Chapter 1

According to the Grand Seer, Billy Foster, the Goodwin family's three daughters were marked by fate. One would be queen, one would be a general, and one would be a jinx that brought disaster to any man who married her.

That was fine by me. I wasn't about to fight for a crown or die for a kingdom. So I took my fate as the jinx and did nothing at all.

Then something unexpected happened. That "hotel" I started, the Oracle Chamber, somehow became the most powerful spy network in the world. Soon enough, princes from every nation were lining up to get a look at me.

The king couldn't stand it anymore. "I'm making you my concubine," he said.

I didn't bother sitting up straight. "Take a number," I told him.

*****

That old fraud Billy from the Directorate of Astronomy stood before the entire court and pointed a bony, claw-like finger at me.

Then he laid out my future. "Three daughters of the Goodwin family. One a queen, one a general, one a curse on any man who takes her."

The Golden Hall went completely quiet.

My father, Elliot Goodwin the Chancellor, went pale in front of me.

My eldest sister, Victoria Goodwin, hid half her face behind a fan, but I still caught that little flash of joy in her eyes.

Every official in the room looked at me with pity, disgust, or barely hidden glee.

And just like that, I, Claire Goodwin, became the biggest joke in Jelasburg.

Victoria lived up to the prophecy and became the queen.

My second sister, Sophia Goodwin, did the same and became a general.

And I was the one the Goodwins were ashamed of, the girl everyone said would end up a jinx.

Back at the Goodwin residence, my father's study felt so stuffy that it was hard to breathe.

He looked at me like I was some piece of junk he wanted to throw away, not his daughter.

"Claire, starting tomorrow, you'll stay in your room and think about what you did. No need to go out," he snapped.

That was his way of locking me away. But really, it was him walking away from me. He cut every tie between me and the family, and he didn't blink.

I didn't say a thing, but inside, I was laughing.

I had nothing to think about. I didn't do anything wrong.

It was just some old liar running his mouth, and the fact that I wasn't the little tool my father wanted to make the family look good.

Without answering, I gave a small nod and walked out of that suffocating room.

It was okay with me. From now on, I was on my own.

When I got back to my empty, chilly courtyard, I sent all the servants away except for one mute bodyguard named Shadow.

I had pulled him out of a pile of bodies three years earlier. Ever since then, he had stayed by my side as quiet as a real shadow.

I dragged a heavy wooden chest out from under my bed.

Inside was everything I had managed to save up over the years by any means I could think of.

There were jewels and trinkets and a thick stack of cash.

I ran my fingers over the cold things in that chest. In this freezing house, they were the only things that felt real to me.

*****

Three days later, I took all my savings and walked out of the Goodwin residence without looking at the gatekeeper's shocked face.

I bought a three-story hotel on Redbird Avenue, the busiest street in Jelasburg.

The news spread through the city like wildfire.

Everyone was saying that I had lost my mind.

They thought I was going to use my assets to open some kind of entertainment place.

It looked like I was determined to make Billy's prophecy come true.

For a while, the gossip got louder than ever.

Some people said I had given up on myself and didn't care how low I sank.

Others said I had big dreams but a fragile fate, and in the end, I accepted what I couldn't change.

And there were even those who said the Goodwin family's honor was completely ruined this time.

Victoria, the queen, wasn't about to stand by and do nothing.

She sent her most trusted attendant, Steward Thomas, to my newly bought hotel with a gift and a piece of advice.

Steward held his hand in a delicate gesture, and his shrill voice dripped with snobbery. "Miss Goodwin, Her Majesty says you were born to nobility. It's not appropriate that you lower yourself to running a hotel.

"Her Majesty wants you to close this place right now and go back home. She will talk to the king and find you a proper husband."

I sat in a dusty high-backed chair, turning a cup over in my hands without bothering to look up.

"A proper husband?" I said with a small laugh.

"What kind of proper husband would that be? Some poor scholar who wants to get close to the Goodwins and doesn't care about my reputation? Or maybe a political enemy who wants to use me to humiliate my family?"

Steward's face went stiff for a second. "Miss Goodwin, how can you talk like that? Her Majesty only wants what's best for you."

"What's best for me?" I finally looked up at him and met his eyes without flinching. "Thank her for me. Tell her that no one gets to decide my fate for me. I'm keeping this place open, no matter what."