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My Sister Took My Serpent Mate：The Phoenix Lord Claimed Me - HOT
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00:00My sister Sarah and I chose our mates on the same day.
00:03She chose the phoenix Lord Kale, leaving me the sea serpent Draven.
00:06Draven was cruel, dissolute, and merciless.
00:09I survived by enduring everything he did to me.
00:11To him, I was nothing more than a toy.
00:13Kale spent most of their marriage on the battlefield,
00:15leaving my sister alone in the palace for years.
00:18She cried, raged, and spent her days in tears.
00:21Years later, Draven awakened the dragon bloodline and claimed the throne.
00:25Through it all, I was the one by his side, so he took me with him.
00:28Sarah went mad.
00:29She stabbed me through the heart, then pulled me off the palace tower.
00:32When I opened my eyes again, my sister and I were back on the day we chose our mates.
00:36This time, she seized the sea serpent first, and shoved me toward the phoenix Lord.
00:41I exhaled.
00:42This nightmare finally belonged to her.
00:44The moment she snatched the sea serpent's token, I knew she had been reborn too.
00:48My sister was the legitimate heir.
00:50I was born to one of my father's mistresses.
00:52My father carried an ancient supernatural bloodline, but her mother was human.
00:56Sarah inherited only half of his power.
00:58My mother, however, was also from a shifter bloodline.
01:00I had inherited my father's power in full.
01:03In our previous life, our father died young.
01:05But before he passed, he arranged marriages for both of us to take effect when we came of age.
01:09As the rightful heir, she always ruled the household and stayed in her mother's favor.
01:13Little sister, the phoenix Lord's bloodline is noble.
01:16A girl of your standing could never catch his eye.
01:18The sea serpent is reckless and depraved.
01:20He suits you perfectly.
01:21And in this life, she still looked down at me from the same height.
01:24Ivy, the abyss is a place without light.
01:28I can't bear to see you suffer there.
01:30The phoenix Lord is powerful enough to protect you.
01:33This time, you will be his mate.
01:35Her mother startled and turned sharp.
01:37The serpent is not a good match.
01:38My sister dabbed at her eyes, then leaned in and whispered to her.
01:41I received a sign.
01:42The serpent clan will one day awaken and rise above every other bloodline.
01:46Their voices were careful not to reach me, but I didn't need to hear them.
01:49I already knew exactly what they were saying.
01:51I lowered my eyes and forced a reluctant expression.
01:53What if I refuse?
01:55Her eyes turned red instantly.
01:57Her mother slammed her cup down.
01:58How can you be so ungrateful?
02:00Your sister is giving you a powerful match and you still complain.
02:04It's all right, Sarah.
02:06I ran out in distress, pretending to accept my fate, and pretended not to see the flash
02:11of triumph in my sister's eyes.
02:13In a corner where no one could see me, I smiled.
02:15The abyss serpent clan kept themselves apart from the world.
02:18Wanton.
02:19Corrupt.
02:19Sarah, you are passing up a queen seat beside a phoenix lord, only to rush headlong into
02:24becoming someone's toy.
02:25Let's hope he doesn't break you too badly.
02:27That was how it was in the previous life, too.
02:29Whatever was good, Sarah always had first pick.
02:31I was left with what she rejected, what she grew tired of.
02:34After she married the phoenix lord, she believed she stood above everyone else.
02:38But in the phoenix court, rank and bloodline still ruled everything.
02:42The purer the bloodline, the higher the standing.
02:44She was arrogant.
02:45Even as the phoenix lord's mate, she offended everyone around her.
02:48In the end, Kale stopped visiting her entirely.
02:51He returned to the battlefield and never shared a single night with her again.
02:54My sister, humiliated and furious, tried to break the mate along with her.
02:58She threatened her own, wept, screamed, made herself unbearable, until he finally had
03:04her confined to the palace.
03:05Meanwhile, I entered the abyss.
03:07Years later, the sea serpent awakened his dragon blood in me and rose as the dragon king.
03:12He took me as his queen.
03:13When Sarah learned that the man she had once discarded had become the dragon king, and
03:17that he loved me to his very core, she lost her life.
03:21She and her mother killed me together.
03:23But they had only ever saw the surface of my life.
03:26They never saw what it cost me.
03:28When I first entered the abyss, the sea serpent, Draven, locked me away.
03:32He bound my hands and forced my chin up, his serpent eyes cold and sharp, and he tormented
03:37me for a full month without pause.
03:40When I refused to submit, he poisoned me until my resistance finally cracked.
03:44I went numb by degrees.
03:46My pride wore down to nothing.
03:48I learned to survive by pretending to love him.
03:51He was suspicious by nature.
03:53It took me three years to make him believe I loved him, and only then did he allow me
03:57to move freely through the abyss.
03:59Even after he became the dragon king, he never left the deep realm.
04:03And I remained there with him.
04:05No freedom.
04:05No daylight.
04:06After my rebirth, my sister wasted no time taking the sea serpent for herself.
04:11I was glad to let her.
04:13I was careful to look reluctant, afraid she might see through me.
04:16Sarah, this life, the one locked away in the abyss, should be you.
04:20The first of the tenth month was the day Sarah and I were bound to our mates.
04:24The phoenix clan lived high in a mountain citadel, bathed in firelight and constant birdsong.
04:29It was nothing like the cold silence of the abyss.
04:32The phoenix lord's palace blazed with gold.
04:35I sat quietly in my chamber and waited, and at last Kale came.
04:38When he saw my face, a flicker of startled admiration moved through those blood-red eyes.
04:43But he said nothing.
04:44He pushed me down onto the bed.
04:46I watched his eyes go luminous with heat and couldn't help flinching.
04:50He noticed.
04:51He paused, his gaze falling to the tight crease between my brows.
04:55Then he reached out, gently running his fingers through my hair and fastened a small necklace
04:59around my neck.
05:00When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone.
05:03I looked at the deep, crimson phoenix feather in my hand and stopped a maid to ask where he
05:08had gone.
05:08He had already left for the battlefield.
05:10My lady, you should begin your formal visits to the former royal women.
05:14I saw the sympathy in the maid's eyes as she said it.
05:17The former queen was Kale's stepmother.
05:19The phoenix clan carried an old tradition, by which a son could take his father's wives
05:24as his own after the father's death.
05:26When the old phoenix lord died and Kale took the throne, the former queen had assumed she
05:30would marry Kale and keep her rank.
05:32Instead, Kale simply arranged separate quarters for her and the other women of the old king's
05:37court, refusing to take any of them as his mate.
05:39None of these women were to be taken lightly.
05:42They tore at each other constantly, and now I had arrived as Kale's chosen mate, which
05:46meant I had stepped directly into their hostility.
05:49I went first to the chambers of the Hare clan matriarch.
05:52The Hare clan was a weak vassal clan, surviving for generations by surrendering early in conflicts
05:58and offering tribute brides in exchange for protection.
06:01When I entered, she was already seated in the place of honor, waiting for me to show respect.
06:05I poured the wine carefully and set the glass before her.
06:09She took a sip and erupted.
06:10You serve me this?
06:12A vintage gone to vinegar?
06:14She set the glass down with a sharp click.
06:16Lady Hare, the members of your clan have been far too bold of late out in the world.
06:20They've made themselves a thorn in many sides.
06:22If I were to bring this to the phoenix lord's attention, what do you think would become of
06:26your clan?
06:26The Hare dowager stiffened.
06:28Her voice shot up sharply.
06:29How do you know about that?
06:30I said nothing.
06:31I only looked at her with a mild smile.
06:33We held each other's gaze.
06:35After a while, she broke first.
06:37It's just wine!
06:38She said through clenched teeth.
06:39Fine.
06:40I'll drink it.
06:41I smiled.
06:42Thank you for your cooperation, my lady.
06:44I had barely stepped out of her chambers before I heard something smash against the
06:48wall behind me.
06:49With the Hare dowager made an example, the rest of the wine offerings went smoothly, until
06:53the last one.
06:54The former queen.
06:55The most temperamental.
06:57The most volatile.
06:58I entered her palace and was told she had retired and I was to wait outside.
07:01I stood at the entrance for a full hour.
07:04The former queen still had not summoned me in.
07:06What a welcome.
07:08Since the former queen is still resting, I'll come again another day to pay my respects.
07:12I turned and walked away.
07:13The servant at the door panicked and rushed inside to report it.
07:16The former queen threw her teacup in fury.
07:19Lowborn creature.
07:20And she dares play games in front of me.
07:23I paid it no mind.
07:24Squinting in the sun and savoring a kind of freedom I had never once had in my previous
07:29life.
07:29But the peaceful days didn't last long.
07:31Kale returned from the front.
07:33The moment Kale returned, he had already heard about what I did during the formal visits.
07:38I'm told you threatened the Hare clan matriarch.
07:40Something curious moved in his eyes.
07:42When Kale returned, both the Hare matriarch and the former queen had already gone to him
07:47with their complaints.
07:48What threat?
07:49He paused at my innocent expression.
07:51My lord, you mean when I visited Lady Hare and mentioned that her clan has been using
07:56the Phoenix clan's name to cause trouble outside the territory?
07:59I kept my gaze tilted up at him.
08:01I knew what that particular look did.
08:03The word, my lord, had barely left my lips before something deepened in Kale's eyes.
08:08Because last night I had been calling him that all night long.
08:12But he was clearly more interested in what I'd actually said.
08:14He caught the point with precision.
08:16Members of the Hare clan have been using the Phoenix clan's name to cause trouble?
08:19If my lord doesn't believe me, you're welcome to look into it and see whether I've lied.
08:25He studied me for a long moment, then spoke.
08:28You did well.
08:29The Phoenix clan will be hosting the Grand Convite soon.
08:32All the clan lords have been invited.
08:33Seek out the former queen and the doucher ladies.
08:36Spend time with them and learn what you must.
08:38If they give you trouble, handle it as you see fit.
08:41If anything goes wrong, I'll answer for it.
08:43When Kale said that, I knew my first step had succeeded.
08:46Even after the wedding night, even after I became his queen,
08:49he had never actually intended to let me manage the Phoenix clan's affairs.
08:53He had left the very next morning.
08:55As the ruler of his clan, Kale cared far more about the Phoenix clan's reputation.
09:00And what I said had shown him what I was capable of.
09:02And I needed power firmly in my own hands, so that no one could ever make me suffer again.
09:08The queen puts on quite a performance of dignity.
09:10You haven't even served me wine yet, and you're already looking to take over organizing the Grand Convite?
09:15The Convite is the Phoenix clan's gathering once a century.
09:19What claim do you have to host it, girl of your standing?
09:22The former queen smiled coldly.
09:25Then I won't trouble you with it.
09:27I smiled at her and walked out.
09:29The former queen's face went rigid with fury, but she said nothing.
09:33She was already certain I couldn't manage the conclave on my own without her help.
09:37But in my previous life, after Draven's coronation as Dragon King,
09:40he held grand gatherings of his own.
09:42I organized every one of them, each far more elaborate than anything required here.
09:48After I'd raised the matter of the hair clan with Kale, he had already dealt with them.
09:52With her clan stripped away, and her secrets still in my hands,
09:55the hair dowager submitted to me in less than an hour.
09:58I used the same approach with the others.
10:00One by one, the remaining dowager ladies came under my direction.
10:04By the time I had arranged everything, the former queen finally realized she had underestimated me.
10:09It was too late.
10:10The grand conclave opened as planned.
10:12The day of the conclave, the Phoenix clan's mountain citadel was alive with noise and movement.
10:17Powerful clans and lesser factions arrived, and took their places along the mountain slopes.
10:22As queen, I stood at the palace gates and personally welcomed each clan lord who had traveled far,
10:27as a gesture of good faith.
10:29The clans attending the conclave came from every realm.
10:32Among them were the Abyss Serpent clan, my sister, and her mate, Draven.
10:36She was dressed well enough, and her power had grown considerably.
10:39But I could see she was holding herself together by force.
10:43And Draven, standing at her side, watched me with those cold serpent eyes.
10:48Something felt wrong.
10:49I slipped away alone to a side hall.
10:51Without warning, the ground and sky shook together.
10:54He took his true form.
10:55An enormous serpent body erupted from nothing,
10:58and an icy coiled tail slammed into me and wrapped around me, hauling me into the air.
11:02My eyes went wide.
11:04The familiar sensation crashed into my memory like a flood.
11:07I felt his cold chest pressed against me, his arms locking around my waist,
11:12his forked tongue grazing my neck.
11:14Ivy, it's been a long time.
11:19You were mine.
11:21How could you mate with someone else?
11:23The forked tongue traced lightly along my throat, razor fangs pressed against my neck,
11:28as though the next breath might be the last moment before they sank in.
11:31If Draven bit me, the venom would be in me immediately.
11:34I recognized his intent.
11:36I kept my voice steady.
11:38I'm not sure how I've offended you, Lord Drarren, but this is Phoenix Clan territory.
11:42If you intend to disrupt the congoat here, I doubt you'll leave in one piece.
11:45Draven paused.
11:47He had clearly thought through the consequences.
11:49He made no further move, but he still wouldn't release me.
11:52The rage in his eyes were unmistakable.
11:55No one had seen this coming.
11:56Not even my sister who had come with Draven.
11:59She hadn't expected him to do something this open.
12:01Darren, we are in the Phoenix Clan's territory.
12:03Her eyes burned with hatred.
12:05She was calling out to Draven, but she was looking at me.
12:08When Draven heard her voice, he only turned those cold serpent eyes on her for a moment.
12:12Her face went white.
12:13She hadn't forgotten what he had done to her since she arrived in the Abyss.
12:18Jealousy had made her forget for a moment, but now she remembered Draven's savagery.
12:23Inside the palace, Kale sensed the disturbance.
12:26He flew out and shifted into his true form at speed.
12:30A phoenix cry split the air.
12:33Draven had no time to react.
12:35Kale struck him down hard out of the sky.
12:37Draven's coil loosened.
12:38I dropped.
12:39Kale's wings caught me steadily and set me down on the ground.
12:42Then he turned and drove toward Draven.
12:45Ivy, you crawl your way up to become the Phoenix Clan's queen and that's not enough for you.
12:49Sira looked at me with cold fury.
12:51You have to seduce my mate too.
12:52Have you no shame at all?
12:54Darren will ascend to dragon form one day.
12:56I will be his dragon queen.
12:58Don't think you can take what is mine before I've even claimed it.
13:00Even after Draven's cruelty, even after everything he had done to her, she still held a fantasy.
13:06Herself as dragon queen, showered in power and worship.
13:09She was willing to endure him for the sake of that future.
13:12Once I was free of the danger, the tension in my chest finally eased.
13:16I hadn't known Draven remembered our previous life too.
13:19If I had known, I never would have been standing outside alone where he could get to me.
13:22Sira, what you want is not necessarily what I want.
13:25I looked at her calmly and let the word settle.
13:27At that moment, Kale's furious voice thundered through the air.
13:31Darren, you are master of the abyss.
13:34Yet you have no sense of your boundaries.
13:36You dare attack my queen and my territory?
13:38After hitting the ground hard, Draven launched himself back into the air.
13:42His massive serpent tail lashed.
13:45His upper body dissolved back into serpent form, and he coiled against Kale.
13:49But he was visibly losing ground.
13:51In the end, Draven's form vanished into the air.
13:54He fled.
13:55Even my sister, who had been standing near me, disappeared along with him.
13:59But I felt it.
14:00In the last instant before he vanished, a cold gaze clung to me for two full seconds.
14:05And it sent a chill down my spine.
14:07Draven would not let this go.
14:09I was proven right sooner than expected.
14:11When I lost consciousness in the former queen's chambers, I knew I had walked into a trap.
14:16I hadn't imagined that the former queen would join forces with my sister.
14:20They had had me taken to the abyss.
14:22When I woke in the abyss, Sarah was standing in front of me with triumph she couldn't hide.
14:27The air around me was cold and damp and dark.
14:30A few luminous stones scattered weak light through the black.
14:34You wretched thing.
14:35You're finally in my hands.
14:37Draven is mine in this life.
14:38You will not take him from me.
14:40All his favor will come to me and no one else.
14:42I will become his dragon queen.
14:44You stay right here.
14:45I won't let you die quickly.
14:47I want you to live long enough with your eyes wide open and watch just how happy I'm going to
14:52be.
14:53Sarah laughed with open delight, the malice in her eyes completely unmasked.
14:57Sarah, does Draven know you've brought me here?
15:00I wasn't rattled by her words at all.
15:02I had caught the one thing that mattered.
15:04At my question, something flickered across her face.
15:07That told me everything.
15:09Draven didn't know.
15:10The moment I understood that, I breathed easier.
15:12As long as Draven didn't know I was being held in the abyss, I had a chance of waiting for
15:17Kale to come and get me out.
15:19Kale didn't love me, but he had a sense of duty.
15:22On our wedding night, he had given me the Phoenix Ember Feather.
15:26His own feather, which could save my life in a crisis and let him find me wherever I was.
15:34I just had to hope Sarah could hold out long enough, that she wouldn't let Draven find out about me
15:39too soon.
15:40Of course Draven knows.
15:41Give up.
15:42He will only ever love me.
15:43He doesn't care about you at all.
15:44There is no chance he will come to save you.
15:46As long as I help him awaken his dragon bloodline sooner, I won't just become a queen of dragons.
15:51I'll make him love me and revere me all the more.
15:53Sarah swept out with her chin high.
15:55But when I heard what she said, I went still.
15:57I understood at once what she was planning to do next, and I smiled.
16:02My sister and I were ordinary shifter-born, but we both had a constitution suited to bonded mating rituals' amplified
16:09power.
16:10Intimacy with a partner could accelerate a strength in a shifter's power rapidly's power rapidly.
16:15Our father, worried about the two of us, had arranged our betrothals early to secure us each a powerful allies,
16:21and in our family home there was a forbidden relic, an ancient catalyst artifact that could drive amplify power forward
16:28at tremendous speed,
16:29advancing a person by what would otherwise take years.
16:32But after our father died, the relic passed to our mother.
16:36Given how much our mother doted on my sister, the relic had almost certainly been taken by her long ago.
16:43Darren already had the innate capacity evolve into dragon form.
16:46If he and my sister strengthened their bond over time, his transformation could succeed in two years at most.
16:52If the artifact was used, he could attempt the transformation within days.
16:56But haste is the enemy of strength.
16:58If the artifact was used to force claim his dragon form without the foundation of strength and power through intimacy,
17:03his power would not be stable enough to hold.
17:05Darren's transformation would not just fail, it would destroy him entirely.
17:08The price of a failed transformation was death and the complete dissolution of the soul.
17:12My sister didn't know this.
17:13In our previous life, the artifact had never come into play.
17:16I had learned about it after our father died, reading through the annotated manuscript he left behind,
17:22where he had written his own notes on the relic.
17:24After I finished reading, I burned the manuscript.
17:27Not even her mother knew how the artifact had to be used in order to draw out its full effect.
17:32I was held for three days.
17:33Throughout those three days, Sarah came by at regular intervals to mock me,
17:37doing everything she could to humiliate me.
17:39She even brought several serpent males to try to shame me further, but each time, I kept them away.
17:45The phoenix ember feather gave me a protection my sister had no way to break.
17:49On the fourth day, I heard footsteps and assumed it was my sister again.
17:53I lowered my head and closed my eyes, not bothering to look up.
17:56Every time she came, it was the same flood of insults,
17:59and after three days of it, I had long since grown weary of listening.
18:03Ivy, so this is where you've been hiding?
18:06That cold, familiar voice made me shudder before I could stop myself.
18:10My head snapped up.
18:11Draven's face looked back at me, beautiful in that unsettling,
18:14too refined way of his.
18:16The moment I saw him, I felt it, immediately.
18:18The power radiating from him was stronger than the last time.
18:21There was already the faint pull of a transformation building beneath it.
18:25He had already used my sister's artifact.
18:27Ivy, why would you go and marry that fool Kale?
18:30But I don't blame your sister, that manipulative bitch.
18:33She was reborn with her memories from before and used them to keep us apart.
18:36Once I claim my dragon form, I'll restore your memories of the life before.
18:42The person you were always meant to love is me.
18:46Draven's cold fingers traced down my cheek.
18:48His voice carried longing, and beneath that longing,
18:51a deadly possessiveness he made no effort to hide.
18:54I let the confusion and shock show plainly in my eyes, visibly unsettled by what he had said about
18:59the previous life.
19:00He narrowed his eyes and watched my expression carefully, measuring my reaction.
19:04Then the abyss began to shake. The ground lurched, and it was nearly impossible to stand.
19:09I stumbled and went down.
19:10Draven was clearly not pleased to be interrupted at this particular moment.
19:14Damn it all. Let me see who dares disturb my domain.
19:18He swore under his breath, swept his gaze over me,
19:21and raised one hand to trap me in a web-like barrier.
19:24The web was both a protection and a cage.
19:26Once it was in place, he left without looking back, his serpent eyes cold as ice.
19:31After Draven walked away, I exhaled. The tenderness in his words had turned my stomach.
19:36All of it performance. All of it probing.
19:39He had realized my sister remembered her past life.
19:42He suspected I might be too.
19:44If I was reborn, if I carried memories of the previous life,
19:47and had still chosen to marry Kale, then in his eyes I had betrayed him.
19:51If that were exposed, he would kill me without the slightest hesitation.
19:55The phoenix ember feather inside me began to stir and pulse,
19:58restless, reacting sharply to something. I realized it in the same instant.
20:02The disturbance had been Kale. Kale had come. Phoenix power thrived in flame.
20:07But the abyss was Draven's domain. Kale would not come out of this well.
20:11A dim unease crept through me. The image came unbidden. Kale's face on our wedding night.
20:16Sharp and yet, for just a moment, almost soft. If in the end,
20:20Kale chose to leave me behind to save himself, I wouldn't blame him.
20:23I understood it better than anyone. If the cost of saving someone was losing yourself,
20:28I wouldn't make that choice either. But I hadn't expected that two hours later,
20:32Kale would find me, covered in blood. He used what strength he had left and tore the barrier apart.
20:37Move.
20:38He swept me up and ran. I saw it clearly. He had fought his way through to reach me.
20:43Go east. There's a place Darren won't look for a while.
20:46I spoke quickly. He looked at me with those startled, blood-red eyes. But he didn't ask questions.
20:51He chose to trust me. He followed my direction and found a place where we could shelter and tend to
20:56his wounds.
20:57Kale had tracked me through the phoenix ember feather he had given me. When he fought Draven,
21:01Draven held the upper hand with his greater strength, and Kale couldn't match him head on.
21:05So he created a decoy, drew Draven's attention elsewhere, and slipped away to find me.
21:10The moment Kale broke the web-like barrier, Draven felt it. A short time after I was pulled free,
21:15Draven arrived at the place where I had been held, and found me gone. His fury was absolute.
21:21He sent every serpent in the abyss out to search for us. The phoenix clan's healing abilities was
21:26powerful, but not enough to restore full strength within a matter of days. Once we were settled,
21:31Kale collapsed. He was badly hurt. I took a slow breath, pressed close to him, and began to use the
21:36bond between our bloodlines. It didn't only build power, it could also accelerate healing. After half an
21:42hour, Kale's awareness began to return. The flush of heat reached the corners of his eyes, and he
21:47took control. Three days later, his wounds were gone. His power was greater than it had been before
21:52he entered the abyss. Then, just after Kale had gently helped me dress, the cavern around us
21:57collapsed. The ground heaved. Draven's voice filled the space above us, carrying a rage.
22:03I've found you. Just as Kale moved to set me aside, and hide me before going out to fight,
22:09I reached out and gripped his hand, my breathing unsteady. After Draven forced his force the
22:15awakening of his dragon bloodline with the artifact, his weak point is still at the seventh coil. He
22:20looks fully transformed, but the transformation isn't complete. Beyond the seventh coil,
22:26his tail is also a fatal weakness. If you're willing to trust me, hit those two places.
22:33My voice had worn down to a rasp. Kale heard me, and went still. His jaw tightened. He grabbed me
22:40hard, and spoke through near-clenched teeth. My queen has quite the nerve. I gave you my
22:45Phoenix Emble feather, and you still thought I needed more proof that I trusted you? A Phoenix
22:50Lord's Ember feather is my most precious thing. I give it only to my true mate. When I've killed Draven,
22:57I'm coming back to settle this with you. I stared at him. I hadn't expected that response. His blood-red
23:03eyes were burning with something that looked like anger. An unexpected guilt settled over me. He was
23:09furious enough that he bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, but the hands that hid me away were
23:14entirely gentle. He set a ward around me. Then he went out. Kale, today is the day you die. Draven
23:22caught
23:23the scent on Kale. The scent that belonged to me. His rage burned away the last of his reason. Kale
23:29laughed coldly. He deliberately drew Draven further away, keeping the fight from reaching where I was
23:34hidden. The battle between a Phoenix and a serpent grew more savage by the moment. The entire abyss
23:39trembled. The water churned black and thick and impossible to see through. While I sat within the
23:45ward and watched the struggle above, Sarah appeared suddenly below, her face twisted, lunging at me.
23:50She didn't expect the ward. It threw her back. You filthy wretch! Her voice was a shriek. I looked at
23:57her properly for the first time. Her body was covered in wounds. Half her face was ruined. Beneath
24:04the ruin of that half, the scars ran deep and shallow and merciless. Did you scheme to make Draen
24:09remember the past life? Did you make him take my artifact and destroy my face? Why won't you just die?
24:14What right do you have to Kale's protection? I was supposed to be his queen! I should have been!
24:19Sarah wept and laughed at the same time, and I could see that Draven had not been kind to her.
24:23I had guessed this would be her fate the moment Draven found out she had secretly imprisoned me.
24:27To someone like Draven, he could torment me as he pleased, because I was his possession.
24:33Even when I became something more important to him, he had still never truly seen me as a partner,
24:39only something he owned with ferocious possessiveness. Sarah had moved against me on her
24:44own. She had crossed a line Draven would not forgive. And the moment she brought out the
24:49artifact, she had surrendered the only leverage she had over him. She had made herself someone
24:53he could discard without a second thought. My poor sister. Still believing that Draven would
24:58feel gratitude for her devotion, would reward her with endless obsession. What a thing to dream.
25:03Now she had finally given up on Draven. And instead of grief, there was only bitterness and resentment.
25:07And all of it aimed at me for becoming Kale's queen. Sister, have you forgotten? You were the
25:13one who placed Kale in my hands and told me to marry him. I smiled coldly. I had never felt
25:19more
25:20satisfied I knew exactly what saying that would do to her. As expected, she threw herself at me again
25:24in a frenzy, trying to break through the ward and get her hands around my throat. But it was useless.
25:29The ward Kale had set would not open for anyone but himself. And beyond him, only Draven at full
25:34strength could break it. No one else could force it open. And if anyone attacked the ward,
25:38it would strike back immediately. My sister came at it again and again in her madness. And each time
25:43it threw her off, until she finally collapsed, blood spilling from her lips, barely alive.
25:48Her eyes fixed on me with pure hatred. When I had finished watching my sister exhaust herself,
25:52I looked back at the battle. Kale had been losing ground before. Now he was steadily overtaking
25:56Draven because he had listened to me. He knew Draven's weaknesses now, and nearly every
25:59strike was aimed directly at them. Draven began to falter and dodge. Kale caught him
26:03beating him, and landed on his tail at his tail. Draven went up to his tail. Then he suddenly turned,
26:08and dove straight toward where Sarah and I were. He reversed direction and came after him.
26:14Everyone assumed Draven was coming for me, even my sister. She watched him descend,
26:18and started to smile in triumph. Then it froze, because my sister's entire body ignited. The water
26:23of the Abyss couldn't touch the fire on her. The blood sacrifice of the Abyss Serpent clan. Draven used it
26:28on her.
26:28He was forcing her to become the sacrifice. Those consumed by the blood sacrifice rite of the Abyss
26:33Serpent clan were destroyed entirely. Body and soul burned to nothing. No soul. No afterlife. Sarah screamed.
26:39Despair cracked open in her eyes. She beat frantically against my lord. Ivy, Ivy, please help me. I don't want
26:46to die.
26:47I don't want to be sacrificed. I'm your sister. I'm your sister. Ivy, save me, please.
26:52Her whole body burned like a torch. Each time she lurched toward the ward, it propelled her.
26:57Sarah, you brought this on yourself. There is nothing I can do.
27:01I watched her end from inside the ward. I didn't look away. In the end, my sister burned to ash.
27:06The
27:06sacrifice of her soul fed Draven's power. His power exploded. He let out a long, howling cry,
27:10and drove toward Kale in his fully awakened dragon flame. But Kale had already seen that Draven was
27:15burning the last of what he had. He pulled everything together, fainted wide, and drove straight for the
27:20seventh coil. Draven didn't flinch. He had completed the transformation. A serpent's seventh coil meant
27:26nothing to a dragon. He braced to take the hit and last Kale for it. Then his expression changed.
27:31Because when the seventh coil took the blow, Draven's dragon form vanished. What stood in its
27:36place was the original, ugly shape of a sea serpent. And every bit of power he had built was gone.
27:41Only after he became that serpent again did Draven understand. The transformation had failed.
27:45He tried to run. He was too late. Kale had anticipated the retreat. He pressed forward and
27:50seized Draven as he fled and killed him with a single, decisive strike. The battle was over.
27:54The abyss slowly went quiet. Kale shifted back to human form, covered in wounds, and came to stand
28:00before me. He opened the ward. My queen, I'm injured. I took a step back. A familiar feeling of dread
28:08settled in. His hand traced across my cheek. His voice carried something unreadable. As payment for your
28:13lack of faith in me, you can tend to my wounds personally. The same way as the last few days.
28:18The seventh time I tried to slip out of the bedroom while Kale slept, he woke up and caught
28:22me again, unhurried as ever. My queen, where exactly are you trying to go?
28:27I gave up entirely, and fixed him with a look full of grievance.
28:31What do you think? At this rate, I was genuinely going to fall apart. After we returned to the Phoenix
28:36clan, Kale barely let me out of bed for ten straight days, thinking about the former queen,
28:40and the other women who had fought over Kale from the very beginning, even trying to put
28:44me in my place, I gave him an amused look. You really do attract trouble, my lord. If it weren't
28:48for you, I might never have been taken to the abyss at all. At that, a trace of guilt crossed
28:53Kale's
28:53blood-red eyes. He was unusually serious when he answered. You have my word, my queen. I've
28:58easing had the former queen expelged it. She don't we come and near you again. And those dowager ladies,
29:03the former queen is their lesson. If any of them dare to trouble you, they'll be expelled as well.
29:09I made a small sound and looked at him with a smile. Then why did you leave the morning after
29:14our wedding night? Kale was quiet for a moment. Then he lowered his head and admitted it plainly.
29:19I was wrong. There was an emergency. Enemies were pressing at the Phoenix clan's border,
29:24trying to take territory. I left without telling you first. He finished, then looked up and watched
29:29my reaction carefully. I laughed to myself. My face gave nothing. Until I forgive you,
29:35you're barred from the bedchamber for 10 days. After everything he had put me through,
29:39I deserved at least that much time to recover. When Kale heard those words,
29:43he wilted immediately. Time moved quickly after that. Years passed. I helped Kale take the Abyss
29:48and bring the Abyss serpent clan to heal. Kale became the sovereign of the shifter realms,
29:52his name known everywhere.
29:54He ran away from the rock. He ran away from the Yakima. The
29:54female slave and a human life. He was born with a child, his name known as an
29:54fellow father named Kale. He was born with a child, useless. He was born with a
29:54future of a child. He's born with a child. He was born with a child, man. He was born with
29:54a child.
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