As a test, Serine took a few steps forward. Valoid only stood there, watching her.

Her pace gradually quickened. Once there was enough distance between them, she turned and ran toward the entrance of the hunting grounds.

It felt as though she had turned her back on a massive black hound—her hair stood on end, and a chill crept up the back of her neck.

Only a few more steps.

Half out of fear, half out of curiosity, she glanced back.

Despite her frantic sprint, he hadn’t moved from where he stood.

‘I made it. I can get away.’

Hope lit her eyes as she turned her head forward, and slammed into something, collapsing onto the ground.

“Ah!”

Her knees and palms scraped against the dirt. Trembling from the shock and pain, she lifted her head.

“Raymond? Enrique?”

Her two brothers stood before her.

“How did you get here…? Did you come to take me home?”

“Oh, of course we did.”

Enrique bared his teeth.

It wasn’t a smile.

“You’re dead, Serine Penrose.”

A rough hand seized the back of her neck, dragging her along like an animal.

“That hurts! What are you doing all of a sudden?!”

“You really don’t know? You teamed up with the Grand Duke of Cardinel and screwed me over!”

“What? No! I was dragged there against my will—”

“Don’t lie! If it wasn’t you, how would the Grand Duke have known that day? That you’d be taking the mountain road to the Herlach Count’s estate?”

“Are you seriously suspecting that I told him? That’s ridiculous! I was locked in my room the entire time!”

“You must’ve pulled some kind of trick! You’re good at that sort of underhanded thing, aren’t you? What, a bear showed up in the mountains? Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Enrique yanked open the carriage door and shoved Serine inside as if throwing her away. She tumbled onto the seat, gasping for breath as she lifted her head.

Through the window, she saw Valoid.

He stood there, smiling like a figure out of a painting, casually waving his hand.

Only then did Serine begin to understand why he had let her go.

***

Enrique was furious to the core.

That day, on the way to the Herlach Count’s estate, he had stepped into the bushes to relieve himself—that had been the problem. Caught off guard, he’d been struck hard on the back of the head and lost consciousness.

When he woke, a few servants—and Serine—were gone.

The terrified underlings babbled about a bear appearing in the woods. Simple-minded Enrique had believed them without question.

‘If it wasn’t a bear, nothing could’ve knocked me out like that. Poor Serine… I hope she didn’t suffer.’

He had even felt guilty—ashamed that, as her brother, he hadn’t been able to protect her. He had even shed a few tears over it.

But when he returned home and told the story—what a surprise.

Morius pressed a hand to his forehead, while Raymond let out a long, weary sigh.

Enrique had been stunned. And then his anger had flared, sharp and bitter.

To prevent another incident, this time he came with Raymond.

But even the usually composed Raymond could not hide his fury.

“The Herlach Count’s family has withdrawn the marriage proposal. Father even had to bow his head and apologize to placate them. What were you thinking, doing something this reckless?”

“I really had nothing to do with it. I was the one who got kidnapped! Why won’t you believe me?”

“Of course. As always, you knew nothing, and it couldn’t be helped.” Raymond sneered. “How convenient for you.”

Beside him, Enrique added with a scoff,

“Why not say it was Suzanna again this time, hmm?”

It felt like her breath was being crushed beneath a massive wall of distrust.

Her lips parted unconsciously—but Raymond cut her off coldly.

“Just keep your mouth shut. Your voice—your way of speaking—is unpleasant to listen to.”

Her trembling lips slowly closed.

Inside the suffocating carriage, Serine forced herself to think.

‘It’s okay. Father will judge this rationally.’

She didn’t expect him to believe her.

But she trusted the depth of his hatred for Valoid.

‘At the very least, he’ll take me back so he can formally protest to the Grand Duke.’

If she explained properly—if she cooperated—perhaps she might even be forgiven.

But then—

‘Why should I be the one asking for forgiveness? This isn’t my fault.’

The hand Valoid had extended to her flickered again in her mind.

Another choice.

Something she had never possessed before drifted through her mind.

***

After stepping down from the carriage, Raymond dragged her into the study.

The moment she saw her father—his face dark as a shadow—Serine knew something was wrong.

“F-Father… I’m sorry things turned out like this. But I truly—”

Before she could even begin to plead, Morius reached out.

The instant her hair was seized, something cold brushed past the nape of her neck.

When she lifted her head, she saw it—her own hair, severed, drifting down.

“You are no longer a daughter of Penrose.”

When a father cuts his daughter’s hair, it means he is severing the bond between parent and child.

Morius flicked the strands from his hand with cold indifference and turned away.

“If you have any shame, do not show your face here again.”

He didn’t even give her a chance to explain.

Still dazed, Serine was pulled to her feet by Raymond.

“Get up. You’re leaving.”

“W-where…?”

There was no answer.

Raymond had always threatened to send her to the Shepherd Monastery. But this time, he didn’t say it.

And strangely, that was how Serine knew—

This time, it was real.

“Please, Brother… not the monastery. I don’t want to go there. I’ll marry instead, I will—please?”

“Too late. No place would want someone like you anymore!”

Raymond snapped sharply.

“Enrique and Suzanna were just about to receive promising marriage proposals. We can’t let you ruin that again. If you have even a shred of shame, come quietly!”

Only then did Serine understand.

Her father had chosen to bury this matter for the sake of his other children’s futures.

All that remained was to dispose of Serine—tainted, and now useless—without a trace.

“Brother, please! I’m begging you. I’ll live quietly, like I don’t even exist.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. Right and wrong no longer mattered.

Her trembling hands clasped together in desperate supplication.

But Raymond’s grip on her arm only tightened.

“A girl like you will keep causing trouble. And every time, our family will be dragged through the mud. As the eldest son, I won’t allow that.”

As she struggled to hold her ground, her shoes slipped off.

Barefoot, Serine was dragged out like a dog.

No one showed themselves.

Not her mother. Not Enrique. Not her sister-in-law…

Ah—Suzanna did.

From a small room beside the staircase, Suzanna peeked out.

“Goodbye, sister.”

She mouthed the words sweetly, blowing her a kiss.

Her expression had never looked so refreshed.

***

The Shepherd Monastery had originally been established to reform prostitutes. But over time, it had become something else entirely, now it was closer to a prison.

People discarded women they no longer wanted here. Just as Raymond had once dragged Serine here to frighten her.

The first time Serine had visited, it had been during the hour of “stair penance.”

Women with their heads shaved close were lined up, dressed in bound habits, climbing the stone steps on their knees.

Their emaciated knees were covered in blackened scabs—some so severe the flesh had begun to rot. Yet they continued to crawl up and down the stairs, groaning like beasts.

If anyone so much as paused, the large-built nuns would lash out mercilessly, their faces twisted and harsh.

It was less like disciplining humans and more like herding a pack of animals.

“If you don’t want to end up like them, you’d better behave.”

At Raymond’s harsh warning, she had nodded again and again, her teeth chattering.

Even after returning home, the bloodstained stairs of the Shepherd Monastery haunted her like a nightmare, becoming the root of her deepest fear.

She had been so careful—so very careful.

And yet, in the end, she had returned here.

“Welcome to the Shepherd Monastery.”

“We’ll cleanse you of the sins you’ve committed in the mortal world. Thoroughly.”

The nuns shoved and pulled at her, dragging her deeper into the monastery.

From this moment on, Serine would be confined here—alongside the mad, the prostitutes, and those who had committed terrible crimes.

For the rest of her life.

Until the day she died.