“Don’t act so pathetic, Linna.”

Anais sipped her tea with a straight posture as she spoke.

“I’m tired of being disappointed in you.”

“I’m sorry...”

“I hope I’ll hear better news next time.”

Anais’s eyes glinted coldly.

“You know very well who’s to blame for me being stuck in this godforsaken place all my life, don’t you?”

“Yes...”

This wasn’t the scene I had expected.

To be honest, I thought Anais would plead with Linna, trying to appeal to emotion.

Something like, ‘You need to obey the Temple for your poor mother to get treatment,’—I expected her to manipulate Linna that way.

Apparently, so did Yuta and Julian. No one knew how Anais really behaved at the Idra villa.

But this? This felt like the roles were completely reversed.

I understood the situation immediately.

“She got sick after giving birth to me... that’s why she ended up in a place like this...”

She was using guilt to manipulate Linna, blaming her declining health on childbirth.

“I know. I’m pathetic. I never deserved to be loved. I should’ve done better... but I just couldn’t...”

She was even using love as bait to scold Linna into obeying the Temple.

She’s worse than I thought.

I rolled my eyes, thinking objectively.

Pissing her off enough to get locked in the attic might be way easier than I thought. Just a few well-placed words...

That’s when Linna slowly lifted her head and said,

“But Mother, I... I’m really trying to get my act together. There’s someone I want to protect now.”

Anais paused mid-sip, her brows furrowing slightly.

“You heard about it, right? This is Heidi, she’s my maid now...”

Linna’s eyes sparkled as she brightly began explaining.

She went on about how I had looked after her on the Entoho, how I stood by her in a tough situation, and what it had all meant to her.

Anais listened with bored indifference until her tone suddenly turned cold.

“Celia.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Since when did we start hiring servants so carelessly?”

“Well...”

Celia hesitated, and Linna spoke desperately.

“Mother, please allow it. For pathetic me.”

Her voice began to tremble.

“You always said, didn’t you? That those born with noble blood must protect what’s dear to them... I want to protect Heidi. And the baby. Thinking that makes me feel stronger, somehow.”

“...Baby?”

Anais set her teacup down with a distinct click and glared at me.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Before I could answer, Celia quickly jumped in.

“This girl is pregnant with Prince Ray Lavendal’s child. That’s why I couldn’t handle it on my own.”

“...She’s bearing the Lavendal Duke’s bastard child?”

Fury flashed in Anais’s pale blue eyes, so sharply it made even me instinctively shrink back.

Wait—why is she this mad? It’s not like she’s engaged to Ray Lavendal or anything!

The atmosphere turned in an instant. Linna, startled, widened her eyes.

“Mother!”

Then, in a trembling voice:

“C-Calling it a bastard isn’t fair... Prince Ray said he’d take responsibility!”

Even though she had said before that “that man would kill this baby without hesitation,” Linna was now backing Ray—clearly scared of her mother.

“If that’s the case, then this baby... has the noble bloodline you always talked ab—”

“Shut your mouth!”

Anais hurled her teacup.

“Noble blood? From some lowborn maid? What, noble?!”

“B-But...”

“Linna! You only ever say the most vile, disgusting things!”

“M-Mother, please calm down—”

“You’re taking the side of that lowly thing? Right in front of me? Who do you think you are?!”

She looked like she might slap Linna at any moment.

Even Celia was trembling, bowing deeply, her back hunched in fear.

What the hell is going on here...

I stared at Anais in disbelief as she suddenly flew into a rage.

Why is she flipping out over someone else’s kid? It’s not even hers!

None of it made sense. It felt like I’d been dropped into some badly written play.

But at least I figured one thing out.

There was a very effective way to piss Anais off.

“Madam, I’m sorry to say this, but this child does carry noble blood...”

As I opened my mouth, Celia stared at me with her mouth agape—like I was some lunatic.

“If Ray finds out later, he might lodge a formal complaint through the Lavendal family...”

I spoke slowly, with a tone of sincere concern.

“I personally don’t mind, but if it ends up putting Lady Linna in a difficult spot because of me, I’d feel truly sorry...”

Anais shrieked.

“How dare a maid speak out of turn?!”

“This is about me...”

I answered calmly, and Anais finally snapped and leapt to her feet.

“Celia!”

I still had no idea why she was this furious, but she was clearly losing it.

“Lock her up! I said lock her up! And don’t give her even a drop of water!”

“Madam!”

Celia cried out, startled.

“But... the Lavendal Duchy might get involved—”

“I don’t care! Just do it!”

Anais shouted, her eyes wild.

“Linna, you get out too! I can’t stand to look at you!”

Celia let out a long sigh, clearly seeing it was impossible to reason with her at the moment. Then she gestured to the guards outside «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the room.

The guards immediately started dragging me away.

Hmm.

As we headed toward the attic, I quietly thought to myself,

That... worked out way easier than I expected. Is this for real?

The situation was so different from what I’d imagined that I was honestly a little thrown.

Well... I’ll figure out the details soon enough.

In any case, I achieved my goal: I got locked in the attic just five minutes after meeting Anais.

* * *

Ray was currently posing as a fisherman near the large lake just in front of the villa.

The sun was beginning to set, casting the lake in a beautiful crimson hue.

What even...

Days had passed, but the spot where Linna hit him still throbbed. He hadn’t even been able to defend himself.

“Athena.”

Ray grumbled to the Divine Beast perched on his arm, who tilted her head at him.

“That was the best you could do? Huh? Turn me into some lecherous creep?”

Naturally, Athena didn’t respond. Ray sighed.

“If there was even a shred of a chance, I wouldn’t feel so bitter about it...”

He tapped the fishing rod and muttered.

He couldn’t forget the words of the old woman he’d met in an alley.

“Even if you confess, she’ll dump you right there. Just give it up. You won’t even stay friends. That girl’s ruthless. Let it go.”

He didn’t particularly believe in fortune-telling, but he knew the old woman was right.

Rosie was ruthless. She never gave him the slightest hope—her feelings were clearly reserved for Zahid.

Even on the Entoho.

She looked at him with nothing more than polite recognition, but her expression toward Zahid had clearly been one of affection.

“I know. I know all that...”

Ray let out a bitter laugh.

“But not even getting a chance to express it—it sucks, doesn’t it?”

Athena gently brushed her wings against his cheek, as if to comfort him.

“Don’t worry, Athena. I don’t make moves unless I know I won’t mess up. You know what kind of guy I am.”

Just then—

Athena flinched, her feathers bristling, and stared across the lake. Ray sensed something was off and fell silent.

“There’s a huge lake in front of the villa. Convenient, right? The Duchess’s room faces it for the view.”

Rosie’s instructions had been crystal clear.

“That means the lake reflects her room’s view. Normal people can’t see much, but Athena can. She’s the Water Divine Beast.”

And sure enough, Athena could roughly see what was going on in Anais’s room through the water’s reflection.

She couldn’t hear the sound, but she had seen Rosie get dragged away to the attic five minutes after arriving.

When Rosie said she’d provoke the Duchess and get herself locked up in the attic, Ray had thought, If it’s Rosie, that’s totally doable.

But he hadn’t expected her to pull it off in five minutes...

“Once I’m locked up, wait until the Duchess is alone with the head maid. Let me know.”

Apparently, that time had come.

Athena nodded toward Ray.