Chapter 1
On the day the Alliance of Light surrounded the Shadow Sect, I slipped in with the crowd, planning to keep my head down and coast through the chaos.
I never expected to stumble into a hidden chamber and find the Shadow Sect Grandmaster himself, the most beautiful man on the Magical World's list of top beauties.
He was unconscious, his face so devastatingly beautiful it stole my breath.
Overcome by reckless desire, I chained him to the bed in my hidden room.
Later, in an attempt to make him fall in love with me, I used a Heartstinger on him.
*****
When I finally got off Orion Ashford, his eyes were misty and reddened, burning with pure hatred. His voice was like a blade, ready to carve me up. "You'd better kill me now. If I ever recover, I'll make you suffer a thousand deaths."
I lazily flicked my damp hair aside, couldn't care less about his threats.
He was the mighty Grandmaster of the Shadow Sect, yet he had been reduced to living on my bed. And I was a girl from the Alliance of Light. If I were him, I would probably kill myself.
Once I cleaned up myself, I turned my attention to him.
With a damp towel, I wiped his smooth skin. Everything about him was perfect, from his hair down to his fingertips, still quivering from earlier. No wonder I lost my mind and smuggled him out of the Shadow Sect's secret chamber.
Orion was not only the Grandmaster of the Shadow Sect, but also the number one on the Magical World's list of top beauties. Gotta admit, the Chronicler really had good taste.
Hardly anyone had ever seen Orion's face. He always hid behind a mask, so most people assumed the Chronicler had some grudge against him and put him at the top of the list just to spite him.
But when I first saw Orion's face in that secret chamber on the Shadow Sect's mountain, my mind went completely blank. The very first thought that came to me was to hide him away.
Even though I was the daughter of the leader of the Alliance of Light.
Anyway, my father, the so-called Lightwarden, never liked me growing up. I wasn't that goody-two-shoes daughter anymore, always trying to win his approval.
I only did whatever I wanted now.
Maybe I took after my mother. She used her own schemes to keep my father around.
She was even more ruthless than me. She hit my father with a Heartstinger, making him forget all about the woman he was supposed to marry.
After all her relentless chasing, she finally had me.
But she wasn't any good at raising magical bugs. The Heartstinger barely lasted a year before my father's strong power crushed it.
Once he regained his memories, he naturally chose to leave my mother in anger and return to the path he was meant to walk.
But he never expected that five years later, he'd find his own daughter dumped at the foot of his sect's mountain. That daughter was me.
When he saw my face, so much like my mother, he closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and reluctantly acknowledged me. Then he handed me off to the old housekeeper lady to raise.
I was only five at the time, clueless about everything.
My mother liked to wear red dresses and was always covered in silver chains that jingled softly when she moved. When she smiled, her eyes curved into little crescents.
With that smile on her face, she said to me, "Lydia, it's not convenient for me to keep you with me. Go to your father. I'll write to you often."
No matter how much I bawled and threw a fit, crying till I puked, screaming till I fainted, she just grinned and cheerfully bundled me into the carriage.
She slapped the horse's rump, and one of her old flames took the reins, driving me right up to the gates of Stormblade Sect.
And from then on, this place became my home.
*****
The siege on the Shadow Sect's mountain was something the Stormblade Sect had been scheming with the other sects for ages.
The plan went smoothly. They stormed the mountain, cut down a bunch of Shadow Sect disciples, and left their guardians seriously injured.
While I was locked in combat with some Shadow Sect members, I overheard a masked guardian spit that we were despicable, taking advantage of their Grandmaster's Reversion Phase to launch a sneak attack on the Shadow Sect.
Too bad he didn't get to finish his rant before Lucas White took him out with a single slash.
Lucas sheathed his sword and turned to me. "Lydia, you alright?"
His white cloak was stained with blood, and crimson dripped from his blade. Yet with those refined features and warm eyes, even after taking a life, he still looked every bit the elegant young gentleman.
"I'm fine," I said, shaking my head.
He nodded and reminded me, "Stick with the others. Don't wander off."
With that, he made his way toward a striking figure in a sky-blue dress among the crowd.
I stood rooted to the spot, watching as Lucas caught up to Sophia Lane and the two of them moved forward together at the head of the charge. My grip tightened on my sword without me even realizing it.
The other disciples were fighting tooth and nail, all while having to keep an eye on me.
Finally, one of the guys couldn't hold back anymore and shouted, "Lydia, fall back and join the squad cleaning up the leftovers."
I nodded absentmindedly and slipped away from the front lines.