My father, the Phoenix King, heard I had returned and came to Lyra’s palace to see me.
At the sight of his familiar face, tears streamed down my cheeks. When I was a child, I was his favorite. If I’d asked for a star from the sky, he would have had the Star–Lord pluck one for me. But after Lyra’s endless, subtle manipulations, a chasm had grown bet-
ween us. Like Aurelius, he believed I had tried to poison my own sister.
And so, at our reunion, his eyes held only stern coldness. He was no longer the doting father of my childhood. There would be no
indulgence for me.
He asked the same question as Aurelius. “Rhea, have you learned your lesson?”
I nodded frantically. “I have. I will never dare again.”
My father’s brow furrowed. “What is this… illusion upon you?”
Beside him, Lyra’s face paled.
With a wave of his hand, the spell was broken. The skin of my arms and neck, now exposed, was a tapestry of old and new scars.
“Someone has placed an illusion on you to hide your wounds?” he demanded. “Who? Who did this?!” He looked around the room, his gaze falling on my trembling sister.
Aurelius, too, sensed something was wrong. “An illusion? Was the pulse I read a lie?” He strode toward me, intending to check my
celestial veins again.
“It was me!” I cried out, my voice tight with panic. “I cast the spell on myself!”
My father stared at me, confused.
Lyra breathed a sigh of relief.
Aurelius’s hand froze in mid–air. He stared at my face, a cold sneer forming on his lips. “It seems Lady Rhea’s celestial foundation is
rofound jedood Afterton mortal lifetimes you still have the power to cast illusions on yourself *
Chapter 1
quite profound indeed. After ten mortal lifetimes, you still have the power to cast illusions on yourself.”
11:5
Lyra added smoothly, “Aurelius, don’t be angry with her. A young girl, sent to the mortal realm… it’s only natural she’d feel wronged
and want to conjure some fake injuries to get your attention.”
“When I discovered it and spoke to her, she saw the error of her ways and used another illusion to hide them. It was all just a misu-
nderstanding. Rhea is still young. Don’t hold it against her.”
Her explanation only deepened the disgust in Aurelius’s eyes. Even my father, who had shown a flicker of concern, now frowned
deeply.
“I had hoped your time in the mortal realm would temper you, build your character. But you are the same as you were a thousand
years ago–scheming and manipulative!”
“Rhea, I am so disappointed in you!”
My father’s anger was a thunderstorm. I dragged my weak body from the bed and fell to my knees, bowing my head to the ground
again and again. “I was wrong! Please, Father, calm your anger!”
I bowed until my forehead bled, staining the marble, but no one cared. They saw it as just another small lesson for me.
My father swept from the room, Aurelius following him.
After seeing them off, Lyra returned and kicked me to the ground. “Well done, Rhea. It seems your millennium in the Abyss has
taught you a thing or two. You even know how to cover for me now.”
She giggled, covering her mouth. The implication of her words hit me, and I shot my head up, glaring at her. “It was you! You’re the
one who sent me to the Abyss!”
Lyra sat gracefully, a perfect celestial being compared to the wretched creature I was on the floor, In the face of my accusation, she just smiled. “Yes. And what of it? Just like today, you knew I cast the illusion, but you only dared to tell Father and Aurelius that you
did it yourself.”
“You did the right thing, you know. If you had exposed me, I have a thousand ways to defend myself. It would only have deepened their disgust for you. In their eyes, I am the moon in the sky, and you are the mud on their boots. You see the difference, don’t you?”
Her words were daggers, each one piercing my heart. It was true. In their eyes, I was nothing but filth.
There was another reason I had lied. I was terrified that if Aurelius discovered the true extent of my injuries, he would demand to
know how I got them. And then, he would uncover the unspeakable memories of the last millennium.
I had been ruined, tainted beyond repair. I couldn’t bear to have my shame exposed before him and my father. It would be worse
than death. So I had to hide it all–the scars, and the thousand years in the Abyss.
Lyra grabbed my throat, forcing me to meet her eyes. The horrific memories flooded back, and I began to tremble uncontrollably,
terror spilling from my eyes.
“What are you afraid of, little sister? Let me tell you the truth. Aurelius’s lieutenant is my man, too. I knew where you were all along. I just told him to take his time finding you. So he made a little detour through the Three Realms before coming to get you.”
“Another fifty years in the Abyss for you. You don’t blame me, do you, sister?”
“And the three hundred lashes that he told Aurelius was only three? That was my idea, too. Even if the truth came out, Aurelius
wouldn’t blame him. He’d just assume you were up to your old manipulative tricks.”
“So, you see, you have to swallow all this bitterness. Just like when that matron forced you to take clients, broke your teeth, and you had to swallow them down and keep working through the night.”
Every word she spoke was a fresh agony. Tears streamed down my face. I was choking, trembling, unable to form a single word,
only a silent, desperate scream.
Chapter 1
She knew. She knew everything. She was the architect of my ruin.
And I was drowning in a grief I could share with no one.
