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Swapping Twins: The Wolf General's Ruin
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00:00Twin sisters had to wed on the same full moon.
00:03Otherwise, a curse would descend upon the entire family.
00:07Dragging my frost-poisoned, sickly bones, I waited three years for Alistair.
00:15Finally, his wedding procession arrived.
00:20Send Evangeline off first.
00:22She is delicate.
00:24The night wind makes her cough.
00:26Serafina has endured for years.
00:27She can at least survive tonight a broken wolf heap.
00:31But Lady Serafina caught frost-poison saving you.
00:34She waited three years for you.
00:36What if the king discovers the carriage swap?
00:38I bribe the royal attendants.
00:40The marriage contract names are already changed.
00:42The king won't kill me for a woman.
00:44I control one-third of the border army.
00:47He must consider my power before acting.
00:51Kyrian is a brutal cripple, but I have spies.
00:53They will deliver her medicine regularly.
00:56Serafina won't die.
00:57But for Evangeline, it would be a death sentence.
01:02Serafina must bear this burden for now.
01:04A metallic sweetness surge up my throat.
01:06I coughed black blood onto my white satin wedding gown.
01:09He decided my fate without asking for my consent.
01:13Everyone expected me to wreck the procession after discovering the switch.
01:16Instead, I let them lead me into the carriage.
01:19I became the tyrant, crippled king's new wife.
01:22The dried black blood felt stiff against the satin.
01:27My lady, are we really going to Broken Wolf?
01:32Yes.
01:33But they say Kieran Ashthrock.
01:34He killed twelve servants the night he lost his arm.
01:37And Kieran displayed their bones as ornaments by his throne.
01:40The previous queen vanished less than six months after marrying.
01:43They never even found her remains.
01:45Rumor has it his cellar has chains for disobedient brides.
01:49I know.
01:52This is the fate Alistair gave me.
01:55I will go.
01:56Serafina, stop throwing a tantrum.
01:59He rode on horseback, his voice coming through clearly despite the carriage curtains.
02:03Alistair leaned close, his soft voice dripping with his usual self-righteous certaincy.
02:06As if the ones sent to Broken Wolf weren't his three-year fiancée.
02:11Evangeline wouldn't last a day there.
02:16I'll send medicine via spies when you go there.
02:20Once the stir dies down, I'll find a reason to fetch you.
02:27I know you've been wronged.
02:30But Evangeline is timid and cried earlier in the carriage.
02:34I gave your mother's moonstone to her to soothe her nerves.
02:38She is prone to the cold and needs it more than you do.
02:43You're always sensible.
02:45So you won't hold this against your sister, right?
02:48My mother had squeezed that relic into my hand while dying.
02:53Sera, this moon-blessed stone protects you.
02:57Never give it to anyone.
02:58I bit my lip until it bled, tasting iron.
03:02By the way, I've prepared frost-healing ointment.
03:05It will arrive at Broken Wolf to sustain your life.
03:08You...
03:09That medicine only prolongs a dying life.
03:13Glad you understand.
03:15Just grit your teeth and you'll pull through.
03:22Looking down at my bruised fingertips, I recalled his words as he held me.
03:29Sera, you've suffered enough in this life.
03:36From now on, I protect what was yours with my life.
03:43Now I understood.
03:46It was never me he intended to protect.
03:55Watch your step.
03:57I hesitated for a moment, then gave him my hand.
04:01Gentle inner power surged into my palm, slightly dispersing my bone-deep chill.
04:06I could barely stand.
04:08My knees buckled, nearly making me fall.
04:11He wordlessly caught my elbow, steadying my frame.
04:14Porched torches crackled, illuminating his face.
04:17His other sleeve hung empty, snapping in the wind.
04:21This was Ciaran Ashtern.
04:24The Broken Wolf King.
04:27He lost an arm in a coup.
04:30Supposedly, the killer was never caught.
04:32Since then, the kingdom mocked him.
04:34Even lowest-ranked wolves gossiped.
04:43Wipe the blood from your mouth.
04:49Are you hungry?
04:53There is hot soup in the kitchen.
04:55Come in.
04:57On the third day, someone arrived.
05:00Alistair's personal valet, Pip, held a laquited wooden box.
05:04My lady, no, your majesty, my lord had me deliver this frost-healing ointment.
05:08He said a famous doctor sought across half the kingdom made it.
05:12It was meant to let you...
05:13Leave it there.
05:15My lord asks why you aren't wearing the circon he personally designed.
05:18He spent three months sketching patterns, then hired the capital's best craftsman.
05:22I closed my eyes, hiding the mockery in them.
05:25That circlet, encrusted with gauty rubies, was flamboyant and heavy.
05:28It wasn't my style at all.
05:30Evangeline casually remarked that such a lavish style suited me.
05:34He took her seriously and forced it on me.
05:36I pawned it.
05:39Pawned?
05:40For ten silver coins.
05:42I gave it to the driver as a tip.
05:46You didn't actually pawn it?
05:48No.
05:49And the circlet?
05:52Tossed under the bed, gathering dust.
05:56From now on I want nothing of his, not a single thing.
06:00The dark grey cloak had frayed edges and a faint pine scent.
06:04It was very warm.
06:06Ten nights later, I startled awake from a dream.
06:09Instinctively, I reached under my pillow for my dagger.
06:12But I found that someone was already in the room.
06:15Alistair's hidden guard.
06:17Shadow.
06:22What is it?
06:26My lord said Evangeline was startled last night.
06:29She's coughing constantly and couldn't sleep all night.
06:32Please remove your frost scale armor to give her warmth.
06:37Does he know what removing it means?
06:40My lord says the medicine will sustain your life.
06:42Just endure it.
06:43I sneered inwardly.
06:45Frost scale armor.
06:46Three years ago, I intercepted a poisoned arrow for Alistair.
06:50I forged that armor from scale beast hide, nearly dying in the icy abyss.
06:54The armor feuded with my flesh and merch rings over three years.
06:58Forcing it off meant being flayed and stripped to the bone.
07:01A living hell.
07:04My lord also says Evangeline is fragile.
07:07Only you can remove it.
07:08Please.
07:10Get out.
07:13Three years.
07:14I took arrows and hunted armor, sacrificing my health for him.
07:18It left me with incurable frost poison.
07:21Now, he wanted my fused armor as a stove for pampered Evangeline.
07:26I stepped behind the screen and undid my outer robes.
07:34I grabbed the edge of the armor, clenched my teeth, and ripped it from my flesh piece by piece.
07:41Blood instantly soaked my shirt.
07:44My teeth chumded from the blinding pain.
07:47But my mind filled with Alistair's gentleness.
07:50Sarah, wear this always.
07:52I'll never let you feel another ounce of pain.
08:03It finally detached.
08:07The armor crashed down, dripping with my blood.
08:11Suppressing convulsions, I bent down to grab the blood-stained armor.
08:18Take it.
08:20Tell Alistair this armor is my gift to Evangeline.
08:23The window stood wide open.
08:26Northern winds rushed in and made me shover.
08:29My knees buckled.
08:31I collapsed to the floor as my consciousness blurred.
08:34The last image was a pair of black boots stopping before me.
08:38I was unconscious for three days.
08:40Awake, I lay in soft bedding atop layers of thick blankets.
08:44My wounds were carefully dressed, wrapped in clean bandages.
08:47Gentle inner energy suppressed the frost poison deep in my bones.
08:52Awake.
08:56Don't move.
08:59You too.
09:01It's nothing.
09:05Three years ago, I was in a distant shadow alley.
09:09I watched as you shielded him from that poisoned arrow.
09:12I saw you fight bloodly, taking that fatal chill for him.
09:17I thought he would protect you forever.
09:26From now on, I will be the one to protect you.
09:29Kingdom tradition required newlywed royals to visit home three days after the full moon.
09:34Kieran and I shared a carriage.
09:36Broken Wolf's carriage wasn't grand, lacking crests and gold.
09:40Even the horses were just ordinary blacks.
09:42But the axles were sturdy and the ride was steady.
09:45Inside, the carriage stove burned brightly.
09:53Evangelion wore my wedding gown.
09:55That wedding gown took three months of sewing.
09:57Silver moonlight patterns graced the satin, embroidered needle by needle.
10:02Between frost poisoning bouts, I stitched them needle by needle through piercing pain.
10:07She also wore the frost scale armor, which glowed faintly.
10:13Why aren't you wearing the ruby circle I gave you?
10:17The king dislikes flashy ornaments.
10:20Sarah, you...
10:20Queen of Broken Wolf, mind your tongue.
10:23Why is it this?
10:25The love token he gave me once rested there.
10:27A wolf-tooth knot graded with red cord, each tooth hand-polished.
10:31I wore it for three years, never removing it to bathe.
10:34You.
10:35Now a moonstone bracelet replaced it.
10:39A secret letter slipped from her sleeve.
10:41Unfolding at the corner, everyone's gaze fell upon that line of text.
10:46Evangeline, your secret letter dropped.
10:54My queen, the weather has turned.
10:56We should return to prepare for the funeral.
11:05That night, Alistair frantically searched the Royal Medical Archives.
11:09He smashed the lock, fist-dents covered the oak door.
11:13Lighting three oil lamps, he rustled through dusty parchments page by page.
11:17At dawn, he finally found the page.
11:19It was a military healer's handwritten record from three years ago.
11:24Messy handwriting lay hidden beneath thick war reports, as if concealed.
11:29For three years, he believed Serafina was merely frail.
11:33He assumed those medicines were enough to sustain her.
11:36My lord, are you okay?
11:37Every time Serafina smiled, she was hanging on by a thread.
11:41Yet in three years, he never noticed once.
11:45My lord says this cinnamon almond cake was the queen's past favourite.
11:48So he specifically had the kitchen use premium honey and tenderest almonds.
11:51He personally...
11:52Take them back.
11:52The queen is allergic to it.
11:53Bleeding hives keep her itching all night if she tries it.
11:56Does your lord really not know?
11:58Did she get it?
12:00My lord, their guard says she's allergic.
12:02Eating cinnamon almond cakes will cause bleeding hives.
12:05Don't send such harmful things again.
12:07Alistair suddenly remembered.
12:09Eveline was the one who loved them.
12:11It tastes so good.
12:15Yes.
12:16Just bug bites.
12:21I cannot wait any longer.
12:25The next day, citing border defense, he led a small troop to the main road.
12:31There, he intercepted the broken wolf carriage.
12:41Serafina!
12:42Cover!
12:53Why didn't you tell me?
12:56Tell you what?
12:57Removal that armor would kill you!
12:59If you had said a single word about skinning and pulling tendons!
13:03If I did, would you watch Evangeline die?
13:06I watched his bulging veins, clenched fists, and shattered expression.
13:10His face showed anger, grievance, and a truth refeared.
13:13You cannot answer.
13:17I could?
13:18I could.
13:18You did not.
13:22Alistair, you never did.
13:29I'll beg the king now!
13:31I'll cancel the engagement with Evangeline and take you back!
13:34Alistair, I am very satisfied as the queen of broken wolf.
13:43Kiran treats me wonderfully.
13:45Better than all your charity.
13:47Don't be foolish!
13:51Kiran is a cripple!
13:53How can he save your life?
13:55He cannot even protect himself!
13:58Serafina!
14:01Stop interrupting my carriage from now on.
14:04My husband will be displeased.
14:21You knew stripping that armor would kill her, didn't you?
14:27I did it for love!
14:30Alice, I love you so much!
14:34When did you know she would die?
14:37I...
14:37Tell me!
14:40Three years ago, I overheard the army healer outside the tent.
14:44The day she intercepted the arrow for you.
14:49You think I didn't know Frostgale armor?
14:51I asked you for it on purpose, because I knew she'd take it off.
14:55I knew she'd die if she took it off.
14:58I just wanted to see who you'd choose in the end.
15:02Strip that armor off her!
15:04Molly!
15:07Strip it!
15:21Get out.
15:45Serafina! I brought the armour back! I know everything Evangeline lied and I lied to myself!
15:55Want to see him?
15:59No.
16:00I'll give you my life! Please just come out and give me one look!
16:06The rain is too loud giving me a headache. Bramble, close the window.
16:14It's crooked.
16:17Where?
16:19The strand on the left.
16:25The rain poured harder. I rose from the lounge chair and walked to the window.
16:31Through the crack, I saw Alistair kneeling on the gravel road.
16:36He clutched the frostgrain armour to his chest with a death grip.
16:41Then he looked up, meeting my eyes.
16:45Serafina! Listen to me!
16:47Thinking I relented by opening the window, a flash of ecstasy crossed his face.
16:52Sera, I-
16:53Alistair. Since the swap, a chasm divides us that you can never cross. We shall never meet again.
17:04What did you say?
17:05I said, we are done.
17:09No! It's not true! I can make it up to you!
17:13How? With what will you compensate? I reached out and shut the window again.
17:20This time, even the crack was sealed. I thought Alistair would leave. Instead, he knelt in the rain all night.
17:27At dawn, Bramble reported he remained, lips purple and face livid.
17:32Should we drive him away?
17:33He simply refused to go. Ignore him.
17:42At noon, he began battering the door. He slammed his body repeatedly, like a maddened beast. Like a desperate man,
17:50losing control.
17:52The Iron Gate thundered under the impact. Kieran's guards deployed.
17:59Twelve warriors lined up, blocking the entrance. The second was bitten on the shoulder, teeth sinking into flesh as blood
18:07ran down the corner of his mouth.
18:10Serafina! I'll give you my life! Look at me! One look! Just one look!
18:20Only the rain answered him. Dawn broke. He was still gripping the Frostscale armor she no longer wanted.
18:26He's alive. Return him to his manor. He is banned from ever stepping foot in the north.
18:31After that storm, Alistair fell gravely ill. Fever raged for seven days and nights. He remained deteriorous and unconscious.
18:43Alistair woke much thinner. He banished Evangeline from the clan and burned all her belongings.
18:54At the Royal Council, he began to fail repeatedly. First, he mistook 3,000 border troops for 30,000. Then
19:00he confused the three northern passes pointing east while discussing the west. The King questioned him.
19:06General Alistair, are you listening to me? Yes. I am listening. Then what did I just say?
19:15Alistair simply stood there with blank eyes.
19:18Your rank is stripped right now. You are a commoner, never to serve him.
19:22Alistair accepted the decree on one knee, forehead against the cold floor tiles.
19:27He exposed his bare neck to everyone. It was the ultimate werewolf humiliation.
19:33Is this the once invincible werewolf general? He ruined himself over a woman.
19:40Kneeling there, Alistair recalled a secret report from border scouts three days ago.
19:44Kieran was secretly rallying old troops. The court was oblivious. Reporting this could turn the tables for him.
19:50But if he informed on Kieran, she would never look at him again.
19:54In the end, Alistair didn't say a single word. He accepted his punishment in silence. My health was slowly improving.
20:00Every three days, Kieran suppressed my frost poison with inner energy.
20:06That midnight, feeling restless, I passed his study while walking.
20:12I don't know what drew me there. Something felt...off.
20:17A crystal was embledded in his severed arm's greasy scarf.
20:24It was no ordinary gem. It was the Moonshadow Crystal.
20:29Moonlight hit it, emitting a ghostly blue glow.
20:33Legend says only royal werewolf blood can activate this relic.
20:37It grants extraordinary power, even the power to resurrect the dead.
20:41But the cost, once fused with blood, it stays forever.
20:46Are you sure you want to do this?
20:47I am.
20:49You are the last of the royals.
20:52Dismissed.
21:02I didn't know what they were saying.
21:04But I sensed this was Kieran's long-buried secret.
21:08The next day, Kieran didn't channel energy into me.
21:13Instead, an old woman arrived.
21:15I am the Frost Whisperer.
21:18Lie down.
21:27Cold energy poured from her fingertips into my matricians.
21:31It collided fiercely with the relisional frost poison inside me.
21:41Far too late. The frost poison has penetrated your marrow, deeply rooted.
21:47To completely uproot it, there is only one way.
21:51What way?
21:52Split your Moonshadow Crystal in two.
22:03Okay.
22:08Are you sure?
22:10Once split, you will lose all martial prowess.
22:15You will become truly crippled.
22:18I know.
22:20Hearing her words, I froze completely in place.
22:24Suddenly, I understood what Kieran was discussing with the butler last night.
22:28Relying on the Moonshadow Crystal, he was never truly crippled.
22:32All these years.
22:34But now, to save me, he would hand over that power himself.
22:39He would become a completely helpless Invertal.
22:43This was Kylan's secret.
22:48You can't!
22:49It's...
22:51It's fine.
22:52For you, everything is worth it.
22:55It's fine.
22:56No, no, no!
22:58I don't have to save you.
22:58How do you do?
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