I was recuperating in my palace when I heard the news: my father had agreed to a request from the Demon King. I was to be marr-
ied to his eldest son, Prince Kael.
Though I resisted the idea, I knew I had no right to refuse. I had to accept my fate.
I met Kael with trepidation, terrified he would sense the stench of the Abyss on me. But Kael, though of a lower station, was kind and gentle.
“As a demon,” he said, “I never dreamed I would marry a Celestial. I swear, Rhea, after we are wed, I will honor and love you for all
my days. I will never let you suffer again.”
His words were a bitter pill. He was so good, and I was so broken. How could I ever be worthy of him?
When we were alone, I would instinctively shrink from his touch.
“Is it because I am a demon?” Kael asked, a hint of hurt in his voice. “Is that why you recoil from me?”
I shook my head quickly. “No. It is just… my nature. I am not fond of physical contact.”
Kael nodded in understanding, but he didn’t give up. “But we are to be husband and wife. We will have to touch eventually. Perha-
ps… we can take it slowly.”
He pointed to my cheek. “You have a stray hair on your face. May I… brush it away?”
It was a marriage decreed by my father. I didn’t dare disobey. And if we were to be married, I knew I had to accept his touch. But the
millennium in the Abyss had left me with a deep–seated trauma.
I held my breath, forcing myself to endure as Kael slowly, carefully, leaned in. He angled his body to shield me from view, then gent-
ly brushed the hair from my cheek.
To an onlooker, it would have looked like we were kissing.
My heart hammered against my ribs, my face burning, when a furious roar shattered the moment.
“What are you doing?!”
A thunderclap exploded in my chest. I shoved Kael away and looked up into Aurelius’s dark, angry face.
“Rhea! In broad daylight, carrying on with a demon! Have you no shame?!”
Once, those words would have shattered my soul. Now, I wanted to ask him what he knew of shame. I had forgotten the meaning of the word long ago, worn away by endless degradation. And it was all his fault.
Kael stood up, trying to explain politely, but Aurelius wouldn’t listen. He sent Kael flying with a single blast of power.
“Kael!” I cried out, which only fueled Aurelius’s rage.
He grabbed my collar, his face a storm. “Weren’t you the one who swore you loved me? How can you be all over another man in
public today?”
I stared at him, stunned. He was the one who had rejected me, mocked me. And now he was asking me this?
A thought struck me. He was testing me. He was testing to see if I had truly given up on him.
I had to respond correctly. “Your Highness,” I stammered, “I was just an ignorant fledgling then, bold and foolish enough to speak of
love. Please, believe me, I will never say such things again. I have sworn an oath to the heavens. I will not break my word!”
“A fine oath indeed,” Aurelius sneered, and the next moment, his hand was around my throat.
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“I am asking you,” he hissed, “what are your feelings for me?”
I was terrified, shaking my head frantically. “None! I have no feelings, other than respect! You are the revered Crown Prince of the Three Realms! And… and you are my sister’s future husband! My brother–in–law!”
Every word was an attempt to placate him, to distance myself, but his face only grew darker. The sky outside turned black, clouds gathering as lightning flashed and thunder cracked. I trembled as his grip tightened. I couldn’t breathe. My face turned purple.
The instinct to survive made me keep pleading. “I was wrong… Your Highness… I… I don’t love you… Please, let me go!”
Just as he was about to crush my windpipe, he seemed to snap out of it, releasing me abruptly.
“Rhea, where are your phoenix bones? You’re dying. Why aren’t they protecting you?”
I gasped for air, unable to answer. He seized my wrist again, checking my celestial pulse.
His eyes
widened in shock. He was silent for a long time. Finally, he asked, his voice raw, “How can this be? Your phoenix bones are
shattered, your celestial energy is gone…”
“I only sentenced you to ten mortal lifetimes, not an eternity of torture. How could you be so weak?”
His
words were so absurd, I almost laughed.
Seeing my smile, Aurelius frowned. “What are you smiling about? I’m asking you a question. Where is your power? Your bones?”
My power? It was obliterated by the lightning at the Sky–Piercer Spire when he forced me to jump. As for my bones, they were shat-
tered by his own phantom projection.
I opened my mouth to tell him, but he was already muttering to himself. “Impossible… I placed a powerful ward on you. Not even the most vicious beast in the nine hells should have been able to harm you. You must be using some trick to mislead me…”
In that instant, any desire I had to explain vanished.
For someone who refuses to believe you, words are useless.
So I smiled. “You’re right. I tricked you again. I cast another illusion. My power is actually overflowing. Didn’t expect that, did you,
Your Highness?”
A fire ignited in Aurelius’s eyes. “You lied to me… you lied to me again! Who gave you the audacity to deceive me time and time
again?!”
The hand pointing at me trembled with rage. He struck me across the face.
He was the strongest being in the Three Realms. The blow shattered another of my celestial feathers.
Of seven, only four remained.
I fell to the ground, unable to rise, the taste of blood filling my mouth. I swallowed it down.
Aurelius sneered. “I see. It’s because your father has arranged a new marriage for you. That’s why you’re so bold, toying with me like this. You think marrying some demon prince gives you the right to challenge my authority?”
I couldn’t speak through the blood, which he took as a confession.
“Hah. It’s clear you’re quite fond of that demon. In that case, I’ll go kill him right now.”
He launched into the air. In a panic, I threw myself forward, clinging to his leg with all my might. “No… please, Your Highness, this has nothing to do with Kael… Please don’t involve him!”
Aurelius kicked me away. I coughed up a great mouthful of blood, staining the front of my robes crimson.
He just raised an eyebrow. “Rhea, in your thousand years in the mortal realm, it seems the only thing you learned is how to play the
Chapter 2
victim.”
“I can spare him. But you will not marry him.”
