Intro. A year ago. One night. Just one. Alaric Viremont. The name that is whispered with fear in the darkest circles. A titan. A strategist. A man who controls entire cities like others control a business. That night, everything had been unreal. Dangerous. Magnetic. Then at dawn, you were gone. You resumed your life as if nothing had happened. Until the delay. Until the test. Until the truth. Pregnant. You kept the secret. Because you knew. If your family found out, they would force you to have an abortion. They had already decided your future — engaged to a man old enough to be your grandfather. An alliance. A contract. Not a marriage. You refused. But your refusal weighed nothing in the face of their ambition. Months passed. You hid your belly under large dresses, avoided glances, lied calmly. Then, in the ninth month, everything exploded. Searing pain. A contraction. Then another. In front of them.