When she first made the proposal, Rethe asked him why he would even consider accepting it. After all, he could easily have dismissed her. He could have disregarded her assumptions about his noble status and killed her discreetly. He had more than enough power to imprison Hailla and take her by force. So, when she asked why he was following her plan, Lian promised to tell her when the end was near.

“Is that really important to you?”

“I’m just curious.”

After a pause, he finally spoke. A rare hint of relief crossed his face — an unusual occurrence.

“She’s beautiful when she smiles.”

“…”

“When she clings to me, crying in my arms, she’s even more breathtaking.”

“… Ha.”

“But the most satisfying thing is when she comes to me of her own accord, when she chooses me. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”

Besides, it allowed him to instil just the right amount of guilt in her. He wanted Hailla to remain in her comfortable golden cage, devoted to no one but him. To him, that was true possession — the way to win the loyalty of a kind and tender god. For that, he believed, even the sister he loathed more than anything was worth sparing for a while. When it came to Hailla, Lian was uniquely merciful and endlessly patient.

“I figured as much.”

“Now it’s your turn to answer.”

Until now, Lian had genuinely intended to keep Rethe alive for a little while longer.

He slowly stood up and picked up the cloth bag he had tossed aside. It was dirty and smudged with earth, faintly stained red at one end. Lian opened it and tipped its contents onto Rethe’s lap.

“Not even a blink. As expected.”

The bird’s mangled body stared blankly with glassy eyes. Rethe looked down at it without emotion.

“If you’re going to pretend you don’t know what this is…”

“Not particularly.”

Rethe’s lips curved upward. Her tone was taunting, even bold, as she met his gaze.

“I just prepared an extra exit, that’s all. If you fail, the deal’s off and everything falls apart.”

“You gotta have a backup plan, right?”

She even let out a little giggle.

“So?”

“……”

“So I contacted the duke.”

Lian’s voice was low, as though he were reading from a piece of paper. Rethe picked up the severed bird’s leg and snorted as she held it up.

“You didn’t even have to ask. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“You’re fearless.”

Tied to the bird’s leg was a small cord — the kind that, when soaked in water, unfolds like paper to reveal a secret message. The sender was:

Tassen Huriet. Lian’s father and the duke.

“A degenerate planning to kill his own father. Granted, you’re crazy enough to pull it off. But it’s always better to have more options, don’t you think?”

“Hah.”

“If you fail, the duke has agreed to provide everything you promised me. Got any other questions?”

Rethe tossed the leg she had been holding towards Lian. It hit his firm abdomen and dropped weakly to the floor.

“Oh, I forgot to mention what I gave him in return: You and Hailla’s—”

Her smugly murmuring mouth was abruptly covered by a large hand. Half of Rethe’s small face disappeared behind Lian’s palm.

“Enough.”

“…”

“Keep talking and I’ll kill you.”

Lian gripped Rethe’s jaw so tightly that it could have been crushed. Yet not a sound escaped the woman’s lips. Only a faint cold sweat betrayed the pain she was experiencing. Lian took in her expression, then let go.

“You’re a sick little b*tch who can’t even beg without Hailla. You probably can’t even spread your legs with that broken body.”

“…”

“The only thing you’re good for is spying on us and talking rubbish. That’s the extent of your worth. You’re not even worth hearing it from your own lips.”

“Yeah. That’s a pretty accurate guess. You’re right. But—”

“…”

“Preparation is everything, you know. People like you, who’ve lived their lives on luck, wouldn’t understand.”

Rethe’s eyes shimmered strangely. With a sly expression, she tucked her dishevelled hair behind her ear and sighed.

“Be careful.”

For a brief moment, she looked almost divine, like a god imparting sacred knowledge in solemn silence.

“When desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin matures, it gives birth to tragedy.”

This is the third teaching passed down to humanity by the gods. It is a line found on the very first page of scripture.

The third teaching given by God to humans. It was a phrase on the first page of the Bible.

“If you covet what is not yours and show weakness, you might be in big trouble.”

Only the woman’s giggling laughter floated in the empty space. Lian listened without moving and slowly raised the left corner of her mouth.

“I thought you were fearless.”

The piece of bird’s leg that had fallen at her feet was slowly crushed by the merciless feet. The residue was pressed down as if it was carved into the floor. Lian did not take his gaze off Rethe. As if the object she was stepping on and crushing was Rethe.

“It was just stupid.”

That was the end of their conversation. Lian scanned her dry body and turned around.

* * *

“Ugh, ugh…….”

“More.”

“Hoo, ugh.”

“Put it in more. Yes, open your throat like that…….”

In a dimly lit room, there was only one man sitting on a wide chair. Verdian giggled and grabbed the woman’s brown hair, pulling her face toward his gr*in. A low moan of pain spread out.

“I won’t be able to pull it out even once, if this keeps up.”

He giggled and patted the woman’s cheek, telling her to be more careful. The woman, who had his huge p*nis pushed all the way into her throat, barely suppressed her nausea and began to use her tongue. The man let out a low exclamation of “Ahh,” and leaned his upper body completely against the back of the sofa.

“End it properly.”

Lian scrunched up his face and urged him, feeling uncomfortable watching someone else’s lovemaking. When he got up as if he was going to leave the room at any moment, Verdian called him over urgently.

“Damn it. If I can’t get my c*m out and lose it, it’s all your fault.”

Lian sighed softly without even answering the low-level joke. It was proof that his patience had really reached its limit. Verdian grabbed the woman’s hair again and shook it quickly several times. After receiving a service that was almost like m*sturbation for several minutes, she was finally able to reach a thick *rgasm.

“You’re the one who called someone over and did the work.”

“That’s disappointing. I just made a place for someone who really likes to poke around together.”

Lian ignored his friend, who was once again dragging up his sordid past, and instead jerked his chin toward the woman still in the room. She had pulled away from beneath Verdián and was now deftly wiping him down with a damp cloth.

“You can go now, sweetheart.”

Verdián’s voice was thick with satisfaction after having indulged himself completely. The money he tossed into the air was a hefty amount, and the woman bowed several times before quietly leaving the room.

“Did you take her from a brothel?”

“Why? Are you interested?”

“Changed your tastes a bit?”

 Lian simply stared back silently, unimpressed. It was a noble’s way of demanding an answer without speaking. Verdián grumbled at the lack of reaction.

“The madam said she came from some provincial brothel. Pretty decent face. Good with her mouth, and down below she’s tight as—”

“I see.”

The rest of the sentence remained unfinished. Verdián shrugged and looked awkward. As always, Lian was hard to read.

Watching the woman bow submissively beneath a man’s control reminded Lian of Rethe. He found himself wondering what she had been like in the past, a woman who had supposedly sold herself into a brothel for Hailla’s sake. Judging by her aloof pride, she couldn’t have been easily broken — she could rival any noblewoman in arrogance.

Nevertheless, Lian couldn’t quite picture Rethe yielding and submitting to anyone. Much as he hated to admit it, Hailla’s sister seemed better suited to a regal life. Her stubbornness and greed only served to reinforce that impression.

“When I become Duke, I’m planning to place a few people inside the temple.”

“That woman’s sister, right?”

“Yeah.”

“To kill her?”

Verdián asked casually. When Lian didn’t respond right away, Verdián’s expression lit with interest.

“Maybe.”

The vague answer only made him more curious. Verdián raised his eyebrows, leaning back and resting one arm over the chair. If he’d bothered to button his pants, his posture would’ve looked almost dignified.

“That’s a vague answer.”

“She’s a vague woman.”

Initially, he thought of her as nothing more than an annoying obstacle — a parasitic woman who dominated Hailla’s thoughts. Ultimately, however, she was just a fragile woman with a failing body. That’s what he thought when he took her hand. It was only recently that he started to wonder if that had been a mistake.

“She’s been in contact with Tassen.”

For a brief moment, surprise flickered in Verdián’s eyes. Rather than looking sharp or concerned, however, he leaned forward with interest and licked his lips.

“The cripple, you mean?”

“The bird.”

“…”

“I’ve received reports that a similar bird has been landing on the window ledge for the past few days. It turned out that it was being used as a messenger pigeon.”

“So the duke made the first move. That makes sense — she can’t move around herself.”

“She knows we found out, too. She didn’t even look surprised.”

The Duke wasn’t the type to make careless moves. He had probably approached Rethe fully expecting to be found out eventually. And yet Rethe had accepted the offer anyway. She certainly had guts.

“Wow, she’s kind of impressive.”

“She is. In more ways than one.”

“And you got played by a woman who can’t even walk?”

Verdián laughed and ran a hand through his hair. There was a glint of amusement in his eyes for a woman he didn’t even know. He was the kind of man who lost all sense whenever something — or someone — caught his attention.

“Guess I have to admit it…”

It wounded his pride, but Lian acknowledged that he had underestimated Rethe. Now, he was certain: she was completely unreadable.