Surely Only Good Things
"There won't be any side effects, will there?"
From the basement of a sparsely peopled tavern, an authoritative, silken voice drifted through the dark. Between the folds of a hood, brilliant golden hair caught what little light there was, and crimson eyes gleamed with a predatory light.
The woman sat with her legs crossed in elegant composure. Before her, a bald man lay flat against the floor, forehead pressed to the stone in abject supplication.
"Yes. It has passed countless human trials."
"Truly? If by any chance my Tina shows so much as a hint of addiction, your life alone will not be payment enough."
"You need not worry. Only pure ingredients were used—there is absolutely nothing harmful to the body."
At the woman's voice the man fawned and offered up a small vial. She regarded the drug for a long moment, then, with a satisfied smile, tossed a heavy coin purse to the ground. It landed with a solid thud, stuffed full of gleaming gold. The man dropped to his knees at once and cradled the purse as if it were sacred.
"Naturally, no one else knows of this?"
"You need not worry. I have not so much as opened my mouth to a single soul."
"So that means no one knows?"
At her question the man squared his shoulders with swaggering confidence and answered at full volume.
"Yes! That is correct!"
"A lie."
"Pardon?"
The bald man blinked blankly for a moment. The woman's crimson lips curved into a crescent, and one slender, elegant finger pointed straight at him.
"Here we are. Someone who knows."
"M-Mardian-nim…"
The meaning struck him like a blow. His eyes began to shake as if the ground itself were quaking. He slammed his forehead to the floor and begged her with desperate, broken pleas—but no matter how fervently he cried out, the venom in her gaze showed not the slightest sign of thinning.
"Thank you for the medicine. Thanks to you, I'll be able to treat Tina's trauma."
"A-Actually—that medicine has a fatal side effect! I held my tongue for my own safety, but if she takes it—"
"Pfft. Nice try."
He reversed himself in a frantic scramble for any path to survival, but her crimson eyes held only a cold, contemptuous sneer, as if she found the whole performance faintly amusing.
"Even if there are side effects, it's fine. Even if Tina becomes a cripple, I can raise her with love for the rest of her life."
"P-Please…"
The woman rose from her seat with aristocratic grace and walked past him. Without a glance, without a trace, she vanished alone into the dark.
And presently, through the doorway she had left behind, hooded figures filed in. Their shadows lengthened across the bald man, swallowing him piece by piece. With hollow eyes, he could only whisper a final will into the empty air.
"Damn… nobles…"
Shhk—
Despite the sickening sound, the woman smiled without the slightest tremor, gazing down at the small vial in her hand. A soft radiance stirred in her eyes.
"Ah, Tina. Just wait a little longer."
My Tina. I never imagined you carried such a wound from childhood. To be violated by your own father—if that bastard were still alive, I would have flayed every scrap of flesh from his bones. What a pity.
How hard it must have been all this time.
But don't worry anymore. Unnie will gift you a pleasure the likes of which you've never known. Pleasure so fierce you'll forget that damned rapist ever existed. When that time comes, you'll spend every night enjoying it together with me.
Only then will you truly become my pet.
For life.
"Hehe…"
The woman's crimson gaze, steeped in blood-red light, shone like that of a true villainess.
It was a fresh morning. The sun shone warm, and a soft breeze set the leaves whispering. At a tea party spread across the center of a broad garden, young ladies sat in little clusters, laughter blooming as conversation flowed.
Amid the cheerful chatter, Shari-one fixed me with a distinctly sulky look.
"Tina. Don't you have something to say to us?"
"Pardon? Something like what?"
"Next month is your birthday. Why haven't you sent any of us an invitation?"
"Ah—how did you know about that…?"
"Don't underestimate the gossip of high society, Tina."
In truth, I was not entirely surprised she knew. I had deliberately let the information slip myself. Still, I cast my eyes down as if crestfallen and murmured in a small, timid voice.
"…Our family doesn't have much money. Even if I held a party, it would only be a shabby little affair, so I wasn't going to bother."
"What sort of nonsense is that, Tina!"
Shari-one's face twisted as if she were genuinely angry, her voice rising. Those brilliant blue eyes held me for a long moment; then she let out a short sigh and pulled me into a firm embrace.
"Does the venue matter? Tina, you are our pet. Of course we must go and celebrate with you. You will hold that party—this is an order from your master."
"But… I couldn't possibly invite young ladies as distinguished as yourselves to such a wretched place."
Some of them rushed to persuade me that it wasn't so; others seemed to take my words at face value and nodded along. Among them, Shari-one stroked my hair with a gentle hand and offered comfort.
"It's all right. Because you are so lovely."
Warmed by her encouragement, I carefully lifted my gaze to the young ladies surrounding me and spoke—careful not to sound too eager, and not too meek either.
"Then… may I send you invitations? I would like to spend my birthday with my masters as well."
At my words the young ladies bit their lips lightly, then—as if they simply could not hold back—threw their arms around me all at once.
"Of course! Whatever else I miss, I will absolutely be there!"
"Hehe. There's an outfit I've been wanting to dress Tina in for the longest time—this is the perfect chance to gift it to you. You'll wear it for me, won't you?"
"You needn't prepare any refreshments yourself. Tina is poor, after all—we'll bring everything from our own tea shop!"
Among the young ladies cooing over me with moon-curved smiles, not a single negative word was spoken. Whether the others I invited would come remained to be seen—but at least everyone present here seemed certain to attend.
What followed was simple enough. Once the tea party ended and I returned home, I did exactly as they had said: I wrote out invitations one by one, by hand.
I wrote that my birthday was coming next month; that because our territory was poor the party would be nothing much to look at; and that I would be so happy if they came all the same. I sent letters without fail to Versha, Shari-one, Mardian, and every other young lady who doted on me.
I did not expect them all to come. To them I was merely a pet they found adorable—there would not be many willing to set aside their personal time for my sake.
But that hardly mattered. If even those three alone attended, it would be success enough. Most of the expensive gifts I had received had come from those three, after all.
And if they came, other young ladies would surely follow. In high society, few figures commanded influence to match theirs.
"Ah—there is one more, actually."
Beneath the soft moonlight, I recalled a piano performance I had rather enjoyed. I had briefly considered whether I ought to send a letter to Viviana as well.
I had stayed the night at her estate once, and though brief, we had left behind a connection of some meaning. Inviting her to a birthday party would not have been strange.
But in the end, I would not send one. I had felt it clearly before: Viviana was not someone I could handle. If Mardian was a fox, Viviana was a tiger.
Better to keep carefully to our separate paths than to drag her in and risk something I could not predict. And from her side, she would hardly care about my birthday party anyway. It had been more than three months since we last met—she probably did not even remember my name. Viviana was not the sort to form deep attachments to others.
I sighed as I looked at the mountain of invitations. I would have to deliver each one to the young ladies' estates. The Bland family kept no private messengers of its own, so I would have to go somewhere like the monastery and post the letters myself.
With everything prepared, I gathered the envelopes to my chest and rose from my seat—only for a sudden, coppery pain to lance through me. I let out a short groan and sat right back down.
I clung to the chair for a long while, groaning through it, and only when the pain finally began to ease did I scrunch up my face and mutter,
"Haaah… periods are the worst…"
From what I had roughly gathered, this was the body's way of expelling an unfertilized egg. I was never going to get pregnant anyway—so why did I have to suffer through this? If I had to endure this agony every single month, I would have torn out the whole egg-producing apparatus on the spot, if only I could.
With a short grumble I popped one of the chocolates Mother had given me into my mouth. The sweetness, thick with her affection, spread across my tongue, and the throbbing pain gradually subsided.
I gave my own cheeks a couple of firm pats and steeled myself again. There was no time to dawdle. Posting the letters alone would take the entire day. I fixed a bright smile on my lips and trotted out of the room.
Invitations held close, I stepped outside—and the air felt cold against my skin. Even so, any number of desires had already taken root in my heart.
My birthday was coming.
Surely it would be full of only good things.
Well… honestly…
As long as the money luck held, that would be enough.
Hehe.