00:00When I was seven, my father chose four heirs from the four great clans.
00:04They were raised in the palace as my future mate candidates.
00:07The kingdom called them the four lords of Eloria.
00:14But none of them wanted me.
00:16When I came of age, I had to choose one of them as my mate.
00:19In my last life, I chose Cassian Thorne, the wolf I had loved since childhood.
00:23I thought my love could soften his coldness.
00:25But on my coronation night, he opened the palace gates for Serafina Ashford.
00:30Her family dragged me from the throne.
00:32Cassian held me down himself, while Serafina drove silver through my heart.
00:36I stared at him in disbelief.
00:38Only then did I understand.
00:39In his eyes, I had never been his mate.
00:42I was only the cage keeping him from Serafina.
00:45When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my father asked me which of the four
00:50I wished to marry.
00:51Without hesitation, I said,
00:53Father, I choose Rowan.
00:55Roran Blackwood, the most unreliable man among the four lords.
00:59A playboy who never slept alone.
01:03Laura, are you sure?
01:05Once the mating decree is sealed, there is no taking it back.
01:09I knew that.
01:10But Cassian never wanted me.
01:11I would not hand him my life twice.
01:13Beyond him, marrying any of the others made no difference to me.
01:17I was the Lycan princess.
01:18I had duty.
01:19And I had burdens.
01:23Dad, my mind is set.
01:25I will not regret this.
01:26He sighed and pressed the royal seal beside Roran Blackwood's name.
01:33In three days, I will announce to the kingdom that Roran of the Murr clan is to be your husband.
01:37I nodded and left the king's chamber.
01:39The moment I walked out, four striking young men were already waiting in the corridor.
01:44They were my four mate candidates.
01:47Magnus Ironclaw of the Tiger Clan was the first to speak.
01:50Princess, we heard the king ask you to choose one of us.
01:55Who did you choose?
01:56My eyes drifted to Cassian out of old habit.
01:59Tobias Vale, heir of the Fox Clan, clapped Cassian on the shoulder.
02:02Do you even need to ask?
02:04It's our Cassiel, of course.
02:06Everyone in this palace knows.
02:08The princess has been pining after Cassiel for years.
02:11Cassian's face went cold as stone.
02:13His gaze meets mine, dark with resentment, bitterness, and defiance.
02:17For a heartbeat, I wanted to tell him I had not chosen him.
02:20Don't look at me like that.
02:22But I stopped myself.
02:23I had thrown myself at his ice-cold feet for years.
02:26Let him stew for a few days.
02:27When I said nothing, Magnus nudged me.
02:29Come on, Leora.
02:31Don't keep us in suspension.
02:32Who is it?
02:33I glanced at Roran.
02:34He stood silent, fanning himself lazily.
02:37In three days, you will all know.
02:39Roran caught my look.
02:40He arches a brow.
02:42I didn't say another word.
02:43I turned and walked back to my chambers.
02:45Tobias was not wrong.
02:47Everyone knew I had loved Cassian Thorne.
02:49But Cassian was proud.
02:51To him, rising through a woman was a disgrace.
02:54His heart had belonged to another all along.
02:56Every smile I offered him, he met with cold disdain.
03:00But what he had never understood was that my marriage was never just mine to decide.
03:04My father was ill.
03:05I was his only daughter.
03:07To stabilize the four great clans, my husband had to come from one of those four.
03:11Whether they wanted me, or I wanted them.
03:14Lost in thought, I heard a voice call out behind me.
03:17Leora, wait.
03:21Is something wrong?
03:22Cassian gave a stiff, formal bow.
03:24My heart already belongs to another.
03:27I beg you not to choose me.
03:31Cassian Thorne, you really thought I'd choose you, didn't you?
03:35You are the princess.
03:36You have endless choices.
03:38Why force someone who doesn't want you?
03:49Just as I was about to tell him I had chosen Roran, someone rushed straight at me.
03:54She crashed into me and sent me sprawling to the ground.
03:56Princess, forgive me.
03:58I didn't mean to.
03:59I swear.
04:01Please forgive me.
04:03It was Serafina.
04:04She came from one of the most powerful wolf bloodlines in the kingdom.
04:07Yet every time she saw me, she trembled like a rabbit before a hunter, even when I had done nothing
04:12to her.
04:14In my last life, I thought she was only pretending to be weak to win his pity.
04:18Now I knew every tear was part of the act.
04:21She kept slamming her forehead to the floor until it turned red.
04:25Enough.
04:27It was nothing.
04:28There's no need for this.
04:30I pushed myself off the ground and said nothing.
04:35Princess, I deserve to die.
04:37Please, just forgive me this once.
04:42Leora, she didn't mean to.
04:44If you bully the weak like this, how will you ever rule a kingdom?
04:48How will you earn anyone's loyalty?
04:52Bully the weak?
04:53Fine.
04:54I'd show him what real cruelty looked like.
05:00Remember this.
05:02That is bullying.
05:03Cassian was too late to stop me.
05:05A red handprint blooms on Serafina's cheek.
05:08His finger jabbed at me, shaking with rage.
05:11You will address me as princess.
05:15Cassian froze.
05:16He had never imagined I would raise a hand to him.
05:21After all, I had spent years adoring him.
05:24His jaw clenched.
05:25His fists curled until the knuckles cracked.
05:31Fine.
05:33Well done, princess.
05:36Serafina, let's go.
05:41Cassian was not this cold to me from the start.
05:44When I was seven, I fell into a lake, and someone pulled me out.
05:48I'd always believed it was Cassian.
05:50After that, of all four mate candidates, he was the one I had held closest.
05:55He used to sit with me through my lessons.
05:57He defended me when the tutor scolded me.
05:59He took my punishments alongside me.
06:05Then we grew older.
06:07He learned what we were to each other.
06:08He was being raised to become my future husband.
06:10He couldn't accept that future.
06:12So slowly, he pulled away from me.
06:14Only now did I understand.
06:16While I was clinging to a childhood memory,
06:18he and Serafina had already chosen each other.
06:20No wonder every tear of hers mattered more to him than every wound of mine.
06:24If he ever found out I'd chosen Roran instead of her neck,
06:27he should have been relieved.
06:30The next day was a long way as Enn.
06:33I'm a ceremony.
06:34My father's health was failing, so the right fell to me.
07:03Cassian was still angry from the day before.
07:05He did not give me a single warm glance all morning.
07:13After the midday meal, I went into the back garden for a moment alone.
07:19Cassian, I made these honey cakes for you.
07:22Try one.
07:23Tell me if they're good.
07:25Serafina laughed and brushed a crumb from his lip.
07:27I had no interest in watching the two of them together,
07:30so I turned to leave.
07:31And that was when figures in black burst from the shadows.
07:34Who are you?
07:35They did not answer.
07:36They lunged at me from every side,
07:38their blades aimed at every killing point.
07:45I shifted at once.
07:54Then I charged him.
07:55I had two of them on the ground in seconds.
07:57But before I could reach the third one,
07:59he flung a fistful of silver dust into the air.
08:01The moment it touched my fur,
08:03pain ripped through me.
08:04My limbs buckled.
08:05I was forced to shift back.
08:07Then I crashed onto the grass,
08:09unable to move.
08:13I reached for the mind link at once.
08:17At the same time,
08:19I shouted through the garden,
08:20Guards!
08:21Assassin!
08:25Cassian had clearly heard the commotion.
08:27Cassian, don't go.
08:29I'm scared.
08:31Please.
08:32That single heartbeat of hesitation cost me.
08:34A blade sliced across my arm.
08:36The burn of silver ripped through me so sharply
08:38that my wolf howled.
08:41I looked at Cassian
08:42as he kept Serafina shielded behind him.
08:44And I almost laughed.
08:45What had I expected from him?
08:50I thought I had changed the fate
08:51that destroyed me in my last life.
08:53But in the end,
08:54I still could not escape death.
08:56Silver burned through my veins.
08:57Every breath came out broken.
08:59I tried to move,
09:00but my body would not listen.
09:03The assassin closed in.
09:06His blade was raised.
09:10I squeezed my eyes shut in despair.
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