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The Vampire Lord's Lost Salvation #engsub #fullmovie🎬🍿 | Twisted Fate
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00:00I once risked my life to save Darius, the lord of the night, in the Silvermoon Forest.
00:05He remembered my face.
00:06But when he came to propose, he mistook my sister Elise, who looked almost identical me for the woman he
00:12was looking for.
00:13The Duchess forbade me from speaking the truth.
00:15Even if you did speak up, do you honestly think a lord of his standing would ever marry a low
00:20-born half-elf bastard?
00:21But Elise never got to enjoy her good fortune.
00:23She died of illness before the blood-bonding ceremony.
00:25My father, unwilling to let such power slip through his hands, transferred the engagement to me.
00:30He assumed that since we looked alike, even a stand-in would be enough to please the lord.
00:34He was wrong, at Darius only hated me.
00:36You have the same face, so why was it her who died and not you?
00:39He was cold to me always, and never believed a word of the truth I tried to tell him.
00:42When I was reborn, I came back to the very day Darius had just announced his engagement to Elise.
00:48I knelt before the Duchess.
00:49To keep things from getting complicated, my lady, it would be best to arrange my marriage as soon as possible.
00:54Why are you suddenly bringing this up?
00:56The Duchess was caught off guard.
00:58After all, just days ago I had been clenching my teeth, refusing to give an inch.
01:03Only when she threatened my birth mother's life had I been forced to reveal the details of how I'd saved
01:10Darius.
01:10The Silver Moon Forest, a terrestrial downpour.
01:14Darius had been ambushed by demon hunters, struck with holy silver venom and plunged into a mindless blood frenzy.
01:20It was I who suppressed my fear with my half-elf in blood, hid him in a cave, and nursed
01:25him back with my own blood over the course of several days.
01:28But when we parted, his voice was rough.
01:30I'm on a covert mission.
01:32I can't reveal who I am.
01:33Tell me your name.
01:35When this is over, where do I find you?
01:38I told him my name was Arya, and that I'd soon be heading south to the Duke's estate.
01:43My mother was gravely ill at the time, and I was out of options.
01:47My only recourse was to seek out the high and mighty Duke who happened to be my father.
01:51He took it in.
01:54He stayed in the pouring rain and held my gaze for a long moment.
01:59I will remember you.
02:02Except, my highborn sister at Elisa happened to wear the very same face.
02:06It was only when he came in person that I realized the man I'd saved was Darius, Lord of the
02:10Night.
02:11After a few murmured pleasantries, Elyse griffed on a heavy cloud of moongrass perfume to mask the scent of her
02:16human blood.
02:17I have admired you as well, my lord.
02:20But I don't know what you mean.
02:23Who is Arya?
02:24The Duchess' gaze slid toward me.
02:27She knew that Arya was my elven true name.
02:29The one I'd been forced to abandon when I arrived at the Duke's estate and took a human name instead.
02:34It's you.
02:36From now on, Arya is your true name.
02:38I was forced to give Elyse every detail.
02:41Conveniently, Elyse had a delicate constitution and had once recovered from an illness near the edge of the Silvermoon Forest.
02:49Darius heard her account, believed every word and set the engagement on the spot.
02:54Smart girl.
02:54The Duchess said, recovering herself with a mild smile.
02:58I'll marry you off somewhere far away with a generous dowry.
03:00The moment the blood bonding ceremony is done, you take that sickly mother of yours and get out of this
03:05estate for good.
03:06I let out a long breath and quietly said yes.
03:11My marriage needed to be arranged without delay.
03:13For one thing, keeping me under the same roof made the Duchess uneasy.
03:17For another, Elyse had only a few months left to live.
03:20She had always been frail, anxious by nature, and prone to overthinking.
03:24Later, she gave her heart entirely to Darius.
03:26The kinder Darius was to her, the worse she felt, and the more terrified she became of being exposed.
03:31Every day she lived on a knife's edge.
03:33A severe bout of fever was all it took.
03:35She never got out of bed again.
03:37After Elyse died, Darius spent months in a black mood.
03:40My father, loathed to lose at such a powerful son-in-law, saw that I resembled her and pushed me
03:44forward in her place.
03:46The Lord is devastated by your sister's death.
03:48Go keep him company.
03:50If nothing else, at least be a comfort to her.
03:51He had miscalculated.
03:52Darius assumed I was deliberately imitating Elyse, that I was calculating and manipulative.
03:56That I had injured my way close to him out of naked ambition.
03:59His contempt for me grew with each passing interaction until it had no further to go.
04:03Even when he agreed to marry me, for the sake of my face and nothing else, there was not a
04:07shred of warmth in it.
04:09On the night of the bonding, he lifted my veil.
04:11He studied me for a moment, then gave a contemptuous little laugh.
04:14That night, he blindfolded me.
04:16I was not allowed to look at him.
04:17I was not allowed to make a sound.
04:19What followed was months of cold indifference.
04:21I finally worked up the courage to ask him.
04:24What if I told you, the one who saved you was me?
04:28And Aria really is my true name.
04:30But, the living can speak in their own defense.
04:32But in his mind, the dead Elyse would always be perfect.
04:34And it had been three years.
04:35His memory had blurred.
04:37My account was no clearer than the one Elyse had fed him.
04:39Adaria listened, his brow knotting tight, then swept the spell roller off the table in one sharp motion.
04:43The crash was deafening.
04:45You used your resemblance to her to grab power.
04:48That was bad enough.
04:49His voice went flat.
04:52Now you want to steal what she did too.
04:55That is beneath contempt.
04:58That day, I was made to kneel on the steps outside the blood cells.
05:01Snow fell in every direction.
05:03People passed.
05:04No one dared look at the lady of the night and her humiliation.
05:06No one dared bring an umbrella.
05:08I was frozen through.
05:09I collapsed against the steps, the cold going from my body straight into my bones.
05:13That was when I lost my child.
05:14When I woke, my only company was my bloodthrow.
05:17Her expression was pained as she chose her words carefully.
05:21Even the messenger sent to inform him of my mucure age had been turned away.
05:25His lordship still did not know.
05:26With his first love's memorial day approaching, no one in the entire realm dared risk angering the lord.
05:33I lay with my back to the window.
05:35Tears ran from my cheeks, down to the collar of my dress.
05:39I was full of regret.
05:41If I could go back years, I never would have saved him.
05:45If only a few months ago, I had not married him.
05:50A few days later, a stack of parchment smelling of age and old ink was tossed onto my table.
05:55A ledger of eligible lords.
05:57For once, the duchess was generous.
05:59Every name on the list was a powerful northern lord who controlled his own territory and answered to no one.
06:04Not out of sudden kindness.
06:05Of course.
06:06Elise's lies still had gaps, and I was the only one who could fill them.
06:09Exactly what did you do to save him in the forest?
06:12Elise leaned back against a velvet chair, her eyes betraying anxiety she couldn't quite hide.
06:16I kept it vague.
06:17I couldn't afford proper healing potions, so I packed the wound with some low-grade bloodweed.
06:21He complained it was too slow.
06:22I felt embarrassed, so I snapped back that a badly wounded vampire couldn't handle a strong dose.
06:27The water wasn't clean, so I collected morning dew from flower petals.
06:31He couldn't stand the taste, and I told him he was being spoiled.
06:35Elise committed every detail to memory.
06:37Good.
06:37If he asks, I'll tell him the steward.
06:39Withheld my supplies, that's why things were so grim.
06:42Every alibi she built was airtight.
06:44The lies were riddled with holes, but to a man blinded by love, they were flawless.
06:48In my past life, those same scripts of half-truth had been enough to fool Darius completely.
06:53Once we had finished rehearsing the story,
06:55Elise glanced down at the portraits with her usual air of superiorities.
06:59All these country lords put together aren't fit to polish his lordship's boots.
07:03She raised an eyebrow at me, her tone probing.
07:05Little sister, are you really alright giving up a man like that?
07:08I didn't even look up.
07:10Not a ripple inside me.
07:11Not at all.
07:12The lord of the night is well above my station.
07:14Elise pulled out one of the portraits, tossing it to me.
07:17Go meet this man tomorrow.
07:19If he suits, we can get rid of you while I'm still unbound.
07:22Tidy up two things at once.
07:26The name they settled on was Orion, who ruled the Frozen Waits as the Frost Lord.
07:30When Elise pointed to his name, her lips curved with quiet malice.
07:35Everyone knew the Frozen North was brutal and unforgiving.
07:39And this lord had a reputation for being cold-blooded and ruthless.
07:42Sending me there was exile in everything but name.
07:46I agreed without hesitation.
07:48The Duchess moved quickly, arranging a meeting at a discreet tavern near the border.
07:52In the low flicker of candlelight, I finally laid eyes on the man they called a tyrant.
07:56Orion's features were as striking as something carved from ice in winter.
07:59His deep-set eyes holding a detachment that kept the world at arm's length.
08:03His long fingers lifted a cup of hot tea and pushed it across to me.
08:06He stated his terms without pre-andle.
08:08I don't like complications.
08:10After the blood-bonding ceremony, all matters inside and outside Winterkeep are yours to manage.
08:17If you're worried about your mother, bring her north to recover.
08:20She's welcome.
08:21His directness caught me off guard.
08:24He had clearly already looked into my situation.
08:27Only, I'll be returning to the front, so the wedding will have to be a simple one.
08:31A straightforward arrangement with no games.
08:34Exactly what I wanted.
08:35I cradled the warm cup and laid out everything the Duchess had concealed.
08:39I told him I only knew basic healing arts, and hadn't the finest grasp of any high magic or dark
08:44spellwork.
08:45Orion listened without interruption.
08:47When I finished, a rare faint smile crossed the hard line of his mouth.
08:50The meeting went surprisingly well.
08:52We agreed to formalize the engagement in three days.
08:55But just as I was pulling my cloak tight to leave, a commotion erupted from the tavern floor below.
09:01Darius stood at the bar in inconspicuous dark clothing, leaning against the counter with an air of bored ease.
09:09My lord, so the Frost Lord is taking a bride.
09:13Darius swirled his glass, his tone casually amused.
09:15He the north is so far.
09:17I doubt I'll make it to drink to your health.
09:19The Night Realm keeps me occupied enough.
09:21No need to trouble yourself.
09:22Darius's gaze drifted past Orion and settled idly on me, wrapped in my cloak.
09:26That young woman looks familiar.
09:28Which family is she from?
09:29Orion stepped forward without a flicker of expression, blocking his line of sight completely.
09:34The Southern Duke's estate.
09:36The air went quiet for a beat.
09:38The hand holding Darius's glass stilled slightly, as though he'd been caught by a passing thought.
09:44Two years ago, in the Silvermoon Forest, he had asked me the very same question.
09:50My answer had been the same.
10:01The Duke's estate lay wrapped in a heavy twilight.
10:04The Duchess was waiting in the main hall, but not a single element of the ancient bloodline's highest ceremonial customs
10:08was skipped.
10:09The Frost Lord may be difficult, but he is a ruler in his own right.
10:12You're not unhappy with this match?
10:13This is the best I could hope to reach.
10:15Thank you for your generosities, my lady.
10:16She waved her hand with visible relief, dismissing me.
10:19As I made my way through the estate's corridor, the steward appeared out of nowhere and stopped me.
10:25The young mistress is walking with the Lord in the Rose Garden.
10:32Best not go looking for trouble.
10:34Happy to avoid them, I turned and made my way along the edge of the fountain toward the sidewing.
10:38The night breeze ruffled the water and in its reflection I saw my face close enough to Elise's to pass
10:42for hers in a dim room.
10:43She had been pampered into a delicate beauty by rare elixir.
10:46I had long since learned to grow wild under cold scares and hard use.
10:49He couldn't recognize me at all now.
10:51That felt exactly right.
10:52Just as I passed the low wall of the Rose Garden, Darius's voice drifted over on the breeze.
10:58You've never once mentioned having a sister close to your age.
11:01I spent my childhood conifacing at a country house.
11:04I've never been close with the family.
11:06There's nothing to tell.
11:07Darius let it go, shifting the subject.
11:09Tonight's healing potion is considerably better than those crude herbs you gave me in the forest.
11:13Elise immediately fell back on the lines I'd prepared for her, her voice soft and a little chai.
11:18I knew so little then and had nothing to work with.
11:20I'm sorry you had to suffer for it.
11:22They smiled at each other, the picture of perfect contentment.
11:27I stood on the other side of that wall and didn't bother with even a contemptuous smile.
11:33I quickened my step toward the side wing that was mine.
11:38Night fell, Darius's carriage rolled out of the estate.
11:41I carried a bowl of broth I'd simmered and gently pushed open my birth mother's door.
11:46She had been ill for years, but her mind was sharp as ever.
11:50The moment she saw me, the tears broke through.
11:53Arya, it's this wrecked body of mine that's dragged you into all of this, isn't it?
12:00You were the one who risked being torn apart to save that Frenry's lord.
12:04Mother, don't talk like that.
12:06None of that matters now.
12:08In my past life, I had genuinely harbored hope that saving his life might earn me a scrip of compassion.
12:14What came instead was unending punishment and the full force of a rage that was never meant for me.
12:20That arrogant, self-important man had no heart.
12:24I've already come to an agreement with the Frost Lord.
12:26He's a man of his word.
12:28He would never treat us the way this family has.
12:32The moment the blood bonding ceremony is finished, we leave this place behind forever.
12:39The envoys from the frozen north arrived exactly on time.
12:43Three days later, they knocked at the Duke's Gate with a handsome bride price.
12:46Orion had sent a pureblood elder in his standing,
12:48which figure of the occasion the dignity it deserved.
12:50The wedding was set for an auspicious day the following week's size.
12:53In haste, the timeline was tight,
12:55but not a single element of the ancient bloodline's highest ceremonial customs was skipped.
12:58The estate seamstresses worked around the clock to finish my gown.
13:01I sat by the window and embroidered the totems of the frozen north along the hem of a black cloak,
13:06stitch by stitch.
13:07I was unexpectedly calm inside,
13:09none of that past life dread of clinging to what I was always afraid to lose.
13:13I remembered how in my past life,
13:14every time Aunt Darius came to the estate,
13:16he'd fixed me with a stare like a jailer studying a prisoner.
13:20Because he'd mocked me openly at the Hunt Festival,
13:22the Duchess had decided I was no longer of use to her,
13:25and planned to marry me off to some down-at-heel minor lord.
13:28Instead, at the evening's banquet,
13:29Darius had appeared with a black look on his face
13:31and dragged me in front of everyone into an empty room.
13:34He gripped my jaw and spoke in a voice cold as venom.
13:36I agreed to keep you at my side as a stand-in.
13:39Don't even think about using that face to tempt other men.
13:44In the days of wedding preparation,
13:47Orion's messenger arrived nearly every day with a small parcel.
13:50None of it appeared on the official bride price list.
13:53All of it was personal.
13:55Sometimes an out-of-print fragment of elven spellwork.
13:58Sometimes a few stems of rare arctic snow lotus.
14:01Everything I'd mentioned in passing at the tavern.
14:04One day, Elise walked in as I was carefully transplanting the snow lotus into a pot.
14:08Her expression curdled instantly.
14:11So this cold-blooded lord of yours really knows how to win a woman over.
14:15His lordship has never once paid me this kind of attention,
14:18she muttered, turning the pigeon-blood diamond on her finger.
14:21Not once.
14:22I hate drinking that cloating pure blood he sends it every day.
14:26I can't stand dark colors.
14:28And yet he keeps gifting me fabric in black to have gowns made.
14:33You've only met him once.
14:35Why does he already care this much?
14:37I watched her face.
14:39That look of someone who has everything and resents it anyway.
14:42And felt only amusement.
14:44In my past life, Darius had forced the entire realm into three months of mourning a tarot in her memory.
14:50I set down the watering can and answered without inflection.
14:53You're about to become Lady of the Night Realm.
14:56Why trouble yourself over details like these?
15:00You're right.
15:02As long as I hold the title, nothing else matters.
15:22Three days before I left the South, I received letters from several friends among the healers.
15:27They wanted to throw me a small farewell gathering.
15:31They'd done so much for my mother over the past two years that I couldn't bring myself to refuse.
15:37It was held at an open-air tea garden along the city wall.
15:40We drank hot red tea and talked about what lay ahead.
15:44As we were parting ways, one sharp-eyed friend suddenly tugged my sleeve and pointed toward a tower not far
15:51off.
15:53In the arched window of the tower stood two men, both radiating power.
15:59Darius was watching our direction with narrow, sharp eyes.
16:04Orion, the one in the black cloak down there, that's your mysterious bride-to-be, isn't it?
16:09You've kept her well hidden.
16:10If not for running into this today, I might never have had a chance to take a look.
16:14Orion stepped forward without changing expression, neatly blocking Darius' view.
16:19She prefers to keep a low profile.
16:23Best not disturb her.
16:24Some loose-tongued noble nearby couldn't resist.
16:27That's the Duke's natural daughter, only recently found.
16:31I've heard she looks remarkably like the future Lady of the Night Realm.
16:34If you put them side by side and couldn't rely on their scent to tell them apart, most people would
16:39mix them up.
16:41Oh? Very alike?
16:43Orion said nothing in return.
16:44He simply reached over and slammed the heavy shutters closed, cutting off every line of scent.
16:51I stood beneath the city wall, gripping the edge of my cloak, my palms slick with cold sweat.
16:59After that gathering, the Duke's estate was suddenly flooded with inexplicable invitations.
17:04Even the noblewomens who used to look down their nobles at me were now competing to pay me a visit.
17:10The Duchess understood the game being played.
17:13Under the pretense of wedding preparations, she turned every one of them away.
17:18At last the day of the blood bonding ceremony arrived.
17:21Orion, in a sharply cut dark military uniform, came personally to the estate gates to receive me.
17:27Just as I was about to step into the carriage, the crowd fell suddenly for silent.
17:32Darius had appeared in the wedding procession, uninvited, with a full escort of nightguards at his back, bold as anything.
17:38He offered his congratulations with his mouth, while his eyes cut into me like a blade.
17:42Our meeting at the tavern was so rushed, I never got a proper look at the bride.
17:47The north is so far, I won't be able to toast you on the day.
17:51I wonder if the Frost Lord might allow me a glimpse of the bride's face before she goes?
17:55The surrounding vampire is foolishly joined in the town.
18:00Take off the veil.
18:03Lord Darius, mind your words.
18:06She is my wife.
18:08Not a spectacle for your entertainment.
18:10Elise came hurrying over, breathless, one hand lifting the hem of her elaborate gown.
18:14She took his arm with a half-playful, half-reproachful air.
18:17My lord, today is my sister's happy day.
18:20Don't get swept up in the crowd.
18:21Stir up trouble and it won't end well for anyone.
18:23Given the out-reliance of Arthur, Darius held my gaze for a long moment, then finally ran himself home.
18:34I overslept.
18:35Safe travels to you both now.
18:39When the ceremonies were done, a long procession of carriages left the south and turned toward the frozen north.
18:48An unexpected beast tide had struck the border defenses, and Orion spent the first two months almost entirely at the
18:55military camp.
18:59Our formal blood-bonding ceremony was put off again and again.
19:03It wasn't until the first snowfall that we finally held our quiet ceremony beside the warm hearth at Winterkeep.
19:08After all that time together, I found that he was nothing like the brutish figure of rumor.
19:12He would join me in the greenhouse to trim the stems.
19:14He would drapel a heavy foxfur robe over my shoulders in the small hours of the night.
19:18Fire cast the room in warmth.
19:20Orion undid the ties of my cloak with gentle hands.
19:22A quiet smile in his gray-blue eyes.
19:24Here you're free of the Duke's estate and all its rules.
19:26What should I call you when it's just us?
19:28Pause for half a second.
19:29The name I had carried for twenty years, Arya, had been forbidden in the south.
19:32My mouth moved before I was sure of the words, my voice going slightly rough.
19:36Arya.
19:37Could you call me Arya?
19:38Of course, Arya.
19:39When he said it, there was something in his voice.
19:41A strange and tender familiarity.
19:43The winter wind howled outside the window that night.
19:46Inside, it was warm as spring.
19:47His broad chest gave me a sense of safety I had never known before.
19:50It was in the quiet talk that followed that I learned a startling secret.
19:53We had already met, long before.
19:56The day I rescued a snow wolf from a trap out on the snow field, he had been nearby, watching.
20:00And on the night of the storm, when Darius was ambushed and fell into blood frenzy in the forest,
20:05Orion had been on a patrol in the shadows.
20:07He had seen me rush in to calm him.
20:09Every twist and miscap had led me to his side in the end.
20:12That, I thought, must be what fate looks like when it's feeling kind.
20:17Life in the frozen north was monotonous and extraordinarily peaceful.
20:20No scheming, no maneuvering, just winter keeps impenetrable walls in Aryan's steady, attentive care.
20:26Under the realm's chief healer's care, my mother's health recovered to an almost miraculous degree.
20:30Then a letter arrived, bearing an urgent wax seal, and broke the piece.
20:34It had been sent in secret by the Duchess, and the panic between every line was unmistakable.
20:39Darius had finally begun to suspect.
20:41He had deliberately organized a hunting party, and led Elise to the edge of the treacherous dark forest.
20:45When a low-rank beast, one that had been tampered with, came snarling at Elisa, Darius watched with cold eyes.
20:52Elise went white with terror.
20:54She didn't step forward to calm it.
20:56Instead, she shoved her personal main shader hard into its path.
21:00When the guards cut the beast down, Darius looked at Elise, unharmed, trembling, and gave a laugh that made everyone's
21:07blood run cold.
21:08Elise was still trying to talk her way out of it.
21:10My lord, it wasn't that I wouldn't help. My constitution is simply too fragile.
21:15The physician told me I must never suffer any kind of shock.
21:19Darius stripped the pretense from her without mercy.
21:21In that downpour, that frenzied vampire could have snapped your neck at any moment.
21:26And yet you didn't even blink before you stepped in front of me.
21:29You two-faced little parasite.
21:31How long have you been lying to my face?
21:34Elise was broken off with on his spot and driven back to the Duke's estate that same night.
21:39The laughingstock of the entire south.
21:41The Duchess' letter was equal parts regret and fury.
21:44Every word cursing Darius' ruthlessness.
21:47She even admitted she was relieved she'd shipped me.
21:49The troublesome problem I was off to the frozen north when she had.
21:52I fed the letter into the fireplace without expression and watched it turn to ash.
21:56The next day I had barely finished tending to a new growth of snow lorphous in the greenhouse when a
22:02guard came rushing over.
22:04My lady, the lord of the night has arrived without warning and is asking for you by name.
22:11Darius had come alone, not a single soldier, slipping through the northern wind and snow like a ghost.
22:17He stood at the far end of the frost-covered corridor.
22:19He looked hollowed out, sunken eyes, none of that former arrogance.
22:24When he saw me, his throat moved sharply.
22:26Arya.
22:27His voice was rough as sandpaper, thick with something barely held in.
22:31So you've been at Arya all along?
22:34You were willing to die for me.
22:36So why did you hide?
22:38Why did you stand by and let that woman make a fool of me?
22:41I looked at him, all that passionate sincerity, and felt only revulsion, because I never wanted to marry you.
22:47I punctured the illusion without a moment's courtesy.
22:49He reeled as if struck, his tall frame swaying, his eyes flooding red.
22:53That's impossible.
22:54The way you looked at me in the silver moon forest.
22:56That was real.
22:57That can't be faked.
22:59I am the lord of the night now.
23:00Whatever you want, I can give it to you.
23:02Say the word, and the title of Lady of the Night Realm is yours immediately.
23:06I let the corner of my mouth twist into something cold.
23:09In my past life, after Elise died, he had offered me the same charity in the same tone.
23:19And kept me at his side.
23:22What had come of it, I became the laughing stock of everyone.
23:26A substitute ground into the dirt.
23:32He was the one who had strangled every hope I'd ever had.
23:38Save it, Lord Darius.
23:40My tone was flat.
23:41The way it would be with a stranger who meant nothing to me.
23:44I have no interest in your wealth or your power.
23:47And I want nothing to do with you.
23:49The light in his eyes went out, piece by piece, replaced by an anguish that couldn't accept what it heard.
23:55A single tear slipped down his pale cheek.
23:58See him out.
23:59I gave him no chance to continue, turned, and walked into the inner room, leaving the door between us.
24:06That night, for once, I couldn't sleep.
24:10Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in the blood cells, that cold that reached the marrow, that
24:16despair that had nowhere to go.
24:18When I startled awake, I was soaked in cold sweat.
24:21Orion was immediately alert.
24:23He sat up and pulled me close.
24:25His broad hand moved slowly across my back, trying to settle me.
24:30Nightmare?
24:30I opened my mouth to say something, and then rapid knocking came at the door.
24:35My lord! Something's happened!
24:38There's a powerful energy surge coming from the border forest!
24:40Orion's eyes sharpened immediately.
24:42He threw on his military coat, bent to press a kiss to my forehead.
24:46Don't be afraid. Guards will be here.
24:49I'll go see what's happening.
24:51I sat through the night in the shifting lamplight.
24:53It was only when pale gray crept into the horizon that definite word reached the keep.
25:00After leaving Winterkei, Darius had not gone south.
25:04He had wandered the border forest like a man possessed, drinking an entire bottle of high-proof spirits.
25:11Between the alcohol and some magical stimulant, his blood frenzy had broken loose entirely.
25:16And he had stumbled and fallen into a frozen lake.
25:20A patrol found him and immediately reported to the border commander.
25:24By the time Orion arrived with his men, Darius was nearly dead from the cold.
25:29The physician on hand used a considerable store of rare medicinal curials to pull him back from the edge.
25:35He was unconscious for a full two hours.
25:38His first words upon waking chilled everyone present.
25:42He fixed his gaze on Orion, hollow eyes, frightening in their forksation.
25:48Give her back to me.
25:50Orion didn't see much as raise an eye.
25:53She is my lawful wife, not something you can simply take.
25:57I suggest you come to your senses.
26:01It was full dark before Orion returned to the bedroom, coated in windblown snow and exhausted.
26:07He shrugged off his frost-covered coat and rested his head on my knee, closing his eyes.
26:12I ran my fingers gently through his hair and asked quietly,
26:16Did he make any unreasonable demands?
26:19Oriadion shook his head, his voice slightly muffled.
26:22No, he was raving like a man completely out of his mind.
26:27He said you were once his wife.
26:30That he put you in the blood cells himself.
26:33My heart missed a beat.
26:34My breathing stopped.
26:35The near-death experience in that frozen lake, it had restored his memories of his past life too?
26:41What an incomprehensible madman.
26:44Orion gave a cold, short laugh, as though none of it troubled him in the slightest.
26:48He was too exhausted to stay awake long.
26:51He fell asleep against me shortly after.
26:53But my thoughts were in turmoil, and sleep was gone.
26:57Early the next morning, the Border Fortress Commander's wife arrived in person with an urgent letter.
27:03Darius was refusing to leave the fortress, and was on the verge of losing control entirely.
27:09My lady, if you don't go and face him yourself,
27:13I fear he really will call up the Night Army and start a war up here.
27:17However, that man had always been willing to use any means to get what he wanted.
27:22I let out a long breath and decided to put an end to this once and for all.
27:26Prepare the carriage.
27:28I'll go see him.
27:29Tell the commander.
27:30No unnecessary casualties.
27:33At the frozen lake's edge, the wind and snow raged.
27:37Darius stood with his back to me at the heart of the storm.
27:40His thin shirt was soaked through with snow, and he looked utterly alone.
27:44When he heard my footsteps, he spun around.
27:47He reached toward me, then stopped, his hand going rigid in midair and pulling back.
27:51Area.
27:52His rough voice trembled in the wind.
27:54I have lived two lives, and in both of them, you were my undoing.
27:58In my past life, I was deceived by Elise.
28:01I had no idea you were the one I'd been looking for.
28:03When Elise died, I thought showing you any kindness would be a betrayal of her.
28:07I couldn't bring myself to admit I'd fallen for you.
28:10I told myself it would be an insult to the woman who saved my life.
28:13I watched him lay himself open without changing expression.
28:16I tried to explain this to you.
28:17Once.
28:18Yes.
28:19You did.
28:20Darius gave a self-mocking laugh that was uglier than fun.
28:23But I was too arrogant.
28:25I refused to believe it.
28:26But Elise was dead, and the dead tell no tales.
28:29All I could do was assume the worst of you.
28:31Tell myself you were a schemer who wanted her place and her power.
28:34He grew more and more agitated as he spoke, his eyes bloodshot, his voice rising to something
28:38close to a shout.
28:39But was all of this really only my fault?
28:42If you had told me the truth sooner, if Elise hadn't interfered, we could have had something
28:46perfect.
28:47You conspired against me together.
28:49She copied your habits, packed my wounds with bloodworm, stole our memories and made them
28:54hers.
28:56Watching him work himself into hysterics, I didn't even have the energy to be angry.
29:01What choice did I have?
29:02I cut him off, cold and flat.
29:04My mother was dying.
29:05The Duchess had us both where it hurt.
29:07If I hadn't handed over the secret of how I saved you, we would have died.
29:11Both of us.
29:11And every last bit of this tragedy comes back to those blind, worthless eyes of yours.
29:17I curved my mouth into something that was not a smile.
29:20Everyone knows you were devoted to the woman who saved your life.
29:23And yet in the end, even my current husband recognized me at a glance.
29:27While you were fooled by a counterfeit for two entire lifetimes that nailed him to the
29:31stars.
29:32All the color left his face.
29:34He took one stubborn step forward, his eyes burning with obsession.
29:37I recognize you now.
29:39It's not too late.
29:40I can still make this right.
29:42In our past life, everyone looked down on your half-ellish blood and I kept you at my
29:45side against all opposition.
29:47Even now that you've completed the bonding with another, I don't care.
29:50I looked at the lake sealed under its thick ice and chose each word to cut.
29:54In your past life, you treated me worse than an animal.
29:57It was in the blood cells, while I was going numb from the cold and bleeding, that I discovered
30:02I was carrying a child.
30:03If I truly mean that much to you as the person who saved your life, then put away your act
30:08of devotion and stop making me sick.
30:10Those words struck him like lightning out of a clear sky and shattered him.
30:15A child?
30:16He staggered back two steps, his legs buckling, catching himself on a dead tree to stay upright.
30:21He raised his head.
30:22Desperate tears mixed with melted snow poured down.
30:24The remorse looked like it would tear him apart.
30:26I laid my hand very gently over my still flat stomach and let the warmth of it show in
30:30my eyes.
30:31But it doesn't matter.
30:31This time she found a father who will truly love her.
30:35She has already come back.
30:39That evening I ate dinner in the fortress command room in perfect silence.
30:43Darius sat at the far end of the long table looking like something had emptied him out.
30:47Without thinking, he gripped his crystal goblet too hard and it shattered in his hand.
30:51The shards cutting into his palm, blood dripped steadily.
30:55He didn't react at all, as if the pain had gone somewhere else.
30:57The fortress camter was sweating through his uniform, terrified this walking disaster was
31:01about to lose his mind and massacre everyone.
31:04Night fell.
31:05The blizzard intensified.
31:06At the far end of the corridor, a warm glowing magic lantern appeared.
31:10Orion, dusted with snow, had come to take me home himself.
31:14His broad, strong hand settled firmly on my shoulder.
31:19Taking you home?
31:20In the carriage, I leaned against his broad chest without any particular effort.
31:26Orion was unusually quiet.
31:29He carefully unpinned his snowflake disc cloak and wrapped me in it thoroughly.
31:32As he was tying it closed, I noticed the edges of his deep-set eyes were faintly red.
31:37You don't find all of this?
31:40My past?
31:41Too much to deal with?
31:42His voice was very low, carrying a rare note of uncertainty.
31:46What are you thinking?
31:47He isn't worth a single strand of your hair.
31:50The tension went out of his body at once, and he made a low, quiet sound of acknowledgement.
31:58And besides, our child needs her father too.
32:03Orion's whole body went still, a man who had mastered advanced detection magic.
32:07And in this moment, he looked like a complete and helpless fool.
32:10The instant his fingertips touched my pulse, he simply stopped.
32:12Just over a month along, I felt dizzy in the carriage today, and the physician confirmed it.
32:18He held his breath in disbelief and gathered me into his arms with an impossible gentleness,
32:22as if I were something that could shatter.
32:24A flurry of kisses fell on my forehead, my eyes, my lips.
32:29Aria, this is the best gift I have ever been given.
32:33Back at Winterkeep, I was treated like something fragile and irreplaceable.
32:39Meanwhile, Darius lingered at the frozen border, for more than ten days.
32:43At times he sat in the storm like a dead tree.
32:46At times he spent the deep hours of night blasting boulders apart with uncontrolled magic.
32:50And in the most punishing act of self-destruction he could manage,
32:52he stood in a blizzard on the steps through an entire night.
32:55The bloodline reblash finally broke him.
32:57He fell gravely ill.
32:58Just as the border generals were going grey with worry, urgent news came from the south.
33:05A rebellion had broken out in the Night Realm, and the lord was needed immediately to take command.
33:10I only learned afterward that Orion had quietly reached out to the opposition forces in the south,
33:16and arranged it deliberately.
33:19Before he was forced to leave the frozen north,
33:22Darius, barely able to stand, had a heavy spatial storage pouch delivered to me.
33:28Inside, were tens of thousands of top-grade mana crystals,
33:32along with rare treasures and life-extending elixirs from his private stores.
33:35Things I hadn't even been allowed to look at in my past life.
33:39He had wasted away to almost nothing.
33:41His pale face held no color whatsoever,
33:43and he pulled his mouth into the ugliest approxiation of a smile.
33:48Consider this a small repayment for saving my life.
33:51There had been a time when I would have given anything for resources like these.
33:55Anything to afford my mother's treatment.
33:58Since he was the one rushing to atone,
34:00I accepted it all without ceremony.
34:03But I didn't give him a single word beyond what was necessary.
34:07Darius left the north in the end,
34:09diminished and without a word.
34:11Not long after,
34:13the Night Realm issued a formal document acknowledging the frozen north's independent sovereignty.
34:17Together with a century-long peace treaty,
34:19it was clearly a concession made on my account.
34:22Orion looked at the treaty and raised an eyebrow.
34:25A single dismissive flick.
34:27It doesn't matter.
34:28He held me close,
34:30his voice easy and certain.
34:32The honor that belongs to you as Lady of the Frozen North.
34:35I will defend it with my own strength.
34:37I don't need his charity to do that.
34:40I put every piece of Darius's premium medicine to you and to use on my mother.
34:45Within a few months,
34:47she had made a full recovery.
34:49My mother returned to what she knew
34:51and opened a small healing clinic in the keep,
34:54treating injured Townsfake free of charge.
34:57I would help from time to time.
34:59Whenever the sun began to set
35:01and Orion finished his rounds of the defenses,
35:03he would always come by on his way back to collect me.
35:08Walking along the snow path lit by magic lanterns,
35:11he would chatter on and on with questions.
35:14Did the little one give you any trouble today?
35:16Not at all.
35:17Very well behaved.
35:18We really need to think seriously about the name.
35:20An elven name, a human name, and our family name to go with it.
35:24What if your mother chose one too?
35:26I leaned against his shoulder and laughed, yes.
35:29Time moved quickly.
35:30Years later, word came from the south.
35:32An obituary.
35:34Darius had died in a brutal campaign against high-ranked demon hunters.
35:37Since the broken engagement, he had never married.
35:40He had turned himself into a warring machine with no feeling,
35:43putting down rebellions, routing out enemies,
35:46stationed always at the most dangerous front.
35:48In the end, in a bloody battle, an old wound reopened.
35:53He fought until he had nothing left.
35:55The people of the south praised the lord of the night for his fearlessness.
35:59The entire realm mourned.
36:01The frozen north observed a few symbolic days of quiet.
36:05But the shadow of his death was soon swept away entirely by a brilliant aurora.
36:10My daughter had reached the age of maximum mischief.
36:13She wore a white foxfur cloak as soft as cloud,
36:16and frost roses I had grown myself tucked into her hair.
36:18She ran and laughed across the wide snowfield like a little spirit set free.
36:23She knew nothing of the cruelties of a past life.
36:26She didn't understand the grievances and sorrows adults carry.
36:29Those bright jewel eyes of hers held nothing but pure,
36:32unclouded anticipation for everything ahead.
36:35The wild wind carried away the last trace of old grief.
36:38And here, on this frozen expanse that was once thought to be a place of exile,
36:42I had finally found what was mine.
36:44A spring that would never end.
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