Chapter 7
I laughed out loud. Hot tears spilled down my cheeks. I wept for the utter absurdity of my past life. For how much I had given, and how little it had ever been worth.
“Never would’ve what?” I said. “Never would’ve driven an arrow straight through my heart for Seraphine’s sake?
“Nyxar,
didn’t I ever tell you? Yes. I could never be the heir of the Phoenix Court. But if you had truly devoted yourself to me, if you had been mine in soul and will, when I ascended, you would’ve become a true dragon.
“Our child… would have inherited the gift. But you never believed me.
“You want to know why you reincarnated with me? Because the moment I died, heaven took your soul too. You were punished,
Nyxar. You were never spared.”
The truth hit him like a blow.
He staggered back, step by step, staring at the contract mark on his hand, the one he had formed with my sister. His face turned
pale.
Then, a phoenix’s cry pierced the air from the altar.
Seraphine, charred and humiliated by heavenly lightning, twisted by jealousy over my power to choose the next heir, had finally
snapped.
Consumed by rage, she succumbed to the darkness. She transformed, black scales crawling over her skin.
From afar, she looked nothing like a phoenix anymore. She looked like a beast.
She screamed with fury, “Why, heaven?! You’re not fair! Why was Althea’s mother nobler than mine? Why does she get everything without lifting a finger, while I-while I get nothing?! This was all meant to be mine!
“I am the heir! I am the one who should reign!”
She launched into a wild, indiscriminate attack.
Birds that once came to pay homage scattered in panic.
Clan members ran for their lives.
The sacred altar turned to chaos.
My father, now in his original form, crawled toward me.
He was bruised, broken, his voice quivering.
“Althea… please… spare Seraphine. It’s my fault. I was wrong. I should never have… raised you to be so sheltered, so pampered. But she-your sister-she’s trained for centuries. I can’t bear to see her lose it all.”
1/3
Chapter 7
+25 Bonus
I looked into his eyes and remembered what my mother told me just before she died.
“Althea, I hate it. You know what was most tragic about my life? It was knowing I could never compare… to a dead woman.”
Even now, my father begged-not for me, but for the daughter of the woman he had loved long before.
I closed my eyes, reining in the storm in my chest.
“There is a way,” I said quietly. “To preserve her divine refinement.”
He looked up, hope flaring in his eyes.
I pointed to Nyxar.
“She formed a contract with the black serpent. He took on half of her karmic burden. To save her, his gallbladder must be
removed and given to her. Only then will everything return to normal.”
Panic seized Nyxar. He turned and tried to flee.
“No! If you take my gallbladder, I’ll never ascend! Althea, you’re doing this to punish me!”
My father didn’t care. His mind was set. He ordered the clan to seize Nyxar.
“You swore,” he said coldly. “You said you’d give up everything to stay by Seraphine’s side. Well, now is your time to prove it.”
And just like that, Nyxar’s gallbladder was carved out of him.
His scream tore through the altar. In that instant, he aged a hundred years.
Though his body mended quickly, his soul had become an empty husk.
He could only watch, powerless, as my father placed his gallbladder into Seraphine’s hands.
She finally quieted down. The madness faded.
Meanwhile, Nyxar felt every second of his strength draining away. He collapsed into despair.
“No!” he howled.
I had seen enough of this farce.
Just then, Franz leaned gently against my shoulder.
“Princess,” he whispered, “Let’s go.”
2/3
