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sighed, stood on and waked toward Seraphina
Sarett’s woning glare fed on TTE.
But did nothing simply swayed and my entire body fel imp.colawong swaney on of Seraphina
“sert was my mother sing
Quick get Seraphins out from under her fast was my fate
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Chapter 2
A pair of hands pulled me off and tossed me aside, then gently lifted Seraphina. Ah. That was my brother.
After my “fainting spell,” things were quiet for a while. I moved out of the manor and rented a small courtya- rd for myself. Without those irrelevant people around, life was much more peaceful.
But I noticed that at the royal study, Seraphina was often absent. I feigned indifference, but secretly, I had someone follow her.
I knew that in the palace, my own power was limited. And with the memory of the dark–clad shadow, I susp-
ected Seraphina had a network in the court that I knew nothing about.
I told Princess Aurelia about Seraphina’s strange behavior, leaving out the parts about my rebirth and the inner voice. Those things were too fantastic; they would have to remain my secret forever.
Aurelia was a good person. In my last life, her affection for me might have started with my appearance, but her friendship and protection had been genuine. When trouble came, it was she who had ensured my safety and sent me back to my parents. She could never have imagined that while a tiger won’t eat its own cubs, my parents would kill their own daughter for the sake of their reputation.
Aurelia was cautious. She had her own people watch Seraphina.
Sure enough, they discovered that Seraphina was frequently going to the War Council chambers. That was where matters of state were decided. What was she doing there?
Aurelia and I grew even more careful. I often hid outside Seraphina’s room at night, trying to catch a glimpse of the shadow and find a flaw in her facade.
On a moonless night, I was at my usual post outside Seraphina’s door. She had extinguished her lamp, and
the room was silent.
Just as I was about to leave, I heard her inner voice.
“Is everything ready?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve poisoned the water supply and stolen the defense maps of the Northern Marches. Everyth- ing is in place.”
“When it is done, I will take the heads of the Fang family to my real father and mother!”
A jolt went through me, followed by a wave of immense fear.
No wonder. No wonder Seraphina had this power to project her thoughts. No wonder she just happened to become my parents‘ adopted daughter. No wonder she was so desperate to become a companion in the
palace.
If she was a spy, it all made sense.
I hurried away, intending to tell Aurelia everything I had heard. Gathering my skirts, I rushed through the palace’s dark corridors. Our quarters were in a secluded part of the palace, a long way from Aurelia’s reside- nce. My heart was pounding with a frantic urgency.
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Chapter 2
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared before me. He was dressed entirely in black, but his eyes were a stark, gho stly white.
There was no dramatic monologue like in the storybooks. He simply raised his hand and chopped down of my neck.
I crumpled like a doll and fell into darkness.
When I awoke, I was in a dilapidated warehouse. It was quiet outside. I struggled, but my hands and feel were bound tightly with thick rope.
I heard a few words of greeting from outside in a language I didn’t understand
The door opened, and a figure appeared.
It was Seraphina.
Or rather, the Princess of Vesria.
There was once a kingdom called Vesria. Their king was a master of dark curses, arrogant and ambitious. He dreamed of conquering our kingdom and uniting the lands under his rule. But he was easily defeated by my father.
It was that very war that had led my mother to abandon me and join my father on the front lines.
I focused my gaze on Seraphina. “Your Highness has endured humiliation for many years. Has it been pleas ant?”
knew it hadn’t been. I was trying to provoke her.
re enough, her face darkened. “Still spouting nonsense, even at death’s door.”
Then she laughed. “You are a pitiful creature yourself. Your parents would rather believe me than you. And that brother of yours is an utter fool. I didn’t even have to try to wrap him around my finger.”
She leaned down and tilted my chin up, her eyes studying me. “Elara, you can hear my inner voice, can‘ you?”
I stared back at her, saying nothing.
She didn’t seem to care. She shoved my face away. “What does it matter if you can hear? I was the one who placed a blood–curse of sympathy on your parents and brother. That is why they can hear my thoughts. A few whispers in their minds was all it took to earn their undying trust. It’s laughable.”
She looked at me, her eyes hollow. “But I have no desire to call the fools of House Valerius my parents. I only have one father!”
“Your father killed mine and left me an orphan. So I will make his daughter experience what it’s like to have no parents!”
Chapter 2
So that was it. That was it!
13-24 @
No wonder that in my past life, no matter how much kindness I showed her, she used her inner voice to drive a wedge between my family and me. From the very beginning, I was the target of her revenge!
I burst out laughing, laughing until tears streamed down my face.
“Fool!”
Seraphina’s triumphant expression faltered. “What did you say?” she asked in disbelief.
I continued to laugh. “Fool!”
“You’re wasting your time on me. You should be dealing with my foolish brother. A daughter? If my parents cared about having a daughter, they would never have abandoned me to my cruel grandmother and run off!”
A look of dawning comprehension crossed Seraphina’s face. But then she flicked her wrist, and a centipede
as long as her forearm crawled onto her hand.
She smiled cruelly. “No matter. You will die first. Then I will send your parents and your brother down to the underworld to keep you company!”
“Fine by me!” I tilted my head back, staring at her with a look of pure mockery. “But you can’t kill me.”
Seraphina was enraged. “I’ll show you whether I can kill you!”
The centipede scurried from her hand and crawled toward me.
I didn’t flinch.
At the last possible second, the door burst open, and an arrow tipped with a white feather shot through the air. It pierced the centipede, pinning it to the floor.
It died instantly.
Seraphina went mad. She decided to kill me with her bare hands. She grabbed my hair and began smashing my head against the ground. My limbs were bound; all I could do was feel the searing pain in my scalp and
wait for death.
Then, a flash of steel cut through the air before my eyes. Something hot and metallic splattered across my
face.
It was Seraphina’s blood.
At my feet, her severed head rolled to a stop, its eyes wide open, forever staring into nothingness.
I looked up and saw Princess Aurelia, dressed in a chainmail shirt, cutting through my bonds with her longs-
word.
Aurelia had never been interested in Seraphina’s sword dance because her own martial skill was far superior. Her status as a princess was the only thing that kept her from practicing it freely.
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Chapter 2
When I first noticed Seraphina’s strange behavior, I had conspired with Aurelia to lure the snake from its hole I deliberately spent night after night outside Seraphina’s door, even making small noises to agitate her. It worked. Seraphina couldn’t resist taking the bait and capturing me.
I walked out of the warehouse with Aurelia. Who would have thought that this dilapidated building was a nest for Vesrian spies? The courtyard was littered with the bodies of the remaining conspirators. Their arms and legs had been broken, but they were left alive for interrogation.
Aurelia looked at me, her eyes full of sympathy. “I never knew your family could be so foolish.”
I shrugged, mimicking her own casual gesture, and, smiled, “Perhaps I was simply not meant to have a fami ly’s love. But having a friend like you is more than enough.”
As we escorted the prisoners back to the capital, we passed my family’s manor. I could hear the sounds of weeping from within.
Aurelia pulled me over to watch the spectacle. “Your blind and foolish parents harbored a viper in their nest, allowing our defense maps to be leaked. My father, the King, has decreed that they be stripped of their titles.
and exiled. They are never to return to the capital.”
“Hah. Serves them right,” I spat, smiling at the chaos inside.
Just then, a figure with disheveled hair burst out and threw herself at my feet, sobbing. “Elara, my daughter, I was wrong! I should never have abandoned you for that viper! Can you forgive me?”
My father stood in the doorway, watching me. He looked as if he had aged ten years. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. After a few false starts, he remained silent.
Gareth stood with his head bowed, clutching a few pieces of tattered paper. They were the charms of prote- ction I had copied for him when he was on the frontier. I had sent them a great distance, but he had treated them as mere trinkets and cast them aside. Over the years, I had sent nearly a thousand such charms. All that remained were these few scraps in his hand.
His voice was hoarse. “Little sister… this may be the last time we ever see each other. Take care of yourself.”
I scoffed and pushed the woman off me. I took a step back, and Aurelia moved to stand in front of me, shie-
Iding me.
Seeing this, the expressions of my family grew even dimmer. My mother collapsed to the ground, all her co- mposure gone. “I only took her in because when I saw her, I thought of you! How did it come to this?”
“Couldn’t you have taken me with you all those years ago, Mother?” I retorted.
She could have. Of course, she could have. But my grandmother had thrown a fit, demanding that she leave one child behind, or else be branded as unfilial. After weighing her choices, she had abandoned me.
I was the child who was always left behind.
And so I turned my back, no longer listening to my mother’s belated repentance.
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Chapter 2
Or my father’s tear–streaked face.
Or the sweat–soaked charms in my brother’s hand.
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I
None of it had anything to do with me anymore. Aurelia had secured a royal decree for me; I would serve by her side as a lady of the court.
My life, from this day forward, was a path of sunlight.
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