Pauline stood frozen in the hallway, mind spinning. Was Alex insane... or did he really just video-call the terrifying Count Oskar?


    The man whose name alone could silence a crying child?


    The door suddenly swung open.


    "What are you doing here?" Alex asked, staring at her-then at the kitchen knife in her hand. "Were you trying to kill me with that?"


    "Yes, so what!" Pauline snapped. The rebel in her rose fast. Her cheeks went red -shock, anger, and humiliation mixing all at once.


    "Well?" Alex tilted his head, a mocking sneer on his lips. "Then go on. Try to stab me."


    "Shut up!" Pauline barked. There was no way she''d actually stab him-he was a head taller, broader, unshakably calm. "I''m going to the kitchen."


    Alex raised an eyebrow. "Kitchen''s on the first floor."


    "There''s another kitchen on the second floor, you idiot." She shoved past him.


    "There isn''t," Alex muttered behind her. "But whatever." He mmed the door hard enough to rattle the frame.


    Pauline stomped down the stairs. Felicia and Albert were waiting at the bottom, eyes wide with desperate hope.


    "Did you kill him?"


    "Did you stab him?"


    "Did he hit you back?"


    Questions came at her like arrows.


    "No," Pauline muttered. She tossed the knife onto the floor with a sharp tter.


    Felicia and Albert let out defeated sighs. That was it. Theirst hope of escaping Alex''s curse-gone.


    No rich son-inw to drain dry.


    Albert pped his hands once, trying to regain control. "Come on, Pauline. Pack your things. Only the stuff you really want. The credit union people will be here in thirty minutes."


    Pauline sank into the sofa, unmoving. Her thoughts spun again—What if Alex did call Count Oskar?


    "Mom," Pauline said slowly, "just check the documents onest time. Maybe there''s a miracle. Maybe someone paid my loan. Or canceled it."


    Felicia scoffed. "It''s four hundred thousand dors, Pauline. Stop dreaming. Get ready to start your new life."


    Pauline exhaled hard, wiping away thest fragile trace of hope. No one wasing to save her.


    Kindness wasn''tmon in Prussia-people here were sharp, hungry, and ready to snatch any opportunity they could. If you lost, it was your fault. You were the stupid one who slipped.


    She turned and walked to her room, packing the few things she cared about. She remembered back in school-she''d once had a best friend. A real one.


    And overnight the girl was gone, sold off by her own family. Pauline had sworn nothing like that would ever happen to her.


    Yet here she was. And it was happening.


    She grabbed a small stuffed doll, a few old keepsakes, and anything she might need. Then she headed back to the sofa, sitting stiffly as she waited for Count Oskar''s people to arrive.


    Thirty minutes passed.


    Then forty.


    An hour.


    Still no one from the credit union showed up.


    "Do you think they''re runningte?" Albert asked, confused.


    "Impossible," Felicia said. "They''re always on time. And if not, they at least send a drone to check the house."


    "Then why aren''t theying?" Pauline asked, a flicker of hope igniting in her chest.


    "There''s only one reason this could happen," Felicia murmured. She touched her bracelet and check online her loan documents, skimmed them—then suddenly screamed.


    "Oh my god-the loan is paid!"


    "What?" Albert and Pauline shouted together. "By who?"


    "I don''t know!" Felicia said, flipping the pages with shaking hands. "It says here... paid by Master. That''s all. Just ''Master.'' It''s so strange."


    Pauline felt her heart m against her ribs. “Does it really say Master?”


    "Yes. Do you know someone by that name?" Felicia asked.


    Pauline bit her lip. Quietly, she said, "Count Oskar''s Master is Alexander Saint- ire."


    Felicia and Albert both froze-then burst into loud, mockingughter.


    "Are you insane?" Albert barked. "He''s a gardener! He makes three thousand a month. How the hell would he ever have four hundred thousand dors?"


    "Count Oskar''s master? He''s not even close to bing Count Oskar''s doormat."


    "If he paid four hundred thousand dors, then I''m the King of Prussia." "Congrattions, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, your kingdom is bankrupt."


    They both burst intoughter, finding it ridiculously funny.


    "Pauline, I didn''t know you could joke like this," Felicia said, wiping her eyes dramatically.


    "This must be Gustav. He''s desperate for Sofina''s attention. Maybe he won''t pay anyone else''s loan, but ours? Oh, he''d definitely pay just to impress her. I''ll have to: thank her fater."


    Albert suddenly leaned forward, eyes gleaming with greed. "Wife... what if we take another loan? Use Pauline as coteral again. Maybe this ''Master'' or Gustave will pay it off a second time."


    "No," Pauline snapped instantly. "You cannot sell me again! Once is enough!"


    "That''s actually a great idea," Felicia said, already reaching for her bracelet to request another loan with Pauline''s name as coteral.


    "STOP IT! You can''t keep selling me!" Pauline shouted.


    "Rx," Felicia said calmly, as if Pauline were a child whining about chores. "We''re not selling you. We''re just using your name ustav, your


    future step brother inw will pay it again. And we''ll even give you thirty percent of the money."


    "No," Pauline said through her teeth. "This is my life. I said no. Please!"


    "Come on, Pauline. It''s easy money," Albert coaxed.


    "No! Please no!" Pauline yelled, voice cracking as tears threatened to spill.


    There are no answers, only the slow suffocation of despair,


    When even the smallest hope slips quietly away.


    Then-suddenly the application screen shed.


    Failed


    "What? Why is it showing an error?" Felicia demanded.


    "Failed?" Albert repeated, reading the three-dimension document. He read it


    slowly, his confusion turning into frustration.


    "It says here: The subject is already owned. You cannot use someone who belongs to another as coteral."


    Felicia mmed her hand on the


    table. "Damnit! So this wasn''t a


    payment the Master bought Pauline. He owns her now. He just didn''te collect her! Damn it, I thought Ed secured an unlimited ie stream!"


    Pauline''s chest tightened. Owned?


    Did that mean she already belonged to Alex?


    Maybe it wasn''t Alex, but one thing was certain-she was already owned by someone.


    Her stomach twisted.


    Meanwhile, in another province of Prussia-


    Duke Armin Winter, one of the eight dukes of the nation, sat across from his daughter in his private study.


    "Renata," he said in his calm, authoritative tone, "are you still friends with Sofina Scheinwald?"


    "Yes, Father. She''s my best friend," Renata answered proudly. "I remember years ago, you told me to get close to her. Do you... by any chance know who her real father is?"


    Armin''s expression didn''t shift, but inside his mind tightened like a snare.


    He knew the truth-he had learned it by ident. One night, long ago, the King had drunk too much in his presence.


    In that vulnerable moment, he confessed that he had an illegitimate daughter named Sofina Scheinwald.


    Armin had kept that secret locked away. If the world found out, chaos would follow.


    But he also knew the power of having the King''s hidden daughter on his side. So


    he sent Renata to befriend her-close, loyal, unbreakable.


    But Renata didn''t need to know the truth.


    Not yet.


    But now was the perfect moment to use that connection.


    "Renata,” Armin said "I need you to meet Sofina. There''s a mission you must carry out."