Chapter 1

Rowan loved my Imperial Brother.

But the year he fell from grace, I forced him to become my kept man, humiliating him beyond measure.

Years later, he raised an army and marched against the crown.

The day his cavalry thundered through the Royal City, my father, the Emperor, groveled and offered my Imperial Sister to him.

Yet, Declan simply smiled, his gaze shifting to me.

"What, is Rowan too afraid to face me?"

Everyone said the first thing Declan would do after seizing power was to offer a thousand pieces of gold for my head.

But he didn't know.

I was already dead.

***

The day Declan's cavalry shattered the gates of the Royal City, my father, desperate to save his own skin, pushed my Imperial Sister forward.

He chuckled, fawning, "General Declan... no, my new Emperor. You always favored Seraphina."

"Now, for the sake of Seraphina and the throne, spare my life?"

Seraphina quietly lowered her head, revealing a delicate stretch of white neck, appearing so frail it stirred pity in anyone who saw her.

Declan didn't respond, the sharp blade of his sword still dripping with blood. But I knew he would agree.

He had always loved my Imperial Sister. In this vast Royal City, he was cold and distant to everyone, yet for her, he held a special warmth.

It was true then, and it was true now.

Declan smiled, his eyes holding a casual indifference.

"Where is Rowan?"

"What, is she too afraid to face me?"

I flinched slightly.

I never imagined he would ask about me.

Everyone in the Royal City knew he loved my Imperial Sister; he'd poured all his tenderness into Seraphina.

A perfect match, a love destined by fate. They were meant to be a beautiful story, yet I, in his year of disgrace, had forced him to become my kept man.

I had ruined everything.

Now that he had seized power, with his beloved by his side, why would he care about my fate?

Declan's eyes twinkled with a chilling amusement as he continued,

"Years ago, when the Declan family was framed and their estates seized, the Ninth Princess forced me to be her personal attendant."

"Kneeling in the snow, constant beatings and verbal abuse—none of it was new."

He looked at my father, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"Tell me, Your Majesty, shouldn't the Ninth Princess now kneel in the snow for several nights, to taste the flavor of numbness from the cold?"

I instinctively curled my fingers into my palms, a bitter ache in my heart that I couldn't articulate.

So, Declan had asked about me only to... take his revenge.

My father, however, breathed a sigh of relief. His gaze darted away, he stammered,

"So, the General hates Rowan. But Rowan, she..."

His words were cut short. Seraphina snatched a guard's sword, plunging it through my father's chest. Blood splattered onto the floor.

She dropped the bloodied sword, her hands trembling, watching my father's eyes widen in disbelief as he gurgled blood and collapsed. Then, she slowly knelt before Declan.

She sobbed, timidly raising her head, and quickly clutched at Declan's robe.

"My father, the Emperor, was obsessed with alchemy and disregarded his people. He long ago lost their hearts."

"Seraphina is willing... to sacrifice her family for the greater good. I only ask to remain by the General's side, even as a common maidservant, to attend to your needs."

"As for my Imperial Sister," her eyes flickered, she bit her lower lip, omitting the truth, "she already fled with her consort before the General entered the Royal City."

The air hung heavy for a few moments. Declan smiled faintly, then finally raised his hand to help Seraphina to her feet.

He tried to force a smile, but it wouldn't come.

His face was blank, cold.

"Is that so?"

"In that case, issue a command: whoever finds the Ninth Princess shall be promoted, ennobled, and rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold."

He wanted to catch me. For revenge? To vent his anger? But me, I was already long dead.