After the mana transfer…

⸻

It had been intense. Chaotic. Far too reckless for comfort. And worst of all—Jeanne Alter had enjoyed it.

She woke the next morning staring at the ceiling, irritation simmering just beneath the surface. Something felt wrong. Not pain. Not sickness. Just an unfamiliar sensation lingering deep inside her, as if her body had quietly changed without bothering to inform her.

But then, she had a thought

A pregnancy test.

She scoffed immediately. Absurd. Impossible. A complete waste of time.

Ten minutes later, she was back from the store, marching into the bathroom like she was headed for an execution.

She stood there, arms crossed, glaring down at the test as if sheer hostility might intimidate it into behaving.

When she finally looked— Her mind went blank.

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

The bathroom door flew open. Jeanne Alter stood there, eyes wide, holding up the test like it was some kind of cursed relic.

“HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!”

She staggered to the couch and collapsed onto it, burying the room in a stream of sharp, fluent French curses. It was ridiculous. Unacceptable. Infuriating.

She threw an arm over her face, jaw clenched tight.

This was bad. Really bad.

She should have been furious. Panicking. Ready to set something on fire.

And yet…

Something warm stirred in her chest.

The idea—quiet, terrifying, impossible—that a new life was growing inside her made her stomach twist in a way that wasn’t fear.

She didn’t notice the smile at first. Just a faint curve at the corner of her lips, small and unguarded, before she caught herself and scowled at nothing.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” she muttered bitterly.

But her hand drifted, almost unconsciously, to her stomach.

And this time, she didn’t pull it away.