Marina first dabbled in black magic when young Franz fell ill with a fever. After giving birth to the child in secret to avoid the Empress’s eyes and hiding until the child grew up to a certain extent, Marina boldly brought Franz to the imperial palace when he turned thirteen.

Despite facing everyone’s glares, she persevered in making the child a prince and starting life in the imperial family. However, perhaps due to the hardship of being treated as an outsider in an unfamiliar place, Franz fell seriously ill with a fever. No matter what good medicine they tried, Franz’s condition did not improve.

When the doctor said they needed to prepare themselves in case the fever did not break, Marina, half out of her mind, searched for everything she could do. At the end of those efforts, she dipped her feet into black magic.

After resorting to the forbidden and seeing problems that could not be solved no matter what suddenly resolve themselves, she completely changed.

If there was an easy way to obtain something, why take the long way around? That was her argument. Continuing to engage in the forbidden for over a decade, Marina ultimately had to pay a heavy price.

Black magic originated from evil desires to harm others through curses, so the spell would rebound on the caster to the same degree. Unaware of this, whenever Marina wanted something, she poured her whole heart into black magic. Bigger and more wicked each time.

Her desires grew increasingly malicious and the level of sorcery rose higher and higher. From a certain point, simply chanting spells and offering animal blood was no longer enough for the black magic to work.

With each additional spell, the black magic required greater sacrifices. Increasing the size of the sacrifices from small animals to large animals and even bigger livestock, Marina realized that animals were no longer sufficient as offerings.

She should have stopped there. However, having already crossed the point of no return, she committed an act that should never have been done.

Her current horrifying appearance was the price paid for that.

“Lady Marina, Isaac has arrived from the capital.”

The door opened and a large man rushed in to inform Marina of the arrival of someone named Isaac. Marina’s face, which had been outraged at the reason for opening the curtains to reveal her appearance, quickly brightened.

“Isaac!”

“I pay my respects to you, Lady Marina.”

A short-statured man appeared in full armor. Marina seemed to want to run to him, smiling brightly and moving her legs, but her body would not listen. As she was about to collapse after taking just one step, Garcia quickly supported her.

Isaac was a viscount Marina had planted when leaving the capital. His main job was to gather all the rumors and news from the capital and report to Marina once or twice a month.

“Lady Marina, there are things you must know, so I came.”

“Yes, Isaac. Quickly report on the past month’s events.”

Garcia’s sighs continued endlessly. After glancing at Marina’s back, not even looking at him as she listened to Isaac’s words, he closed the curtains he had opened.

The room was plunged into darkness once more. Just like Marina, who had fallen into black magic.

“What, is that really true?”

Soon after, Marina’s cackling laughter filled the room.

“Carl had a child?”

The moment the word ‘child’ left Marina’s mouth, Garcia stiffened his face. It felt like every hair on his body was standing on end.

Child. A word that should never have come from her mouth.

“Oh, God. You have not abandoned me yet. Indeed, God is on my side!”

And for a long time, a ripping laughter echoed through the residence.

Layla received word that the Receptus tea leaves had arrived. She had ordered them months ago and forgotten about them since they were hard to obtain due to their popularity. Without a second thought, Layla immediately got in the carriage and rushed out.

It was a bit late to be going out, but if she waited until tomorrow morning, others might have taken them all. When it came to Lady Pulcheria, Layla spared no effort.

“You’re the first one I contacted. You know how much the noble ladies are seeking Receptus these days, right?”

Mrs. Nito, the owner of the tea house, greeted Layla with a smile. There were many tea houses in central Rahat, but few places handled such rare tea leaves. Layla beamed a smile.

“Yes, of course. I’m always grateful.”

“You’re getting them for Lady Pulcheria this time too?”

“Yes. The lady really enjoys the aroma of Receptus tea. She says it puts her mind at ease.”

“That’s right. Receptus is especially excellent for healing and relaxation.”

“It really seems to be. She brews and drinks it every single day, so the amount I took last time is already gone.”

“Has the lady also seen the effects?”

“Of course. She says she has much more energy.”

A brief exchange of greetings was followed by compliments toward each other. However, given the late hour, they couldn’t talk for long. Layla purchased the necessary amount of tea leaves, expressed her gratitude once more, and left the store.

“Where did the carriage go?”

While she was in the tea house, she had asked the coachman to go to the pharmacy and bring back necessary items. He must not have finished his errand yet as the carriage was nowhere to be seen. Layla searched her memory and headed towards the pharmacy.

This was the first time she had come to the square when it was this dark. Layla became tense for no reason and carefully scanned her surroundings.

She had a good reason to be on guard. Once you left the square, you immediately entered the slums, a very dangerous place for a young woman like her to go, even with a coachman.

Having always ridden in a carriage, the streets felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

“I think this is the right place, or maybe not?”

Layla hugged the tea leaves in her bosom tightly. The alleys all looked similar, making it hard to distinguish one from another.

This path seemed like one she had been on, but that one didn’t. The feeling of seeing the streets while riding in a carriage was quite different from walking them directly.

“I should have just waited quietly in front of the store…”

She should not have refused Mrs. Nito’s invitation to have a cup of tea before leaving. As Layla circled around searching for the carriage, her face quickly turned sullen.

She had planned to just buy what she ordered and come right out, so she didn’t have a single lamp with her. She had left them all in the carriage. What to do now? Layla fidgeted.

She didn’t know where she was. Relying solely on memory, taking one step at a time, Layla realized at a dead end that she was lost.

She turned back, thinking to retrace her steps, but walking further, this wasn’t the way back but a new path.

“What should I do? I don’t know.”

It had gotten too dark. The path grew narrower and strange smells began to emerge. It seemed she had entered the dreaded slums. Rats scurried on the rough, unpaved bumpy ground.

Should she grab anyone and ask for directions? But there was no one on the streets either.

Looking around the dark alleys, Layla heaved a deep sigh. Whenever enthusiasm was excessive, it invited trouble.

Lady Pulcheria always told her, who moved without hesitation when it came to matters related to Pulcheria, that she needed to know how to control and restrain herself.

If you were too eager, even things that were going well could fail. This was exactly that case.

Now even if the carriage returned to the tea house, she couldn’t ride it. How would she get back?

As she racked her brain, there was a presence in the distance. Startled, Layla instinctively hid her body behind a stone wall.

In that state, she peeked out to examine where the sound came from. It was hard to see clearly in the dark, but it seemed to be a group of men.

The men, who wore black clothes pulled over their heads making it hard to discern them in the already dark surroundings, were more than a few. Even from a distance, there appeared to be at least six or seven of them.

Should she ask them for help? Or would it be better to just stay quiet?

As she pondered whether they were dangerous people or not, the men approached. Eek, Layla retracted her protruding head back inside the wall.

As the sound of footsteps drew nearer, the men passed in front of her. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to notice Layla.

Just as she was catching her startled breath, she unintentionally glanced at the side profile of the man in the middle of the passing group and was shocked.