Chapter 3

Only one day remained until the mating ceremony.

Selene leaned against the doorframe of the side hall, blocking my path. "Tomorrow is the mating ceremony. Why don't you look excited at all, sister?"

I looked at her coldly. "I have nothing to be happy about."

"Stop pretending, Aria." She dropped her usual innocent facade, her eyes turning vicious as she stepped closer. "You've known about me and Kaelen for a while now, haven't you? Even if you really are a piece of trash without a Mind-link, you can't be so blind that you didn't notice your fiancé sleeping with your sister."

Seeing that I wasn't breaking down or going crazy, she seemed somewhat unwilling to give up. "He doesn't love you at all. What do you think tomorrow's mating ceremony is? It's just a ritual he prepared for power. In the end, he will only belong to me."

"If you know everything and have already won, why go out of your way to tell me?"

Selene froze for a moment. Clearly, my stagnant, deadpan reaction had completely deviated from her script.

"I'm just here to warn you." She raised her chin. "Don't even think about running away, and don't do anything stupid to piss Kaelen off. Be a good little sacrifice tomorrow. That's your only value."

"Don't worry." My tone was completely devoid of emotion. "I will follow tomorrow's ceremony to the very last second."

For you, I've prepared a very generous gift.

Selene shot me a suspicious look, but ultimately chalked my calmness up to cowardly resignation.

Smirking triumphantly, she brushed past my shoulder and walked away.

Back in my room, I hacked into the hidden terminal of the security system.

The feed pointed directly at the greenhouse in the backyard. Less than five minutes after I left the side hall, Kaelen's figure appeared on the screen.

In the video, Kaelen roughly tore off Selene's nightgown, pinning her hard against the mud-stained glass wall.

Kaelen's heavy panting echoed through my nerves.

I stared coldly at their intertwined bodies on the screen.

I extracted the video clip and compressed it into a moonstone. Then, I embedded it into a solid silver brooch.

Tomorrow, this video would be projected right in the middle of the ceremony.

After finishing all this, I pulled my travel bag out from under the bed.

My wardrobe was already mostly empty. The gowns Kaelen had bought me and the jewelry representing the family had all been violently swept into garbage bags.

I only kept a few practical sets of clothes and my IDs.

The bedroom door opened.

When Kaelen caught sight of the empty wardrobe, his pupils shrank violently.

"Aria! What are you doing?!"

He grabbed my wrist. His voice pitched up in sheer panic, and his fingers were actually trembling.

"Where are you going? Did you..." He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing frantically. "Did you find out about something?"

I lowered my eyelashes, looking at the bulging veins on this man's wrist.

"What are you so afraid of, Kaelen?" I slowly raised my head.

"I..." He choked on his words, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"I'm just clearing out my old clothes." I calmly pulled my hand from his grip and pointed at the bags in the corner. "These old dresses aren't fitting for our new life after the ceremony, are they?"

Hearing this, the tension in Kaelen's shoulders instantly vanished.

He let out a long exhale and suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.

"You scared me to death... I thought you were going to leave me." He pressed his chin hard against the top of my head, his voice returning to its usual deep affection. "You have no idea how terrified I was just now."

I pressed my hands against his chest. The smell of dirt mixed with Selene's perfume made me want to gag.

"Kaelen," I asked softly, "will you always be loyal to me? No matter what happens?"

He let go of me and cupped my face in his hands, swearing solemnly.

"I swear to the Moon Goddess, you are the only one I will ever love in this life. If I betray you, let me lose everything I own and suffer the cruellest backlash!"

I smiled. It was the first genuine smile I had shown all night.

"I believe you." I took the moonstone brooch out of my pocket and placed it in his broad palm. "This is a surprise gift for the ceremony. Wear it tomorrow."

Kaelen looked down at the brooch.

"I will wear it closest to my heart."

After Kaelen went to take a shower, my phone buzzed.

I opened the picture. It was a photo of a luxurious manor.

It was immediately followed by a text from Selene:

[I'm carrying Kaelen's child. He bought this manor behind your back half a year ago. Look, he decorated everything in the nursery with his own hands. Sister, just accept your fate. Even if you hog the title of his mate, the only winner here is me.]

In the past, I probably would have broken down crying, confronted him, or begged. But now, I only felt that this cheating pair was so stupid it was laughable.

On the day of the ceremony, I received the puppet materials.

Gritting my teeth, I mercilessly slashed a bloody wound across my left chest.

The agonizing pain of forcefully tearing away a fragment of my soul made my entire body convulse. A faint wisp of golden light drifted out from the blood over my heart and dripped into the puppet's forehead.

The puppet's eyelashes fluttered before it slowly opened its eyes.

Its appearance, figure, and even the texture of its skin were identical to mine.

I looked at this other "me" and gave a cold command.

"The moment the Alpha's fangs pierce the back of your neck, activate the projection matrix in his brooch! After that, turn to ash. Don't leave a single piece of bone behind."

Carrying my travel bag, I stepped out of the front door.

In the thick fog, the extraction vehicle from the forbidden land arrived just as promised.

I didn't look back, stepping straight into the car and leaving.