56.

‘How much money did they take? Those rotten temple bastards!’

Petra felt as if she were standing before an insurmountable wall. No matter how much money she handed over, the temple remained unmoved.

At some point, whether due to McFoy’s influence or not, no cleric from the temple would meet with Morfolk’s side. The money Morfolk offered was just a pittance to them.

Meanwhile, her belly was beginning to swell. Time was running out. Once her pregnancy became noticeable, she would have no choice but to hide.

‘But if I suddenly disappear, McFoy will surely become suspicious…’

Blood finally oozed from her thumb, but she kept repeating to herself that it was okay.

Petra first learned Sonnet’s secret when Sonnet began borrowing money from her. She hated her sister, who shamelessly came to her for money after they had cut ties for so long. Petra wanted to slap her and drive her away.

At that moment, Sonnet, discarding all noble pretenses, clung to Petra’s skirt, saying she wanted to help the women of Pensa.

This was unexpected.

Petra had always despised her sister, who had been cowardly and foolish since childhood. She hated Sonnet for not resisting their father, the head of the Pensa family, and marrying an old man without protest.

But now, Sonnet was doing something so daring.

In the end, Petra started sending money to Sonnet Kruger, albeit reluctantly. She thought she could deny everything if caught, claiming she was just supporting her estranged sister’s living expenses.

Or perhaps she remembered how desperate she had been to the point of almost giving up her noble status.

‘So Sonnet and those women should help me. The moment I funded them, we were all in the same boat. We live and die together, whether we like it or not.’

Whether she tried to bribe or torture them, Sonnet would never reveal Petra’s secrets. The same went for the women Sonnet cared for.

‘If I get caught, they will eventually be exposed too.’

No one would willingly reveal a deadly secret that would make them a target of a witch hunt.

So Petra comforted herself by thinking that if she stalled for time and nothing else worked, she could hide among those women and wait for the drawn-out temple trial.

* * *

“My lady is the only daughter of a small merchant lord from the East. She came all this way without any escort to see you. Please, at least listen to her story, I beg you.”

How did things come to this… Sonnet tightly closed her eyes.

“Please, I beg you. Just see my lady once. She’s only eighteen, just had her coming-of-age ceremony. She cries every day because of that bastard… Just once, please see her.”

The young maid, covered in tears, clung to Sonnet’s skirt, pleading for her even younger lady to be seen.

The young maid claimed she was from Pensa and had heard Sonnet’s secret from a relative. When a stranger from out of town suddenly approached Sonnet, asking for ‘that service’, she was so shocked she almost fainted.

It made sense because, about three months ago, Sosya—no, Petra—had demanded she come to the capital herself instead of sending the old maid who usually collected the money. Using the secret codes they used as children in her letter, Petra made it clear something significant was happening.

With a small heart, Sonnet traveled to the capital, clutching her chest. Waiting there was a bombshell beyond her imagination.

‘Isn’t the young lord of Morfolk the fiancé of that McFoy head?’

Even though she was from a struggling noble family in a rural area, Sonnet knew the story of the young head of McFoy.

A young woman, a disgraceful noble who sold people, a witch from the West riding a black carriage. They said the head of the McFoy family was larger than a male mercenary and cruel by nature.

The Empire was sensitive about illegitimate children, especially among the nobility.

Would the head of the McFoy family leave his betraying fiancé and her lover, and their unborn child, alone?

‘In any case, I helped Petra, so my and my daughter’s safety…’

Though she started this illegal midwife work impulsively, Sonnet was fundamentally a coward.

Petra grabbed Sonnet’s trembling hand with a stern face. She said they had been in the same boat for a long time now and there was no need to fear, as the head of the McFoy family was surely dead.

At her words, Sonnet could only nod dumbly, just as she had when her father, the head of the Pensa family, had forced her to marry an old man years ago.

Her beautiful younger sister had left home, refusing to marry an old man, and had stood on her own, but Sonnet had lacked such courage.

In reality, she couldn’t even conceive of the possibility of having other choices. She had been taught obedience all her life. Thus, she obediently married the man who was more like a corpse, as her father had demanded.

After the marriage, her old husband died within a year. Not long after, Sonnet discovered she was pregnant.

Of course, it was not the old man’s child. Like many other nobles who abhorred scandals but indulged in infidelities, Sonnet had also strayed.

Horrified by her corpse-like husband, she had impulsively spent a night with a stranger she met at a secret masquerade, using the excuse of being drunk.

It was her first and only act of rebellion, and unfortunately, the consequences were dire.

Sonnet realized she was pregnant on her own. Although weak, she possessed holy power, allowing her to sense it. Her unique ability to deal with life was rare, even though her holy power was minimal.

Usually, affluent nobles or those with significant holy power held their coming-of-age ceremonies at the Great Temple, but anyone with holy power had to do so there.

However, the head of the Pensa family, buried under mounting debts, planned to marry Sonnet off without a dowry. He considered her minimal holy power worthless and disregarded it, pushing her into marriage at a young age.

The reason there was no record of Sonnet having holy power was because of something as trivial as this.

Realizing she was pregnant from that night’s mistake, Sonnet kept it a secret. However, when her belly began to swell after her husband’s death, the Kruger family naturally became suspicious.

Sonnet held on because otherwise, she might have been stoned to death.

Fortunately, the child born resembled Sonnet, and the Kruger family covered up the fact that the young widow had given birth to an illegitimate child.

In a world that used holy power to solve most things but had no proper contraceptive methods, ironically, it had developed ways to identify legitimate children by persecuting illegitimate ones.

The Kruger family did not take the child to the temple for a paternity test purely to avoid family disgrace. Thus, Sonnet and her child were sent back to her original home in Pensa, almost as if they were being chased away.

Another fortunate thing was that her father, the head of the Pensa family, had died in the meantime, and a distant cousin had taken over the family. Sonnet was given a small house in a corner of the estate by her cousin, allowing her to live as if she were dead.

“Stop ‘that work’ for now to avoid any rumors.”

Petra, having already made all the decisions on her own, said this. Her eyes gleamed with greed. Sonnet, having no other choice, decided to lay low as her sister instructed.

She was terrified of getting caught doing illegal midwife work, and the news of the McFoy head’s return alive had made her sleepless with fear. Thus, she had to reject the tearful plea of this young girl.

But seeing the girl weep and beg for help reminded her of the time she had trembled with fear and cried every day. She remembered trying desperately to find a way to abort her child herself, clutching at straws…

Thinking about her own young daughter, who was now everything to her, made her heart even more conflicted. After quickly surveying her surroundings, Sonnet looked down at the girl again and let out a long sigh.

“I will only check the condition. That’s all I can do for you.”

With a face that clearly showed her anxiety, Sonnet followed the small girl.

After walking for some time, she saw a carriage parked in a deserted area, just as the girl had described. The carriage, although of a common design, was of such fine craftsmanship that it looked extremely luxurious at a glance.

‘They say she’s the daughter of a small merchant from the East, but it seems quite large… This is a carriage even most nobles can’t afford.’

As she got closer to the carriage, Sonnet felt an inexplicable urge to flee. She had a dreadful feeling that something terrifying would happen once the sturdy-looking carriage door opened.

But Sonnet was indecisive, and it was too late to turn back now. The young girl, who had guided her, stood by the carriage door and bowed deeply. Immediately, the carriage door swung open.

The sudden sound startled Sonnet, making her shoulders flinch. When she finally lifted her gaze and looked inside the carriage, her heart started pounding like that of a prey facing its predator.

Strangely, the inside of the carriage was pitch black. The peculiar interior reminded her of the infamous ‘McFoy head’ she had heard about in rumors.

‘The witch from the West who rides in a black carriage.’

Inside the carriage sat two figures with translucent veils over their faces. Judging by their dresses and builds, both appeared to be women. On the lap of the woman sitting by the window, a small, dark creature lay curled up.

No way, no way, no way.

Cold sweat trickled down Sonnet’s back.

Just then, the woman leaning her head against the window frame moved her gloved hand. With a languid gesture, she lifted the veil, revealing a pale face and purple eyes.

The woman looked young but exuded the noble dignity and imposing aura typical of the aristocracy.

“They say the witch of McFoy has purple eyes.”

“Aah…”

Sonnet let out a groan, like someone being strangled. Feeling like prey, she couldn’t move a muscle.

“I’ve found you.”

The pale and delicate woman spoke ominously and clearly, her words directed at Sonnet, whose pupils had begun to tremble like an earthquake. Her lips curved into a crooked smile, and her fierce purple eyes narrowed with malice.

The woman’s smile was so sinister and filled with malevolence that the small creature on her lap bared its teeth with a snarl.

Sonnet screamed instinctively.

* * *

“Tch, it seems the head of McFoy plans to arrive the latest again today!”

Someone grumbled amidst the bustling atmosphere just before the opening of the conference.

In the Empire, the Grand Conference was the most prestigious noble assembly held every two years. Only families as old as the McFoys or the Diazis, or those with enough power to discuss the national treasury, could attend.

In short, it was a biennial gathering where noble families fought tooth and nail for the benefit of their houses and territories. It was a brutal fight among the highborn, a battle of whales that required mediation. Hence, the Emperor or the Emperor’s representative always attended as a mediator.

In this heated brawl, the one who spoke the most was also the head of McFoy, and the one who often raised their voice first was likely the head of McFoy. Naturally, the one who managed to secure the most benefits by the end was usually the head of McFoy as well.

“That arrogant woman, as always.”

Chanza, the southern landowner attending the conference for the first time in four years, shivered with disdain as he looked at the empty seat of the McFoy head.

Four years ago, he had skipped the previous conference after receiving a scathing insult from the head of McFoy, who had told him, “Have you lost your intellect along with your hair? If you’re going to answer with that empty head, you might as well keep your mouth shut.”

“Well, maybe she’s too embarrassed to show up because of ‘that incident.'”

Someone remarked with a suggestive tone. The comment brought a moment of silence, followed by uproarious laughter. It was the laughter of those who relished in her presumed downfall.