00:00I didn't move, the guests held their breath, half terrified, half fascinated, wondering if he'd actually do it.
00:05A swarm of serpents had crawled up to my waist.
00:08Kale, I said it quietly, just before the a serpent's tail stopped an inch from my throat.
00:13Kill me, and you'll die.
00:16Nature then born a cursed living voodoo doll.
00:18At birth my father's mistress tried to poison me, the poison rotting her from the gut outward and I was
00:22intact.
00:23Maids, midwives, and guards.
00:24All those who wanted to harm me died the way they wanted me to die.
00:27Any harm inflicted upon my body will be reflected back onto others.
00:31Everyone believed I was a devil.
00:32My father wanted to burn me alive, but my guileless sister Cecilia saved me from the fire.
00:36But fate played a cruel trick on my kind-hearted sister.
00:39She was sent by our heartless father to marry the brutal Serpent King.
00:42She was cruelly cut open on schedule, made into a living blood font.
00:46Her blood drained to sustain the Serpent King's mistress.
00:49The Serpent King later slaughtered our clan, and I, alone and hopeless, hooked with Cecilia tragically.
00:54When I opened my eyes, I was back on the day of the matching ball.
00:57I swear I shall avenge us in this life.
00:59In my past life, it was a pity that I married the kind Lion Arbiter, Serpent King, and I would
01:04have been a perfect match in hell.
01:05I would only be a thousand times more wicked than him.
01:08So when Serpent King and Lion Abeter stood in front of me and Cecilia at the same time,
01:12I walked towards Serpent King without hesitation.
01:14Cecilia still clutched my hand, tears welling in her eyes.
01:17Asper, you'll die there.
01:19I'll go in your place.
01:20I shook my head and clutched the marriage contract and laughed, this time, neither of us will die.
01:24Three days later, two matching ceremonies were held at once.
01:27Lucian, the Lion Arbiter, came to collect Cecilia himself.
01:30He arrived in formal white and gold, the kind of man who made ceremonial dress look effortless.
01:35Be good to her, I thought, watching him help Cecilia into the carriage.
01:38She deserves your love.
01:39Then I turned and stepped into my own.
01:41Kale had not come to meet me.
01:42He'd spent last night at a brothel house with his mistress and couldn't drag himself out of bed before noon.
01:47I thought Kale not coming to meet my procession was insult enough.
01:51It wasn't.
01:51When the matching ceremony began, he still hadn't appeared.
01:54What came in his place was a spider larger than my fist, its legs polished black,
01:58adorned with a ceremonial ribbon tied around its midsection.
02:01It was placed on the altar before me.
02:02The hall murmured.
02:03Is the Serpent King really doing this?
02:05A human bride bound to a pest.
02:07How fitting.
02:08If I were her, I'd kill myself.
02:09What's left to preserve?
02:11Kale's attendant stepped forward, voice carefully blank.
02:13My lady, the king was occupied through the night and could not rise in time.
02:18This is his most prized companion.
02:20He felt it appropriate that it'd stand in his place for the ceremony.
02:23The king despises me.
02:24Even his servants don't bother hiding it.
02:26I said nothing.
02:27I looked past him to the queen mother seated on the high dais.
02:30She didn't rebuke him.
02:31She said evenly,
02:32Your husband returned from campaign, exhausted.
02:34As his mate, grace is expected of you.
02:37The guests are waiting.
02:39Complete the ceremony.
02:40This was what Cecilia had endured in our past life.
02:42She never told me.
02:43The queen mother's eyes narrowed.
02:44Vespas, stop stalling.
02:47I turned to her slowly.
02:48You're asking me to complete a matching ceremony with a bug?
02:51So the serpent king is equivalent to this bug?
02:54How dare you!
02:55I dare nothing.
02:56I came here to bind myself to a king, not a bug.
02:59I tilted my head silence, then scattered laughter.
03:02Nervous, surprised, quickly smothered.
03:04The queen mother's composure cracked at the edges.
03:06The spider felt the shift in the air.
03:08It lunged, spitting venom at me.
03:09I dodged and drove the candlestick spike through it in one clean motion.
03:13Venom splattered across the stone.
03:14A black stain spread outward from the altar.
03:17Droplets caught the front of my wedding wights.
03:19Dark, deliberate looking.
03:20She killed it.
03:21The hall erupted.
03:22She killed the king's companion.
03:24The queen mother was on her feet.
03:25One hand braced against the dais, shaking.
03:27You!
03:28It attacked me.
03:29I pulled the spike, free, and wiped it on the altar cloth.
03:33What would you have had me do?
03:36Caesar!
03:37Someone fetch the king!
03:38The doors opened.
03:39The ground trembled faintly as Kale walked in.
03:41He was in black armor.
03:42A serpent tail arched at his spine, tip gleaming silver.
03:45Eyes that swept the room and landed on me.
03:47On the crushed creature, on the stain spreading across the altar stone,
03:50and the absolute calm on my face.
03:52You killed my spider.
03:53His voice was quiet.
03:55That was worse than shouting.
03:56It started first.
03:57I'm going to kill you.
03:59I smiled.
04:00I knew he'd come eventually.
04:02Kale crossed the hall in a few strides and beckoned.
04:04Then thousands of serpents swarmed forward.
04:07I didn't move.
04:08The guests held their breath, half terrified, half fascinated.
04:11Wondering if he'd actually do it, a swarm of serpents had crawled up to my waist.
04:15Kale, I said it quietly, just before the serpent's tail stopped an inch from my throat.
04:20Kill me, and you'll die.
