Chapter 1
I was the Gulissons' true heiress raised by wolves, and when the family finally found me, they asked me to take the fake heiress's place in an arranged marriage to the desert's most feared warlord—a man they called Hades.
He was said to drink blood and kill without mercy, a monster who ruled the borderlands with an iron fist.
The fake heiress begged me through tears to save her, claiming that since I grew up wild in the mountains, I'd be surely tougher than she could ever be.
My blood relatives all nodded eagerly, hoping I'd agree to this sacrifice.
I did as they wished and nodded my consent.
Later, when they saw I was thriving in my new life, they tried to send her to replace me.
But they didn't know that Hades was fiercely protective of what was his, and anyone who tried to take me away would face a fate worse than death.
*****
When the Gulisson family found me, I was still living like a wolf, tearing into raw flesh and lapping up warm blood.
They pinched their noses, their eyes full of disgust.
"Look at the state she's in. Bringing her home would only dirty our doorstep," Bernard Gulisson, one of my real brothers, sneered.
Tom Gulisson, my other brother, shrugged. "What choice do we have? If she doesn't come home, no one can take Kimberly's place in this marriage arrangement.."
As the heirs of the Gulisson family, the two of them should have been my dearest older brothers, yet they had me chained up like I was a wild animal.
Their blatant contempt toward me was unmistakable; they wouldn't even bother to give me a clean change of clothes.
Disheveled and grimy, I arrived at the Gulisson residence, only to see Kimberly Gulisson, the girl raised in my place, being pampered like a princess.
Kimberly wore a satin dress—the latest fashion—its surface shimmering with shifting hues, like morning dew dancing under the sunlight.
She had delicate features. Upon seeing me, she curtsied with a sweet smile and greeted me.
That year, we were both just fifteen years old.
Kimberly treated me very well. She dressed me in lovely dresses and taught me how to speak, read, and write.
At night, during thunderstorms, she would sneak into my bed, crawling up from the foot of the bed. Blinking her round eyes, she would cling to me and whisper, "Lovetta, I'm scared. Can we sleep together?"
I naively believed that Kimberly truly saw me as her sister, that even if the whole Gulisson family disliked me, she'd always be on my side.
Little did I know, all her kindness was just for that engagement.
King Adelio decreed that the heiress of the Gulisson family would be married off to Dominik Sears, the Marquess of Romdale, in the borderlands upon turning eighteen years old.
On the day of our eighteenth birthday, an eunuch arrived at the Gulisson residence bearing the wedding gifts decreed by King Adelio.
The Gulisson family shoved me out into the scorching summer sun, their eyes gleaming with venom.
Everyone knew Dominik was not a kind person. He was a merciless killer who feasted on blood and gore.
Those who had seen him claimed he bore a demon-like visage—so hideous he wore a mask year-round to spare others the sight.
He reveled in slaughter, massacring countless innocents, earning him the infamous title: the Hades of North Romdale.
For years, Drieso had been unable to rein him in, resorting to political marriages to keep him pacified at the borderlands.
This was already his fifth marriage.
Kimberly had long been chosen by King Adelio to marry Dominik.
The night the decree was announced, Kimberly wept until dawn, and her eyes turned swollen from crying.
Finally, the wet nurse who had raised her since childhood could no longer bear to see her suffer. She knelt before the elders of the Gulisson family and revealed the truth.
It turned out Kimberly wasn't the real heiress. On the day my mother gave birth at the church, I was kidnapped by bandits.
The wet nurse, terrified of punishment, grabbed a random infant to pass off as me.
Members of the Gulisson family beamed when they learned of my existence.
They were glad that someone else could take Kimberly's place and suffer in her stead. Despite the blood ties, I couldn't compare to Kimberly, whom my parents had spent years raising as their own daughter.
Kimberly knelt before me, her face a mask of sorrow, and begged.
"Lovetta, I simply can't endure that kind of misery," she sobbed.
I stared at Kimberly in silence, then reached out to wipe the tears from her face.
"I'll go in your place," I said.
I knew I had no choice.
Growing up among wolves, I learned one thing early on: you could never disobey the alpha wolf.
Right now, the delicate Kimberly was that alpha wolf.
If I dared to resist, I'd starve.
On the eve of my wedding, torrential rain lashed down once again.
Kimberly slipped into my bed, her round eyes glistening as she clung to my arm.
"Lovetta, do you hate me?" she whispered, her features appearing delicate in the flickering candlelight.
"I can't go, Lovetta. I truly can't. But you're different—you grew up among wolves. You must know how to handle someone like him way better than I ever could," she mumbled.
As she rambled on, tears kept streaming down her face.
Outside, thunder roared across the sky. Frightened, she tried to burrow into my arms again.
But my instincts took over. I shoved her away.
"Lovetta, you do hate me after all, don't you?" Kimberly's voice broke again with a choked sob.
"I don't know what hatred is," I said.
I was just a wolf pup, and I'd only been at the Gulisson residence for three years.
In these three years, I'd learned to speak and write, but when it came down to human emotions, I was still completely clueless.
At this moment, I instinctively recoiled from Kimberly's touch.
Thunder crashed outside, and Kimberly curled her lips.
"Cut the act! You loathe me to the core," she said coldly.
She lifted her gaze, those once-teary eyes now eerily calm.
"At least I made you human again. Without me, you'd still be tearing into raw flesh," she stated.
I wasn't surprised by Kimberly's sudden shift. All I did was give a faint nod and say, "Then I should thank you."
I thanked her for sending me down a path of no return and for pretending to ask for my forgiveness, just so she could enjoy her glamorous life without a shred of guilt.