Chapter 2

The royal garden, which was usually a quick stroll away, now seemed impossibly distant.

Just as I was halfway there, Tristan's personal attendant hurried over to me.

"Your Highness," he said, "His Majesty thinks crawling is too dull, so he sent me to make things a bit more interesting."

As the servants scattered scalding charcoal in front of me, Pamela finally snapped. "Is His Majesty trying to kill Her Highness?"

The personal attendant averted his gazes, guilt written all over his face, but he kept talking.

"His Majesty expected you'd question it," he said. "He told me to remind you that his mother died in a fire. That agony was a thousand, no, ten thousand times worse than this."

I stopped Pamela before she could say anything else, forcing a bitter smile. "I understand. Please tell His Majesty I won't let him down."

The burning charcoal ash sizzled against my skin.

When Pamela saw my knees and calves burned and blackened, she sobbed so hard she nearly passed out.

But I was already numb, so numb I couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

My head was spinning, everything blurring around me.

All I could picture was my children's curled-up bodies.

I knew if I gave in now, my children would never be able to rest in peace.

"Pamela, bring me a bucket of icy water," I said.

When the icy water was poured over my head, the cold seeped all the way to my bones, snapping me back to reality for a moment.

Somehow, I managed to drag myself in front of Tristan.

But I was too weak to stand anymore.

Tristan stared at me, battered and covered in ash, but instead of looking pleased, he frowned. "Even after all this, you still won't beg?

"Laura, you really haven't changed since you were a kid. You're still as stubborn as ever."

If Tristan hadn't mentioned it, I probably would've forgotten that we were once childhood friends everyone envied.

Tristan's grandfather and mine were closer than real brothers.

While they ruled, Tristan and I could meet all the time.

Sometimes, I'd stay at the palace in Midanao for a month or two to avoid the winter chill.

Tristan would come to Tuicaea in the spring to practice riding and archery.

Everyone said we were meant to be together.

Tristan believed it. On my sixth birthday, he gave me a ring.

He called it my early betrothal gift.

He promised that when he grew up, he'd come to Tuicaea and marry me.

He kept that promise.

But on that day, he was the one who smashed that ring.

And with that, he shattered the bond we once shared.

I didn't dare think about it anymore. I didn't want him to see me cry.

I pinched my thigh hard, pretending to be calm.

"Your Majesty, I've done what you wanted," I said. "Can I have my children's bodies back now?"

Tristan reclined on the couch, a cold, emotionless smile lingering on his lips.

He nonchalantly pointed at the roasting meat over the fire. "You're late. There wasn't enough deer meat to go around. So I tossed the two little ones onto the fire as a substitute."

Hearing that, the tears I'd been holding back finally burst out.

The only thing that had kept me together was shattered completely in that moment.

"Tristan, you're inhumane!" I screamed.

I summoned every ounce of strength I had and crawled toward him.

But before I could reach him, a cold blade pressed against my throat.

Tristan crouched in front of me, the sharp edge of his dagger slicing a thin line across my neck. Blood trickled down the blade and dripped onto the floor.

"Laura, you really think you can kill me?" he sneered.

With my eyes wide and wild, I stared at him, my voice trembling with fury and grief as I hissed, "Our children were innocent! They never did anything wrong!"

Tristan's eyes were ablaze with hatred.

"That year, my baby brother was ripped apart by those Outrarean soldiers in his crib. They ate him and drank his blood," he shouted hoarsely. "Tell me, what did he ever do to deserve that?!"

I was speechless.

That year, Tristan's grandfather died, and his ambitious father sent troops to invade Tuicaea, aiming to swallow up the strategic Sadcester region.

Tuicaea was hit by a disastrous drought, and with no generals left to command, my father was forced to seek help from Outrarean.

But Outrarean had its own schemes. While Midanao and Tuicaea were still negotiating, they launched a sneak attack and stormed straight into Midanao's capital.

In a single night, Midanao became a scene straight out of hell, nothing but carnage and chaos everywhere one looked.

By the time my father got the news and rushed in with his army, all he found was severed limbs and broken bodies.

From then on, Midanao and Tuicaea fell apart, locked in a blood feud that would never end.

Seeing I was speechless, Tristan thrust the dagger into my palm, his movements abrupt and intense.

He seized my wrist, pressing the tip of the blade firmly against his own chest.

"Do you hate me?" Tristan demanded, his voice raw. "Then stab me right here!"

I couldn't match his strength, so with a fierce resolve, I twisted hard and broke my own wrist.

"Tristan, even if I die, I'll never give you a reason to invade Tuicaea," I growled.