Chapter 4

The Centennial Radiant Solstice Gala was the Holy Light Kingdom's ultimate display of wealth and power. Tonight, the grand hall of the royal palace was packed with aristocrats, warlords, and dignitaries from all three realms. I stood on the second-floor balcony, swirling the pale wine in my glass, watching the chaotic masquerade below.

My gaze locked onto one person. My twin sister, Seren. 

She paraded through the crowd in a garish gown of black and gold, desperately flaunting her newly acquired title as the Supreme Mother of the Abyss. She made sure everyone saw her. 

"When my Draven ascends to the dark throne, all of you will crawl on your knees to kiss the hem of my gown!" Seren’s shrill voice cut right through the elegant harp music. 

Several nobles exchanged mocking glances, but Seren didn't notice. She hid the bruised skin of her neck behind a high lace collar, but the frantic, almost hysterical gleam in her eyes gave her away. 

I set my glass down and walked away, seeking the quiet of my own courtyard. 

I didn't get far. Rapid footsteps clicked on the stone path behind me. 

"Running away, Elowen?" Seren sneered, stepping into my garden. She stopped, her eyes widening as she took in the sea of blooming Silverbell flowers Kaelen had planted for me. Pure, blinding jealousy twisted her features. 

"Playing the seductress with your cheap tricks?" She kicked a delicate flower bed, snapping the silver stems. "You think these weeds mean he cares about you?"

"Get out of my courtyard, Seren," I said coldly. 

"Don't act so high and mighty." She stepped closer, her voice dropping into a venomous hiss. "Enjoy this little fantasy while it lasts. Kaelen is riding straight into the Abyssal Rift. He’s going to die there. You’ll be nothing but a weeping widow, stripped of your title, begging me for scraps."

I took a step forward, my voice barely above a whisper. "Better a widow than a shared toy."

Seren froze. 

"I heard the Abyssal Depths can be quite cold," I continued, holding her gaze, "but your wedding night sounded incredibly... crowded, wasn't it? Tell me, sister, does it make you feel like a goddess when they pass you around like a tavern cup?"

All color drained from her face. Her lips trembled. 

"You bitch," she spat. "You think you've won? You think Kaelen loves you? You're a joke! He doesn't give a damn about you."

"Your desperation is showing, Seren."

"It's the truth!" She laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "He has a lover. A mortal girl from the lower realms. He swore his soul to her years ago. He only married you because the Kingdom needed the political alliance. You are just a stand-in! A warm body in his bed while he dreams of her!"

She turned and marched out of the courtyard, leaving her poisonous words hanging in the air. 

I stood still in the moonlight. I didn't care about a political marriage. I didn't care if Kaelen had loved someone else. But Seren’s words triggered a strange instinct in me. 

Kaelen had a secret. The forbidden zone at the back of the Lord’s Manor. He never spoke of it, and no servant was allowed inside. 

I bypassed the festival entirely and walked straight back to the manor. 

Two heavily armed Light Paladins stood before the shimmering gold barrier of the forbidden courtyard. 

"Lady Elowen," the captain said, bowing his head. 

"I want to go inside," I said, expecting a refusal. I was already calculating how many Scales I would need to ignite to break the ward. 

Instead, the captain stepped aside. He pulled a silver key from his belt and deactivated the barrier. "The Lord commanded before he left. Nothing in this manor is forbidden to you. "

I frowned, stepping past them. 

The moment I crossed the threshold, the scenery shifted. It wasn't a military vault or a secret armory. 

It was a forest. 

An exact, magical illusion of a dense, earthly woodland. In the center stood a small, crude wooden cabin. Red silk ribbons were tied to the doorframe, fluttering in the wind. 

It was a wedding setup. A mortal, rustic wedding.

I walked closer, my heart pounding against my ribs for a reason I couldn't explain. 

Inside the illusion, two figures stood facing each other. One was Kaelen. He looked younger, his face unscarred, his armor absent. He wore a simple linen shirt. 

He was holding the hands of a girl. 

The girl was dressed in a plain white dress. A white silk blindfold covered her eyes. 

Kaelen reached out, his hands trembling slightly, and gently tucked a freshly picked Silverbell flower behind her ear. 

"My Silver Moon," he whispered in the illusion, his voice thick with devotion. "I swear on the light of my soul, I will find the cure for your eyes. Wait for me."

The girl smiled. 

Suddenly, a gust of wind caught her hair, blowing her bangs aside. 

Right there, at the corner of her eye, was a birthmark. A crescent silver moon. 

My breath hitched. My hands flew to my own face, tracing the exact same mark on my skin. 

Crack.

A sharp, physical pain split my skull. It felt like a rusted iron spike was being driven into my brain. 

Memories poured in like a violent flood. 

I remembered the sheer drop of the cliff. Seren’s laughter echoing above as she kicked my fingers loose. The bone-crushing impact. The dark curse that stole my sight. 

I remembered stumbling through the pitch-black mortal woods, my hands scraping against rough bark. Then, I heard a weak, desperate thrashing.

I followed the heavy scent of blood, dropping to my knees. My trembling fingers searched the damp earth until they brushed against cold iron and warm, blood-soaked feathers.

I felt the jagged wounds tearing his flesh. Guided only by touch, I ripped my own dress to bandage him. I bit my wrist and pressed it blindly to his beak, feeding him my own blood to keep him alive.

I remembered the falcon turning into a boy. The warmth of his hands, the wooden cabin we built, the clumsy red ribbons we hung on the door. We knelt to the moon. We became husband and wife. 

And then... he left to find medicine for my eyes. 

The memory shifted, turning dark and suffocating. Seren found me. She didn't kill me. She dragged me by my hair, her hands glowing with a sickening purple light. 

Seren had hissed. “Forget. Forget everything!”

The memory-wiping spell burned my mind to ashes. I was dragged back to the Silverbranch clan, believing I had just been sick. 

When Kaelen finally tracked me down to the elf territory, seeking his blind bride, Seren was there. Seren, with her golden moon mark, claiming she was the one who saved him. Seren, taking my place. 

My knees hit the dirt. I stared at the illusion of the blind girl and the young Kaelen. 

Tears spilled over my cheeks, dropping onto my hands. 

In my past life, Kaelen had married Seren, believing she was his savior. He threw himself into the war against the Abyss. 

He died in the Abyssal Rift, sacrificing his soul to hold back the dark tide. He died never knowing that the woman he was searching for was trapped in the Abyss, being tortured by the Wyrm Lord. 

We had been so close. Two lives, ruined by one stolen identity. 

"You stupid, loyal bird," I choked out, a bitter, agonizing sob tearing from my throat. "You were looking for me all along."

I wiped my face fiercely, smearing the tears.

I stood up, my eyes locked on Kaelen’s illusion. I reached into my chest, feeling the hum of the my nine Moon Heart Scales wrapped around my heart. 

"You died for a lie in the last life," I whispered to the empty courtyard. "In this life, if Death wants to take you, it will have to step over my dead body first."