The old woman smugly continued speaking right away.

"Alright, young man first. Three cards."

"Ah, yes."

Even now, Ray smiled kindly and picked three cards in order from the center.

"Oh dear."

The old woman laid out the three cards with a rattle, then let out a gleeful laugh.

"Hmm, your first love was quite a while ago. You were attracted because she was so different from yourself, huh? Wow, this is some serious self-loathing."

The old woman stared at Ray with a face full of amusement.

"My, my, so talented, yet what a rotten personality you’ve got. And despite that, you thoroughly despise anyone similar to yourself."

Ray blinked without saying anything, and the old woman kept talking.

"But even if you confess, you'll get rejected right on the spot. Just give up."

She shook her head with a sigh.

"You won’t even be able to stay friends. That woman’s ruthless. Just let it go."

"But still..."

"No matter what you do, it won’t work. It’s sad, but she’ll cut off contact altogether, saying it’s for your own good."

"But even so..."

"Don’t even show it. She's quick-witted and not easy to deal with."

"But even then..."

"In her heart, there’s only one man. No one in this world can replace him."

While Ray kept trying to say something, the old woman cut him off mercilessly. Meanwhile, I wasn’t even paying attention because I didn’t believe in this kind of fortune-telling in the first place.

I was still bothered by how strangely the flames had behaved earlier.

But Zahid should still be locked up in the Temple prison, right? Everyone said he wouldn’t get out for at least a month...

I was tilting my head in thought when the old woman turned to me.

"Alright, young lady."

"......"

"Young lady! Snap out of it! We’re done here!"

"Ah."

I only came to my senses after the old woman shouted.

"Ah, me? It’s my turn?"

"Yeah, young lady. Pick three cards."

Since I’d been thinking about Zahid the whole time, I just picked three random cards. This was nothing more than a way to kill time for me, anyway.

As soon as the old woman saw the three cards I picked, she frowned deeply.

"Uh..."

The boisterous energy she had just moments ago disappeared completely.

"Hmm..."

Why had her expression suddenly changed?

Ray and I instinctively focused.

"Your first love..."

The old woman frowned, glancing at me hesitantly.

Her face clearly said she regretted having to say this.

"...is already dead? Oh dear..."

My heart dropped heavily at the unexpected words.

The old woman clicked her tongue and muttered sorrowfully.

"My, my, how could you possibly forget? He died right in front of you, for your sake..."

My hands started to tremble, and I couldn’t control my expression at all.

The old woman’s sympathetic voice continued.

"Living while clutching such a terrible, vivid memory... must be unbearably hard."

The moment I met the deep gaze of the old woman, tears welled up instantly, like magic.

"But you have to forget it, young lady. Only by doing that can you truly live in the present. The past is the past."

I wanted to say something, but strangely, no words came out.

I moved my lips desperately, then finally just closed my mouth.

"...Let’s go."

Sensing my unusual expression, Ray pulled my arm gently.

"Come on. It’s almost time for the meeting. Okay?"

I couldn’t say anything and only nodded, my throat choked up.

Ray handed the old woman two gold coins and stood up quickly.

The old woman had been wearing a terribly sad expression, but the moment she saw the two gold coins, her eyes popped wide.

"My goodness! My goodness, my goodness! Two gold coins! Goodness gracious!"

She hurriedly stuffed the coins inside her clothes like a squirrel hiding food. Then she shouted after us:

"Young lady, since you paid so much, I'll tell you one more thing—your wishes will come true!"

Even in my dazed state, I turned my head to look back.

The old woman raised two fingers and shouted:

"Both of your heartfelt wishes will come true soon! Of course, I'm saying that because you gave me two gold coins..."

Mumbling as if to cover it up, she cradled the gold coins preciously and disappeared into the filthy alley in a flash.

* * *

After that.

I had no idea how I ended up meeting Linna with Ray. When I came to my senses, we were already in the best room at the Otaz Hotel.

At some point, Athena had joined Ray and was sitting perched on his arm.

"Heidi!"

Linna grabbed my hands tightly, panting for breath. Then she muttered with a sorrowful face:

"I knew you were a smart child with a story behind you, but to think it was something like this..."

In the meantime, Linna had become even thinner than she had been in my memory.

Still, her gaudy yet anxious clothing and the thick makeup covering half her face remained the same.

"The Water Prince? He’s nothing. Heidi, think carefully."

She leaned down and whispered into my ear.

"Just come to me instead. I’ll work so hard you’ll never even think about a man like that again."

While Linna spoke loudly enough for everyone around to hear, the skull necklace hanging from her neck clinked noisily.

"With that man’s shady personality, he might act like he’s going to marry you, then keep you hidden away forever as a secret lover."

"Milady... I told you already..."

I sighed heavily and replied.

"You are absolutely terrible at whispering, Milady..."

And Ray cleared his throat meaningfully, as if he had heard everything.

At that moment, the head maid interrupted from behind with a displeased expression.

"Milady, once again, I must say I find her background troubling."

From the look of it, she had been arguing with Linna the entire way here.

The head maid was a large-framed, sharp-looking middle-aged woman, with an obviously strict demeanor.

Ray looked at her with his blue eyes and asked softly:

"Are you questioning the identity that I vouched for?"

"N-no, that's not it, Young Master... But the Duke of Idra established a formal hiring procedure, and..."

Though her words and manner seemed polite, her content was anything but. She was making it clear that even a Young Master and a Lady's request would bow before the Duke’s authority.

Linna muttered, pressing ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ her forehead:

"My God, I can’t even hire a single maid as I please? Am I the Lady or are you?"

"I apologize."

Despite apologizing, the head maid didn’t back down at all.

"She could be a spy sent by the Water Duchy... Or if the Water Prince pulls out later, we would be left in a very difficult situation."

"That’s enough."

Ray frowned deeply and glared.

"How dare a mere head maid insult my honor..."

"Young Master, please stop. I'm fine."

I grabbed Ray’s arm, stepping forward.

The head maid wasn’t an idiot. If she were the type to back down just because Ray got angry, she wouldn’t have said those things in the first place.

Because the Duke of Idra is behind her. And behind him, the Temple.

I thought this as I tried to calm Ray with my expression.

If they're this meticulous about hiring a single servant... then there’s definitely something going on.

Seeing the head maid’s reaction, which went against common sense, only confirmed it.

I have to find a way to get hired, no matter what.

Just as I resolved to do whatever it took, Athena, who had been sitting on Ray’s arm, suddenly let out a loud cry and flew into the air.

"UWAAAHHH!"

"I’ll fix this!"

Ray’s eyes widened — it was probably his first time seeing Athena cry.

So owls really do cry like that! How interesting.

I barely had time to marvel at the new knowledge when Athena suddenly wrapped her wings around my stomach.

Huh?

Blinking in confusion, I tried to process what was happening.

What is this?

Suddenly, Cashie, who had been in Linna’s arms, widened his eyes and jumped down.

Then he flopped onto his back and began pushing his paws against his belly, as if showing off a bulge.

What the hell is going on?

Both Ray and I were left speechless as Linna gaped.

"My goodness!"

Then she immediately raised her hand and slapped Ray’s cheek with a loud smack.

"You... YOU! You got Heidi pregnant?!"