- 7 hours ago
❤️🔥 ❤️🔥HOT SHORT 🔥 ❧ The Bride They All Chose
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00:00My mother was the most beautiful woman in the entire realm, who married Celestia's most legendary war god. Four years
00:04in, they had me. I got my father's looks, and my mother's absolutely dismal talent for cultivation, so I became
00:10Celestia's top loser. So my go-to move, lose, call dad, no dad, call uncle, with mom's lethal beauty. She
00:17was the one every big shot wanted but never got. So I got uncles, second, third, fourth, all backing me,
00:22safe to say. I ran this place all three realms of it, but dad always fretted no man would ever
00:26dare propose to me.
00:27Because all those uncles pining for mom, they had been bachelors for eons. No kids, no heirs, but if he's
00:31not our inner circle, dad wouldn't trust him. So he set his sights on his best sworn brother, who happened
00:36to be the reigning heavenly emperor. Long story short, the heavenly emperor, still single at the time, after a thorough
00:40campaign of pressure and bribery from dad, agreed to betroth his future kid to me. I was too young to
00:44know better and thought it was the most brag-worthy thing ever. I went around telling everyone I was getting
00:47a hot young husband. Then I hit several thousand years old, and that idiot still hadn't found a wife. Idiot's
00:53not my word for the record. That was dad's. But he is the heavenly emperor after all.
00:56And the betrothal had witnesses, so it was binding. So my whole love life just sat there, on hold, indefinitely.
01:01Honestly, I didn't mind the freedom. After thousands of years of growing up, I'd learned that love is complicated.
01:05For every romance that stands the test of time, there's an equal amount of bitterness and betrayal. Then on my
01:08three thousandth birthday, the heavenly emperor finally found his person. Before I could even feel relieved, he'd dropped everything and
01:14chased his beloved into mortal reincarnation.
01:16Just like that, two thousand years gone, dad managed Celestia's affairs, grumbling the whole time, desperately hoping they'd come back
01:21with a baby, nearly losing his mind waiting.
01:23The heavenly empress had once been a gluttonous beast, a creature that fed on the desires of mortals. To strip
01:27the darkness out of her, the heavenly emperor had reincarnated with her over and over, using his own divine bones
01:31as the vessel, and his own divine blood as the cure, until every last drop of her beast's bloodline was
01:34replaced.
01:35End result, he got his wife, but burnt himself out so badly he was impotent. Another thousand years of waiting,
01:40then dad's big mouth caused a whole new problem, because the emperor used every rare moment of clarity he had
01:43to hunt dad across the realms.
01:44Through all of this, the empress and I only grew closer. Celestia was full of fragile, delicate immortals, fierce and
01:50spirited like the empress, genuinely one of a kind.
01:52My own mother, stunning as she was, kind of a heart mess. Her version of taking care of me was
01:54sweet but scatterbrained.
01:55The empress was in a completely different league, warm and precise, so when it came to the betrothal, I started
01:58quietly, genuinely looking forward to it.
01:59On my seven thousandth birthday, the heavenly emperor's son was finally born. He had inherited his father's true form, a
02:04magnificent dragon.
02:04His name was Draven. My parents threw a big celebration, and practically shoved me over to the emperor's place, telling
02:09me to bond with Draven.
02:10But the older Draven got, the less he seemed to like me. Draven wasn't exactly gifted in cultivation, but being
02:15the heavenly emperor's son, he couldn't afford to slack.
02:17I got it, I really did. I'd been mocked for years for the same thing, my complete lack of talent.
02:21The difference was, I got over it.
02:23Draven decided I was the problem. He was convinced that spending time around me was dragging him down.
02:28Honestly, I think he's insane, and I started seriously reconsidering this whole arrangement.
02:32Draven not only doesn't like me, he's also mean to me. Why would I fight to keep someone who clearly
02:37wanted out? It's not like I was that into him anyway.
02:39Still, it stung a little, because when Draven was just a tiny little thing, he used to follow me around
02:44everywhere.
02:44People change though, that's just life. The moment he started distancing himself, spooked by whatever gossip was going around, I
02:49knew the engagement was done.
02:51After talking it over with my parents, I decided to wait for Draven to get back from his mortal trials
02:56and then make a clean break.
02:57My parents agreed he was wrong for me, and would never let me just sit there and take it.
03:01Once Draven completed his trials, he'd be officially named a high god. The trials weren't exactly rigorous, but they gave
03:07Draven something he'd wanted for years.
03:08I had zero interest in going to that ceremony. We were basically done at that point anyway. He couldn't stand
03:13me, and honestly the feeling was mutual, but the Empress had been in retreat for her health and had been
03:16out of circulation for quite a while.
03:17She'd barely made it out in time for the ceremony, worried about her. I showed up anyway, because in my
03:22heart, even if she couldn't be my mother-in-law anymore, she was as close to a second mom as
03:25I'd ever had.
03:26What I didn't see coming though, was that on the day of the ceremony, Draven showed up with some mortal
03:29woman on his arm and swore up and down he was going to marry her.
03:31On the day of the ceremony, Draven showed up with some mortal woman on his arm and swore up and
03:34down he was going to marry her.
03:35I almost went off right then. But seeing the Empress shaking with rage, I held back.
03:41Honestly, who Draven married was none of my business. He could marry ten women if he wanted, that was his
03:45problem.
03:46But you don't go public with that while you're still under a betrothal. In front of everyone. That wasn't just
03:51a slap to me, but to my parents too.
03:54Not to mention, before he even left for his trials, I had already told him plainly I'd call off the
03:58engagement once he got back.
03:59It's not easy to break off, but not impossible. You still need proper witnesses to make it official.
04:03If he had any sense, he wouldn't have brought her here. Even if he'd snuck her back quietly, and waited
04:08until the engagement was formally dissolved, I would have had zero complaints.
04:11But when Draven knelt there on the dais, he made a point of looking over at me, with this little
04:14smirk, like a dare.
04:16I had nothing to say to that. I knew he was petty. But not this petty.
04:20His little stunt was all about one thing. He thought being engaged to me had made him a laughing stock.
04:24So he was making the point of showing everyone how he felt. I just didn't want to deal with it.
04:28Arguing with him would just make me look dumb. Did Draven ever stop and think about who exactly was doing
04:32the mocking?
04:33Just people with their own agendas, jealous and bitter. Can you blame them?
04:36No powerhouse dad or uncles backing them.
04:37Too bad Draven's brain never got the memo. The Heavenly Emperor just nodded. Calm, unbothered.
04:42Yeah, you're not good enough, Fralina. Since you feel so strongly about this, go back down for a few hundred
04:46more years of trials.
04:47Orin, set their fate threads accordingly. Make it hard. We wouldn't want their love story to be too easy.
04:52Oh, make sure they go down with their memories.
04:54The investiture wasn't even over before Draven dragged his beloved back below.
04:58On the way out, the woman in his arm shot me a resentful look, then turned back to Draven and
05:03burst into tears.
05:04She grabbed his hand, knelt before the Emperor and Empress, and whispered softly.
05:08Our love is real. Not centuries, not millennia would make me give up on him.
05:13Her voice cracked on the words, but she lifted her chin, refusing to cry.
05:17Draven's eyes turned red.
05:19But other than Draven, not one person in the room actually looked at her.
05:22More than a few were quietly laughing.
05:24We're all old enough to spot an act.
05:26What's with that innocent act?
05:27After Draven went back down, I started dropping by Orin's for tea and gossip, getting the inside scoop first hand.
05:33The woman Draven had brought up was Grace Shaw, a cultivator of sorts in the mortal world, decent enough, but
05:37nothing special.
05:38Draven's cover during his trials was senior disciple of a sect, and Grace was the youngest junior.
05:43Orin had personally pulled her fate record and found her story was honestly, something else.
05:46She was born into a wealthy family, the illegitimate daughter nobody talked about.
05:50She still stole the legitimate daughter's fiancée.
05:52But status was status, so they carried her in through the side gate.
05:55That wasn't enough for her though.
05:56She heard a legendary cultivator was nearby exercising demons, so she bolted.
06:00What happened next?
06:01Totally predictable.
06:02Classic hero saves girl, instant love connection, and the unlucky cultivator she latched onto.
06:06None other than the idiot Draven.
06:08Gotta give credit where it's due though, Grace got lucky.
06:11Draven himself was a mess, but his bloodline was perfect.
06:13After watching Draven's sorry transformation for a few days, I had to take a moment.
06:17A heavenly emperor is something else.
06:18Two thousand years of trials really builds character.
06:20A few hundred years is nothing to an immortal.
06:22For a mortal though, that's an entire lifetime.
06:24Multiple.
06:24Especially for a pair having a really rough time.
06:26That's when it finally clicked for me.
06:27Why the heavens made them go down with their memories intact.
06:29That kind of free fall, not everyone can handle it.
06:31Draven and Grace had been respected cultivators.
06:34Not the strongest, but above ordinary mortals.
06:36Now look at them.
06:37One hauling manure, one scrubbing out houses.
06:39Sawmates.
06:40Literally.
06:40After about a week of watching, honestly sick, I decided to go cleanse my eyes at the
06:43empress's place.
06:44I hadn't even made it through the door when I heard the empress going off on the emperor.
06:47Your disaster of a son inherited nothing good from you, just your completely broken
06:49brain.
06:50An absolute embarrassment.
06:51Your disaster of a son inherited nothing good from you, just your completely broken
06:54brain.
06:55An absolute embarrassment.
06:56The heavenly emperor was on his knees, nodding along, agreeing with everything.
06:59Yes.
06:59Yes, it's all my fault.
07:00Please stop.
07:01You'll make yourself sick.
07:02Your bloodline backlash is acting up.
07:04The empress just kept going.
07:05You two are insufferable.
07:06Let me be clear, I can write off the son, but Lina stays my daughter-in-law no matter
07:10what.
07:11I paused at the doorway, and quietly didn't go in.
07:14My chest felt weird and tight.
07:15I knew the empress cared about me, I just didn't realize how much I actually mattered.
07:19But the engagement with Draven, that was never happening.
07:21Whatever mother-daughter-in-law dream we had, she couldn't just make a new son.
07:26I figured I'd take some time to decompress, except I was barely gone for a few decades.
07:30And when I came back, I was the empress sitting on my bed, cradling a glowing golden
07:34egg, the moment she saw me, she drop-kicked the egg aside and grabbed my hands like I'd
07:38been missing for centuries.
07:39The egg rolled across the room, wobbled for a long time, then stopped.
07:43It looked a little tragic.
07:44I opened my mouth cautiously.
07:46New pet?
07:47The empress waved her hand, unbothered.
07:49I laid this one recently.
07:50It's my youngest son.
07:52I stared at the egg, lost for words.
07:53Wait, is it actually yours?
07:55Relax, this one has my beast bloodline.
07:57Tank built.
07:58But that's not the point.
07:59The betrothal's back on.
08:01What is the betrothal is back on?
08:04Technically, the original agreement never specified which son it was for.
08:06The empress grabbed the egg excitedly and started slapping it in front of me.
08:10I could feel the floor vibrate.
08:11My eye twitched involuntarily.
08:13That egg was seriously indestructible.
08:15Gluttonous beast bloodline really does not mess around.
08:18The empress proceeded to give me a full presentation on this egg, swearing up and down that they
08:22mate for life.
08:23Unlike a certain brainless dragon whose eyes and brain were both busted, when she saw me
08:26looking uncertain, the empress shoved the egg directly into my arms and declared that
08:29if the second one didn't work out either, she would keep going until I was satisfied.
08:33I jumped in fast to shut that down.
08:35One is enough.
08:36Truly, really, completely unnecessary.
08:38Mostly because after everything that happened, I was done with romance for the foreseeable
08:41future.
08:42I was still trying to figure out how to turn her down gently when the empress suddenly went
08:45pale and dropped straight down in a dead faint.
08:46I didn't even have time to react.
08:48The empress materialized from literally nowhere and caught her.
08:51Explaining that on top of the bloodline backlash, she'd burned through a serious amount of her
08:54core energy, could be a few hundred years of recovery, maybe a thousand, they were going
08:57into seclusion.
08:58Please don't interrupt.
09:00Before I got a single word out, they were gone.
09:02Just me standing there holding an egg, completely baffled.
09:04I walked around with the egg for a while, realized I had nobody to call.
09:07Fantastic.
09:08My parents snuck off on another adventure without me.
09:10I looked down at the egg with a heavy sigh.
09:12It was actually pretty nice to hold.
09:14Warm, steady, kind of comforting, but I had zero experience raising anything.
09:16I set it down and started reaching out to my parents, but the egg just rolled itself
09:21right over to my side and gently bumped my hand.
09:24The warmth hit different.
09:26I dropped the transmission, reached down and patted the underside of the egg.
09:28Maybe trying this out for a couple days wasn't the worst idea.
09:31Deuce was a good kid.
09:32His favorite activity was pressing up against me.
09:34Over time, I started reading his moods pretty well.
09:36Happy meant rolling all over the floor.
09:38Really happy meant actual mid-air somersaults.
09:41Unhappy meant completely frozen in place, just sitting there like a clueless lump, but durable,
09:44genuinely durable.
09:45Rolling dough for pastries, using him as a footrest when tired, zero issues.
09:49I even used him to skip across water once and he bounced clean across dozens of times.
09:52A genuinely multi-purpose egg.
09:53I had him for 200 years though, and he still showed no sign of hatching, just kept getting
09:57bigger.
09:58The golden glow became something he could turn on and off.
10:00When I got bored, I would doodle on his shell.
10:03When I got hungry, I'd have him dial up his glow intensity and grill something.
10:07Then one day I offhandedly mentioned what happened with Draven.
10:10After that, Deuce started dragging me to Orange every day to watch Draven's trial unfold.
10:13Walking back and forth the whole time, I rubbed my chin.
10:14Pretty sure he was laughing at Draven.
10:17Draven had been down there almost 300 years, but with the emperor and empress still silent,
10:21nobody dared bring him back up.
10:22Over those 300 years, they'd lived through more than a dozen lifetimes together.
10:25Average lifespan each round, 20-something years.
10:27Every kind of suffering.
10:28Every disaster you can think of.
10:30Without memories it would have been manageable.
10:31They'd just assume they were the unlucky kind of mortal.
10:34Born to struggle.
10:34Death comes.
10:35Wipes the slate clean.
10:37But Draven and Grace weren't that lucky.
10:39Every single life, full memory, full clarity.
10:40300 years of that means 300 years of conscious suffering.
10:43Grace probably wasn't the same person she'd been at the start.
10:46Not everyone's built like a god, able to endure that kind of torture.
10:48The emperor had run this playbook himself, but Draven still had status waiting for him above.
10:51Grace needed to hold on to Draven if she wanted any shot at getting out.
10:54So down in the mortal world, Grace performed her part perfectly.
10:57Tough, devoted, selfless, always there.
10:59That phase worked.
10:59Draven's heart stayed locked in.
11:00But fate records don't lie.
11:02Every single thing Grace did behind his back was documented in full detail.
11:05Seeing her secretly eating real food alone, then walking out with a bowl of plain vegetable
11:09soup and that whole, we'll suffer together my love act, I absolutely lost it.
11:11I got bored after a few days.
11:13Left the egg at Orange.
11:14Plan was to brew spirit essence produced to soak in.
11:17Get him hatching faster.
11:18I sat there chewing spirit grass, privately amazed at how generous I was being.
11:22Draven always assumed my cultivation sucked.
11:23He thought I kept pace because I was secretly training hard.
11:26He also lost his mind when the empress gave me a few spirit plants.
11:28What he never knew is that when it comes to cultivation resources,
11:30nobody is richer than me, not even the heavenly emperor.
11:33My entire cultivation level was just resources stacked on resources.
11:35I barely trained a single day in my life.
11:37Dad and every uncle left me their entire private vaults.
11:40Even if Draven was the heir of Celestia, I had every right to be picky.
11:43If Draven had half a brain, I wouldn't have minded giving him a boost.
11:46Too bad he was the last cause.
11:47Better off feeding a dog.
11:48When I went to collect juice, I walked in on Orin mid-lecture,
11:52writing all over the eggshell while he talked, and then sat back with a satisfied nod.
11:56Good, that wraps up today's lesson.
11:58I've written down all the key points.
11:59Go home and review them.
12:00Juice's entire shell was covered in tiny dense text.
12:02He'd gone from white egg to black egg.
12:04He bounced straight over and tried to launch himself at me.
12:06I held up a hand and stopped him, pinned him in place and looked him over.
12:10I was speechless.
12:11What is all of this?
12:12It's a whole curriculum on being an obedient husband,
12:13respecting your wife, doing whatever she says.
12:15I shot Orin a look.
12:16He suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
12:17I started wiping the shell clean with a handkerchief
12:19while delivering a very sincere life lesson.
12:20Listen up.
12:21Love is a two-way street.
12:22If you ever find someone you like, give genuine effort and you'll get it back.
12:25Stop letting Orin fill your head with mortal romance novels.
12:28Got it?
12:29Deuce wobbled back and forth blankly.
12:30None of it landed, I could tell, because right after, he rolled around me in a giant heart shape.
12:34I wanted to disappear.
12:35Those genes run strong.
12:36Both of his sons were hopelessly love-struck.
12:39After I brought Deuce home and dunked him in the Spirit Essence Pool,
12:42I got an urgent message from my parents.
12:43Two hundred years ago, I'd already figured out they weren't off having fun without me.
12:46They were tracking demon energy, which connected to some very old buried history.
12:49At the beginning of time, a creator god split the world apart and dissolved into everything that exists.
12:53The three strongest energies left behind were pure energy, impure energy, and demon energy.
12:56Those three forces became the humans, the beast clans, and the dreadborn.
13:00The dreadborn were rare but insanely powerful and completely bloodthirsty.
13:02Humans and beast clans united and pushed them back,
13:04sealing the dreadborn at the river Lethe, and slowly stripping the demon energy out of them.
13:08The devastation the dreadborn left behind was total.
13:10Mountain rangers collapsed.
13:11Oceans flooded inland.
13:12Spiritual energy crashed.
13:13Humans and beast clans had no choice but to gather the surviving livable land,
13:16push it upward into what became celestial, and leave the broken mortal world behind.
13:19After hundreds of thousands of years, the faint trace of the creator's energy slowly revived.
13:23Life returned.
13:24The passages between worlds reopened.
13:26But after all that chaos, the mortal world's spiritual energy never fully recovered.
13:29Genuinely gifted cultivators got rare.
13:30It gradually became its own separate world.
13:31But it was the best possible training ground for the spirit.
13:34The mortal world slowly became the place where immortals went to grind toward godhood.
13:38I always assumed the three realms meant Celestia, the mortal world, and the nether realm.
13:41Turns out hidden somewhere in the river Lethe was an entire sealed population.
13:44The dreadborn.
13:44Now the demon energy was leaking from the Lethe, slowly spreading,
13:47corrupting the spiritual energy that everything depended on.
13:49Someone might be engineering this on purpose.
13:51I was still too small for that kind of problem.
13:54All I could do was hold tight and pray my parents came back safe.
13:57Their transmission said someone had deliberately torn open a gap in the Lethe seal.
14:00Some dreadborn may have slipped out.
14:02Stay alert.
14:03After this long sealed away, their power had to be a fraction of what it once was.
14:06But demon energy itself was a whole different problem.
14:08One brush with it and your cultivation was toast at minimum.
14:10Worst case you just lost your mind.
14:11For a good while after, Celestia and the mortal world stayed quiet.
14:14I let my guard down.
14:16Then the Empress's birthday banquet came around.
14:17By then Draven and Grace had been down there in mortal trials for over 300 years.
14:21Both were visibly on the edge of complete breakdown.
14:23The banquet was coming up.
14:24So the request to go back was granted.
14:26Draven was genuinely stunned.
14:27His mother had another son, but he had enough sense to stay out of my face.
14:30The mortal world did manage to knock some sense into him.
14:33If he hadn't torched everything himself, he wouldn't be in this position.
14:35But without the Emperor and Empress saying the word, Grace still had zero official status.
14:39All she could do was trail Draven around as his handmaid.
14:41Draven's name covered some of the damage, but she still caught heat constantly.
14:43Because other than Draven, everyone could see her for exactly what she was.
14:47I didn't have the mental bandwidth for that gossip though, because Juice had gone and made
14:49my life complicated again.
14:50I was mid-prep on the Empress's birthday gift when I spotted him absolutely wrapped in red threads,
14:53struggling toward me like a very determined worm.
14:54With an absolutely furious matchmaker guard right on his tail, I looked at that knotted
14:57catastrophe of red threads and felt my eye twitch.
14:59My hands started itching on their own.
15:00He was actively trying to drag those tangled thread ends and rub them onto me.
15:03I planted my hand against his shell.
15:04I bit out every syllable.
15:06Juice Frost.
15:07The egg went instantly, perfectly still.
15:09That's how he knew when I used the full name it was serious.
15:12Juice took the Empress's surname.
15:14His actual given name was still undecided.
15:15So Juice it was.
15:17The matchmaker guard filed a full grievance.
15:19So Juice had derailed who knows how many mortal love stories.
15:21Couples who were literally fated for each other, might now completely miss each other.
15:24Pass each other like strangers.
15:25Worse, some wouldn't just miss the right one.
15:27They'd end up stuck with the wrong one forever.
15:29Spending a decade digging wild vegetables alone in the wilderness.
15:30Not even out of the question at this point.
15:31But what was done was done.
15:32One egg, one crime.
15:33The egg takes the fall.
15:34And the egg's guardian wasn't getting off either.
15:36I turned down the matchmaker guard's help.
15:38Took Juice and started untangling the fate threads one by one.
15:40The osmanthus tree was covered in tiny yellow blossoms.
15:42From the massive ancient branches hung fate thread after fate thread.
15:45Each one fately glowing.
15:45Red silk cascading like a waterfall.
15:47Moonlight everywhere.
15:47Genuinely stunning.
15:48I gave the deflated Juice a pat.
15:50Said quietly, for everyone.
15:52Their fate actually matters.
15:53Even the most ordinary mortal out there deserves a shot at happiness.
15:56Fate threads come in good and bad.
15:58But anything that grows from the osmanthus tree has a reason behind it.
16:00You can't just pull them apart.
16:02Got it?
16:02You can't force fate.
16:03Me and Draven figured that out just in time.
16:05The second I said Draven's name, Juice poked right up.
16:08Did a couple of enthusiastic little rolls in my arms.
16:10And let me know he got the message when the moon was full and bright.
16:12I finally finished untangling the last thread.
16:14Juice had gone completely still against my side.
16:16I checked his energy.
16:17He'd worked himself into the ground.
16:19Crashed into a temporary hibernation.
16:20While he was out, I conjured a red brush.
16:21Dipped it in the moonlight glowing off the fate threads.
16:24And drew a little heart on his shell.
16:25Then I wove him an osmanthus flower crown.
16:27And set it on top of his egg.
16:28A breeze came through.
16:29Soft and full of spirit energy.
16:30The flower crown swayed gently.
16:31Sending out this faint delicate fragrance.
16:33I was in a genuinely good mood.
16:34Actually maybe that wasn't so bad.
16:36From that day on I started seriously entertaining the grower husband plan.
16:39Then I thought about what he actually was.
16:40And the anxiety came flooding right back.
16:42They were the apex predator of all beast clans.
16:43The empress had managed to carry juice okay largely thanks to her bloodline being fully
16:47replaced.
16:47But during the bloodline backlash.
16:49She had been right in the middle of conceiving juice.
16:51So the leftover beast energy basically got absorbed entirely into juice's body.
16:54Beast energy is less nasty than demon energy.
16:56But let enough of it accumulate and it destroys you from within.
16:59Juice's bloodline was diluted.
17:01So it wouldn't hit him as hard.
17:03But the moment he hatched.
17:04He would have to undergo divine lightning tempering to burn out the beast energy inside him.
17:07Just thinking about it made my chest tighten.
17:09But that was his road.
17:10I couldn't walk it for him.
17:12The empress's birthday banquet came as scheduled.
17:13Walking in with juice.
17:14I spotted the guards blocking Grace at the entrance.
17:17Not letting her through.
17:17Events like this were for people with actual standing.
17:20Grace was a handmaid.
17:21No entry.
17:22Draven predictably had zero sense of the occasion.
17:23He actually started making a fuss that if Grace wasn't let in.
17:25He wouldn't attend his own mother's birthday banquet.
17:27To me this was worse than publicly breaking the betrothal.
17:30Draven hating me?
17:31Fine I get it.
17:32But the empress is his actual mother.
17:34This would cut her deeper than anything he had done before.
17:36Grace though had more sense.
17:38She grabbed Draven's arm fast and said something low and quick.
17:41Draven's face ran through a whole sequence.
17:43Helpless.
17:43Torn.
17:43Then soft.
17:44He went in alone.
17:45Grace stood at the door a moment.
17:47And very casually let her eyes slide over juice in my arms.
17:49I turned my body.
17:50Blocked her line of sight.
17:51And walked straight in without a second glance.
17:52No idea why.
17:53But that look had made me genuinely uneasy.
17:55And I'd had this low grade anxious feeling all day.
17:57Like something big was about to happen.
17:59Inside.
17:59The empress grabbed my hand immediately and pulled me into conversation.
18:02Completely ignored Draven standing right there.
18:04Draven tried to approach once.
18:05Read the room and went to drink alone in the corner looking murderous.
18:08The empress patted juice and said delighted.
18:10Looks like he's almost ready to hatch.
18:13Adult wood's not far off.
18:14Already have a name picked out.
18:15Evan Frost.
18:16Evan was taken from Evander.
18:17You can tell it fits.
18:18That made my face go a little warm.
18:20My actual family name is Evander.
18:21Impressive stretch I have to say.
18:23Deuce heard that.
18:24He wiggled.
18:25Very enthusiastic about it.
18:26Once we sat down.
18:27Deuce stretched out and started nudging my wine cup.
18:29I quietly condensed a tiny bit of wine into mist and let it settle onto his shell.
18:32Told him this was it.
18:34Not a drop more.
18:34Last time I didn't know better.
18:35After he soaked in my spirit wine bath.
18:37He climbed up to the roof and stayed there all day.
18:39Absolutely convinced he was a golden glowing lantern.
18:41That was when I learned what a lightweight with no self-regulation can do when given access to good wine.
18:45Even when technically an unhatched egg.
18:47I still overestimated him.
18:48After absorbing that tiny bit of vapor.
18:50Deuce set about aggressively trying to get Draven's attention.
18:52The second Draven looked over.
18:53Deuce plastered himself to me.
18:55Ownership fully declared.
18:56I was cracking up internally.
18:57Just as I was about to do something.
18:59A cold clammy slithering energy hit me directly.
19:01I was locked in place instantly.
19:03Could not move at all.
19:04Deuce reacted before I could.
19:05Threw himself in front of that black light.
19:07When I could finally move again.
19:08Bloody shards of eggshell were scattered across the ground in front of me.
19:11The golden glow clinging to them was going out.
19:13Something in my chest just emptied.
19:15The whole venue went chaotic.
19:16I couldn't see anything else.
19:17Just that small crumpled creature on the ground.
19:19Deuce was taken by the Emperor and Empress immediately.
19:22The force hatching from the external impact had made the beast energy inside him run in reverse.
19:26Divine lightning tempering right now.
19:27I sent over every resource I had all at once.
19:30The tempering was going to take a long time.
19:32All I could do was wait and quietly fall apart.
19:34The incident was investigated fast.
19:36What hit me was no ordinary attack.
19:38It was demon energy.
19:39Where it came from was still unclear.
19:41Why it came from me was also unclear.
19:42My parents rushed back right away.
19:44Confirmed I was okay.
19:45Then immediately turned around to check the leafy.
19:47Before they left.
19:48Mom held my hands and kept sighing.
19:50Eyes full of concern she couldn't hide.
19:52When I asked what was going on.
19:53She wouldn't say a thing.
19:54Just ran her hand over my hair.
19:56Said I would always be watched over by heaven.
19:58Also said someday I'd grow to be even more beautiful than she is.
20:00I figured she was joking.
20:01I was several thousand years old.
20:02My face wasn't going to change now.
20:04I took after dad.
20:05Not anyone's idea of a classic beauty.
20:06But I was honestly fine with it.
20:08After they left.
20:09Celestia went on lockdown.
20:10Every corner swept for anything suspicious.
20:12Without deuce around.
20:13I was going quietly insane.
20:14Started showing up to bother Oren every single day.
20:15By day 20.
20:16When I was sighing directly into Oren's face again.
20:18He finally snapped and threw me out.
20:20I trudged home.
20:22Pushed open the door.
20:23And found an impossibly beautiful man sitting in my room.
20:26Sitting quietly in the corner.
20:27Eyes wrapped in black silk.
20:29Still visibly stunning.
20:30A crimson petal mark between his brows was devastating.
20:34I slammed the door shut.
20:36Must have opened it wrong.
20:38He heard it.
20:38Voice brightening immediately.
20:40Lena, is that you?
20:41How did he know my name?
20:43I had zero memory of this person.
20:44I said nothing.
20:45His voice dropped.
20:48Lena, why aren't you saying anything?
20:49Don't you recognize me?
20:50It's Evan Frost.
20:51For a second I didn't register Evan Frost.
20:52Stood there.
20:53Then it hit me.
20:55Oh.
20:56Deuce's actual name was Evan Frost.
20:58I'd been calling him Deuce for so long.
20:59I'd basically forgotten the real name existed.
21:01At twice the speed I'd shut it.
21:02I shoved the door back open.
21:04Checked his energy signature.
21:05Confirmed.
21:06The beautiful man in front of me was absolutely my Deuce.
21:08How are you this grown already?
21:09Also what is going on with your eyes?
21:11I said it like I couldn't believe any of this.
21:12Reached over and pinched his face while I was at it.
21:14Let go with mild dissatisfaction.
21:15I was expecting a little round fluffy baby.
21:17Got this instead.
21:18Not exactly squeezable.
21:20Vision's temporarily gone.
21:21Side effect of the tempering.
21:22Should recover with time.
21:23The tempering site was a pocket realm.
21:25Time flows differently inside.
21:26I was in there for a few hundred years.
21:28I'm an adult now.
21:29He said that last part with a small proud chin lift.
21:32Almost made me laugh.
21:33I untied the silk from his eyes.
21:35The light hit them.
21:36And they welled up a little involuntarily.
21:37Eyes that should have been dark and clear were clouded over with gray.
21:41It made him look absolutely pitiful.
21:43Mom and dad said they had no time.
21:44So here I am.
21:46Lena.
21:46Evan Frost reached toward me.
21:47Feeling his way.
21:48And a faint cool clean scent settled around me.
21:50My heart went haywire.
21:51I was used to an egg.
21:52This was a significant adjustment.
21:54I was genuinely not prepared.
21:55But that scent was weirdly familiar.
21:57It clicked.
21:58I said each word very carefully.
22:00Evan.
22:00Frost.
22:00Explain.
22:01I dug through my collection immediately.
22:03Sure enough.
22:04My favorite ice jade bomb had a chunk scooped out of it.
22:06I grabbed his ear.
22:08The nerve.
22:09Do you know how hard this stuff is to get?
22:11You can't even see.
22:12And you found it with surgical precision.
22:14I have completely spoiled you rotten.
22:15Evan Frost didn't argue.
22:16Just tilted his head down a little.
22:18Lena.
22:18I haven't seen you in so long.
22:20He felt for the black silk in my hand.
22:22Ran his fingers across it gently.
22:23I was scared he'd want nothing to do with me.
22:24That hit me hard.
22:25I didn't know what to do with myself.
22:26He went through all that alone.
22:28And I just lectured him over a jar of face bomb.
22:30I was absolutely going to wake up tonight.
22:32Bolt upright and smack myself.
22:33I really was the worst.
22:35Out of guilt.
22:36For a good while after.
22:36I basically said yes to everything.
22:38Grown man wanting to be cling to me all the time.
22:40Fine.
22:40I agreed through gritted teeth.
22:41One sad vulnerable look from him and I was done for.
22:44I figured I'd finally get a few peaceful days.
22:46Then I kept noticing Grace hovering nearby.
22:48The scene she caused at the banquet entrance had gotten back to the emperor.
22:51The emperor personally beat Draven up.
22:53Then threw him in confinement.
22:54He still hadn't come out.
22:55If Draven's cultivation wasn't already so shaky that another trial would basically dissolve him.
22:59He would have been sent right back down.
23:01Without Draven.
23:02Grace's situation got noticeably harder.
23:04What I couldn't work out was why she kept drifting toward my area.
23:07I glanced over at Evan Frost.
23:08Decided to deploy him for recon.
23:10He couldn't see.
23:11But the reluctance radiated off him all the same.
23:13Under enough pressure and incentive he went.
23:15He felt his way to an open courtyard.
23:17Sat down and stared blankly up at the sky.
23:19Performing solo brooding for an audience of nobody.
23:21Grace appeared within minutes.
23:23She did a fake run-in and struck up conversation.
23:26Evan Frost had zero interest.
23:27She talked for 20 minutes anyway.
23:29Opened with warm small talk.
23:30Then pivoted hard to looking wistful.
23:31You know.
23:32I understand that darkness.
23:33Living in it.
23:34My stepmother used to hurt me when I was little.
23:36At her worst she beat me until I was blind for half a month.
23:38People say you can't truly understand someone else's pain.
23:40But two people who have been through the same thing.
23:42How could they not understand each other?
23:44Don't you think?
23:45Grace delivered all of this while looking at Evan Frost meaningfully.
23:47Whether he was embarrassed I couldn't tell.
23:50I was embarrassed enough.
23:51Women who pull stunts like stealing someone's fiancee operate on a genuinely different frequency.
23:55Was she actually trying to go after Evan Frost now?
23:58If so, Draven was worth absolutely nothing.
23:59She seemed to have cast herself as the tragic heroine.
24:02With Evan Frost as the tragic hero.
24:04Two kindred wounded souls.
24:06She clearly had no idea who she was looking at.
24:08Since he went blind, I had been waiting on him hand and foot.
24:10Better treatment than he ever got as an egg.
24:12Admittedly this form wasn't quite as easy to kick around.
24:15I was enjoying the show quite a bit when I spotted a trembling figure nearby.
24:19Speak of the devil.
24:20If it wasn't the worthless Draven himself.
24:22If it wasn't the worthless Draven himself.
24:24Looked like he'd snuck out.
24:26Bold move honestly.
24:27He was in a bad mood too, clearly.
24:28A little plant spirit had rooted on his head and gone dormant.
24:30He hadn't even noticed.
24:31After Grace's long speech.
24:33Evan finally spoke.
24:35You know how when you lose your sight your nose gets sharper?
24:37Grace looked confused.
24:38No idea where this was going.
24:40Evan Frost leaned back.
24:41Just not feeling it.
24:42Could you maybe give me some space?
24:43You smell.
24:44I'm struggling to breathe over here.
24:45Grace froze for a beat.
24:47Turned completely red and fled.
24:48Face covered.
24:49Eyes watering.
24:50After Grace was gone.
24:51Draven didn't go after her.
24:52He came over to Evan looking like a storm.
24:54Like he had something to say.
24:55I moved in front of Evan.
24:56Before anything could happen.
24:58Stared Draven down.
24:59What exactly are you trying to do?
25:00Draven went stiff for a second.
25:02Then recovered and acted offended.
25:03He's my little brother.
25:04I can't say a few words to him.
25:05I knew exactly what those words would be.
25:08I wasn't gonna waste time dealing with him.
25:09So I called it directly.
25:10He's mine now.
25:11My actual betrothed.
25:13Come near him again and I'm sending a transmission to the emperor.
25:15I think you know you're not supposed to be out here.
25:17Draven shot me a furious look.
25:19Resentfully he left.
25:21I figured given his build.
25:22He couldn't survive another round with the emperor anyway.
25:24I also quietly removed the plant spirit from his head.
25:26From now on.
25:27I'd have to teach these newly awakened plant spirits.
25:30No latching on to bad energy.
25:31Standards.
25:31Evan rubbed his chin.
25:32Very smug.
25:33You know though.
25:34That little green sprout did suit him.
25:35The words were barely out before he froze completely.
25:37Turned to me flustered.
25:39Tried to argue his way out.
25:40I narrowed my eyes.
25:41Cracked my knuckles audibly.
25:42Not happy.
25:43So.
25:44When exactly did your eyes come back?
25:46And have you selected your burial spot?
25:48Evan tried one more play looking wounded.
25:50You literally just called me yours.
25:52I made a dismissive sound.
25:53Doesn't matter what you are today.
25:54You're getting it today.
25:55But before I could act.
25:57An urgent transmission came in from dad.
25:59Lena.
25:59Your mother is in trouble.
26:00When I read it.
26:01I could barely believe it.
26:03Mom was beautiful.
26:04Kind.
26:05Made no enemies.
26:05How could she end up in trouble?
26:06Following dad's directions.
26:08Evan and I made for the river Lethe.
26:09Both banks thick with spider lilies.
26:11Borderland between the nether realm and the mortal world.
26:13A very particular place.
26:14When I arrived.
26:15Dad was slumped at the river's edge.
26:17Covered in wounds.
26:19I ran over.
26:20Are you okay?
26:21Where's mom?
26:22What happened?
26:23Dad looked up at me.
26:24Totally worn out.
26:25Your mother's been taken.
26:26His voice was low.
26:27Whoever has her left a message.
26:28They want you in exchange for her.
26:29They also want you to unlock your bloodline.
26:31Said if you cooperate.
26:32They guarantee you and your mother both walk away.
26:34And they seem to know me well.
26:35They knew my fighting style.
26:37Found the gap when I was distracted and got her.
26:39I was too stunned to take it in.
26:41I understood every individual word dad said.
26:43Together it made no sense.
26:44Bloodline?
26:45I didn't even know I had one.
26:46Mom was just a sweet clueless little fox spirit.
26:49Come with me to the nether realm.
26:50You'll understand.
26:51To reach the nether realm you had to cross the river Lethe.
26:53Evan stepped to me like a shadow and got on the boat.
26:56Staying small.
26:57So dad wouldn't notice him.
26:59On the crossing.
27:00Dad filled me in on everything.
27:02Mom wasn't just any fox spirit.
27:04She was from the celestial fox clan.
27:05The rarest of all beast clans.
27:06The ones who had guarded the nether realm for generations.
27:08Celestial foxes were known for their extraordinary beauty.
27:09But once every 10,000 years.
27:11One would be born with a different kind of bloodline.
27:12Not just beauty.
27:13But a bloodline that served as the key to the dreadborn seal.
27:15The original dreadborn seal had been made using the celestial fox bloodline power.
27:19That was why the clan had guarded the nether realm for so long.
27:21To keep watch over the seal at the Lethe.
27:23And I was this generation's carrier.
27:25When I was born.
27:27The clan elders read my fate.
27:28They said one great trial was coming.
27:30But the cause and effect were unclear.
27:31And the outcome uncertain.
27:33To protect me.
27:35Mom and dad locked my bloodline.
27:36The 10,000 year mark was coming.
27:38And you can't outrun fate.
27:40Whoever took mom knew all this.
27:42They want me to break the dreadborn seal.
27:44The birthday banquet attack was probably a test.
27:47Which meant when demon energy hit Evan at the banquet.
27:49He didn't actually get infected.
27:50Turns out a piece of eggshell cut my finger.
27:53My blood is the best cure for demon energy.
27:55Before I could even react to all that.
27:57Evan had stepped in front of me.
28:00Swore he'd died.
28:02Before anything happened to me.
28:04That was touching.
28:05For about 5 seconds.
28:07Then they started throwing punches.
28:09More like a sparring match really.
28:12Dad's like that.
28:13Sees potential and has to test it right away.
28:15I honestly don't know what mom saw in him.
28:17To my surprise.
28:18Evan held his own against dad.
28:20I made a mental note.
28:23Nuis bloodline wouldn't let me down.
28:25He'd been playing the fragile beauty this whole time.
28:27Crying for cuddles.
28:28Real schemer.
28:30Stepping into the nether realm.
28:32It was nothing like I imagined.
28:33I figured it would be austere heavy.
28:36After all.
28:36It's where fallen gods rest and mortal souls cycle.
28:39I had mentally steeled myself.
28:41A bleak desolate landscape.
28:43I could handle that.
28:44What I was not ready for was how shallow my world view was.
28:47The sky in the nether realm is permanent night.
28:49Full of drifting souls glowing like scattered stars.
28:53But on the ground.
28:54Everywhere you looked.
28:55Bright colorful decorations.
28:56Towering stone ornaments blazing silver.
28:59Almost blinding.
29:00The only thing saving the place from full eyesore status was the celestial fox clan's good looks.
29:04Right.
29:04Now I finally understood why mom fell for dad.
29:06I was about to diplomatically express some thoughts on the interior design when a strikingly handsome man silver hair to
29:10his waist lunged to hug me.
29:12Most beautiful man I had ever seen.
29:14Made Evan's exceptional face look slightly outclassed.
29:17Granted.
29:17Even extraordinary looks can only do so much against pitch black robes with random collar embroidery.
29:21Evan stepped in front of me.
29:23Very protective.
29:24Started to say something cutting.
29:25What exactly do you?
29:26He did not finish.
29:27Dad said completely calm.
29:28That's your grandfather.
29:29Evan pivoted mid-sentence.
29:31Can I get you a seat grandpa?
29:32You look a bit tired from the walk.
29:33Nice save.
29:34Never do that again.
29:35Grandpa shot Evan a glance.
29:37Sidesped him and hugged me enthusiastically.
29:38Couldn't stop talking.
29:39Lena you've gotten so big.
29:41If I weren't stuck as some useless clan chief, I'd have snuck out to see you ages ago.
29:44We had never met.
29:45But I could feel that bloodline connection.
29:47That familiar completely unreliable feeling.
29:50He was my mother's father alright.
29:51After the pleasantries, the bloodline awakening ceremony came.
29:54Once awakened, I'd fully inherit the celestial fox gifts.
29:57The ceremony was brief.
29:58I just felt something unfamiliar rush through me.
30:00Then I opened my eyes confused.
30:02Only a stunned Evan in front of me.
30:03No one else.
30:05I waved my hand in front of his face.
30:06He snapped back to reality.
30:07But visibly turned a very deep red all over.
30:10Practically steaming.
30:11I was very satisfied.
30:12It told me the new face was doing its job.
30:14Though it was even more striking than I'd expected.
30:17The celestial fox trademark pale eyes and warm brown hair made an already exceptional face truly dangerous.
30:21Everyone else was stunned.
30:22Everyone except dad.
30:23Who kept muttering he preferred how I looked before.
30:26Like him.
30:27Then grandfather hit him.
30:29Terrible taste.
30:30With the bloodline awakened, it was time to meet our enemy and get mom back.
30:33She was temporarily safe, but nobody knew when that could change.
30:37The faster the better.
30:38Evan was worried about me but had no grounds to stop me.
30:41He coordinated from the shadows with dad.
30:43The enemy arrived as promised.
30:45Mom was restrained beside them, unable to move.
30:47They paid zero attention to the celestial forces surrounding the Lethe.
30:50Just stared fixedly at the dreadborn sealed location.
30:52Eyes twisted with something past sanity.
30:54They glanced at us casually.
30:55Said with a smile.
30:56Your mother has a restraint only I can remove.
30:59So cooperate.
31:01Open the seal.
31:02And I promise no harm to you or your mother.
31:04My stomach dropped.
31:05They had a contingency.
31:06Who are you?
31:07What do you actually gain from releasing demon energy?
31:09I see.
31:09The whole world's spiritual energy gets slowly corrupted.
31:11Nobody cultivates again.
31:12The enemy heard this and started laughing.
31:14First soft.
31:15Then completely unhinged.
31:17That is exactly what I want.
31:19Everything burns.
31:19I want every high and mighty soul in Celestia to fall to nothing.
31:23You should hurry.
31:24I can wait.
31:25Your mother cannot.
31:25That was when I saw mom's face beginning to show pain.
31:27That was when I saw mom's face begin to show pain.
31:30I set my jaw.
31:31And walked toward her.
31:32Nothing else mattered now.
31:34I couldn't stand here and let anything happen to my mother.
31:36Even if the whole world called me a traitor after.
31:37The enemy was delighted I walked into it.
31:39As they drew out my heart fame blood to dissolve the seal.
31:41They released their restraint on mom.
31:43Once I confirmed mom was okay.
31:44The emperor and my father moved from the shadows together.
31:46And took the enemy down.
31:47The enemy didn't even try to fight back.
31:49Just stared at the demon energy beginning to seep out.
31:51It's too late.
31:52Ha ha ha.
31:53Aureon we can go down together.
31:54Aureon is the emperor's actual name.
31:56When the mask came off.
31:57I recognized the face underneath.
31:59The person who had tried to bring down the three realms was the Aureon I knew.
32:02The one who was always messing around.
32:03I stood there with my jaw on the floor.
32:05The emperor let out a long breath.
32:06It was you.
32:07If you hadn't stopped masking your energy.
32:09I never would have guessed.
32:10All these years you changed your appearance and infiltrated Celestia.
32:12I thought you'd finally let it go.
32:14Aureon started laughing.
32:15Face covered in grief and madness.
32:17Let it go.
32:18How could I ever let it go?
32:19How come you get a happy ending with her and my Nisera had to die like that?
32:23If not for you.
32:24How come you get a happy ending with her?
32:26But my Nisera had to die like that.
32:28If it weren't for you enough.
32:30The emperor at his limit cut him off.
32:32You really think that Lethal flower could have saved her?
32:35Nisera was different from Ares.
32:37The beast energy had consumed her for too long.
32:39No way back.
32:40Not even that desperate idea of yours.
32:42Because of your obsession.
32:44Nisera asked us to help her fake it.
32:45To protect herself and your child.
32:47She could have had a little more time.
32:49The emperor looked at Aureon.
32:50Grieving.
32:51And slowly told the buried history.
32:52The four great beasts of the clans were Ares, Nisera, Talon and Kalos.
32:56Their fierce bloodlines.
32:58Gave them unmatched strength.
33:00But also slowly ate away at them.
33:02Driving them mad before death.
33:04Every great beast before being fully consumed.
33:06Would have offspring and then go.
33:07Ares got lucky.
33:08From both she met the emperor.
33:10The beast energy hadn't sunk deep yet.
33:12There was still time.
33:13The emperor spent 2000 years grinding down her beast energy.
33:17At great cost.
33:18And replaced her entire bloodline.
33:20She was free after that.
33:21But Nisera was far older.
33:24Already too late.
33:25Nisera had stopped fighting.
33:27She wanted to leave something of herself and Aureon.
33:29If the child didn't inherit her bloodline.
33:31It would live healthy and free.
33:32But Aureon wouldn't accept it.
33:34He tried everything.
33:35Looking for any way to save his wife.
33:36Even thought of using their own child to drain the beast energy from Nisera.
33:39Nisera had no choice.
33:40She knew her situation.
33:42She also knew how deep Aureon's obsession ran.
33:43If he made an irreversible decision.
33:45He would never recover from it.
33:46So she asked her close friend Ares and her husband to help fake it.
33:49Nisera told Aureon there was a rare spider lily at the Lethe.
33:53Possibly able to suppress the beast energy.
33:55But it only bloomed once every 1000 years.
33:56Miss it.
33:57And it was gone.
33:58Aureon of course missed it.
33:59He watched helplessly as the emperor picked it and fed it to Ares.
34:03Meanwhile Nisera used the time they bought.
34:05Ignoring the beast energy surging back.
34:06Forced an early birth.
34:07And gave the child to the emperor and Ares.
34:09Nisera could not trust Aureon with the child.
34:12So when Aureon returned.
34:13He found Nisera on her last breath.
34:15She told him the child was gone.
34:18She had little time left.
34:19With her last breath.
34:20She made Aureon swear to keep living.
34:22Or her soul would never find peace.
34:25Aureon agreed through tears.
34:26But he laid it all at the emperor's feet.
34:29Could not beat the emperor.
34:30Could not break the oath to Nisera.
34:32So he just lived in pain.
34:33Until this crazy idea took root.
34:35The child is a boy.
34:36Looks like her.
34:37I meant to tell you after you recovered.
34:40But years passed.
34:41And you vanished.
34:42I thought you went off to grief.
34:44But your obsession just grew.
34:46And here you are.
34:47You knew the truth the whole time.
34:48You just lied to yourself.
34:50Blamed everyone else to avoid your own pain.
34:52You have truly broken Nisera's heart.
34:54After the emperor finished.
34:55Aureon sat on the ground laughing and crying at the same time.
34:58Muttering.
34:59The emperor sighed.
35:00He ordered Aureon taken away.
35:02Then torn to seal the demon energy.
35:03But the original seal was made with a celestial fox bloodline sacrifice.
35:07The only way to stop it was for me to sacrifice myself.
35:09Otherwise the demon energy kept spreading.
35:11And spiritual energy would be gone.
35:12The three realms would face the same ruin as before.
35:15But the emperor and empress refused.
35:18Mom and dad refused.
35:19Evan refused too.
35:20My nose stung.
35:21I almost cried right there.
35:22I don't think of myself as some selfless savior.
35:24I'm not made for big sacrifices.
35:25All I wanted was for the people I love to be okay.
35:27That's it.
35:28But right before I decided to sneak off and do it.
35:30Evan stepped in front of me like he knew.
35:33Before I could say anything I was out.
35:34Surrounded by some soft scent.
35:36Right before everything went dark.
35:37I felt warmth on my face.
35:39And heard words full of love.
35:41My turn to protect you now.
35:42When I came back around.
35:44I felt completely empty.
35:45Tried to sit up.
35:46But mom pushed me back down.
35:47Stay down.
35:47You lost too much blood.
35:48You need to rest.
35:49How did I lose that much blood?
35:50Mom.
35:50The demon energy.
35:51Mom sighed and tucked the blanket around me.
35:53The demon energy is handled.
35:54It has been sealed.
35:55My brain was slow to catch up.
35:57But then I remembered what Evan had said.
35:59Something cold filled my chest.
36:00Then where is Evan?
36:01Why isn't he here?
36:02Why hasn't he come to see me?
36:03I kept going and my eyes got wet.
36:05Mom say something.
36:07What happened?
36:07Hey hey slow down.
36:08He's not dead.
36:09He's just going through a lot.
36:10Your taste in men finally came through.
36:12Even the emperor back then didn't pay as high a price as that boy.
36:15Mom slowly walked me through what happened.
36:17That was when I understood what Evan had actually done.
36:20He used his own body as a furnace to purify the demon energy.
36:23Covering the area where it was most likely to leak.
36:25Combined with my bloodline power in my blood that did the purification.
36:27What this meant was that every second demon energy was corroding him.
36:30Then my blood healed him.
36:31Over and over.
36:32In a constant loop.
36:33Only someone carrying the heiress bloodline could even survive doing this.
36:36To speed up the purification.
36:37A formation was set up around the Lethe.
36:39With the time inside accelerated.
36:40Evan would have to stay inside for at least 3000 years before the demon energy was mostly gone.
36:44From that day on every time I had any strength I bled for him.
36:48Even if it only helped a little.
36:49One afternoon sitting by the Lethe in my usual days I had an unexpected visitor.
36:53I looked at Draven Gaunt.
36:55His cultivation almost gone.
36:56I nearly didn't recognize him.
36:58Draven smiled bitterly.
36:59Then sincerely apologized for everything he had done.
37:01And left.
37:02I was confused at first.
37:03I asked mom and got the whole story.
37:05Turns out Grace had been Oren's plant inside Draven's life all along.
37:08The goal was revenge on the emperor.
37:09To infect both his sons with demon energy.
37:11That's also why Grace went after Evan later.
37:13Only Oren could have altered the fate.
37:15And erased his connection with Grace.
37:17After losing nearly all his cultivation.
37:19Draven finally saw Grace for who she was.
37:21All the details he'd ignored came flooding back at once.
37:23Came flooding back all at once.
37:24I figured Draven had probably caught signs along the way.
37:27He just didn't want his fragile ego shattered.
37:30He needed this too badly.
37:31Proof that ending the engagement was his decision.
37:33That he was right.
37:35Instead he became the biggest joke of all.
37:37Once exposed.
37:39Grace was naturally removed.
37:40Sent straight to the beast realm.
37:42All that effort all those years.
37:43For nothing.
37:44Then again.
37:46I should probably be grateful.
37:47Without them there'd be no me and Evan.
37:50Evan and Evander.
37:51Made for each other.
37:52The wait was very very long.
37:53After the thousandth time I had muttered to myself by the river.
37:56I finally saw the silhouette I had been waiting for.
37:58Evan tilted his head.
37:59Voice deliberately light.
38:00Eyes quietly going red.
38:01He asked what I had been muttering about.
38:03I said it loud right in his ear.
38:04You better propose soon.
38:06Or it's gonna be too late.
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