Rethe, who could barely catch her breath, clutched at her neck and struggled for air. Lian gently brushed her blonde hair back. It was the same shade as Hailla’s, and the hint of tenderness in his touch made it all the more chilling.

“You’re insane. Completely f*cking insane.”

“Haha.”

Lian looked genuinely amused, as if he had just heard the funniest joke.

“You say that like you’re not.”

“If someone like me, who’s been dragged through the filth, wasn’t insane, that would be the miracle. Compared to someone born a duke’s son who’s lived in luxury, I don’t even come close.”

“You sold your sister to a lunatic, yet you still act like you have pride. That’s the only thing I like about you.”

Seemingly growing tired of this fruitless exchange, Lian changed the subject. He took something wrapped neatly in paper from his pocket and handed it to Rete. She cleared her throat, opened it and her expression twisted slightly.

“Take one red fragment every day and one black herb every three days. The red one makes you cough up blood; the black one is the antidote. You won’t die, so don’t worry.”

“And if I do die?”

“Well, that would actually be perfect, but it’s not going to happen.”

Lian furrowed his brow with mock regret.

“Hmph.”

“If this works, you’ll get exactly what you wanted: permanent treatment at the temple. You’ll live in a level of luxury far beyond anything you have now. Though you’ll never see Hailla again.”

Lian swallowed. There was no need to say it — Rethe knew that better than anyone. Lian had told her from the outset of their ‘deal’.

“You’re trying to manipulate Hailla into sending me to the temple, aren’t you?”

“Something like that.”

Rethe looked calm. Although she could see right through Lian’s scheme to exploit her illness and take everything from Hailla, there was no hint of anger in her expression. She took a sip of water from the glass on the bedside table, then spoke.

“It won’t work. She can’t live without me.”

“You say that like you want it to be true.”

“That’s just how it is.”

Arrogant eyes. Lian could never fully understand Rethe’s attitude towards Hailla. She acted as if she despised her, yet beneath that façade was something warped — as if she took perverse satisfaction in Hailla’s guilt and sense of obligation. Whenever she displayed false affection towards her sister, it seemed to be motivated by hatred. But in moments like this…

Lian’s expression darkened. It was a possibility he refused to entertain. In this world, Hailla’s love, loyalty, and existence should revolve around Lian Huriet. If they didn’t, he would make sure they did.

“You don’t know. Do you know what she told me?”

“…”

“She said that if you died, she would live with me forever.”

For the first time since they started talking, there was a slight stiffening of Rethe’s expression. Seeing this improvement in her mood cheered Lian up a little. As though crushing a pitiful insect beneath his foot, he continued:

“No matter how much a useless older sister flails around, she knows that I’ll be by her side in the end.”

Rethe’s head tilted slightly downward. Lian hoped that she might be feeling a hint of humiliation.

“Pfft.”

Instead, however, a crude, scoffing laugh escaped her. Their eyes met. Silence tore between them like a storm. Rethe was the first to speak.

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

“…”

“But as long as I’m alive, Hailla will never be able to leave me.”

Rethe slowly unfastened the top button of her blouse, pulling the fabric aside. The fabric covering her neck fell away, exposing her collarbone.

“She’ll never be able to escape this.”

It was a grotesque blotch. The black patches spreading down her body showed that she was at the end of her life.

Lian recognised the disease. It was a brutal, incurable affliction.

It was one of the venereal diseases commonly contracted by women working in brothels. Anyone infected would be expelled from the brothel because the disease was so severe. Once the blotches had spread, the body would begin to rot. Rethe gave a dry laugh, seemingly amused by Lian’s emotionless observation.

“I got this thanks to our dear parents’ desperate struggle to save their precious daughter.”

They had tried to make a profit by marrying her off to an elderly nobleman. Then Hailla contracted the plague. They needed money to find a cure. As Rethe wasn’t as beautiful as Hailla, her parents sold her to a brothel to cover the cost. Using that money, Hailla overcame the illness and regained her health.

Rethe caught a fatal disease, gained her freedom and eventually killed their parents. Burdened by the sins of her entire family, Hailla would do anything for her sister. Even if it meant her own destruction, she never hesitated.

“She went around for years with that pathetic haircut just because I told her to.”

It was Rethe who was responsible for Hailla’s unkempt appearance. One day, Rethe grabbed her sister’s hair and cut it off. Hailla stood frozen in shock at her uneven fringe, but was ordered by Rethe to leave it that way. Whenever it grew too long, Rethe would yank it and cut it again. Hailla always chose to obey in silence.

Lian, who knew all about it, visibly tensed, but responded calmly.

“Well, if you want to crawl into the temple and cling to life, then you’d better hope Hailla lets you in.”

“…”

“You know better than anyone how pragmatically disgusting she is.”

“True… But they say the will of the gods does not lie in our desires.”

It’s a well-known saying in the Empire. Lian didn’t reply. Instead, he stood up, his face contorting as if he wanted to tear Rethe’s mouth apart. Then he left the room.

A chilly stillness lingered around the woman.

Rethe, who had been watching his retreating figure, erased all expression from her face the moment he closed the door. She slowly buttoned up her loosened blouse, adopting the lazy calm of a weary old soul, and clicked her tongue in pity.

“Idiot.”

“They were both blinded by love.”

Rethe grinned, stretching her lips wide. She recalled Lian’s disdainful look and how he had attempted to intimidate her with threats concerning the temple. But beneath it all, she also remembered how worried he was about her sister.

That was the most laughable part of all. Treatment at the temple meant nothing to Rethe. What she truly desired had never changed.

“She’s mine.”

No matter who Hailla chose, she would always belong to Rethe. That girl was destined to be bound to her forever.

This was the only consolation she had left in this world — God’s arrangement.

After confirming through the window that the man had left the house, Rethe struggled to open the door. A small bird that had been perched on the railing hopped inside. Used to human touch, it tilted its head and climbed onto her frail hand.

With practised fingers, Rethe untied the string tied to the bird’s left leg. She dipped it into the glass of water on the bedside table, swirled it around a few times, then laid it out on the blanket. The string slowly unravelled into a small piece of paper covered in blotchy coloured letters.

“Hmph.”

Rethe read the message, tore the damp paper into small pieces, and offered them to the bird. The carrier pigeon gobbled up the wet fragments quickly, as if they were food.

“Good. That’s… very satisfying.”

She gently stroked the bird’s head. Then, in a voice entirely out of character, she whispered.

“Now, hurry back to your master.”

The kindness in her tone felt forced. The little bird continued to bob its head, showing no sign of leaving. In a rare display of playfulness, Rethe teased.

“Don’t want to go? Hm?”

Then, placing the tiny creature on her palm, she gently tossed it out of the window. She didn’t forget to offer one last act of courtesy, telling it where to go.

“Still, you have to go back to the Duke’s estate. Your little master’s father is waiting, after all.”

Before she could finish her sentence, the bird had flown off into the sky. Rethe stared blankly after it as it flew gracefully through the air. Then she gently closed the window. Leaning back against the bed, she was the picture of quiet stillness.

Rethe slowly retraced her emotions, trying to understand how she truly felt. Although everything was going according to plan, her thoughts were a jumble. Ultimately, she could only close her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

Her thoughts were so profound and elusive that even the gods could not comprehend them.

—

“I’ve only prepared your favourite dishes.”

His voice sounded deflated. But to Hailla, it sounded insincere and pitiful. It was a cheap attempt to make a woman who was tied to the bed and unable to move feel guilty. She bit her lip and remained silent. Lian’s expression began to harden.

“If you keep starving yourself like this, you’ll hurt yourself.”

“Oh, so you do care about my body.”

Her voice was laced with biting sarcasm. It was her way of highlighting the hypocrisy of his actions, particularly given that he had revealed his true identity the previous day, only to go right back to groping her. With no excuse for his behaviour, Lian slumped onto the edge of the bed. He glanced briefly at the neatly arranged dishes before looking back at Hailla.

“So you’re saying all this is going straight in the bin again today?”

She continued to stare ahead, as if she hadn’t heard a word. Lian watched her silently for a moment. Then, without changing his expression, he grabbed the side table.

Crash!

The sharp clatter of shattering dishes and spilled food echoed clearly through the room. Hailla’s face twisted in shock as she turned towards the noise instinctively. Lian had already flipped the table over and sent it crashing to the floor.