Chapter 0

It was love. No, I mistook it for love.

That day was a cold winter one, with heavy snow falling in great flakes, just like the time we first met. In the pure white garden, he whispered while exhaling a puff of breath. “Will you become my most beautiful masterpiece?”

In his hand, a large diamond ring sparkled brilliantly. Blushing at his radiant smile, I said, “Yes, even if I’m reborn a hundred times, I’ll become your wife.”

That day, I walked into the cage of my own accord. The life of a countess that he bestowed upon me was lavish.

Expensive clothes and jewels. Adulation pouring in from all sides.

Before I knew it, I had become a canary that sang only for him. Around the time life was growing inside my belly, I realized this place was a cage.

It was the child I had waited for so desperately. That’s why I didn’t want to raise it as his even more. In the end, for the sake of my beloved child’s future, I fled the count’s estate. For the first time in my life, I did labor.

My delicate hands were ruined, and the face he had once admired so much began to deteriorate bit by bit. Even so, I was happy.

For the first time since marrying him, I looked back at myself. I even managed to secure a small house where the child and I could live cozily.

As I awaited the birth, I imagined a peaceful future. But that was nothing more than a dream shattered in an instant.