Chapter 3

"A secret engagement between a man and a woman is a real scandal," Caleb said.

"If I take this pouch to Mr. Grimes and tell him Emmalyn and I have already promised ourselves to each other, and that I want her as my concubine, I doubt he'd turn me down. He's always cared so much about his reputation."

"But," Caleb continued, his eyes sparkling with mischief, "are you really just going to hand her over to me, General Haley? Are you sure you can let her go?"

Cohen's face stayed icy. "Why wouldn't I? Go ahead, Caleb."

A faint coldness seeped into my chest as I stared numbly at the young general, Cohen, sitting inside with that calm, unshakable composure.

Was this really Cohen, the same guy who stunned me at first sight, the one I had been hopelessly drawn to ever since?

I first met Cohen at last year's Valentine's Day lantern festival.

The bustling market suddenly erupted into chaos when a wild horse burst in, charging through the street.

I was picking out a delicate rabbit lantern, and when I looked up, I saw that crazy horse barreling straight toward me.

My hands shook as I clutched the lantern, but I just stood there, frozen, watching the horse get closer and closer.

Suddenly, as the thunder of hooves and a rush of wind swept past my ears, Cohen yanked me into his arms.

He was Cohen, the prodigy who won top honors in the military exams when he was just fourteen.

The next day, Cohen had the fixed rabbit lantern delivered to me.

"Are you happy with it, miss? General Haley himself stayed up all night to fix it for you," the messenger said.

My heart was pounding, and all I could think about was being wrapped up in Cohen's arms.

I remembered how perfectly neat his black robe was, and the way his Adam's apple moved just above his crisp collar.

But then Oliver told me that Cohen hates my family.

Three years ago, the Velkari Tribe invaded Stormhart's border. General Haley led the Haley family's troops to defend the frontier, but in the thick of battle, a scheming minister betrayed them from the shadows. General Haley was caught in a trap set by the Velkari Tribe.

In the end, only Cohen made it back alive.

And that scheming minister was my father, Reece.

Honestly, I always felt like that had nothing to do with me.

I did wonder if Cohen was just getting close to me with an ulterior motive.

But Cohen, who'd spent years out on the frontier, always had his hair tied up high, sharp brows, and that fierce, commanding look you'd expect from a seasoned fighter. Still, there was a bit of boyish swagger in those slightly upturned eyes.

I lost my heart to him the very first time I saw him.

After all the hesitation and back-and-forth, I finally let go of all my doubts and, just like I always knew I would, ended up falling for Cohen.

As for what happened between us, it just felt like the natural next step for two people in love.

Besides, Cohen's passionate affection and gentle seduction was absolutely lethal for someone like me, who'd never been with anyone before.

I even considered secretly helping Cohen find evidence to take Reece down.

After all, ever since Reece remarried, he sent me, his first wife's daughter, off to live in the side courtyard, where the servants barely acknowledged me.

If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have ended up possessing Emmalyn's body, only to die from a fever.

I barely saw Reece twice a year. He was just a cheap excuse for a father, and I never cared about him at all.

I wouldn't lose any sleep teaming up with Cohen to bring him down.

But now, I finally realized just how naive I'd been.

Love? That was a lie.

Saving me? Another lie.

All that care and tenderness was just another lie.

Cohen was only using me to settle the score with Reece.

If he was going to push me like this, there was no way I'd just sit back and let him walk all over me.

Back home at the Grimes family, I waved Kylie over.

"Do you know where we usually get our fabric and thread?" I asked.

Kylie nodded. "Yeah, from Cloudspire Textiles."

"Let's go buy as much as we can! The more, the better!" I said.

Kylie looked puzzled. "Miss, it's just ordinary fabric and thread. Why do we need so much of it?"

"You'll see in a few days," I said.

So Cohen wants to use Caleb and that pouch to back me into a corner? Fine, I'll just mass-produce them, dozens, hundreds, as many as it takes!

Just because there was a "Grimes" on it, he thought that was enough to pin a scandal on me?

I would just embroider a whole pile of pouches with every random surname under the sun.

I had Kylie cook up a wild story. She told everyone that the rabbit on the pouch was a divine beast working for the celestial matchmaker. If a girl wore it for forty-nine days straight, she'd land herself the perfect guy.

Once the rumor got out, the pouches Kylie snuck out to sell were gone in a flash.

Soon, embroidery shops all over town were scrambling to copy my design.

Pretty soon, the streets were full of girls sporting pouches with my bizarre little beast stitched on them.

Seeing the streets packed with girls carrying those pouches, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

All those days and nights spent stitching, my hands covered in tiny needle marks. It was all totally worth it.

Good thing the fabric and thread I got from the Grimes family were all cheap stuff anyway.

If they'd been the fancy kind, I'd have gone broke for real.

Cohen was really playing dirty with those moves.

I was pissed off and ready to call him out. He owed me some answers.

Sure, I was the one who put myself out there first, and I was the one who couldn't resist and ended up in his bed.