“My Lady, please have some food—agh!”

Clang! Clang, clang…!

The prepared silver dishes were sent flying in a single swift motion, crashing onto the floor and scattering across the room, pieces of the untouched meal landing near the very feet of the one who had thrown them.

Seraphina stood over the mess, her golden eyes hollow yet filled with burning malice.

“Leave.”

The maids hesitated, fear tightening their movements as they exchanged frantic glances.

If they pushed her any further, she would lash out and hurt them.

Yet if they failed to do their basic duties, the Duke would not spare them either.

At that moment, another woman stepped into the room.

Unlike the others, her expression was perfectly composed. The phoenix brooch pinned neatly to her chest marked her authority as the Head Maid of the household.

Click. Click.

Her heels echoed sharply against the floor as she approached.

A faint and mocking sigh slipped from her lips as her gaze settled on the chaotic scene before her.

“Haa… my Lady…”

She stopped directly in front of Seraphina, meeting her gaze with a cold and mutual contempt.

“Throwing a tantrum like a child will not feed you.”

“Veri… leave.”

“I cannot.”

“I won’t be eating.”

“Haa… Lady Seraphina, you have not had a proper meal for the past month. The fact that you are still standing like this is already unnatural, so—”

Clang!

Seraphina’s foot lashed out again, kicking the scattered dishes and sending the remains of the food splattering even further across the floor.

“I said I won’t be eating!”

Veri lowered her gaze briefly to the mess before lifting it again, her expression completely unchanged.

“Haa… then I will have no choice but to report this directly to the Duke.”

Her eyes sharpened slightly as she leaned in.

“You do not wish to be slapped by him again, do you?”

At those words, Seraphina’s eyes widened with a sharp surge of volatile anger. The surrounding maids instinctively shrank back, bracing themselves for violence.

Yet Veri remained entirely unmoved, standing as if none of it concerned her. She knew Seraphina would not dare touch her.

After all, within this house, even a maid held more standing than an illegitimate daughter.

“Lady Seraphina,”

Veri said, her gaze dropping to the tightly clenched, trembling fists at the girl's sides.

“What exactly do you intend to do with those arms?”

A bitter scoff escaped her mouth.

“Do you plan to strike me?”

Seraphina did not answer, but the anger in her eyes spoke volumes.

A mere piece of vermin like her…

“Lady, you should already understand your position.”

Veri stepped forward and pressed a single finger against Seraphina’s forehead, pushing her back.

“You cannot lay a hand on anyone here. If you so much as touch a single strand of my hair…”

Veri leaned closer, her voice dropping into a chilling whisper.

“You will be beaten by the precious and capable Elder Sons, just as you always are.”

A thin, cruel smile curved along her lips.

“You do not want that, do you?”

“…You witch—”

Seraphina’s arm rose sharply, but before she could swing, the maids rushed forward in panic and restrained her, gripping her arms and pulling her backward.

“Let me go! Let me go, you vermin!”

She struggled violently against them, but her starving, weakened body betrayed her.

“Do whatever you must,” Veri said, turning away without a second glance. “Force her. Strike her if needed, I do not care, but make sure she eats. If she dies from starvation, it will become troublesome.”

The maids hesitated only briefly before obeying, brutally forcing Seraphina down onto the mattress.

Two restrained her arms while the others held her legs firmly in place, their grips tight.

They knew that under normal circumstances, they wouldn't be able to hold her down even if they tried, but her current weakness made her somewhat manageable.

One maid stepped forward with a filled spoon, but Seraphina jerked her head away immediately, refusing to open her mouth.

Another tried to pinch her jaw to force it open, only to recoil when Seraphina spat directly in her face.

“Ack—!”

The maid stumbled back, wiping her cheek in shock and disgust.

Veri watched the display with growing irritation, her professional composure thinning.

When she had heard that Seraphina had refused food since the Duke’s last punishment, she hadn't expected the resistance to be this severe.

This wasn't simple defiance. It bordered on madness.

‘Crude,’ she thought, her gaze narrowing at the pitiful sight.

Seeing that the maids were incapable of handling it, Veri stepped forward once more.

“You are making this unnecessarily difficult for everyone.”

Her eyes glinted with cruelty as she raised her hand high.

“Do not blame me for this.”

Her arm came down in a sharp, striking motion—

But before her palm could connect—

Everything stopped.

Hummmm—!

An overwhelming and terrifying pressure descended upon the room without a single shred of warning.

It wasn't something that could be visually seen, yet every person present felt it slam into their chests all at once.

A vicious bloodlust spread through the air, heavy and absolute, as if it were actively swallowing the whole room.

“Argh—!”

The maids instantly collapsed to their knees under the crushing force, unable to endure even a fraction of the pressure.

Veri stood completely frozen, her arm locked mid-air, her body entirely paralyzed by the unseen force that pressed down on her from all sides.

‘What… is this…?’

In that suffocating moment of terror, only one person managed to break through and think clearly.

Seraphina.

Her golden eyes widened as a realization struck her.

This presence…

It’s—

‘It’s coming from Papa’s office…!’

Her reaction was instantaneous.

She violently threw the paralyzed maids off her, grabbed her unsheathed sword without a second thought, and rushed out into the corridor.

Her bare feet struck hard against the cold floor as she sprinted at a speed no ordinary human could follow, completely ignoring the vast distance between her isolated annex and the primary residence.

‘I need to get there… Papa is not safe…!’

Even when the crushing bloodlust suddenly vanished halfway through her run, she did not slow down.

By the time she burst into the main estate, the elite guards stationed along the corridors were still staggered, visibly recovering from the sudden pressure.

“Lady Seraphina—”

They attempted to intercept her, but she ignored them completely, throwing her weight against the heavy doors of the Duke's office.

“Papa! Are you in there?!”

Her voice came out hoarse, raw, and desperate.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Papa, are you—”

Before she could finish her frantic pounding, the heavy door swung inward.

Her frantic gaze first landed on Harold, who appeared shaken by her appearance, before immediately shifting past his shoulder.

Her father sat there at his desk.

Alive.

A wave of relief surfaced briefly, but it was quickly replaced by a sharp and gnawing unease.

‘Who… or what was it…’

Her attention shifted to the unfamiliar figure seated directly across from the Duke.

A man.

His back was turned completely toward her.

Was it him?

Was he the source of that bloodlust?

Her gaze sharpened into a lethal glare.

‘Eliminate… I need to eliminate—’

Suddenly, she froze.

The figure slowly turned around.

It wasn't a grown man. It was a boy, roughly around her own age, with dark hair and remarkably pale skin. But none of those physical details truly registered.

Seraphina's eyes widened to their absolute limits.

Her hand rose instinctively, trembling as she covered her mouth.

Those eyes...!

His eyes.

They were blue.

The same shade of brilliant blue she had seen repeatedly in her dreams.

But more importantly—

They were the same eyes that had looked at her for an entire year in those visions.

The same eyes that had comforted her every single time.

The same eyes that looked directly at her without a single trace of fear, disgust, or contempt.

‘No… that’s not possible…’

A violent and chaotic swirl of emotions awakened deep within Seraphina's chest.

‘How was he…’

Feelings she didn't even know existed began to surface, fracturing her thoughts completely.

‘How was he here?’

Before she could process the shock, the boy stood up from his chair and began walking directly toward her.

She found herself entirely paralyzed, unable to move a single muscle.

He stopped a few paces in front of her and offered a polite and graceful bow.

His lips moved smoothly as he spoke.

‘He’s saying something…’

‘What is he saying…?’

Yet, she heard absolutely nothing but the roaring of her own heartbeat in her ears.

It was as if the entire world had slowed to a crawl and then completely stilled into a vacuum.

All she could see, all she could focus on, were his eyes.

Those perfect and terrifyingly familiar eyes.

Suddenly, her legs completely gave out beneath her.

Seraphina collapsed onto the floor, clutching her chest tightly as a sharp and unfamiliar pain spread through her heart.

It was a sensation that felt new yet intimately known at the same time.

As her unravelling emotions heightened, a single and desperate thought formed in her mind.

‘What… what is happening to me…?’