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Cry for Me Fox 34eps Asm English Dub Short Series
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Short filmTranscript
00:00My throat slit, I was pushed off the cliff, but the last seen before me was my devoted mate over
00:06there kissing the hand of my dear sister.
00:08Reborn, I had returned to the day I chose my beast.
00:11The little fox looked at me eagerly, his crimson eyes glistening.
00:15I raised my hand, and under his expectant gaze, pointed past him to the frail white snake behind him.
00:21I want him.
00:23You don't want me anymore?
00:25I had returned back to the day of the choosing, vendors shouting in the black market, voices clashing with the
00:31snarls of caged beastmen.
00:33The truth is clear, I had returned to the day father had brought us to the black market to choose.
00:37Pac's unspoken blood lot, every young man and woman, three years before coming of age, personally select an equally young
00:45beastman as their future mate.
00:48Bonded for life, no betrayal, no abandonment.
00:51Beastmen matured much quicker than humans.
00:54A puppet's love was to prevent a bonded beastman from growing into a resentful predator, but I had never fully
00:59understood why.
01:00Beastmen ranked beneath humans, caged and passive, waiting to be claimed like livestock.
01:06So why would our bloodline insist on binding us to them?
01:10Weren't they afraid of us being betrayed?
01:13Suddenly, I locked with Kale's eyes, still young and naive.
01:16Memory of my past life resurfaced.
01:18The stinging pains of my throat being slipped are so vivid.
01:22God.
01:22I bit it back and steadied myself with a fist, pressed hard against the pain of my chest, and looked
01:28around.
01:28The massive holding cage ahead contained no fewer than 20 beastmen.
01:33Unsurprisingly, every one of them bore fresh wounds.
01:36My gaze locked instantly on Kale, hunched in the corner, arm torn by bite marks, his fox ears and tail
01:42no longer able to stay hidden.
01:44He caught my gaze, and something lit in his eyes.
01:47Then he moved toward me.
01:48Alara, which one do you like?
01:50Serafina appeared at my shoulder, her smile perfectly gentle.
01:54She was father's daughter from his first wife, a woman who had bled out in labor and never held her
01:59child.
02:00Father had remarried, and my brother and I came after.
02:03For years, Serafina had maintained a flawless image.
02:07Gracious and elegant to the outside world, warm and devoted sister within the walls.
02:12In truth, she burned with rabid jealousy, convinced that my brother and I had stolen father's attention, and her birthright.
02:19So she had delayed her own choosing.
02:21Father, I'd like to wait a bit before choosing an orc.
02:23I want to go with my sister.
02:27Laying a trap she'd been tightening for years.
02:30Watching Serafina now, poised as a flower, I understood perfectly.
02:35This was the moment Kale had first set his sights on her.
02:38Serafina spotted Kale too, and murmured,
02:41You've always had a taste for pretty things.
02:43That fox suits you.
02:45Pretty, and nothing else.
02:48The color drained from Kale's face.
02:50In my last life, those words had fallen from Serafina's lips, and they had shattered him on the spot.
02:56This time was no different.
02:58He stared at me, ashen, his eyes flooding with disbelief.
03:01A question stirred in my gut.
03:03Serafina gave a small smile, drifted away, and began her own careful selection.
03:08Just as in my last life, she chose the powerfully built Shadow Wolf.
03:13Now I was the only one who hasn't chosen.
03:15Few beastmen remained in the cage.
03:17A quick sweep found Kale watching me with naked hope.
03:21My gaze moved past him, and settled on the beastman behind.
03:25Half human, half serpent.
03:26Coiled, and utterly still.
03:28If memory served, no one had chosen him in my last life.
03:31But a beastman had risen in this city after that.
03:34A name that made even hardened predators go still.
03:37Silas.
03:38Single-handedly, he had dismantled the black market.
03:41Led a mass exodus of captive beastmen.
03:43And years later, stood across a negotiating table from the humans.
03:47And won equal rights for every last one of his kind.
03:50I had crossed paths with Silas once.
03:52And that white serpent tail was burned into my memory.
03:55Right now, Silas could barely hold his human form.
03:58Every inch of him fragility.
04:00Made up your mind?
04:01Father's voice cut through the noise.
04:03Yes.
04:07I want him.
04:08Kale's expression cracked.
04:10He spun around to stare at the frail serpent in disbelief.
04:14You're not choosing me?
04:15I didn't acknowledge Kale.
04:16Behind him, Silas cracked open his eyes.
04:18A pair of serpent-slit pupils fixing on me without a flicker of warmth.
04:23I held that gaze, my voice steady with conviction.
04:25Come with me, and I'll heal you.
04:27Silas pressed a palm to the floor, crawled toward me.
04:30He stopped at my feet.
04:31I crouched down and pressed a palm to his cheek.
04:34I'm taking you with me.
04:36Kale lunged forward and seized my wrist.
04:38Choose me.
04:39You're supposed to choose me.
04:41He's half-dead already.
04:42Why would you pick him?
04:44That settled it.
04:45Kale had been reborn, too.
04:47Before I could react, Silas's brow furrowed.
04:50And the blood-streaked serpent tail uncoiled and snapped around Kale like a whip.
04:54Kale hit the wall hard enough to rattle the iron bars.
04:57Silas's eyes were cold-slit.
04:59Come closer again, and I'll kill you.
05:02Watching Kale clutch his ribs, I felt something close to joy rise in my chest.
05:07And I rewarded Silas with an approving pinch of his cheek.
05:10That was impressive.
05:11Silas's lashes trembled.
05:13He dropped his gaze fast.
05:15After Father paid and sent us home with our chosen beastmen, Kale's voice chased me out
05:20of the black market, shouting my name with a fury that echoed off the iron.
05:24I glanced sideways at the bodyguard beside me and, as if deeply inconvenienced,
05:29He's so irritating.
05:30Understood.
05:32I let the corner of my mouth curl.
05:35In the black market, every unchosen beastman was sent to the fighting pit, a place where
05:39survival was measured in blood and screaming iron.
05:42I was very much looking forward to that.
05:44The good mood carried me all the way home.
05:46Father spared no resources on beastman care.
05:49Manuals, medicinal compounds, and supply crates flowed into my room like a tide.
05:54Silas's wounds weren't deep, but a congenital defect in his body slowed his recovery to
05:59a crawl.
06:00It made me only more curious.
06:02How had he survived the fighting pit in his last life, dragging that broken body through
06:06it all?
06:06My stare must have been too obvious, because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:11Mistress?
06:13Do you need something?
06:15In my last life, Kale had never once called me anything but my name, saving reverence for
06:21Serafina.
06:21Being called mistress had a strange, particular weight to it.
06:25I tossed the medicine kit onto his lap.
06:28Dress your own wounds.
06:29Silas caught it and nodded, docile as still water.
06:32A few days of rest, and Silas had reclaimed his fully human form.
06:37Taller, too.
06:38His frame filling out overnight like a plant after rain.
06:41Beastman really did grow at an inhuman pace.
06:44That morning, father tracked me down.
06:46A beastman healer had come to the city.
06:48He said, a merkin named Mira.
06:51She could treat both beastmen and humans.
06:54Father wanted me to take Silas to see her.
06:56The merkin carried innate healing gifts from birth, the strength of which scaled with individual
07:01talent.
07:02Even the weakest among them could mend their own bodies, but the most gifted could restore
07:07life to the near dead.
07:08Father turned to leave.
07:10I stopped him with a question that had been sitting in my chest for days.
07:13The status over beastmen is absolute.
07:16So why does the PAC law bind us to them as mates?
07:20He paused, let out a long breath.
07:22Elara, remember this.
07:24A beastman's loyalty is something no human being can replicate.
07:27Whether you earn that loyalty, that depends entirely on you.
07:31He waved the conversation closed and walked away.
07:35I knew as well as anyone how rare a beastman's loyalty was.
07:39But in the mess I'd inherited from my last life, rare felt like a polite word for impossible.
07:44Wasn't this just gambling with our lives?
07:46I watched Father go, then turned back and called Silas from his room, leading him out into the
07:52city for the first time.
07:53Mistress, what's that?
07:55Ice cream.
07:56He cataloged everything.
07:58Stall signs, storefronts, passing vehicles, with wide, hungry eyes.
08:03Mistress, what's that?
08:05An amusement park.
08:07Mistress!
08:08When we get back, I'll teach you to read.
08:09Then you'll figure it out yourself.
08:12Okay.
08:12Silas beamed, falling into step just behind my shoulder.
08:16Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him eating the ice cream with total indifference.
08:21He didn't like it at all.
08:22While his gaze moved in quick, methodical sweeps across the street around us, the carefully
08:27performed helplessness had cracked.
08:29Just for a second.
08:30He didn't trust me.
08:32Not even close.
08:33And beneath the docile surface, he was calculating.
08:36Of course he is, I thought.
08:38We arrived at the address Father had given me.
08:40I had expected something imposing.
08:42A high-rise, gilded signage.
08:44Because a beast-man healer of rare power commanded human respect as much as fear.
08:49Instead, I found the most unremarkable courtyard I'd ever seen, identifiable only because it
08:55was packed shoulder to shoulder with people waiting.
08:58Inside, I spotted Kale.
09:00He was slumped against a girl's shoulder, barely breathing, more absent than present.
09:05As if he sensed me, Kale opened his eyes and found mine instantly.
09:09That one look was packed with a lifetime of grievances.
09:12He pushed himself upright from the girl's arms, eyes red-rimmed, and fixed me with an
09:17expression that begged without words.
09:19Then a hand closed over my eyes.
09:22Don't look at him.
09:23Glamour rat.
09:25I laughed and pulled his hand down.
09:28Get in line.
09:30Of course I could feel Kale's fox allure threading through the air, but it couldn't touch me now.
09:36Not with only hatred and wariness where softness used to live, and not when his glamour was still
09:41this juvenile.
09:44Silas gave me one more uncertain look, then moved to join the queue.
09:48What was Kale even doing here?
09:49But I wasn't the only one questioning it.
09:52A fox and an heiress whose family treats beasts like dirt?
09:55The pair drew everyone's attention.
09:58Someone gossiped among the crowd.
09:59On Kale's first day in the fighting pit, he had weaved his fox allure around a girl
10:04named Talia, making her desperate to buy him.
10:07Her father was a business partner of father's, and when the black market saw how badly she
10:11wanted Kale, they drove the price up.
10:14Talia didn't have enough, went home to scrape together the rest, and spent several days doing
10:19it.
10:19During those days, on the bodyguard's quiet instruction, every beast man Kale faced in
10:25the pit was as brutal as they came.
10:27Talia had come back just in time to pull him out at death's door.
10:31I understood now.
10:32Kale was wounded badly enough that Talia had brought him here.
10:35I took a proper look at Talia.
10:37Peach bloom skin, wide eyes, all open sincerity.
10:41Not a calculating bone in her body by the look of it.
10:44No wonder Kale had reeled her in so easily.
10:47He never does change.
10:48Suddenly, Kale tore free of Talia's grip and lurched toward me.
10:52Hey, where are you going?
10:54Talia reached for him, and he shoved her hand away viciously.
10:57Don't touch me!
10:59He glared at her with an expression I knew by heart.
11:03Revulsion.
11:03The specific kind reserved for things that had already served their purpose.
11:07He was certain Talia couldn't live without him, so he treated her with careless cruelty.
11:12Something sour moved through me, and I set my jaw.
11:16Silas's brow creased.
11:17His weight shifted.
11:18I stopped him with a look.
11:20Kale staggered to me in a few short steps, those steps costing him everything.
11:25His legs gave.
11:26He dropped to one knee, barely catching himself before he hit the ground entirely.
11:30He forced his chin up, and his eyes were sincere in a way that made my skin crawl.
11:35I'm sorry.
11:37I know what I did.
11:39He reached out, small and careful.
11:41Can you forgive me?
11:43So, he'd guessed I'd been reborn, too.
11:45I didn't move, and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
11:48He was almost close enough to take my hand.
11:51I looked past him at Talia instead.
11:53Let me show you how to handle a beastman who won't behave.
11:56The next second, I drove my boot into the center of Kale's chest with every bit of force I had.
12:02He flew backward and crashed through a low stone table in the courtroom.
12:06A choked sound, then a mouthful of blood hit the flagstones.
12:10Kale sat in the wreckage, white-faced, hand pressed to his chest.
12:14Talia sprinted over and rounded on me.
12:17What do you think you're doing?
12:18He's my beastman, even if he's mishaving that between us.
12:21Who gave you the right?
12:23I tilted my head.
12:25You can't control him, and I don't like Fox Beastmen getting too close to me.
12:29They carry a certain musk.
12:31Kale coughed up another mouthful of blood and stared at me with the expression of someone whose world had just
12:37inverted.
12:38Talia flushed Scarlet.
12:40There's no, there's no musk.
12:41You're making that up.
12:42That's beastman discrimination.
12:44Careful.
12:45Statements like that tend to offend my beastman.
12:48Silas looked at Talia, then let his gaze drop to the barely breathing Kale.
12:52You should be grateful it was my mistress who hit him.
12:55He said, his voice carrying the disinterest of someone announcing a weather forecast.
13:00Otherwise, I would have killed him.
13:01The undisguised kill intent sat in the air like a blade.
13:05You-
13:06Talia sputtered at him, then whipped around to stare at me.
13:09At last, she made a disgusted sound, hoisted Kale up with visible effort, and marched straight for the door.
13:19Out of the way!
13:20Can't you see he's dying?
13:22Everyone in the queue had been waiting far longer, and had no interest in being cut.
13:26Talia ended up wedged at the entrance, Kale sagging against her.
13:30She raised her voice in desperation.
13:33Miss Mira, please, I'm begging you, save him!
13:36He really is!
13:37From inside the room came a voice, smooth as river water.
13:43He won't die.
13:44Wait your turn.
13:45I raised an eyebrow.
13:47I liked this Mira already.
13:49Talia had no choice but to stand there, seething.
13:52Kale was losing his grip on his human form.
13:54The fox ears and tail slipped free, trembling.
13:58She glared daggers at me.
13:59This isn't over!
14:00I looked at her.
14:02Does your father know how much you paid for that beastman?
14:04The Talia family and mine were nothing alike.
14:07Our bloodline maintained some measure of regard for beastmen.
14:11The Talias treated them like livestock.
14:13If her father found out she'd spend a small fortune on a useless fox,
14:18the fallout would be spectacular.
14:20Talia blinked.
14:21You know my father?
14:22Then her eyes went wide.
14:23You're threatening me!
14:25I just smiled.
14:26Talia's lip trembled.
14:27Tears spilled down her face and she cried openly, chest heaving.
14:31I hadn't expected the waterworks.
14:33A headache bloomed behind my eyes.
14:35Stop crying.
14:36Your beastman isn't worth it.
14:38I won't let you say that about him.
14:40He's weak.
14:41Yes, but to me he's worth a thousand times more.
14:43Right.
14:44I had nothing left to say to that.
14:46The queue crawled forward for several more hours before it was finally,
14:51mercifully, Kale's turn.
14:52I had arrived later and stood behind them.
14:55By the time Talia helped Kale out of the treatment room,
14:58an hour had passed and his color had returned.
15:01He looked at me and the wounded helplessness was gone,
15:04replaced by something close to resentment.
15:06You're heartless, Alaksa.
15:08I made a dry sound.
15:09I can't compete with you.
15:11Stop wasting breath on her.
15:13Let's go.
15:14Steering Kale away with a huff in my direction.
15:17Behind me, Silas spoke quietly.
15:20You know them?
15:23I pointed toward the treatment room door.
15:25Your turn.
15:28Silas pressed his lips together, said nothing, and stepped inside.
15:31I followed and watched Mira work.
15:34The Merkin were extraordinary.
15:36No instruments, no diagnostic tools, only a touch, and she already knew.
15:41I said it without thinking.
15:42That's remarkable.
15:44Mira looked at me with a faint smile.
15:46Nothing special.
15:47There are dozens in my bloodline more gifted than I am, and the greatest among them is...
15:52Her expression dimmed.
15:53A shadow of grief crossed her face, and she let the sentence die.
15:57His body has a congenital gap.
16:00It's why he appears far weaker than other beastmen.
16:03And it will shorten his lifespan.
16:05The hand resting at Silas' side closed into a fist, and his voice came out tight.
16:10Please, help me.
16:11Then he turned to me, and the look in his eyes said everything.
16:16Money is no obstacle.
16:17But Mira shook her head, her smile faint and tired.
16:21A congenital gap is beyond my reach.
16:25I can't mend what was never formed.
16:27Silas' face fell in a way that was visible to the naked eye.
16:30Thank you anyway.
16:33He turned to leave, and Mira looked at me.
16:35If you happen to know Lucien, Miss Alara, there may still be a chance.
16:40I was caught off guard, not only because Mira had recognized me, but because of the name itself.
16:45Lucien was the most gifted, and most ungovernable of the Vos bloodline.
16:50The family's golden heir, known to everyone as their little crown prince.
16:54We had attended the same school once.
16:56I knew him after a fashion, but his health had declined, and he'd withdrawn from classes years ago.
17:02We hadn't spoken since.
17:03Does Lucien keep someone gifted near him?
17:06The merkin are born with healing in our blood.
17:08It's simply a matter of degree.
17:11Even the least gifted of us can mend our own bodies through instinct alone.
17:14But the rarest among us, the ones born with song,
17:19they can restore the dead to life.
17:20I stared at her.
17:22That sounds impossible! I've never heard of anything like it!
17:24It isn't surprising.
17:26Our bloodline hasn't produced that level of gift in centuries.
17:29Then her voice shifted, quiet, deliberate.
17:32But in the past 20 years, one merican was born carrying that gift from her very first breath.
17:37Something clicked into place at the back of my mind.
17:40What is her name?
17:42Lyra.
17:43Of course.
17:45I understand. Thank you, Mira.
17:47I set a payment card on the table and left with Silas.
17:51The moment we were outside, he asked, barely containing himself.
17:55Are we going to find Lyra?
17:57His eyes were bright with something almost desperate.
18:00If it's possible, I'll take you to her.
18:02I had heard Lyra's name once, in my last life.
18:05Lyra!
18:06She had been offered to the Vos bloodline by the merican as a gesture of protection.
18:10Her extraordinary healing talent, the price of her bloodline's safety.
18:15And with her, Lucien had finally been free.
18:18She seemed to care for him, or so the rumors said.
18:20Lucien cared for someone else entirely, and treated her accordingly.
18:24What happened after that, I didn't know.
18:28Because by that point, I was already dead.
18:31Given Lucien's erratic temperament, approaching him directly and asking for Lyra would be met
18:37with a flat refusal, no matter how I framed it.
18:40The better path was to go around him.
18:42Reach Lyra herself.
18:44Silas must have sensed my hesitation, because some of the heat faded from his expression.
18:50Mistress doesn't need to worry.
18:52I'm fine as I am.
18:54That word, mistress, spoken aloud on a public street, turned heads up and down the block.
19:00A flush crept up the back of my neck.
19:03I cleared my throat twice.
19:05In public?
19:06You don't have to use that.
19:08Just call me by my name.
19:09Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:12All right, Lyra.
19:13When I got home, I sent Talia's father an anonymous letter.
19:17A quiet, detailed account of exactly how much she had spent on kale at the black market.
19:22I didn't want Talia to become what I had been.
19:25It took less than two days before the news reached me.
19:28Miss Alotta, the news is here.
19:29Talia had been confined to the house.
19:31But the money was already spent, and her father was too proud to return kale to the black market,
19:36which meant he would find ways to extract that investment from kale's skin.
19:40The Talia household would be its own kind of hell.
19:43I was still turning that over when a servant came running.
19:46Miss Alotta, something's wrong.
19:48Silas, Simus, and Raven are fighting.
19:51Raven was Serafina's beast man.
19:53I was on my feet before the sentence finished.
19:56I followed the servant to the garden outside the mirror,
19:59where Silas had been pinned beneath the flowering hawthorn tree,
20:02and Raven's massive fists were falling on him again and again,
20:07each blow landing like a hammer.
20:09Miss Alotta, please.
20:10You have to help him.
20:11He'll be beaten to death.
20:13The servant pulled at my arm.
20:15I raised a hand.
20:16Silence.
20:17My eyes stayed fixed on Silas.
20:19After days of recovery, his body was mostly healed.
20:22And this was the Silas who, in his last life, had survived the fighting pit on a broken frame,
20:28which meant there was no possible world in which he was simply being dominated by Raven right now.
20:33He was hiding what he could do, because he didn't trust me.
20:37So I wouldn't save him.
20:38I had no use for a beast man who might drive a blade into my back.
20:42This first step towards trust, he would have to be the one to take it.
20:45Silas still didn't move.
20:47Arms folded over his head, the crack of breaking bone cutting through the garden like a gunshot.
20:53He turned his head, spat blood onto the flagstones, and through the gap in the flowering branches,
20:58saw me.
20:59Disbelief in his eyes.
21:00Hurt.
21:01A silent, furious question.
21:03Why aren't you coming?
21:04My hand clenched at my side, and my jaw locked.
21:07Raven, scenting blood, found the animal in himself rising to the surface.
21:12Both ears pushing through his hair, every muscle lit up with predatory excitement,
21:17barely a step from the edge of a full, feral shift.
21:20I held my breath.
21:21My entire body strung tight as a wire, and stared at Silas.
21:26Just take this one step towards me, and I swear I will never stop protecting you.
21:31Silas' pupils elongated, the calm human iris collapsing into serpent slit.
21:36In the moment before Raven lunged to bite himself, Silas moved, his legs dissolved into a white
21:42serpent tail that coiled around Raven's body in one fluid motion, and then his fangs, long
21:48and curved and appearing from nowhere, drove into the side of Raven's neck without hesitation.
21:54Raven screamed and thrashed, every muscle in his body convulsing.
21:58Silas' tail contracted like a closing vice.
22:00I watched Raven's face shift from red to violet in the span of seconds, and understood instantly,
22:07Silas' fangs were venomous.
22:08So he's a viper, I thought.
22:10Serafina arrived then, late and unhurried, and when she saw what was happening,
22:15Simus, you dare kill him.
22:19I stepped forward without hesitation.
22:22What if he does?
22:23Serafina's fierce expression shifted through several versions of itself when she saw me.
22:28She drew a breath, steadied herself.
22:31Alara, tell Silas to stop.
22:33Raven will die.
22:34I smiled.
22:35My brother keeps his head.
22:37Don't worry, Serafina.
22:39I glanced at Raven's stoning body with meaning.
22:41I won't let my sister become a widow this early.
22:44Alara!
22:45Serafina finally snapped.
22:47One finger leveled at me.
22:49Aren't you afraid father will punish you for this?
22:51I put on an expression of perfect innocence.
22:54Silas has always been fragile and obedient.
22:56He wouldn't provoke Raven without reason.
22:58This was self-defense and you know it.
23:01Why would father punish me?
23:02My voice cooled.
23:04Shouldn't the punishment fall on the one who started it?
23:06You.
23:07Enough.
23:08Everyone stop.
23:09Father's voice rolled through the garden from somewhere behind me, heavy with displeasure.
23:14Before Serafina could arrange her face into something pitiable, I got there first,
23:18and let tears spill down my own.
23:20Father.
23:21She started it, and now she's turning it around on me.
23:24Serafina went pale.
23:25I didn't, father.
23:27Please, save Raven.
23:28He'll die.
23:29Father let out a cold sound, spared Serafina one flat look.
23:33A lesson he needed to learn.
23:35And you.
23:36Don't think I don't know what you've been doing.
23:38The handbook I gave you covers how to suppress a beastman's feral instincts.
23:42What exactly have you been doing with it?
23:44Father's voice rose.
23:45Serafina's chin dropped.
23:47I was wrong, father.
23:48Serafina.
23:49Raven is going to be your mate.
23:51Your work isn't only to tame him, it's to build him.
23:54Otherwise, his gaze cut across her, cold and quiet, and said nothing more.
23:59Serafina dropped to her knees.
24:01Yes, father.
24:02As Raven finally went still, the desperation broke through Serafina's composure, and tears
24:07ran down her face.
24:08Father.
24:09Please, save him.
24:11He's still going to be my husband one day.
24:13Please.
24:14Only then did father look at me.
24:15I nodded at Silas.
24:17Let him go.
24:18Silas released the coil.
24:19Raven's limp body hit the earth beside the hawthorn tree, scattering petals across the
24:24flagstones.
24:25I moved quickly to catch Silas.
24:28He had burned through everything he had, the serpent tail refusing to retract, his legs
24:32unable to carry him, his full weight dropping into my arms.
24:36Father made a sound of pure displeasure.
24:38I bought you beastmen to bond with, not to put them against each other.
24:41If it happens again, you're both out of this bloodline.
24:46Understood, father.
24:49Quick, carry Raven inside.
24:56I looked at Raven's violet face and asked,
24:59Will the venom kill him?
25:01I don't make problems for myself.
25:03I looked at him and found his face stripped of everything he usually wore around me.
25:08The deference, the careful performance, all of it gone.
25:11What remained was cold and still, the slit pupils unmoved.
25:15This is who he actually is.
25:17Then Silas went boneless against my shoulder, head lolling, as if the last of his strength
25:22had left him at once.
25:23But I didn't believe it.
25:24Then again, a performance was only worth running to its end.
25:28So I slid an arm around that ice-cold tail, settled my other hand at his waist, and lifted
25:33him.
25:34Silas stared at me, startled into actual surprise, a flush climbing fast up his neck.
25:39Hold still.
25:43I carried him back to his room, where the physician was already waiting.
25:47The broken ribs were set.
25:48Silas endured it with his face gone paper-white, the scales along his tail rippling open and
25:53closed with every wave of pain, until the sight made my own skin crawl.
25:57I turned away and rubbed the goosebumps down my arms.
26:01When the physician finished and left with a list of instructions, I looked at the pale
26:05expanse of serpent tail.
26:08Silas pressed his lips together, and under my gaze, drew it back in, the tail dissolving
26:14into human legs again.
26:16Oddly fascinating, that.
26:18And met those still unrecovered slit pupils, blinking at me without looking away.
26:24He was asking why I'd stood there and watched.
26:27I smiled.
26:28Have you ever heard the saying, which one?
26:30Real trust is earned in kind.
26:32You didn't trust me, so don't expect me to trust you first.
26:36After I left Silas' room, I did a quiet round of inquiries and pieced together what
26:40had happened.
26:41Silas had developed a fondness for the hawthorn tree in the garden.
26:45It was full bloom, and he'd been spending idle hours beneath it.
26:48He'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with Raven, who was wound tight and looking for
26:53something to hit.
26:54Seraphina's standard for a beastman was raw power.
26:57And since a beastman who had learned to suppress their feral instinct lost much of that, she
27:02had never taught Raven to pull back from the edge.
27:04Instead, she trained him to his limits, and then patched him up herself with careful, gentle
27:09hands.
27:10Two sessions of that, and Raven was completely devoted to her.
27:13If I hadn't been blinded by Kale's fox allure in my last life, heart given over to him, every
27:19alarm in me silenced, I wouldn't have died so stupidly.
27:23Speaking of which, I wonder how Kale is doing in the Talia household.
27:26I asked, and promptly had to swallow a laugh.
27:30The Talia patriarch had been putting Kale's fox allure to work, entertaining guests with
27:34it, men and women alike, sparing no categories.
27:38Kale had always been beautiful.
27:39With his glamour on top of that, more than a few people had wanted him in my last life.
27:44To protect him, I had taken on damage I never should have absorbed.
27:48And every time, he had one thing to say, that's what you're here for, that's what I'm here
27:53for.
27:53As if I were furniture, a plan began to form in the back of my mind.
27:57I was humming to myself on the way back to my room, when I heard voices inside Silas's,
28:03and pressed myself quietly to the wall.
28:05Serafina's voice, all warmth and remorse.
28:08Silas, I'm so sorry.
28:10I should have kept Raven under control.
28:12You're hurt so badly.
28:13Can I help you with your bandages?
28:15I raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.
28:17Silas's voice came back flat as a locked door.
28:20Get out.
28:21Where's Alara?
28:22Didn't she stay with you?
28:23With injuries this serious, isn't this your future husband's work?
28:27Silas said, and the chill in his voice could have frosted glass.
28:31I bit down on a laugh hard enough to hurt.
28:33Serafina had clearly caught a glimpse of what Silas was capable of, and immediately wanted
28:38to pull him into her orbit.
28:39When it didn't work, she said a few perfunctory words of concern, and prepared to leave.
28:44I moved quickly back to my own room.
28:46But the next second, there was a knock on my door, and Silas was standing in the frame,
28:51eyes dark and steady, looking at me.
28:53I was genuinely surprised.
28:55He'd looked critically wounded moments ago, and he was already on his feet?
28:59Beastman healing was fast, but not that fast.
29:03Something you need?
29:04You said you'd teach me to read.
29:05I'd completely forgotten about that.
29:08Huh, sorry.
29:08We can start now.
29:10Silas pressed his lips together and stepped inside.
29:12I started from the very beginning, the phonetic alphabet, and we sat across from each other
29:17until he looked up and said,
29:19Am I what you expected?
29:20I blinked.
29:21Hmm.
29:22Silas raised his eyes.
29:23Earlier.
29:24Was it worth watching?
29:25He meant, why didn't you come in?
29:27I smiled.
29:28Honestly, it was.
29:30Silas's brow drew together immediately.
29:32He looked genuinely displeased.
29:34The question in his voice coming out sharper than he probably intended.
29:38You have history with her.
29:39He'd picked up on the tension between Serafina and me.
29:42Of course he had.
29:43I let my lashes fall.
29:45Yes, that history.
29:46He was quiet for a moment.
29:48I got one I genuinely hadn't seen coming.
29:51And then my father kills you in return?
29:53Silas's gaze didn't waver.
29:55You said it yourself.
29:56Real trust is earned in kind.
29:58For the first time, I saw it.
30:00Actual sincerity in his eyes.
30:02But still, why?
30:04Trust for trust was one thing.
30:06But I hadn't done anything to earn it yet.
30:08A flicker of tension moved through his expression.
30:10I want Lyra to treat me.
30:12If I had a body that worked the way it should,
30:15I wouldn't have had to spend today looking as pathetic as I did.
30:19I softened my voice.
30:20You were anything but pathetic today.
30:22In your last life, you survived the fighting pit using exactly that.
30:26Fain weakness, let them close in, then coil and bite through their throats.
30:31Thinking that, I reached up without meaning to and touched my own neck.
30:35Learn what you need to learn first.
30:38Lyra.
30:39I'll find a way.
30:40Okay.
30:41For the first time, the usually cold boy let a genuine smile break across his face.
30:46A few days later, word came that the Voss family's grandmother was turning 80,
30:51and the Voss household had sent a formal invitation to ours.
30:55Because of the garden incident, father took only me and left Serafina behind.
31:00Beast men were barred from formal events, so I left Silas at home.
31:04In the banquet hall, I found Talia beaming at guests with practiced ease until she caught sight of me and
31:11her expression went flat as stone.
31:13I fell and stepped beside her after the gift presentation.
31:18Where's Kale?
31:19You have a nerve asking.
31:20This is all your fault, you know.
31:23Talia.
31:24Do we have a problem?
31:28I don't know, you're the one who's had it out for me from the start.
31:31I've never had a problem with you, only with Kale.
31:35If you don't believe me...
31:40I don't believe he'd do that to me.
31:44Then test him.
31:46While the crowd was distracted, Talia guided me quietly toward the cellar below the manor.
31:52Go in, and remember, don't look directly at his eyes.
31:57Talia wrinkled her nose, gripped her composure, and clicked into the cellar on high heels.
32:03I slipped in behind her.
32:04It took a while before the light reached Kale's cage.
32:07He was chained at the neck like livestock, locked behind bars, filthy and broken-looking.
32:13A picture of wreckage.
32:14I stayed back around the corner, out of sight.
32:17Kale had his eyes closed, the fox ears flat and still.
32:21If his chest hadn't been faintly moving, he could have passed for dead.
32:26Kale.
32:28Kale.
32:29Talia's voice barely reached a whisper.
32:31He opened his eyes slowly, and when he saw her, something electric came back into his face.
32:38The chain snapped and rang at his sudden movement.
32:42You came to get me out?
32:44I can't get you out yet.
32:46My father is still angry.
32:48He's still angry.
32:51Then she rushed to add it.
32:54But I promise.
32:56I'll come back for you.
32:58I will.
32:59Talia, look at me.
33:00Just look at me.
33:02I'm begging you.
33:03Get me out the way you did in the fighting pit.
33:09You were everything to me then.
33:11You were the only light.
33:13Please, just look at me.
33:14Talia kept her chin down, listening.
33:16Kale ran out of patience fast.
33:19Talia.
33:20Get me out.
33:22Now!
33:23Why not?
33:24Why can't you?
33:26You did it fine at the fighting pit.
33:28You were falling over yourself to help me then.
33:30Why is now any different?
33:32You're blaming me?
33:34When you were the one begging me to save you?
33:37Who even gave you permission to be that gullible?
33:40You were practically throwing yourself at me.
33:42Just like Alara.
33:44Alara?
33:47You've done this to her too?
33:55Do you see it now?
33:56He barely had to try, and you couldn't hand yourself over fast enough.
34:00Talia turned to look at me.
34:02And you ended up being the one blamed for it.
34:05I rested a hand on her shoulder.
34:07Go wait outside.
34:09She glanced back at Kale, uncertain.
34:14But...
34:16You'll be fine.
34:17Talia looked over her shoulder three times on the way out, and then the cellar was just
34:21the two of us.
34:22Kale watched me, something testing in his voice.
34:24What do you want?
34:27I'm curious.
34:29How were you reborn?
34:31Let me guess.
34:32After I died in our last life, you went to Serafina, but your fox-alore never worked on
34:36her, did it?
34:37She kept her guard up.
34:39She knew what you were, and what you were capable of, so she was always watching.
34:42But your gift was too valuable to waste, so she put it to use.
34:46Until the very end, when you'd served your purpose completely, and her shadow wolf finished
34:51you the same way he finished me.
34:53That's not true.
34:54She cared about me.
34:54She cared about me.
34:55You don't know anything.
34:57Then why were you hoping I'd choose you in the black market?
35:02Alara!
35:03Alara!
35:05You have to take me back!
35:06Why won't you choose me?
35:08Why?!
35:08I stepped back, just out of reach.
35:10The chain snapped taut around his neck.
35:14I'll give you something.
35:19One chance.
35:21To take back what was done to me.
35:25When I came up from the cellar, Talia was still outside, eyes raw.
35:30I almost sighed.
35:32I told you he wasn't worth it.
35:35Why are you this upset?
35:37Sorry.
35:38For what?
35:41I was, I was so stupid before.
35:45I thought it was destiny.
35:51I thought we'd be this epic human and beast man love story.
35:57She broke into full shuddering sobs.
35:59I rubbed a spot on my temple.
36:01Even if you wanted an epic love story, you'd need your father's blessing first.
36:07Come on, let's go.
36:10She wept.
36:11Okay.
36:11After managing Talia back to some level of composure, I asked,
36:16Is Lucian on the guest list?
36:18That was the second reason I'd come tonight.
36:22Did he bring anyone with him?
36:25I didn't pay attention.
36:26He sent a gift and went to rest.
36:28His health isn't great.
36:29Where is he resting?
36:30I'll take you.
36:31Talia led me to the VIP lounge.
36:34And before we'd even reached the door, we both heard it.
36:37A melody, rising and falling like water over stone.
36:41The music moved through the air and straight into my chest.
36:46I feel like someone just told me it's going to be okay.
36:50I could go back in there and stab him about 15 times right now.
36:53I turned to look at her, surprised.
36:55It had that effect too?
36:57Then this was Lyra.
36:59It had to be.
37:00Walking up to Lucian directly and asking for her was out of the question.
37:05He was far too volatile for a frontal approach.
37:08Better to reach Lyra herself.
37:10I sent Talia off, opened the door directly across from Lucian's suite, sat down in the frame, and listened.
37:19The melody flowed without pause, and something in my bones began to unknot.
37:23The grief of a whole past life starting to quiet.
37:27I yawned, biting it.
37:29I kept my eyes open by force and waited.
37:33What I hadn't counted on, waiting the entire night.
37:37Lyra's voice never stopped once.
37:39When I realized how angry I was on her behalf, the feeling surprised me.
37:43The morning meal arrived for delivery.
37:46I opened the door at the right moment.
37:49Lyra was stepping out of Lucian's suite, waving off the breakfast tray.
37:52I raised a hand.
37:55Hi.
37:56Lyra turned at the sound of my voice and smiled.
37:58She was genuinely beautiful, skin that caught the light like satin, eyes clear and bright.
38:04But what stayed with you was something underneath the beauty.
38:08Something that made you want to draw closer and stay.
38:11Her voice came out sand rough.
38:13That made the next part awkward.
38:15She seemed to read the awkwardness on my face and gave a small, tired smile.
38:20Do you need something for me?
38:22I stepped aside and gestured.
38:23Would you mind coming in for a moment?
38:25Lyra nodded and walked in.
38:27I poured her a glass of warm water first, let her settle, then said,
38:32I have a beastman.
38:33He was born with a congenital gap.
38:35I took him to see Mira.
38:37She can't mend it, but she directed me to you.
38:39Lyra listened and nodded.
38:41Mira is my aunt.
38:42I blinked.
38:43Mira looked barely older than Lyra.
38:46Lyra checked the time.
38:47I have about two hours.
38:49You can bring your beastman to a nearby hotel.
38:53The fee for a congenital repair is two million.
38:55She said it with her lashes lowered, the expression beneath them hidden.
38:59What I was thinking about was her voice.
39:02Right now?
39:03Your throat?
39:04It doesn't matter.
39:07Every day is like this.
39:09If you're waiting for it to recover, you'll be waiting forever.
39:12Something dropped in my chest.
39:14Every day is like this.
39:18Is Lucian that ill?
39:20I said.
39:21He isn't.
39:22Then why?
39:23Lyra's smile went pale at the edges.
39:26Cruelty, mostly.
39:27I thought of the rumors I'd heard once in another life.
39:30You don't have to stay devoted to one tree.
39:32You're overthinking it.
39:34Get the hotel sorted.
39:35If Lucian wakes and finds me gone, there won't be another chance.
39:38I booked the nearest suite fast, then contacted Silas.
39:42After I hung up, I turned back to Lyra.
39:44She was working through breakfast in small, unhurried bites.
39:48Every movement neat and somehow restful to watch.
39:51But there was something about that narrow back that made the chest ache for no clear reason.
39:57I sat down across from her, words rising and dying on my tongue.
40:01In the end, I said nothing.
40:02Silas arrived minutes later.
40:04He had clearly run the whole way, sweat still at his temple.
40:08Lyra extended her hand.
40:09He glanced at me first, and only after I nodded did he approach with any care.
40:14Lyra laid her palm over his, and her brow began to draw together.
40:18I felt the tension move up through my own spine.
40:21I was desperate to intervene, but I forced myself to stay back.
40:26Lyra wasn't faring any better than Silas.
40:30Every note she sang seemed to tear something loose in her throat.
40:35Slowly, blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
40:38I started forward.
40:40She stopped me with a look and a small shake of her head.
40:44An hour later, the singing stopped.
40:48Silas and Lyra folded to the floor at the same moment.
40:52I moved fast to catch Lyra, wiped the blood from her mouth.
40:56I'm sorry.
40:57I didn't know it would be like this.
40:58Are you all right?
40:59She was breathing hard.
41:01You paid.
41:02I gave what was asked.
41:07There's nothing to apologize for.
41:09Let me take you back.
41:11Lyra looked at Silas, still on the floor, catching his breath.
41:16One moment.
41:19The gap is sealed, but he'll need a course of medicine to follow.
41:25And because the deficiency has held his body back, he's been presenting as a juvenile.
41:32But he's actually an adult beastman.
41:34Grown beastmen enter a heat cycle.
41:37Be careful.
41:38Don't let him hurt you.
41:40I understand.
41:41Rest for a moment.
41:42I nodded fast.
41:45Mmm.
41:46Lyra let her eyes close and went quiet.
41:49I arranged transport and personally saw her back to the Talia estate.
41:54My plan had been to slip her back to her suite unnoticed.
42:02But standing at the front entrance when we arrived was Lucian,
42:06jaw set and expression like incoming weather.
42:09Behind him, Talia, red-eyed and...
42:15We'd been found out.
42:17I moved to step out of the car with Lyra.
42:19She stopped me with a hand on my arm.
42:21Go home.
42:22I shook my head.
42:24Lyra.
42:26I went to school with Lucian.
42:28He should give me at least a little room.
42:32Lyra smiled.
42:33If he were the type to give you room, you wouldn't have had to come to me directly.
42:39I'm all right.
42:39He still needs me.
42:41Go.
42:42Trust me.
42:44I gritted my teeth.
42:46In the end, I pressed the payment card into her hand.
42:50She gave it back.
42:51Give it to my aunt.
42:53She'll know what to do with it.
42:56I can't use it.
42:58There's nowhere it would go.
43:01She pushed the door open.
43:03The moment Lucian's eyes found her,
43:06his face darkened in a way that was visible from a distance.
43:10On the drive back to the hotel, I couldn't settle.
43:14What had happened?
43:15I asked Talia and she told me.
43:17Lucian had woken 30 minutes ago,
43:19couldn't find Lyra anywhere and had made a scene.
43:22Everyone knew how much Lyra mattered to him.
43:26So they'd all started searching too.
43:28Eventually, someone reviewed the security footage and traced it to me.
43:32Under pressure from Lucian's people,
43:34Talia had been forced to give up the whole story
43:36of how I'd spent the night waiting outside his door
43:39and caught a thorough dressing down for it.
43:43I had a feeling I was out to receive one too.
43:45But my worry about that was smaller than my worry about Lyra.
43:48I gripped the payment card in my hand
43:50and pushed into the hotel room,
43:52ready to call Silas and head home
43:54when he launched himself at me the second the door opened.
43:57His usual cold was gone.
43:59He was burning.
44:00And he was bigger, taller, broader,
44:03the change in him unmistakable.
44:04Then Lyra's warning came back to me in a rush.
44:07Grown beastmen, enter a heat cycle.
44:10Be careful.
44:11Don't let him hurt you.
44:13Heat cycle.
44:14Not this fast.
44:15Surely not this fast.
44:18Simus, it's me.
44:19Look at me.
44:20Look at me.
44:21I pushed against his chest.
44:23His scorching hands closed around my waist.
44:25His forehead pressed down to mine.
44:27Mistress.
44:28Mistress.
44:29That word in a voice dropped three registers.
44:31A fully adult male's voice.
44:33I had vastly underestimated Lyra.
44:37Let go of me.
44:38You can't do this.
44:39It isn't right.
44:40Silas tilted his head just slightly
44:42and the tip of his nose grazed my cheekbone.
44:45The heat off his breath landed against my face in waves.
44:48I threw every bit of strength into pushing him away.
44:51He didn't move an inch.
44:52That hurts.
44:53The grip at my waist drawing tighter.
44:55My waist was flesh, not iron.
44:57Silas buried his face at my shoulder
44:59and his breath came out ragged.
45:01Help me.
45:02Please.
45:03I had absolutely no idea how to help with this.
45:06All right, okay.
45:07I'll help.
45:08Just let go of me first.
45:10Silas loosened his hold by a fraction.
45:12The next second, I spun for the door.
45:14My fingers were almost on the handle
45:16when a serpent tail coiled around my waist
45:18and reeled me back.
45:20I turned.
45:21The slit pupils had bled fully through
45:23and faint scales had begun appearing along his cheekbones.
45:26Full shift starting.
45:28That was a catastrophically bad sign.
45:32Help me.
45:33The vertical pupils went deep and still.
45:35You promised.
45:36Okay.
45:37Okay.
45:38Okay.
45:39I'll help.
45:39In my last life,
45:41Kale had gone through heat
45:42and made it very clear he wanted nothing from me.
45:45He was saving himself for Serafina.
45:47So this particular experience was new territory.
45:50My hand, trapped in Silas's grip,
45:53had lost all sensation.
45:55By the time we made it back to the estate,
45:58night had fallen.
45:59I felt deeply and specifically guilty about several things.
46:04Father was in the main hall, waiting.
46:07I walked in, dropped to my knees on reflex,
46:10and grabbed Silas down with me.
46:13His voice shook the walls.
46:16Ellara.
46:18Have I been too lenient with you?
46:21Is that why you act like there are no rules?
46:23If you wanted Lyra to treat Silas,
46:26you could have come to me.
46:28Instead, you took her without permission.
46:30Did it ever occur to you
46:32what would happen if Lucien collapsed while she was gone?
46:36If that had ended badly,
46:38how would I face the Vos bloodline?
46:40Father's chest heaved with every word.
46:43I bent my head lower.
46:46I was wrong, Father.
46:48Please don't stress yourself over it.
46:54If your brother were here,
46:55I wouldn't have to be more like your sister.
46:58She's composed, well-mannered,
47:00and makes no trouble.
47:02I kept my head down
47:03and let the rest of it wash over me.
47:06Then Silas tapped my hand twice.
47:09I looked up.
47:11Serafina was coming in from outside,
47:14with Kale behind her,
47:15looking considerably less like something dragged through gutters.
47:19So, Kale had made his move.
47:21I couldn't stop one corner of my mouth.
47:23You think this is funny?
47:27I flattened my expression instantly.
47:32No, Father.
47:33Serafina came to Father's side
47:34and made all the right soothing gestures.
47:36Alara, what did you do this time to upset him this badly?
47:41So, Father ran through all of it again,
47:43from the beginning.
47:45Thanks for that, Serafina.
47:47In the retelling,
47:48she managed to look concerned
47:49while adding fuel to every sentence.
47:50The verdict,
47:51one month's house confinement.
47:53When you're done,
47:54go back to your room.
47:54Don't leave without permission.
47:56Yes, Father.
47:57When Father finally released me
47:58and I turned to go,
48:00Serafina said,
48:03Alara,
48:04is this Silas?
48:06I looked back.
48:08Silas was nearly the same height as me now.
48:10His features sharpened
48:12and settled into something older,
48:14the boyishness almost entirely gone.
48:17Yesterday,
48:18he had still looked like a boy of 12,
48:20but that whole development
48:22was connected to the heat cycle,
48:23and I was not going to explain
48:26the heat cycle to anyone in this room.
48:28Enough.
48:30I know.
48:32Go.
48:33Yes!
48:35I turned and walked,
48:37quickly,
48:38back to my room.
48:39Naturally,
48:40I did not miss the flash of jealous hatred
48:42in Serafina's eyes as I left.
48:44Back in my room,
48:51I crooked a finger at Silas.
48:53More?
48:54The look on his face was
48:56entirely too knowing.
48:58Silas!
48:59He laughed then,
49:00easy,
49:01unbothered.
49:01What does mistress require?
49:05I took a breath,
49:07steadied myself.
49:09All of this was exactly what you planned,
49:11wasn't it?
49:13The body that looked like a boy's
49:15had hidden a mind
49:16that had never been a boy's at all.
49:18Which meant from the beginning,
49:20I had been played.
49:22No.
49:24You choosing me,
49:26that was the thing I didn't plan for.
49:33He looked at me,
49:34and his eyes were level and serious.
49:37So everything else,
49:38he had.
49:39I can't even be surprised.
49:41The beast man who dismantled the black market
49:43and negotiated equal rights
49:45for his entire species.
49:46Of course he was always three moves ahead.
49:48I was gnashing my teeth.
49:50Silas smiled,
49:51just slightly.
49:52You came out ahead,
49:54didn't you,
49:54mistress?
49:55He drew that last word out deliberately.
49:57I turned away.
49:59Please leave my room.
50:01I could take the loss,
50:02but I wasn't staying in the same space
50:04as his satisfaction.
50:06The month of confinement passed.
50:08I had the bodyguard route the payment card
50:10to Mira with a note.
50:11She would know what to do with it.
50:12During that time,
50:13I searched every channel I could find
50:15for news of Lyra,
50:17and found nothing,
50:18every thread dead.
50:19The silence worried me.
50:21Meanwhile,
50:22Silas had grown at a pace
50:23that defied any reasonable measurement.
50:25Two days gone,
50:26and he was noticeably taller.
50:28The ease of a predator
50:29settling into his posture
50:31with every passing hour.
50:32Father approved of the development
50:34in ways that visibly extended to me.
50:36Since Serafina had brought Kale into the house,
50:39Kale had been reporting to me daily.
50:41Small details,
50:42careful observations,
50:43while his fox allure
50:44went to work on Serafina.
50:46Drop by patient drop.
50:48Everything I had suffered in my last life,
50:50I was going to make her feel every inch of.
50:54Serafina had been resistant at first,
50:56but with Raven diminished
50:57after his confrontation with Silas,
50:59and with my own quiet efforts
51:01pulling her reputation apart from the seams,
51:03her composure was starting to fracture.
51:05She was getting volatile,
51:07reaching for Kale's attention at any hour,
51:09storming when she didn't get it.
51:11Kale was doing to her
51:12exactly what he had done to me,
51:14and she was falling,
51:16piece by piece.
51:17The ugly incidents mounted,
51:18scenes in public,
51:20a shouting match
51:20that had left witnesses unsettled,
51:22a round of self-pity so deep
51:24it had shaded into something worse.
51:26The worst incident?
51:28She had nearly used a blade on her own wrist.
51:31A servant had caught her in time
51:32and run for father.
51:33Father arrived home from the office to find her,
51:36and the fury on his face
51:38was something I had never seen before.
51:40He slapped her,
51:41once open-handed.
51:46For a beastman.
51:48Have you lost your mind?
51:51Isn't this exactly what you wanted, father?
51:54You were the one who said
51:55we had to bond with beastmen.
51:57One mate, one life, no betrayal.
52:00So why is it wrong now?
52:02Father's fury and grief
52:04fought each other visibly.
52:06Wake up!
52:10Serafina surfaced for a moment,
52:12blinking.
52:13Father pressed his fingers hard
52:15into his temple.
52:17I know you've resented me for a long time.
52:20You think I failed you.
52:22That I shouldn't have remarried.
52:24That Alada and her brother
52:25took something from you.
52:26That the Bloodline's legacy
52:27belongs to you alone.
52:29But Serafina,
52:30have I ever actually neglected you?
52:32He looked at her,
52:33and something wet moved through his eyes.
52:35You're older than Alira by a few years.
52:37You know as well as I do
52:38why this Bloodline requires us
52:40to choose a beastman companion at 18.
52:41It isn't cruelty.
52:42It is what gives us the right to lead.
52:44I spoke up from the side,
52:45genuinely confused.
52:47What does that mean?
52:48Father looked at me
52:49and let out a long, slow breath.
52:53It's the old law.
52:54The founding rule.
52:56To inherit and hold the family's work,
52:58you must must be in true accord
52:59with a beastman.
53:01Serafina,
53:03you've always known
53:04the Bloodline standard.
53:05Leadership goes to the most capable,
53:07regardless of birth order or gender.
53:09Three years ago
53:10was when you should have begun.
53:12Chosen your beastman,
53:14prepared yourself,
53:15entered the business with intent.
53:17Instead, you waited.
53:18And while you were waiting,
53:20you were building a trap.
53:24Don't dress it up, Father.
53:27Answer me honestly.
53:28Did you treat us the same?
53:30Ever?
53:31I was born with no mother.
53:33You were busy.
53:34You gave me to the nurses.
53:36You gave me everything material I asked for, yes.
53:39But how many hours did you spend with me?
53:42How many times did you hold me
53:44or come to quiet me when I was scared?
53:47After you remarried,
53:48you held Elira.
53:50You came when Elira cried.
53:52You gave her the pair
53:53because she wanted the pair.
53:54You gave me what you thought I should want,
53:57not what I asked for.
54:00Every one of those small things
54:01you thought didn't matter,
54:03they were scars, Father.
54:05Every single one.
54:06This bowl was never level.
54:08You just couldn't see it.
54:10Seraphina,
54:12I'm sorry.
54:13You were right to feel it.
54:15I failed you.
54:17Sorry doesn't fix it!
54:19I want Elira dead!
54:21I want all of them dead!
54:25She lunged for me,
54:27hands in my collar,
54:28and her face had gone somewhere
54:30I hadn't seen it go before.
54:32Alada,
54:33I had a dream.
54:34I dreamed you died.
54:36The fully shifted raven
54:38bit you right through the throat.
54:41You were dead!
54:44You were dead!
54:45The blood in my veins
54:47turned to ice water
54:48and stopped.
54:49It wasn't a dream.
54:50It happened.
54:51Father couldn't watch anymore.
54:52He had her removed
54:53and confined to her rooms.
54:56When Kyle came to me later,
54:59pleased with himself,
55:00I took him directly
55:01to Seraphina's door.
55:03In the cellar
55:04of the Talia estate,
55:05I had made him
55:06a single offer.
55:07His freedom
55:08in exchange
55:09for his obedience.
55:10Seduce Seraphina
55:12and do it
55:12until she broke.
55:13He'd agreed
55:14and she had broken.
55:16So now,
55:17it was his turn.
55:18Through the door,
55:19Seraphina's voice
55:20rose and fell,
55:21cresting and breaking.
55:23Kale!
55:23Why aren't you answering me?
55:25Don't you love me anymore?
55:27You said I was
55:28the one person
55:29who mattered most to you.
55:31You said you'd never leave.
55:33You said you'd give me
55:35anything I wanted!
55:36Seraphina,
55:37you've gone insane!
55:38Alara,
55:38open this door!
55:40Open it!
55:40I stood still
55:41and listened to
55:42what was happening
55:43on the other side.
55:44The frantic banging
55:45and then,
55:46gradually,
55:47silence.
55:48I went to
55:48Father's room instead.
55:51I've sent for your brother.
55:52I should never
55:53have sent him away.
55:55Little Alara,
55:56everything she said,
55:57it was true?
55:59Or you wouldn't have
55:59done what you did.
56:01That's on me.
56:02It's all on me.
56:03Father didn't punish me.
56:04He showed me
56:05the Bloodline's
56:06founding records.
56:07And without exception,
56:08every paired name
56:09on the page
56:10was a human
56:11and a beastman.
56:12Long ago,
56:13the family's
56:14founding grandmother
56:15had a beastman
56:16against all opposition
56:18and the world
56:19had denied them both.
56:21A disaster came
56:22and the beastman
56:23gave his life
56:24to save her.
56:25Out of grief
56:26and out of conviction,
56:27she had used
56:28her authority
56:29to set the law
56:29that had governed
56:30every generation since.
56:32So that one day,
56:33humans and beastmen
56:34might live in peace.
56:35When I came out
56:36of father's study,
56:37Silas was in the hallway
56:38leaning against the wall.
56:39All of it handled?
56:41I nodded.
56:42He had been busy
56:43this past month.
56:44I'd barely seen him
56:45and I was starting
56:46to recognize,
56:47in the way he moved
56:48and held a room,
56:49the shape of who
56:50he was going to become.
56:52Father had warmed to him
56:53in ways he hadn't
56:54bothered to hide.
56:55Since Kale had moved
56:56into the house
56:56as Serafina's beastman,
56:58he'd been reporting
56:59to me faithfully,
57:00while in the background,
57:02Serafina's image
57:02had been quietly
57:03and methodically demolished.
57:05She had done to herself
57:06everything Kale
57:07once did to me.
57:08Then father had stepped in.
57:10My brother came home,
57:11took over the business
57:12under father's guidance,
57:14and the household
57:14found its footing again.
57:16As for Silas,
57:17the heat cycles
57:18kept coming back,
57:19more and more frequently
57:20as it happened.
57:21Every deep night,
57:22a cold serpent tail
57:23would find its way
57:24around my ankle.
57:25Silas.
57:26Hmm?
57:28I have a knife.
57:29The tail withdrew.
57:30As I thought,
57:31he had been exaggerating
57:33all along.
57:34Silas.
57:35Explain yourself.
57:36He leaned in
57:37and grazed his lips
57:38against the shell
57:39of my ear.
57:40Is it really so hard
57:41to understand?
57:42I turned on him.
57:44Plain words.
57:45He was quiet
57:45for a long moment.
57:46In my last life,
57:48you buried me.
57:50I jolted upright.
57:52You...
57:52You also...
57:54Silas sat up,
57:56unhurried.
57:56After that,
57:57my spirit wouldn't leave.
57:58I stayed.
58:00And I watched you
58:01grieve for Kale,
58:02suffer for Kale,
58:03and finally die for nothing.
58:04And then...
58:05With you,
58:06I came back.
58:09Remarkable.
58:09And then he spoke again.
58:11Alara,
58:12do you remember
58:13the bloodline's founding law?
58:17What?
58:18He smiled,
58:19and the look in his eyes
58:20held something
58:21that had been there
58:21for a long time.
58:23Choose a beastman to raise.
58:24Bond with them for life.
58:27No betrayal.
58:29No abandonment.
58:31His voice dropped low.
58:33You chose me.
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