Chapter 1

My sister, Seraphina, and I were married into the Phoenix Clan at the same time, and by a twist of fate, we also conceived at the same time.

Seraphina gave birth to a pure-blood, golden-feathered phoenix. The First Prince, Valerius, whom she married, was immediately proclaimed the next ruler of the Phoenix Clan.

But I... I birthed a patchy-feathered chick, cursed as an ill omen. My husband, the Second Prince Kaelen, was implicated, tortured, and died.

It was only after my death that I learned the truth: that chick was clearly *hers*!

It was all a sinister plot orchestrated by her and the First Prince.

Their goal? To conceal the First Prince's true lineage and usurp the Phoenix throne.

Then, I opened my eyes again. I was back. Back to the time before I gave birth, with Seraphina arriving, laden with tonics, to 'visit' me...

"Ever since I got pregnant, I've had to sleep in the room by the Sacred Emberwood. Otherwise, I just can't fall asleep. Sometimes, colorful birds and magpies gather around me, chirping incessantly. It must be this little one in my belly acting up," Seraphina simpered, feigning annoyance, stroking her belly and droning on about all the "unusual occurrences" around her since she became pregnant.

Watching Seraphina, I knew. I had been reborn.

A mongrel egg, nested by the Sacred Emberwood? Surrounded by magpies? What a sick joke.

But I wasn't about to expose her lies right then and there. She'd been weaving this web of deceit since the start of her pregnancy; I wouldn't unravel it with just a few words.

I offered a small smile. "All these strange phenomena around you, Seraphina, could it be you're carrying a tiny phoenix?"

At my words, Seraphina's face lit up with a beaming smile.

But all I could feel was the venomous malice festering behind that smile.

Seraphina and I were both legitimate daughters of the Azure Avian Kin, yet I was unloved by my father, Lord Alaric, and scorned by my mother, Lorelei.

Mother blamed me for not being a son, for her losing Father's favor, pouring all her affection onto Seraphina instead.

Growing up, only Seraphina would occasionally check on me. She was the only one I felt close to.

We married into the Phoenix Clan together. She wed Valerius, the gentle and refined First Prince, while I married Kaelen, the brave and formidable Second Prince. And we both became pregnant at the same time.

So, when she came to visit me, bearing tonics, and then invited me to Silverwood Manor for a change of scenery, I suspected nothing.

But little did I know, it was the beginning of my nightmare.

In my past life, only after my own agonizing death did I discover the horrific truth: my husband's and my tragic end was all Seraphina's and the First Prince's doing.

Valerius was the result of Queen Regina's illicit affair, a mongrel born of infidelity. Naturally, the egg Seraphina carried was also a mongrel egg.

King Theron was aging, desperate to see a pure-blood Phoenix egg hatch before his death. He decreed that all newly laid eggs be brought to the Royal Palace for incubation.

Valerius, terrified his true lineage would be exposed, knew discovery meant certain death.

And if Valerius died, Seraphina would not only lose her esteemed status as First Princess but also be banished back to the Azure Avian Kin.

No matter what, Seraphina's offspring *had* to be a pure-blood egg.

That's when Seraphina and Valerius set their sights on me.

They conspired with Queen Regina. While I was exhausted from labor, they drugged me, then swapped my pure-blood golden Phoenix egg for theirs.

Had I not overheard it myself after my death, I would never have believed my own sister, the one I grew up with, capable of such betrayal!

To cover their monstrous secret, after swapping my egg, they slandered me, claiming I'd birthed an ominous commonfowl egg, and threw me into the dungeons.

My husband, Kaelen, used his military merits to free me, only to have King Theron question *his* lineage. He was tortured to death.

But Seraphina wasn't done with me. She deliberately sought me out, sneering, "You truly are a jinx, just as Mother always said! At home, you caused Mother to lose favor. Married, you brought about your husband's torture and death. What good are you alive? You might as well just die!"

After her cruel words, she summoned the guards and had me thrown into the Demon Lands, where I was dismembered and brutally murdered.

Now, seeing Seraphina's smug, triumphant smile, I forcefully suppressed the tidal wave of hatred surging within me.

This time, I swore, I would protect my child. And they would pay!