nne

eated before the bronze mirror, sl

concoction spiked with nocturnal blooming orchids, meticulously br

ing with triumphant malice. Coming to a halt right beside my d

e-the second-tier mark of a Noble Clan, forged of spun gold and pure sil

wn hands this afternoon. A Warlord's fierce battle-spirit needs the pristine vitality of a pure Tree Spirit to weave the Soothing and keep his power from falli

ys glance at th

wledged only true, attuned blood. Through the piercing clarity of my vision, I could clearly perceive the erratic,

had better pray your spurious blood can suppress the sacred oath-fire of t

smirk inst

ace. She snatched her hand back as if burned, hissing, "You arrogant wretch! What right do you have

forward, her manicured nail

moment the marriage contract was dissolved! A pathetic, lovesick outcast who beg

ely regarded her with

Jacalyn's rage boiled over. She sneered,

onsort who brought bad luck everywhere she went. She died early because she was weak, and you are jus

n

vanity cracked under

out in an instant. The temperature plunged below freez

my head and lock

st call my mothe

lord's bride spurred her arrogance. She threw her head back, sneering, "I called he

as

Without channeling a single drop of ordinary elven magic, I unleashed a razor-thin sliver o

e choked dead

erbal-masked spirit within her core screamed in primal terror. Under the absolute bloodline suppression of a true elven sovereign, her spine cur

aining against the crushing atmospheric pressure. Cold sweat pour

ering form. Reaching out, I seized her throat in an

th stirred the stray hairs at her temple. "A counterfeit parasite who uses cheap garden herb

lated her eyes tenfold. She tried to deny it, but my fingers squeezed tight

m going to the Low Marches. But if you think you've won the prize, you are gravely mistaken. The mo

htly, throwing her back

h

muffled shriek, clutching her bruised

suffocating shroud. "Bare your neck and apologize to Lady Vivian's memory. Or I will

ing violently. But when she raised her tear-blurred

fying certainty that I

ng her cheek flat to the floorboards and baring her shivering nape. "

ld Blood, letting the golden

m. Jacalyn collapsed into a quivering heap

rning my back to her.

ambled to her feet, hoisted her ruined silk skirts,

tside fell back

cautiously. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, her hands tre

r-talisman?" Tessa stammered, trying desperately to find a ratio

crude cold-iron ring off the table and dropping it into

question further, and retreated t

eturned t

own bathed the palace of the High Council in celestial aurora, dripping the sacred Silverdew that fueled the entire civilization. Five hundred feet down, wher

ale skin of my wrist where faint gold-and-sil

d indeed nearly snuf

ped and loved since childhood-I had let despair swallow me whole. Like a camel crushed beneath the final straw, I th

fused to le

was torn through the dimensional veil, cast into a distant, foreign world known

innacle of modern surgical institutions. For seventy long years, I traded tears for scalpels. I immersed myself in anatomy, cellular pathology, trauma surgery, and th

y last as an old woman who had fulfilled every

in this frail, silver-haired elven shell-with

hoking on her own grief, was indeed me. But that cowardly, lovesick v

d thoroughly rewritten my soul. The journey had shattered the ancient seal placed upon my spirit, awakening th

scraps of affection

ocking laugh into t

akened sovereign who would make every arrogant

itical seat, and no allies. Curtis and Cindi held every lever of power, while Holden command

needed an unyielding blade-and

s a warlord awaiting resurrection. A wounded beast of war, indebted to me for his breath and his restored

is sovereign legions. A ruthles

yellowed roll of parchment, densely covered with hidden ledgers record

my lips curved into a cold, lethal smile. "Enjoy your grand wedding tomorrow. Because once I p