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The Serpent’s Curse & Reborn Queen🐲💞 drama englishsub
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00:04When the first king rode to war, he met a great serpent on the road and cut it into eight
00:09pieces with his sword.
00:10From that day forward, every prince born of royal blood carried the curse.
00:14A spirit serpent would mark them at birth as a tattoo on their skin, visible only to certain eyes.
00:20On their 20th birthday, the tattoo would wake, take living form, and drain the prince of his life.
00:26The only way to break the curse was to marry a serpent tamer.
00:30And in every generation, there was only one.
00:32In my previous life, the queen arranged my marriage to the crown prince.
00:36After we were joined, the tattoo faded.
00:39The crown prince survived.
00:41But my half-sister Seraphine had been in love with him for years.
00:44When he did not choose her, she was married off to a brutal lord and died under his cruelty.
00:49My father blamed me.
00:51To make amends for what he felt he owed her, he poisoned my mother and took Seraphine's mother, Lady Soura,
00:57as his new wife.
00:58On the anniversary of Seraphine's death, the crown prince had me thrown into the royal punishment chamber.
01:04I was sewn into a sack.
01:06Ninety-nine rats tore at me for ten days.
01:09That is how I died.
01:10You call yourself a serpent tamer?
01:12Why didn't you call the serpents to devour the rats?
01:14You were nothing but a fraud who wanted to attach herself to the crown prince.
01:17You caused Seraphine's death for your own gain.
01:20I will make you suffer a thousand times what she endured.
01:23When I opened my eyes again, I was in the past.
01:26It was the day the queen had summoned me to the palace.
01:29I knelt.
01:29Your majesty, I ask you to reconsider.
01:32I have not yet developed the gift of foresight.
01:35I'm afraid I cannot tame the serpent for the crown prince.
01:38Only a serpent tamer could see the tattoo.
01:41That sight was a gift.
01:42Anyone who could not see it was no serpent tamer at all.
01:45The queen frowned and was quiet for a moment.
01:47But the oracle's prophecy has never been wrong.
01:49Perhaps your gift has not yet surfaced at your age.
01:51Go to the crown prince's residence first.
01:53The doors burst open.
01:55The crown prince strode in.
01:56Caelan knelt.
01:57And Seraphine beside him.
01:59I will not marry Alara.
02:00I want to marry her half-sister, Seraphine.
02:03Mother, please give us your blessing.
02:04The queen rebuked him gently.
02:06Caelan held his ground.
02:07Mother, Alara bribed the oracle to fabricate the curse.
02:10Our royal bloodline is blessed by heaven.
02:12No serpent can touch me.
02:13The queen pressed two fingers to her temple.
02:15You foolish boy.
02:16I was the serpent tamer of my generation.
02:19Do you think your father would have survived if he hadn't married me?
02:22Your uncles.
02:23Every single one of them died at 20.
02:25I watched it happen with my own eyes.
02:28Her eyes had gone red.
02:30She came down from the throne and lifted Caelan to his feet.
02:33I drove the oracle day and night to read the stars before I found her.
02:38Your 20th birthday is five days away.
02:41There is no time left.
02:42Caelan set his jaw.
02:44Star readings can be wrong.
02:45The oracle may have confused the two sisters.
02:48Seraphine has the gift of foresight as well.
02:50She is the serpent tamer.
02:51I want her.
02:52The queen paused and looked at Seraphine.
02:54Can you see the tattoo on the crown prince?
02:57Where is it?
02:58Seraphine stared at Caelan for a long moment.
03:01The tattoo is on his right arm.
03:03A white serpent.
03:05The crease between the queen's brows smoothed.
03:07The same as what I see.
03:09Then you are the serpent tamer.
03:11I kept my face still and laughed inside.
03:13Before I even reached the palace after waking into this new life, I told Seraphine exactly
03:18one thing.
03:19Before the crown prince turned 20, there would be a white serpent tattoo on his right arm.
03:24That was all she needed to know.
03:25But once Caelan turned 20, the serpent would wake and move.
03:29And Seraphine, who had no gift at all, would have nothing left to say.
03:33This was how I planned to escape the fate that had killed me.
03:36In my first life, the queen had forced the marriage based on the oracle's word and Caelan
03:40had blamed me for Seraphine's death.
03:42When I died, the rats had torn through every vein in my body.
03:45The pain felt like it had never left.
03:47A chill crawled up my spine, and I shuddered.
03:50The queen thought for a moment.
03:52Very well.
03:53Seraphine will marry the crown princess.
03:55The wedding will take place in five days, on his 20th birthday.
03:58Caelan's eyes lit up.
03:59Seraphine bowed her thanks and turned to look at me.
04:02Sister, you fabricated a lie trying to take my place and get close to the crown prince.
04:06What punishment do you deserve for that?
04:08Caelan's voice was cold.
04:09Alera is vain and greedy.
04:12He paused, then softened slightly.
04:14Since this is a first fence, corporal punishment.
04:17A small lesson.
04:18The queen smiled and waved for all three of us to rise.
04:22Elora just refused that proposal herself.
04:25You have both misunderstood her.
04:26A flash of frustration crossed Seraphine's face.
04:30Caelan looked at me with confusion and suspicion.
04:32Are you still planning something?
04:34Congratulations to the crown prince and his bride.
04:37I bowed to them both.
04:38Since this was all a misunderstanding, I'll take my leave.
04:42The queen sighed.
04:44The oracle has never been wrong, but something still unsettles me.
04:48Alara, stay at the prime minister's estate for now.
04:51If Seraphine cannot tame the serpent, you will be taken as a concubine.
04:56I breathed in, bowed my thanks, and turned to go.
04:59The moment my back was to them, the heat left my face.
05:03In this life, I would not let them move me like a piece on a board.
05:06When I walked back to the prime minister's estate,
05:09Caelan and Seraphine had already arrived ahead of me by carriage.
05:12Lady Sura looked at me once and gave a cold laugh.
05:15You tried to climb above your station and ended up a laughing stock.
05:19Using your body to court the powerful, you are lower than a street rat.
05:23My father's voice was stern.
05:25You committed an offense against the royal household.
05:28If Seraphina had not come forward, you would have dragged the entire family down with you.
05:32He stopped, then issued orders immediately.
05:35Alara did all of this at her mother's direction.
05:37Move her mother to the servant's quarter.
05:39Lady Sura and Seraphine will take the main rooms.
05:41My mother had broken both legs years ago and had been bedridden since.
05:45My father had not visited her once.
05:47Now that Seraphine had secured the crown prince, he dropped all pretense.
05:52The servants went to take my mother away.
05:53I panicked and ran after them.
05:55My father caught me.
05:57You are also punished.
05:58You will serve dinner tonight.
06:00I had no choice but to stay.
06:02I served dishes, poured water, and carried the wash basin.
06:05After the meal, I was taking the plates to the kitchen when I turned a corner and nearly
06:09walked into Caelan.
06:11Coming back from the courtyard, his guards behind him.
06:13I tried to go around him.
06:15He moved fast and blocked my way.
06:17Alara, in the previous life, you caused Seraphine's death and paid with your own.
06:22That debt is settled.
06:23But in this life, do not think for a moment about interfering with anything between me
06:27and Seraphine.
06:28His next words came out like charity.
06:31If you conduct yourself properly, I may consider making you a compime, as my mother suggested.
06:35You will show Seraphine the respect she is owed.
06:37Every morning, you will bow to her and prepare her tea.
06:41Your Highness, when did I say I wanted to marry you?
06:44I know you were also reborn.
06:45You deceived my mother in the previous life.
06:48You wanted to be crown princess.
06:49You gave that up today.
06:51It must be guilt.
06:52You and Seraphine belong together.
06:54I have no intention of getting in the way.
06:56I met his eyes.
06:57Caelan's face flushed with anger.
06:59Don't be ungrateful.
07:01Offering you a place as Cubgyne is already far more than you deserve.
07:04If my mother issues a royal decree, you will come even as a servant.
07:08I will not say this twice.
07:09In five days, I will come for Seraphine.
07:11I will carry her into the Pelcaine myself.
07:14Don't stand there weeping and blaming me for leaving you behind.
07:17Seraphine had come to find him.
07:19She found him and settled into the curve of his arm.
07:22A breeze carried the scent of roses into the courtyard.
07:25Seraphine sneezed.
07:26That smell is unbearable.
07:28If I have to breathe it every day after I move into the main rooms, I won't be able to
07:32stand it.
07:32Simple enough.
07:33Caelan turned to his guards.
07:35Pull them all out.
07:36Those roses were my mother's life's work.
07:38Before she came to this estate, she had run a flower shop that was known throughout the region.
07:43After marrying my father, she had spent years cultivating rare varieties and giving them to him as gifts.
07:49When she lost the use of her legs, looking at those flowers through the window was the only comfort she
07:54had left.
07:55If they were destroyed, those varieties would be gone forever.
07:58No one would ever grow them again.
08:00Stop!
08:00This is the Prime Minister's estate.
08:02You dare touch anything here without his permission?
08:05The guards hesitated and looked at Caelan.
08:07My father came over at the sound of my voice.
08:10Do as his hide me's commands.
08:12Once Lady Sura moves into this courtyard, keeping those flowers will only displease her.
08:16After my mother lost her legs, my father had done everything he could to make her happy.
08:21He had tended those flowers himself.
08:22He used to carry her out to the garden so she could smell them and watch the stars.
08:27But years of her illness had changed him.
08:29My eyes were burning.
08:31I kept my voice quiet.
08:32Give me one day to move them to the building where my mother is staying.
08:35Can you do that?
08:36Both my father and Caelan hesitated.
08:39Then Seraphine screamed.
08:40Something bit me!
08:40Her hand had been stung, a red welt rising on the skin.
08:44Caelan caught the insect and waved his hand.
08:46What are you all standing there for?
08:48Do it now.
08:49My father nodded.
08:50They hurt my daughter.
08:52Those flowers should go.
08:55I threw myself into the rose beds, desperate to save just a few roses.
08:59But a dozen guards and servants were already tearing every plant out by the roots, ripping them into pieces.
09:05I knelt in the mud, unable to move, unable to do anything.
09:08What are you grieving for?
09:10Those flowers mean nothing.
09:11Your mother should die sooner.
09:13You want to know how her leg was broken?
09:14On the mountaintop, my mother pushed her.
09:17I couldn't breathe.
09:18My mother had been healthy once.
09:20Since that fall, she had never been the same.
09:22Half of her life had been taken from her.
09:24I lost control.
09:26I slapped Seraphine hard across the face.
09:28Her cheeks swelled immediately.
09:30She fell and started crying.
09:32My father walked over at once, had two guards pin my arms, and struck me across the face ten times.
09:37My head was splitting.
09:39Through the pain, I shouted at him.
09:41Lady Sura did this to my mother!
09:43My father's expression shifted into something strange.
09:46Be quiet.
09:48I understood then.
09:49He had already known.
09:50That was why he had been so attentive to her afterward.
09:53Guilt.
09:54My poor mother.
09:55All those years she never knew.
09:57Kaylin had already pulled Seraphine to her feet.
09:59You hurt her again?
10:00You never change.
10:02I only wanted to help my sister up.
10:04And she did this to me.
10:06Maybe she resents me for telling the Queen the truth.
10:08Maybe she resents me for taking you.
10:10Kaylin kicked me hard in the stomach.
10:12I tasted blood.
10:13You claim you have no interest in me, yet you hurt her at every opportunity.
10:18I'm gonna give you a lesson you won't forget for the rest of your life.
10:21Take her out.
10:21A feast display in the town square.
10:24Use her as the offering.
10:25You dare.
10:26I will appeal directly to the Queen.
10:28Your mother is alone in the servants' quarters.
10:30If something were to happen to her, she would not survive it.
10:32What would you do then?
10:34I heard what the threat actually meant.
10:36Don't touch my mother!
10:37If enduring my own humiliation would keep her alive, I would endure it.
10:42I let the guards drag me away.
10:44Before they pulled me out, I saw it for the first time.
10:47The spirit serpent coiled around Kaylin, opened its crimson eyes.
10:51Then it shifted position and went back to sleep.
10:54I was still frozen from that moment of eye contact when my clothes were stripped and I was thrown into
10:59the town square.
11:00My body arranged with food as the display.
11:03Hundreds of people surged forward.
11:05Knives and forks cut into my skin.
11:07People scratched me with their fingernails in the scramble for food.
11:10I was shaking.
11:11Eyes red, covered in blood and sauce.
11:14Kaylin addressed the crowd.
11:15This is Alara, daughter of the Prime Minister.
11:18She fabricated lies and claimed to be a serpent taker deceiving the royal family.
11:22When her scheme was exposed, she tried to harm the crown princess.
11:26She deserves no mercy.
11:28I curled into myself and screamed with a raw voice.
11:31I didn't lie to the Queen.
11:33I struck Seraphine to avenge my mother.
11:36All lies.
11:38Rotten eggs, garbage and stones flew from every direction.
11:42A woman like this, thinking she could be Queen?
11:45What a joke.
11:46We'll punish her for the crown prince, for the crown princess.
11:49I was bruised everywhere, bleeding from a dozen places.
11:52I wrapped my arms around my head and sobbed.
11:55I never tried to compete with Seraphine for that position.
11:59Why are you doing this to me?
12:01In our previous life, we were husband and wife.
12:04I carried your child.
12:05The child had never been born.
12:07When Kaylin learned of Seraphine's death and had me executed, the child died with me.
12:12Alara, you hate Seraphine.
12:15I cannot allow any harm to come to her.
12:17This lesson will teach you to stay in your place.
12:20Once you come to the palace, you'll learn to be afraid of her.
12:22He hadn't finished speaking when several stones struck the back of my head.
12:26As I was losing consciousness, a figure came close.
12:29A cloak was laid over me.
12:31Someone stood over me, shielding me from the stones and flying debris.
12:35Then, everything went dark.
12:37When I woke, I was lying in the crown princess's chambers inside the palace.
12:41A man stood at my bedside.
12:43He was tall and composed with a sharpness in his features and eyes that were steady and clear.
12:48There was a black serpent tattoo on his neck.
12:51Dorian, the second prince, son of the queen consort.
12:55In my first life, on the day of Kaylin's wedding,
12:58Dorian had given me an heirloom bracelet of the royal family as a gift.
13:02After Kaylin had me subjected to the rat punishment,
13:04Dorian found my body in the pauper's cemetery.
13:07He buried me himself, crying until he couldn't speak.
13:10After that, he opposed Kaylin at every turn, pushing close to outright rebellion.
13:15But he never found a serpent tamer.
13:17He died at 20.
13:18You're awake.
13:19Before I could answer, the queen consort came in and took both my hands.
13:24Miss Allara, I beg you, marry my son and save his life.
13:28The tips of Dorian's ears went red.
13:30He glanced at me sideways and quickly looked away.
13:33I accept.
13:34I didn't hesitate.
13:36But I have one condition.
13:37The terms were settled quickly.
13:39The king then summoned Dorian to the throne room.
13:42I cleaned up and took the second prince's carriage back to the estate.
13:46I went to the building where my mother had been moved.
13:48Seraphine and Lady Sura were already there.
13:51What are you doing here?
13:56I brought food.
13:57One look was enough.
13:59She was being indulged, as always.
14:01My mother is the prime minister's wife.
14:03How dare you give her something like this?
14:05The two of you deserve to eat whatever the dogs leave behind.
14:08Anger rose in me.
14:10But I didn't want to make a scene in front of my mother.
14:12I pushed it down.
14:13Your mother doesn't know yet.
14:15Father is planning to throw her out of the house entirely.
14:18And you, her daughter, were put on display in the town square as a feast offering.
14:22Now you're wanted throughout the city for deceiving the royal family and conspiring against the crown princess.
14:26Who would ever marry you?
14:28That's enough.
14:28I rubbed her back and told Seraphine and Lady Sura to get out.
14:32Seraphine smiled.
14:33Something wild in it.
14:35Letting you stay alive has always been a problem.
14:37If the queen discovers I'm not the real serpent tamer, she'll order the crown prince to have me eliminated.
14:44You have to die.
14:45Only then will she let it go.
14:47She pulled out a small vial and reached for my mouth.
14:51Lady Sura grabbed both my wrists.
14:53The pill was nearly forced between my lips when my mother lunged toward Seraphine.
14:57Seraphine stepped aside.
14:59My mother lost her balance and fell.
15:01Footsteps sounded outside.
15:02Lady Sura let go of me.
15:04Kaylin and my father walked in.
15:06Seraphine ran to Kaylin and tucked herself against him, her eyes bright.
15:10These are medicinal herbs.
15:13I came personally to bring them for her.
15:15She wouldn't take them.
15:16My sister told her they were poison and she attacked me trying to kill me.
15:20I lifted my mother from the floor as gently as I could and helped her back to the bed.
15:24Kaylin grabbed me by the throat.
15:26You're too afraid to cause trouble yourself so you use your mother to do it?
15:30Those are poison.
15:32Seraphine was trying to kill me.
15:34Sister, why do you always accuse me of things?
15:37My mother and I pray for your mother's recovery every single day.
15:41Father knows this better than anyone.
15:42Kaylin looked at my father.
15:43My father gave a firm nod.
15:45Seraphine and Lady Sura are kind-hearted women.
15:48They would never hurt anyone.
15:50Kaylin believed it without hesitation.
15:52He snatched the pills from Seraphine's hand and forced them into my mother's mouth.
16:07My mother had no strength to resist.
16:09The poison was already inside her.
16:11I broke free of the guards and pressed my fingers to her throat, trying to make her bring it back
16:15up.
16:16It was useless.
16:16I've always said Seraphine would never poison anyone.
16:19Look at her.
16:20She's perfectly fine.
16:22He put his arm around Lady Sura.
16:24Kaylin held Seraphine.
16:26They walked out without looking back.
16:28Get the doctor!
16:29I shouted at my maid.
16:30She stumbled out of the room.
16:32I couldn't protect you.
16:34Look what they've done to you.
16:36I don't think I'm going to make it.
16:39She coughed up dark blood.
16:40No!
16:41I'll take all the pain for the rest of my life.
16:43Just stay.
16:45Please, stay!
16:47The doctor is coming!
16:48Her hand went still.
16:50I pressed my ear to her chest.
16:52Her heartbeat was gone.
16:54My mother was dead.
16:55The woman I had let myself be used as a feast offering to protect was gone forever.
17:00On the day of Kaylin's wedding, he rode to the estate on horseback.
17:04He lifted Seraphine into the palanquin himself, then looked toward the servant's building.
17:09He saw the red flowers at the door.
17:11I sent a crown princess gown to Alera yesterday.
17:13Is she dressed?
17:14Tell her to wait.
17:16Once I've seen Seraphine inside, I'll come for her.
17:18He had sent Seraphine 100 boxes of gifts and me one box.
17:22The gown had been inside it.
17:23Before the steward could answer, Dorian walked out of the servant's quarters with me on his back.
17:28I was wearing a finely embroidered wedding dress, not the one Kaylin had sent.
17:34The steward leaned close to Kaylin and said haltingly,
17:37Your Highness, last night Miss Alera burned the gown you sent one night and left word that
17:41your gift should be returned to you after the wedding.
17:43Kaylin didn't move.
17:44As Dorian passed him, he reached out to stop him.
17:47Brother, Alara is only marrying you to spine me.
17:51Do you still want her?
17:54I have admired her for years.
17:56I had planned to ask the king's permission to court her myself, but the queen consort moved first.
18:02As luck would have it, my brother mistook glass for a pearl and handed her over, and that gave me
18:06my chance.
18:07A sharp sound came from inside the palanquin.
18:09Seraphine had hurt herself compared to broken glass.
18:12Rapid stomping followed.
18:14I knew I intended to make her a combine, and you went behind my back and did this.
18:18When I take the throne, you will pay for it.
18:22By then you won't be able to protect yourself, let alone her.
18:25Through the veil, I could see clearly.
18:28The spirit serpent on Kaylin had woken, barely alive, but awake.
18:31Its tongue was moving.
18:33It was waiting for the moment of his birthday to consume him.
18:36I gave a cold laugh.
18:37Whether you survive tonight, your highnesses, we'll see.
18:41Seraphine couldn't hold herself back any longer.
18:43She burst out of the palanquin.
18:45The crowd gasped.
18:47She stepped out of the carriage before the ceremony.
18:49That's no good omen.
18:50Seraphine didn't care.
18:51Sister, you invented a story and convinced yourself it was true.
18:56The crown prince will be perfectly fine tonight.
18:59Looking at the woman who had destroyed my mother's life, I felt my hands clench tight,
19:03my nails cutting into my palms.
19:05You say I'm lying, then let's make a wager.
19:08If something happens to the crown prince tonight, you and your mother drink the poison.
19:12The same kind you fed my mother.
19:14Kaylin's voice came out mocking.
19:16Accusing Seraphine of poisoning again.
19:19Your mother is alive and living in the servants' quarters.
19:22Seraphine's eyes sharpened.
19:23She changed her mind.
19:25Fine.
19:26Let's wager.
19:27If you lose, you and the second prince crawl into a dog cage and parade through the streets
19:33three times as pen and teeth before the crown prince.
19:36The crowd erupted.
19:37People rushed forward to place bets.
19:39And every single one of them backed Seraphine.
19:42Kaylin's voice rang out with satisfaction.
19:44I wager a thousand gold coins.
19:47Seraphine wins.
19:48Dorian had his guard produce a note worth ten thousand.
19:51I wager on my bride, Alara.
19:53Brother, you'll be in tears by tomorrow.
19:57Your estate will be eating scraps.
20:00His guards laughed at him.
20:01Dorian paid them no attention.
20:03He lifted me into the carriage and took me to his estate, where the wedding was held.
20:07The crowd gathered outside the palace gates, waiting for the outcome.
20:11After the wedding guests had gone, Dorian and I drank together.
20:15He lifted me and carried me to the bed and said quietly in my ear,
20:18Don't be afraid.
20:19This is just warm wine.
20:22It won't hurt.
20:23The curtains fell.
20:24In the dark, the bed made a soft sound.
20:30When the midnight bell rang, all other sounds stopped.
20:34I lay still, my cheeks warm, and watched in the moonlight as the tattoo on Dorian's skin
20:39dissolved into points of light and disappeared.
20:41I let out a slow breath.
20:43Then someone pounded violently on the bedroom door.
20:46Alara, you are the true serpent tamer, aren't you?
20:49After Kaylin and Seraphine's wedding night, the spirit serpent is still coiled around him.
20:53Come with me.
20:54You have to help him.
20:55The queen consort's command was not something that could be refused.
20:59Dorian and I rode in the same carriage.
21:01We accompanied her to the crown prince's estate.
21:04The crowd outside the palace gates had not dispersed.
21:07The royal observatory had already released a statement.
21:10The crown prince is critically weakened.
21:12His body is failing.
21:14The oracle says this is only the beginning.
21:16The spirit serpent will consume what remains of the crown prince's life.
21:20Was the curse the prime minister's daughter ever spoke out real?
21:23We beat her because we believed the crown prince.
21:26We were used.
21:27I bet everything and lost it all.
21:30This is our punishment.
21:31The carriage sped past, leaving the noise behind.
21:34When we arrived, we found the crown prince's estate in chaos.
21:38People were rushing toward Kaylin from every direction.
21:41Dorian looked on with confusion.
21:43Why does my brother keep clawing at his own throat?
21:46Something seems to have taken hold of him.
21:48I could see it.
21:49The spirit serpent had fully woken, coiling tighter and tighter around Kaylin's body, alert and hungry.
21:55It opened its mouth and began drawing out his soul.
21:59Kaylin screamed.
22:01The queen consort ran to him.
22:03She saw Seraphine standing nearby, frozen, powerless.
22:08Her fury broke.
22:09You dared to impersonate a serpent tamer.
22:12Look at what you've done to my son.
22:14Seraphine had already collapsed to her knees, trembling.
22:17She turned her glare on me.
22:19It must be Alara.
22:20She conspired with the oracle to arrange all of this.
22:23It has to be her.
22:24Kaylin heard her.
22:26He grabbed a teacup from nearby and hurled it at me.
22:28You schemed to trap me, mother.
22:30Help me.
22:31I can't breathe.
22:32Dorian caught the cup before it reached me.
22:35The queen consort had already crossed the room to Seraphine.
22:38She slapped her again and again, more than a dozen times, unable to stop herself.
22:42You shameless fraud!
22:44I am a serpent tranker!
22:46I can see the serpent on my own, son!
22:49Are you calling me a liar, too?
22:51Help!
22:53Kaylin was drenched in cold sweat, his pupils contracting sharply.
22:57Mother, is it true?
22:59Is the curse real?
23:01He remembered his previous life, his wedding to me, the life he had lived before.
23:06Mother, Alara is the real serpent tamer.
23:10Let her save me.
23:11I'll give her the title of crown princess.
23:14I'll give her anything!
23:16The queen consort knelt before me.
23:18The court attendants looked on in horror, their faces drained of color.
23:22I stepped forward quickly and helped her up.
23:24I let out a slow breath.
23:26Your majesty, I have to tell you the truth.
23:29Dorian and I are already married.
23:31You are a serpent tamer yourself.
23:33You know what that means.
23:34I can only tame the serpent once, and only save one prince.
23:39After that, the gift is gone.
23:41The queen consort noticed Dorian for the first time.
23:44She stepped back, her lips parting slightly.
23:46It's over.
23:48The tattoo left Dorian.
23:50He will live.
23:51And my son will die.
23:53Kaylin collapsed and twisted on the floor, as if trying to throw the serpent off his body.
23:58The queen consort's eyes filled with tears.
24:01No one speaks of what happened here tonight.
24:03Anyone who breathes a word of it will be beaten to death.
24:07Dorian brought me back to the second prince's estate.
24:10I was never entirely certain the curse was real.
24:13When my mother asked me to marry you, I was glad.
24:15But not because I needed to be saved.
24:18Years ago, I saw you once at a royal gathering.
24:20I never forgot you.
24:22I didn't expect that marrying the woman I had always admired would also be the thing that kept me alive.
24:28And you happened to win more than a million gold gollars in the process.
24:32He looked at me with warmth I hadn't expected.
24:34Everything at the estate is yours to manage.
24:36I thought about my previous life.
24:38About what the curse had done to Dorian when he turned 20.
24:40I hadn't seen how he died.
24:42But the thought of him suffering the way Kaylin had brought a tension into my chest that I hadn't been
24:46prepared for.
24:47You saved me.
24:48You gave my mother a proper burial.
24:50I can't begin to repay that.
24:52Without him, she would have been wrapped in straw matting and thrown into the pauper's district.
24:56He drew me gently toward him and wiped away the last trace of tears at the corner of my eye.
25:01That night, I slept better than I had in what felt like a very long time.
25:06The next morning, my father arrived at the second prince's estate with Lady Sura.
25:11Both of them looked haggard, with dark shadows under their eyes, as if they had spent the night with something
25:16they couldn't put down.
25:17Allura, I didn't expect things to go this far.
25:20The queen consort is furious.
25:22She went to the king.
25:23She said,
25:25I encouraged Seraphina to deceive the royal family and demanded that I be stripped of my position and imprisoned.
25:33But I was misled by Seraphine's words.
25:36If I had known the truth, how could I have allowed a prince of pure blood to come to harm?
25:42I gave a short cold sound.
25:44You told everyone my mother was behind my so-called deception and had her sent to the servant's quarter.
25:52Now you'll suffer what she suffered.
25:56My lady, please.
26:01Speak to the queen consort on behalf of the prime minister.
26:05Save him.
26:05Save my daughter.
26:07My poor Seraphine.
26:09The queen consort sends some to flag her every day.
26:11No one is allowed to visit her.
26:13Her wounds go untreated.
26:16A faint voice came from outside the door.
26:18Good.
26:19She deserves every bit of it.
26:21Kaelin was carried in on a stretcher, his body gaunt like a husk of himself.
26:25I looked at the spirit serpent on him.
26:27It had grown to half again the size it was the day before.
26:31Everyone around him dropped to their knees.
26:33My father saw the state he was in and went pale, then crawled forward, still trying to appear useful.
26:39Your highness, what brings you here?
26:41Kaelin raised his hand and struck my father twice across the face, almost lazily.
26:46That woman deceived me into thinking she was the serpent tamer.
26:50You were all part of it.
26:52I will never forgive any of you.
26:54His guards dragged Seraphine in and threw her down in the courtyard.
26:58There was not an uninjured inch on her body.
27:01My father and Lady Sura stared at her and began to shake.
27:04Kaelin turned to me.
27:05Alera, I was wrong.
27:07You can save me the way you did before.
27:10I went rigid.
27:10He had just said it out loud, in front of everyone.
27:13I looked around quickly.
27:14The people around him seemed to take it for the curse speaking.
27:17A sign that his mind was breaking down.
27:20No one appeared to understand what he actually meant.
27:22In the previous life, you saved me, and I repaid you with cruelty.
27:26I am nose-at-fit to call myself human.
27:29You said you could only tame the serpent once.
27:32That's not true, is it?
27:33You're angry with me.
27:34Divorce Dorian.
27:36Marry me.
27:37Kill me if you want.
27:38Tear me down.
27:39I don't care.
27:40Everything in the crown prince's palace is yours.
27:43Just save me!
27:45A brothera is my lawful wife.
27:47Married under royal decree, I will not divorce her.
27:51You would let me die!
27:53I swear that once I recover, I will renounce the title of crown prince and withdraw from
27:59the succession entirely.
28:00Please, help me.
28:02Daughter, if you agree, I'll bring your mother back to the estate.
28:06I went to see her before I came here.
28:08The servant's room was empty.
28:09Did you move her, Prime Minister?
28:12Alara's mother passed away.
28:13I have arranged for remains, placed a headstone, and had her buried in her family's ancestral
28:18grounds.
28:19My father's face drained of color.
28:21That's not possible.
28:22Kalen also couldn't believe it.
28:24I only gave her one pill, a medicinal herb.
28:27That was enough to kill her?
28:28I ordered Lady Sura arrested and searched.
28:31Despite her protests, the guards found a vial of pills on her person.
28:35These are the herbs Seraphane and her mother claimed to be giving.
28:40Whether they are poison will need to be tested.
28:42Kalen's physician was still present.
28:45He examined the pills carefully.
28:47These are poison, without any doubt.
28:51Kalen coughed up dark blood.
28:53His breathing came in short, rapid bursts.
28:55My father's legs gave out.
28:57He collapsed, then crawled toward Lady Sura and closed his hands around her throat.
29:01You and that daughter of yours used the Hayat!
29:04The Harper Eight Ones used me and destroyed everything!
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