Chapter 1
In the Dragon Empire, bloodline determined everything. Only a female capable of hatching royal-grade golden dragons could wear the crown.
In my past life, I was nothing but a Red Drake—bottom of the food chain, not even blessed with wings. Yet after marrying into the royal family, I miraculously hatched a pureblooded Golden Hatchling.
But when my husband Valerius ascended to the Dragon Throne, his first act as king was to rip out my dragon crystal with his bare claws.
My own son Draken then ordered my body hacked to pieces and fed to the Abyssal Carrion Wolf-Lions in the depths below.
All of this because my half-sister had faked a bloodline awakening, transforming herself overnight into a so-called "Sacred Crystal Dragon."
My cruel husband had looked down at me with utter contempt: "Without my noble genes, how could something like you possibly birth such a gifted golden pureblood? Your filthy swamp bloodline has no right to the Queen's throne."
My son's disgust cut even deeper: "I don't want a flightless cripple for a mother. You make me sick. Only someone as noble and beautiful as Seraphina deserves to be my mother—she'd never force me to practice boring magic like you did."
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back at the Empire's quinquennial Bonding Ceremony.
My husband wasted no time choosing my sister as his mate. My son, Draken, eagerly dove his soul into her womb, ready to be reborn.
But this time, what crawled out of that egg was a Blind Mud Runt.
Now, Valerius's thunderous declaration still echoed beneath the grand hall's vaulted ceiling.
"I choose her. Father, I want to bond with Seraphina."
Gasps of disbelief rippled through the assembled nobles.
I lifted my head to see the current Dragon Emperor's bastard son—that lowborn Ash Dragon, Valerius—already gripping my sister Seraphina's hands, shielding her behind him with almost fanatical devotion.
Seraphina gazed up at him with those fraudulent crystal-glow eyes, the picture of adoration.
Then Valerius's gaze cut through the crowd and locked onto mine.
Malice. Arrogance. The absolute confidence of a victor.
A phantom pain seized my chest. I understood instantly—he'd been reborn too.
The wet crunch of Abyssal wolf-lions chewing my flesh echoed in my ears. In my previous life, at this very ceremony, he'd reluctantly chosen me—the wingless Red Drake—when all other options fell through.
In that lifetime, I poured everything into hatching a pureblooded golden dragon for him, elevating him step by step to the throne. On his coronation night, his first act was tearing out my dragon crystal with his bare claws.
"The throne doesn't belong to crawlers, Aurelia." The memory burned clear—my blood dripping from his talons, his eyes glacial. "This mythic-grade egg came from my noble genes. You have no right to defile the Queen's seat."
And my own son had simply stared at my broken form with revulsion: "Feed this disgusting thing to the Abyssal wolves. Someone like Seraphina—a Crystal Dragon—that's who should be my mother."
I buried the ice in my eyes deep in shadow and exhaled slowly.
At that moment, the ancient Celestial Dragon bloodline dormant within me trembled faintly. Through this secret resonance, I felt the exact moment Draken's greedy soul latched onto Seraphina, just as I knew he would.
The fool actually believed that switching to a "Sacred Crystal Dragon" mother would guarantee him a top-tier bloodline rebirth.
Neither father nor son knew that Seraphina's vaunted "Crystal Dragon" aura was nothing but a cheap glamour from forbidden blood magic. They had no idea that in my previous life, the only reason Valerius's ash-gray scales turned pseudo-gold, the only reason the hatchling awakened as a pureblood, was because my ancient Celestial power had nourished them day and night.
I couldn't wait to see the expressions on this ambitious father-son duo's faces when, on Hatching Day, a blind, rotting Mud Runt crawled out of that egg.
"Valerius, watch your tongue." From the throne above, the old Dragon King's brow furrowed deeply. "If you insist on choosing from the Ground Dragon clan, Aurelia is the appropriate match."
The council of elders nodded in agreement. By true bloodline, Seraphina's mother had been nothing more than a low-ranking servant to my own mother—barely worth acknowledging.
But Valerius dropped to one knee on the cold marble, unyielding: "My heart is hers, Father. I won't accept anyone else."
At his words, a triumphant flush rose in Seraphina's pale cheeks. She lifted her chin slightly and shot me a challenging look.
The old Dragon King had never had patience for this mediocre bastard son. Seeing his stubbornness, he gave a cold snort and waved dismissively. Rubbing his temples, he turned his gaze to me, standing alone in the center of the hall.
"Aurelia, since no one has claimed you, leave. Return to your territories."
"Father, wait."
Before the words fully faded, Valerius suddenly rose and cut him off. He turned, fixing me with a gaze like a viper tasting the air.
"Yesterday I inspected the Despair Rift. At the bottom of the Abyss lives Kaelen… Though he once lived three thousand years, his body's now riddled with wounds, blind, his dragon crystal shattered. He could die any day now."
The temperature in the hall seemed to plunge. Every noble who heard that cursed name visibly flinched.
A cruel smirk twisted Valerius's lips:
"But he was once one of us. I've heard Aurelia's Red Drake blood carries a natural trait—soothing restless souls. Why not send her to that cripple in the Abyss as a mate? Let her descend into the Rift to keep him company. At least that way, the old bastard can die in peace."
