00:03Dragonfire roars into its path. I am chained to the execution stake, my wrists and ankles locked
00:10in iron. The flames have already caught the hem of my dress. My name is Serafina Valecrust.
00:18Five years ago, the Valcrest family had no son fit for war. So I put on armor,
00:24mounted a war dragon, and rode north in my family's name. I fought for the Valecrest family,
00:31bled for the Valecrest family, won honors for the Valecrest family, and crawled back alive from
00:37mountains of corpses. And now, the people standing below to watch me burn are also the Valcrest family.
00:43Below me, Lysanda stands in the ceremonial robes that should have been mine, holding my fiancee
00:49in Adrian's arm. Lysanda, the most cherried daughter of the Valecrest family. Adrian, one of the empire's
00:55rising young nobles, and the man I trusted for ten years. They stand so close they look like the pair
01:01fate always meant to wed. Serafina, don't tell me you still think those ten years of honors were yours.
01:07Serafina, accept it. The empire was never going to remember you.
01:10You went to war for me, bled for me and nearly died for me in the north. But in the
01:15end,
01:15the one standing in the light can only be me. And she is the one I have always meant to
01:21marry.
01:22I stare at them as the taste of blood fills my throat. Even now, I remember the day I returned
01:30victorious. Foolishly believing in my family would welcome me, and my fiancee would keep his promise.
01:37But what waited for me was not reunion. It was their demand that I surrender the glory I had earned
01:44with my life. The dragon fire surges upward and catches my legs. The pain of splitting flesh
01:49finally clears my mind. Lysandra, Adrian, you'd better pray I never come back.
01:57Serafina, you're not coming back. The flames climb higher. I burn their faces into my memory
02:02and force myself to remember this moment forever. The next instant, the flames swallow my sight whole.
02:08I close my eyes in despair. But suddenly, the burning pain disappears. I snap my eyes open.
02:14There is no dragon fire, no execution stake. I am standing in the great hall of the Valecrest family,
02:18surrounded by familiar pillars and a room full of hypocrites. At the head of the hall sits Lord
02:22Cedric. Beside him is Lady Vivian, my stepmother. Lysandra leans against her with that obedient
02:27smile. Adrian is here too. Serafina, Lysandra has always been delicate. Give the dragon fire honors to
02:33her. You should understand your duty to this family. This is better for the Valecrest family,
02:38for your sister, and for you, Serafina. Every word they say is exactly the same as before I died.
02:44I lower my head and see my hands whole and unburned. No chains, no wounds, no scorch marks.
02:50I have truly come back. I have returned from the execution stake to the very day they first demanded I
02:55surrender my glory. My nails bite into my palm until it bleeds. But this time I do not cry. I
03:00do not
03:00scream. I simply lift my head, slowly, and smile at them. Fine. She can have the dragon fire honors.
03:06Everyone in the room lets out a breath of relief. They think I have accepted my fate.
03:10But in this life I want more than a single victory. I want them to climb to the highest
03:15place on everything they stole from me. And then I will drag them down one by one with my own
03:22hands.
03:23Beneath the golden dome, the victory backward begins. Nobles line both sides of the hall,
03:28and every eye is fixed on the center. Lissandra stands there in the robes that should have been
03:33mine, a golden crown of dragon rider honor on her head. Lissandra, you have rendered great service.
03:40What reward do you seek? I ask for nothing for myself. I ask only for your majesty to grant me
03:47marriage to Adrian. The hall goes still at once. Because everyone here knows Adrian was supposed to
03:55be mine. Your majesty, Lissandra and I love each other. I beg you to bless us.
04:01He kneels beside her, looking at her with a tenderness that makes me sick. In my last life
04:06I stopped them frantically. But in this life I do not stop them. Your majesty, I willingly step back.
04:13The hall erupts into whispers.
04:17Seraphina, do you truly mean that? I do. But I wish to ask for a marriage as well. I slowly
04:25raise my
04:25hand, point toward the darkest corner of the hall. A man sits there. Lucian Draven, the empire's seventh
04:31prince. Three years ago, he fell with his dragon and shattered his legs. In the capital's whispers,
04:37he is the forgotten ashen prince. But I know he is not. The man I wish to marry is Lucian,
04:46the ashen prince.
04:47The hall falls into dead silence. Lissandra's smile freezes. Adrian jerks his head up as though seeing
04:53me for the first time. And I look only at Lucian. The one I choose is the sharpest blade on
04:58the board.
04:59I know the stories about him better than anyone in this hall.
05:05He was once the brightest devil riding warrior in the empire. He is also the man who died in the
05:12northern snow in my last life. In this life, I am not only going to survive, I am going to
05:17save him as well.
05:18Why me?
05:20Because your highness is not broken. In the sky war, if you had not led the dragon riders through
05:27the encirclement, the empire would have fallen. Others may have forgotten, I have not.
05:33Good. Well said. In that case, I shall... Wait.
05:38Serafina, do you understand what it means to marry me?
05:41Of course I do. It means mockery from the entire capital. But I walked into the life of a man
05:45everyone else had abandoned, and finally laid my hands on the most important card of my life.
05:49Means the treasure others cast aside is about to fall into my hands.
05:54I see the ice of his gaze crack. Just slightly.
05:58Serafina, have you gone mad?
06:00Serafina, even if you're angry, you cannot play games with marriage.
06:05Angry? You are not worth my anger.
06:08Hear my decree. Serafina is to wed Lucian.
06:13Every gaze in the hall falls on me. But I look only at Lucian.
06:19From this moment on, the game finally changes hands. Outside the palace gates,
06:26a black carriage carved with dragon sigils waits below the stairs. Lucian is waiting for me.
06:35Your highness is waiting for me.
06:37I am waiting for one honest answer. If you regret this now, there is still time.
06:44Do you think I am using marriage to throw a tantrum?
06:48If this is only about getting back at Adrian, I have no interest in playing along.
06:53And what about you? Did you wait here to send me away? Or because you're afraid you might actually
07:00want this. You are bold.
07:06If I weren't bold, I would be facing you now. Lucian watches me for a long moment,
07:11then offers me a black obsidian past seal. This is the Ashen Rige past seal. With it,
07:15you can enter Ashen Rige. If you regret this, don't come.
07:21And if I do come? Then don't look back.
07:26Your highness. Should I call this a proposal gift? I lower my eyes to the obsidian past seal in my
07:32palm and smile. This is only a key. The other thing that truly belongs to me. The dragon rider
07:38command sigil left by the Hawthorne family. I will reclaim that too.
07:44The moment I turn around, I meet Lysandra's venomous stare. The palace lanterns are still burning,
07:52and Lysandra can no longer hold herself back. Serafina, what a trick. Adrian cast you aside,
07:58so now you cling to the Ashen Prince? You steal my honors, steal my betrothal,
08:02and now you lecture me on dignity? It was mine to begin with!
08:07You're right. But the light you're standing in was lit with my blood. So what? In the end,
08:14you're still marrying a cripple. You dared to hit me? I did.
08:27Take my honors. Take Adrian too. But Lucien is not someone you get to mock.
08:36You hit me for a cripple? Say that word one more time,
08:41and I'll tear your false heroine mask off before the whole empire. For the first time, Lysandra
08:47looks afraid. Serafina, you've gone too far. I lift my eyes to Adrian. Now it is his turn.
08:53Adrian stands in front of Lysandra with that same self-righteous look.
08:58Did you really need to hit her? When you stand before me and defend her,
09:02have you forgotten whose fiance you used to be? What stood between us was only a family arrangement.
09:10Lysandra has always been the one I loved. Trash belongs only with trash.
09:19I return to the Vale Grest estate, and Lady Vivian summons me to the Great Hall at once.
09:26Begging to marry a crippled prince in public? What have you done to the Vale Grest family's name?
09:33And when Lysandra stole my fiancé in public, why didn't you think the same?
09:37Lysandra is different. How? Because she is your biological daughter,
09:43and that makes everything she does right? Marrying Lucien is not disgrace.
09:50You are the ones unworthy of speaking his name. At dawn, chaos erupts outside the Vale Grest estate.
09:57At the far end of the street, endless lacquered chests are being carried toward the gate.
10:03The Ashing Prince's engagement gifts have arrived.
10:07Ten chests of dragon crystal, one hundred ingots of red gold, three estate deeds,
10:14and twelve bolts of dragon scale silk. With every item read aloud, Lysandra turns paler.
10:21Impossible. What is it, Lysandra? Aren't you happy for me?
10:28How could a man like him afford this?
10:33Because he is a prince. Not someone you get to step on.
10:40Such fortune, Seraphina. Cast aside by Adrian last night, and accepting the Ashen Prince's gifts this
10:48morning. People may think you just want to get under Adrian's skin. She says it loudly on purpose,
10:54so the whole room hears. But the prince sent more than servants. The courtyard falls silent.
11:00What? Lucian has arrived in person. Before anyone fully rises, Lucian is already wheeling into the hall.
11:11Am I interrupting something?
11:15He ignores the forced smiles in the room. He looks only at me. I heard what was just said.
11:24You said she just wants to get under Adrian's skin?
11:28I didn't mean. Then what did you mean? Lysandra is already trembling.
11:33If my future princess chooses to marry me, I count myself fortunate. It is not for others to question.
11:40Your Highness. Do you regret it?
11:45Never. Never. I truly believe you are 10,000 times the man Adrian will ever be.
11:52I lean down, and, before the stunned room, kiss him. Lucian goes perfectly still.
12:04Is that clear enough now? Lucian says nothing. He only stares at me. And for the first time,
12:10something in his gaze slips out of control.
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