Let’s turn back time a little.

It was night, just as it was now.

By the time she’d settled the children in for the night, it was already late.

Only after Rosetti had confirmed that every child was sound asleep did the tension finally leave her. She let out a breath of relief.

Scattered stars shimmered like ripples on the distant horizon. As she strolled beneath the moon’s faint glow, Rosetti couldn’t deny that her feelings were complicated…

There were beastfolk causing trouble in the city. Under normal circumstances, with the war against the beastfolk raging, they should’ve been arrested and driven out at once. But those beastfolk were merchants with legitimate business licenses issued by the city…

Over the past hundred years, the seven races had clashed from time to time, more or less—but that didn’t mean they had no trade with one another.

On the contrary, the differences in their beliefs and the conflicts between them gave merchants plenty of opportunities to make a profit.

There was an unwritten rule shared across the world: you didn’t just go after merchants.

It was much like how envoys weren’t killed during a war between two armies. If other merchants heard that you were hostile to traders, none of them would dare do business with you again.

More importantly, the people in charge of managing the city’s merchants were Carnegie and his lot… With the beastfolk invading and Alice focused on driving them out, picking a fight with that group now…

…would only cause more trouble for no reason.

This was, in truth, a warning.

It was telling her that time was running out. If she wanted Lady Alice to truly take control of the city lord’s position as soon as possible, she had to make up her mind quickly…

For now, the only way was to learn even more powerful forbidden spells and eliminate the outside threats endangering the territory. Only then could she turn her attention to the threats within… That was the right path.

But…

“Why is that man doing all this…?”

Confusion.

Doubt.

Bewilderment.

Suspicion.

And, faintly… gratitude and relief she refused to admit to.

Lin Ge—a man who was uneducated, had no ambition, did nothing but slack off, and used his looks to swindle people… No matter how much time passed, he could never be worthy of Alice. As the person who’d opposed their engagement most fiercely from the very beginning, Rosetti would never acknowledge him. No matter what.

Even if she was now his wife in name, that would never change… But why, then, did she find herself thinking he might not be so bad after all?

Was it because he’d helped Meimei and the others?

Well, just considering that, he did have a conscience and a bit of courage… But that was nowhere near enough to make Rosetti admit he was worthy of Alice.

But whenever she thought of that infuriating face, or heard that cheeky “Wifey” in her ears… she felt so awkward inside. And now that she thought about it, maybe he hadn’t annoyed her quite as much as he had at the time…

What was this feeling…?

Beneath the moonlight, she stopped pacing in front of the large water jar. She gazed at her reflection in the water, raised a hand beneath her hood, and gently touched her own… ear…

Then pinched it.

“Why?!”

Splash—

The impact shattered her reflection, sending ripples across the water. Her bangs fell over her eyes, hiding their dark, cloudy gaze. Droplets splashed onto her pale, delicate cheeks, then trickled down and fell into the water, which had grown murky too…

Sure enough, no matter how much time passed or how many people accepted her, she still hated her own appearance…

A bitter, self-mocking smile tugged at her lips as she brushed aside her drooping golden bangs.

Whatever that man’s reasons for doing all this…

She could be grateful.

Whether or not she acknowledged him was another matter entirely.

Alice had set out today to fight the invading beastfolk army. Now that something like this had happened at the orphanage, Rosetti couldn’t just sit around and stick to the usual routine.

For the first time.

For the first time in history, she was about to disobey Alice’s orders…

She drew out the forbidden spell scroll she’d obtained by chance. She was determined to delve deeper into forbidden magic, to protect those she wanted to protect… Even if no one approved, this was the only way she could do it…

She swallowed, then reached toward a forbidden spell one level higher than her own.

There was no turning back. This was a path into an abyss from which there was no return.

But…

“Aah!!!!”

Rosetti: ?!

“Meimei.”

A sudden scream tore through the silence of the night.

Rosetti rushed into the house in a panic. In the pitch-black darkness, she saw Akya, the youngest girl in the house, being held by three hulking, masked men. The other children, with Meimei at their head, were huddled together in a corner, sobbing and crying inconsolably.

When he saw Rosetti arrive, the man at the head didn’t hesitate or linger. He immediately signaled to his companions to retreat.

“Stop!”

Rosetti didn’t have time to wonder how they’d slipped right under her nose. She quickly pulled her staff from behind her robe and summoned ice shards in an instant, trying to stop them from escaping.

But the moment the ice shards shot out, it was as if the leader had already anticipated Rosetti’s next move. Two men beside him—one tall, one thin—each drew an unfamiliar boomerang and hurled it at Rosetti with blinding speed.

Rosetti cried out inwardly, ‘Oh no!’ She hurriedly canceled her spell and raised her staff to block.

At the last possible moment, she managed to block them—barely.

But before she could react, the two men from earlier were already right beside her.

Then one of them punched her without mercy.

“Urk.”

Rosetti lost her footing and was sent flying.

But just before she was hit, she’d still managed to release the spell she’d been preparing. One ice shard struck a man squarely in the shoulder; the other grazed his cheek and pierced the mask covering his face…

Revealing a pair of ears that weren’t human.

“Beastfolk?! What are you doing here?”

With their fluffy dog ears and turbans like the stereotypical ones worn by Indian men, there was no mistaking the men standing in the night for beastfolk—the strongest of the seven races when it came to physical ability.

“Tch. Bunch of useless idiots.”

Seeing that his companions’ identities had been exposed, the leader, who was holding the little girl, clenched his teeth in fury and shouted at the two men:

“Don’t let her get away! Take that woman out!”

“Understood.”

After giving the order, the leader took the little girl and fled.

“Stop!”

Ignoring the pain in her body, Rosetti hurried after him.

“Heh. Where do you think you’re going, mother monkey?”

The two accomplices blocked Rosetti, boomerangs in hand—the same ones they’d used to ambush her earlier.

Rosetti bared her teeth in frustration.

She was a mage, while her opponents were trained warriors.

In terms of sheer destructive power, warriors couldn’t match mages. But that only mattered if both sides could actually get their attacks off. In a one-on-one fight, a mage had little chance against a warrior unless they were at least seventh level and had learned to cast without chanting.

And these opponents were beastfolk, with the strongest physical abilities of all. On top of that, she had to protect Meimei and the others. If Rosetti were alone, she might still have a chance of winning—but now…

“Meimei!”

“?!”

“Meimei!”

The children’s heart-wrenching screams rang out once more. Out of nowhere, another beastfolk man had taken Meimei hostage…