Chapter 1

I was born unusually fertile, and that was exactly why the former Crown Prince Rylen Stormont tossed me aside. He called me lowborn and claimed my fertility would only be a burden to his family. He broke off our engagement without a second thought, and after that, my whole family treated me like a curse.

With nowhere left to turn, I was taken in by Kael Stormont, the Regent who held all the power in the country.

Everyone in Aetheris laughed at me, saying I was nothing but a lowly plaything, destined to be used and thrown away. But Kael fell for me at first sight and made me the only woman he ever cared about.

Kael's grandmother, the Dowager Duchess Genevieve Stormont, treated me like a treasure, saying the Stormont family had been missing someone like me, someone who could bring good fortune and bless the house with heirs.

Less than two weeks after moving into the Regent's manor, the physician confirmed I was carrying twins. The entire Stormont household was ecstatic, and the rewards stacked up like mountains.

When Rylen heard the news, he was so wracked with regret he nearly smashed his head against the wall. He showed up begging for a second chance, but Kael stripped him of his title, ruined him, and threw him out of Aetheris for good.

Who would have thought the very fertility everyone had scorned would become my greatest blessing?

Now, having given birth to two sets of twins in three years, I held my place firmly as the Regent's consort. Everyone who once humiliated me now bowed and begged for forgiveness.

*****

My name was Freya Frederick.

For three whole months, my name was the biggest joke in all of Aetheris.

It all started on that cold, early spring morning.

Out in the woodshed at the back of Frederick Manor on Westwood Street in Aetheris, I was once again being whipped with a cane by my stepmother, Penelope Frederick. The blows left my skin raw and bleeding.

"You worthless bitch! If you hadn't made such a fool of yourself, the Frederick family wouldn't be in this mess!" Penelope's shrill voice cut through the thin wooden walls. "The Crown Prince broke off the engagement, and now all of Aetheris is laughing at us!"

I clenched my jaw, refusing to let even a single whimper escape.

The cane seared my back like a branding iron, but the pain in my heart was even worse.

Rylen, the man who once swore he loved my gentle and graceful nature and promised to make me his crown princess, had publicly broken off our engagement just two weeks ago, right in front of the entire court.

His reason was simple. As the eldest daughter of the Frederick family, I was born with an unusually fertile body. He claimed that made me unworthy of becoming the crown princess.

The whole city was buzzing with rumors that the royal physician had diagnosed me as unusually fertile, saying I could easily bear twins or even more.

For an ordinary family, that would be a blessing beyond measure. But for the royal family, it was a mark of shame.

"The Crown Prince said marrying someone as fertile as you would flood the royal bloodline with children and drag it down," My half-sister, Lila Frederick, leaned against the doorframe, her voice sugary sweet but every word sharp as poison. "Don't blame me, Freya. If you want to blame anything, blame your luck. You were born beneath everyone, born to be nothing."

I closed my eyes, and tears finally rolled down my cheeks.

Not because it hurt, but because I was dead inside.

My father stood outside the door. I heard him sigh before he commanded, "Lock her up. I'll decide her fate once I've made up my mind."

The door was bolted shut from the outside, leaving me alone in the woodshed with nothing but a few rats for company.

Three days later, I was shoved into a rickety old carriage and sent off to Havenbrook Convent, 15 miles outside Aetheris.

"Freya, this is for your own good," my father's voice floated through the curtain, thin and wavering. "Just lay low here for a while... once the gossip settles down..."

He didn't even finish his sentence when the carriage pulled away, leaving me behind.

Seraphina Hale, the abbess of Havenbrook Convent, gave me a cold, hard stare. "Miss Frederick, life here is austere. I hope you will devote yourself to spiritual practice and leave all worldly attachments behind."

They stuck me in a crumbling shack all the way in the back, and every day I was forced to haul water, chop wood, wash clothes, every backbreaking task they could find.

After a month, I was nothing but skin and bones.

One morning, I was washing clothes by the river, the icy water stinging the frostbite on my hands.

"Did you hear? Crown Prince Rylen is going to marry the daughter of Cedric Flynn, the minister." Two women who had come to the convent to pray whispered to each other, their voices drifting on the wind.

"Miss Flynn is so proper and virtuous. That's what a crown princess should be like. Not like that Frederick girl before, ugh, so fertile, she's basically just a..."

A what? A brood mare?

I kept my head down, my nails digging deep into my palms.

As dusk settled in, I trudged back to the convent with a basket overflowing with firewood, only to spot Seraphina standing in the courtyard beside a woman decked out in fancy clothes.

"That's her," the woman said, eyeing me up and down like I was nothing more than goods for sale.

It wasn't until later that I learned she was the mistress of some rich merchant in Aetheris. She'd been barren for years, and when she heard there was a cast-off woman at Havenbrook Convent with a body made for bearing children, she wanted to buy me as a concubine, hoping I'd finally give her husband a kid.

That night, under the cover of darkness, I fled Havenbrook Convent.

The world was endless, but not a single corner would take me in.

I spent two days and two nights on the run, starving and dizzy, until I finally found myself on the main road just outside Aetheris.

A luxurious carriage approached slowly, surrounded by a heavy guard detail. Its occupant was clearly a person of extraordinary status.

I tried to move out of the way, but days of hunger made my legs buckle beneath me, and I crashed down in the dead center of the road.

"You! How dare you block the Regent's carriage? Do you have any idea what happens to people who get in his way?" one of the guards snapped.

I tried to get up, but my body was so weak I couldn't even move.

The carriage curtain was swept aside by a hand with long, elegant fingers.

In that moment, I caught sight of those eyes.

They were deep as a winter lake, cold, mysterious, and somehow able to see straight into my soul.

It was Kael, the Regent himself.

By the time I was brought to the Regent's manor, I was barely hanging on, one foot in the grave.

The last thing I remembered before passing out was Kael's cool voice. "Bring her to the manor. Call for a physician."

When I finally came to, I found myself lying in a clean, warm guest room.

Someone had changed me into a simple cotton gown, and my wounds were bandaged and treated.

"You're awake, miss?" A round-faced maid entered, carrying a bowl of medicine and smiling brightly. "I'm Lily White. The Regent sent me to take care of you."

"I... the Regent..." My voice was hoarse and barely audible.

"He's at court," Lily said, helping me sit up so I could take the medicine. "You were out for two whole days and nights. We were all so worried about you."

The medicine was bitter, but it sent a gentle warmth through my body.

My heart was filled with unease. Kael was the most powerful man in the country. Even the Emperor had to give way to him. Why would someone like him save a woman like me, cast aside by my own family?

Three days later, I finally met him.

In the study at the Regent's manor, Kael was seated at his desk, reading a book.