of the Klein Barony was only just beginning.  

***

Emperor Trevis of the Empire sat in his study with a thoroughly displeased expression. With a look of irritation, he raised a hand to permit Duke Caron, the Commander of the Knights, to enter.  

Caron, led in by the chief attendant, sensed the Emperor’s foul mood and suppressed his own annoyance, bowing his head in greeting.  

He wore the look of someone who could already guess what kind of whim or order the Emperor was about to give.  

“Caron, come in. I’m sure you’ve already heard the rumors?”  

“Yes. I just received the report on my way in.”  

“Good, then what do you think? Marquis Montana’s son Gerald suffered such a fate and died—surely we can’t just let it go, can we?”  

“I agree, Your Majesty.”  

As he answered, the Duke was thinking of something else. He had already sent out reconnaissance across the country and uncovered several young ladies hiding pregnancies.  

The level of moral corruption in the Empire was so severe that even the Emperor had been planning new laws.  

Perhaps because he himself had ascended the throne as an illegitimate child, the Emperor despised immoral women.  

“How dare a mere tavern wench disgrace a noble’s son? Can you believe this?”  

Gerald Montana had always been a dutiful son, obedient to his family and father, but he had started secretly seeing a tavern girl.  

Just as he was about to enter into an arranged marriage with a fine young lady from a good family, the pregnant tavern girl tried to blackmail him for money.  

She demanded hush money to get rid of the baby, threatening to reveal everything to his fiancée’s family if he refused.  

Valuing his family’s honor above his own life, Gerald ultimately chose death, and the entire social scene was thrown into chaos.  

“I understand, Your Majesty.”  

Caron understood the Emperor’s intentions and answered readily, even without specific instructions.  

“We will carry out the execution of that tavern girl in the square. All involved will be arrested, and if a similar incident occurs again, we will not stand idly by.”  

As the head of the Imperial Council, Caron already knew how he would handle the situation.  

“Very well. I expect strict enforcement of the law, and I hope you will continue to punish such offenses harshly.”  

Caron was indeed the Emperor’s most capable subordinate, moving without needing to be told. But as he turned away, he cursed inwardly. He was already preoccupied with searching for that woman, and now he was being forced to waste time on something else—how irritating.  

He formally convened the Imperial Council and enacted a new law, deciding that from now on, anyone who used pregnancy as leverage to demand money or other unjust favors would be severely punished.