Chapter 1

The year enemy forces surrounded Sebastian Blake, I stole his battle plans and handed them over to the enemy in exchange for his life.

On the day he took back command of the army, I became a reviled traitor. I knelt outside the marshal's mansion for three days with my lame son, Felix Blake.

The first year, he had his men break my ribs and said, "Get lost. You're not worthy."

The second year, I begged him to save Felix. Holding his new lover in his arms, he threw his leftovers right in my face and said, "Go on, eat it. Clean it up like a dog."

The third year, it snowed heavily. Outside the marshal's mansion, the pitiful figure kneeling in the snow was nowhere to be seen.

Sebastian sneered, "So that bitch finally gave up pretending?"

It wasn't until the fifth year that his assistant, Jasper Cole, hands shaking, brought over an old wicker basket.

When the basket was opened, a scrawny kid was curled up inside, clutching an urn, trembling all over.

"My Mommy said it wouldn't hurt anymore if she turned to ashes. Can you buy her ashes? Just for some bread?" Felix said.

Sebastian stared at the urn, coughing up blood on the spot.

I was a lonely spirit drifting in mid-air, and I'd been dead for two years already.

But my five-year-old son, Felix, didn't know.

All he knew was that I was sleeping in a cold urn, and no matter how many times he called out to me, I never woke up.

Winter in Benrsen was bone-chilling, the snow falling in shreds like ripped cotton.

Felix was wearing a thin, ill-fitting shirt, his wrists poking out, as skinny as reeds. Frostbite had cracked his skin, and yellow fluid was seeping from the wounds.

He was clutching the coarse pottery urn holding my ashes, which was his only source of warmth.

He said, "Mommy, don't be afraid. I will take you to find Daddy."

He wiped his nose, dragging his lame leg as he limped through the snow in front of the mansion's grand red gate.

His crippled leg was crushed by Sebastian's horse three years ago.

Back then, I tried to protect him, and the whip left my back raw and bleeding. Sebastian towered over us and said that was exactly what a traitor's spawn deserved.

Now, Felix was standing here again.

Armed guards watched the mansion gate, their faces grim and intimidating.

They shouted, "Go away! Where did this little beggar come from? You're messing up the marshal's place!"

One of the guards gave Felix a rough kick right in the backside.

Felix stumbled and fell into the snow, but even as he went down, he wrapped his skinny body around the urn, holding it tight.

I panicked and tried to help him, but my hand just went through his body.

Damn it.

I had been dead for two years, but I still wanted to protect him.

Felix said, "I'm not leaving! I'm here for Sebastian! I have something to sell to him!"

He scrambled up from the snow, his voice shrill and stubborn.

The guards burst out laughing and asked, "Really? What are you selling? All that trash on you?"

"I'm selling my Mommy!" Felix replied.

He held up the dark urn, his eyes so bright it was almost scary. "My Mommy is the best mom. She's really well-behaved and doesn't eat much. Just some bread is enough!"

The guards were stunned, probably never having seen a kid crazy enough to try to sell his own mother.

Just then, the massive red gate creaked open.

A man in a black fox fur coat walked out, his military boots crunching in the snow with every step.

It was Sebastian.

Five years passed by, and Sebastian looked even more imposing than before, his eyes sharp and full of lethal authority.

Clinging to his arm was a woman in a sleek silk dress, Scarlett Reed, once my bestie, and the one who betrayed me to the enemy.

Sebastian asked in an icy voice, "What's all the noise about?"

The guards snapped to attention and saluted, saying, "Mr. Blake, there's a little beggar causing trouble. He said he wanted to sell that urn."

Sebastian's gaze swept over Felix casually, then finally landed on the urn in his arms.

At that moment, I saw him frown sharply.

He probably thought that beat-up urn was an eyesore.

But Felix, as if he'd found his savior, dragged his crippled leg, crawling and stumbling across the snow, trying to hug Sebastian's leg.

"Please! Could you buy my Mommy? I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten for three days."

Scarlett took a step back in disgust, pressing a handkerchief to her nose. "What kind of bastard is this? He reeks. Sebastian, don't let him mess up your clothes," she said.

Sebastian didn't move, just lowered his gaze to Felix at his feet.

He didn't recognize Felix.

Felix was too skinny, his face caked with mud. There wasn't a trace left of Sebastian in him.