Shiri’s heart trembled. She staggered back two steps, staring at the hooded man in shock.

  "Y-You must be crazy?! How dare you make a move against council members—do you want to die!?"

  "Hmph!"

  The hooded man snorted coldly.

  "That’s none of your business. If you still want to see your son, do as I say. Otherwise......"

  Every word the hooded man spoke was like a nail, hammered one by one into Shiri’s heart.

  The heart-wrenching pain stiffened her body, leaving her completely unsure how to choose.

  Seeing Shiri remain silent for a long time, the hooded man grew impatient.

  "Hmph, it seems you don’t care about your son. Then say goodbye to him here!"

  With that, he turned to leave.

  "Wait!"

  Shiri called out instinctively.

  "Oh~, so you’ve made up your mind."

  The hooded man stopped and turned to look at her.

  "I......"

  Though torn apart inside, Shiri had no choice—she could only choose her son......

  "Hehe~!"

  Seeing her reaction, the hooded man smiled triumphantly, then handed the bottle of magic potion to Shiri.

  This time, Shiri didn’t refuse.

  "Hope you won’t be as stupid as you were just now. You should know—only when you finish the job will you see your son."

  "......I understand."

  Shiri clutched the bottle tightly in her trembling hands, her eyes dull. She knew that no matter how this turned out, her ordinary life was gone forever.

  Clink~!

  At that moment, the hooded man suddenly threw a money bag to Shiri.

  "This is......"

  "Your reward. If everything goes smoothly, not only will you see your son, but you’ll also get a sum of money to leave here and start over elsewhere. How about that? We’re being nice to you, so don’t even think about playing tricks."

  "......"

  Shiri silently put away the money bag.

  Of course, the hooded man wasn’t truly giving her a reward. His only purpose was to show her a way out. People are less likely to give up all hope when they see a path forward—and that drastically reduced the chance she’d risk everything by exposing them.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "Well, I’ll wait quietly for your good news~!"

  After doing all this, the hooded man turned and left. Shiri stood there, unable to move for a long time.

  ......

  White Cat Clan’s mansion.

  "Shiri, you’re a bit late today."

  Seeing Shiri return, the head chef standing at the back kitchen entrance said.

  "Ah...... Sorry."

  "Hmm? Are you okay? Not feeling well?"

  Noticing Shiri’s distracted look, the head chef asked with concern.

  "Ah...... No......" Shiri was about to deny it, but then changed her mind. "Actually, I am a bit unwell......"

  "You should rest well. Finish this little task, then you can go home and rest for the day."

  "Yes......"

  Shiri replied softly.

  "The ingredients have already arrived. Come confirm them."

  "Okay......"

  Only then did Shiri notice that the ordered ingredients had been delivered. Several young men responsible for delivery were chatting not far away.

  "Sorry, I must have held you up."

  "It’s fine."

  The head chef didn’t care about such trivial matters.

  Shiri walked to the boxes of ingredients and checked the seals.

  "No issues—these are the ones I ordered."

  "Good. Then you can sign for them!"

  The head chef turned to the young men.

  "Could you help carry these into the back kitchen?"

  "No problem!"

  The young men walked over.

  Soon, all the ingredients were moved into the back kitchen.

  "Sir, can we leave now?"

  "Yes."

  The head chef handed them the signed receipt and let them leave directly.

  After they left, the head chef looked at Shiri, who was still standing nearby.

  "Shiri, you can go home now."

  "Uh......"

  "Is there something else?"

  "No, nothing......"

  "I...... I can’t seem to remember if I missed anything when reading the list. Can we open the boxes to check if any ingredients are missing?"

  "Now?"

  The head chef glanced around the back kitchen. It was still early before work hours, and there was no one else there except the two of them.

  "Is your condition that serious?"

  "No, it shouldn’t be...... But I do feel a bit dizzy in the head."

  "Hmm......" The head chef thought carefully. "Alright, opening them now is the same as later. Let’s count them."

  "Sorry for the trouble......"

  "It’s okay."

  The head chef fetched tools to open the ingredient boxes, then checked them carefully.

  After some time,

  "Everything is here—nothing is missing."

  "Really? Then I can rest easy."

  "Yeah, there’s nothing else to do here. You look really unwell—hurry home and rest."

  "Okay, I’ll leave right away."

  Shiri turned and left the back kitchen. As she walked, her gaze lingered on the ingredients for a moment—the head chef hadn’t resealed them after opening......

  After some time, the head chef also left the back kitchen.

  The entire back kitchen was empty.

  But Shiri, who was supposed to have "gone home," sneaked back.

  She entered the back kitchen, glanced cautiously behind her to make sure no one was watching, then hurried toward the ingredients.

  "I’m sorry, I don’t want to do this, but......"

  Her hands holding the potion bottle trembled uncontrollably. But after gritting her teeth, she finally opened the bottle and sprinkled the potion on some ingredients that were easy to mix with foreign substances. The potion was tasteless and similar in color to some ingredients—almost undetectable once mixed in.

  After pouring all the potion into the ingredients, she quickly put away the bottle and rushed outside.

  But as soon as she walked out of the back kitchen, she ran into several people head-on.

  Shiri’s heart raced instantly, her pulse pounding in her throat.

  However, the men were immersed in their conversation and didn’t notice anything unusual about her.

  "......Are you going to watch the tournament in a few days?"

  "Of course! You can’t miss such a grand event."

  "But the tickets are hard to buy, right?"

  "Hehe, I saw that coming—I bought mine a month in advance!"

  "What? Really? You didn’t tell us! So unfriendly!"

  "Yeah! Confess—do you have any extra tickets?!"

  "How could I?"

  "I don’t believe you—let us search you!"

  "Hey! Wait, what are you doing! Stop it, you two!"

  The young man was held tightly by his two companions, unable to break free. One of them had already reached into his pocket.

  In his panic, he caught sight of Shiri nearby out of the corner of his eye.

  "Ah! Isn’t that Miss Shiri——?!"