After Rebirth, I am Sober and Seek Revenge

In the Phoenix Clan, women set off at the century mark after choosing their sacred elixir, destined to face trials alongside their chosen mates.

The Empress lavished Elara with ten carriages of lavish attire and necessities and included rare palace herbs like the eternal frost lotus and millennium dragonroot—treasures mundane within the palace walls but miraculous to the impoverished beast tribes.

Each herb held the potential to heal scores of their people.

To exert her dominance, the Empress demanded the Beast King himself fetch Elara, a move meant to remind him of his fortunate fate in securing such a noble mate.

Elara was the jewel of her eye, the direct heiress of the Phoenix lineage. For the Beast King, being chosen by her was a fortune he could not have earned in many lifetimes.

My destiny was cast in far grimmer terms than in any past life.

Previously, the Empress, fearing boredom from my premature demise, had grudgingly granted me a fragment of herb to cling to life amidst the beasts.

Now, she handed me nothing but a worn sack and hastened my descent from the mountain.

Observing the Empress tearfully clinging to Elara, their reluctance to part palpable, I remained unmoved.

When informed of my death in a past life, the Empress had coldly remarked, "Phoebe was nothing but a cursed child, unworthy of being a queen. That Elara claimed her heart was only fitting."

"Her death was well-deserved. Let us speak no more of her; she brings misfortune."

Labeled as a misfortune, I vowed to no longer grovel for their paltry affection in this lifetime.

Raised in opulence, Elara had always been ensconced above the common fray, unaware of the harsh realities awaiting her among the beasts.

I left the mountain alone, unaccompanied and unmissed.

Fate, however, led me straight into the procession of the Beast King, coming to collect Elara.

He appeared in human form, his dark robes accentuating his unnaturally pale complexion, greeting me with a nobleman's bow.

"Excuse me, lady, might this be the abode of the Phoenix Palace?"

His smile was a warm breeze, yet it sent shivers of ice through me.

Despite rebirth, he was still the specter of my deepest fears, a perfect pretender to virtue.

In my previous life, he had not waited for my coming of age before he chained me to the nuptial bed, tortured me with steel needles, and drank my blood to enhance his own dark powers.

His strength increased, and he fed my flesh to his soldiers, heightening their ferocity without end.

He would harvest my flesh periodically, careful to spare my heart to allow for my regeneration.

Eventually, he tapped directly into the heart's blood for his vile rituals.

Born of the Dragon Lord's second son, Zagan, the Beast King, was inherently cruel and quick to anger, a lover of strife.

Disdaining his own beastly heritage, he despised all realms alike.

Only the sacred blood of a Phoenix could facilitate his ascension; he sought enlightenment not for peace, but to bring ruin.

As I pondered this, a forceful magic swept me aside.

The Empress and a radiantly dressed Elara approached; Elara glanced at me warningly before shyly meeting the Beast King's gaze.

"Forgive this lowly one for obstructing your path, my lord," she said with a demure air.

Despite her demureness, she could not resist admiring the Beast King—handsome in form, yet utterly false.

Zagan studied Elara with a feigned gentlemanly smile, his eyes barely concealing a predatory satisfaction.

"Legends of the Phoenix heiress's beauty did not overstate; to have Lady Elara's favor is a fortune across my many lives. She alone shall hold my heart."

I scoffed inwardly. His heart's allegiance might be questionable, but his side was already crowded.

To him, Elara was merely a divine draught on his path to godhood.

Previously, he scorned my lesser status, surrounding himself with beastly mistresses.

Although I was born with divine essence, empowering his spiritual ascent, his foundation in divinity was precarious. To stabilize his celestial authority, he exalted me to a prestigious station.

He aimed not merely to garner the Phoenix Clan's blessings but to assert his dominance over them, fortifying his divine status through their subjugation.

Unwittingly, Elara, after consuming my heart, sought to bind herself to him as queen.

A divine vessel freely given, Zagan was all too pleased to accept, especially since she could summon the entire Phoenix clan.

A naive girl and a brutal butcher—locked together by fate.

As I started to walk away, Elara blocked me.

"Phoebe, I recall in our past life, the Beast King did not personally escort you down the mountain, did he?"

Pretending ignorance, I replied, "Whatever are you talking about, dear sister?"

Elara looked down on me with scorn, her tone dripping with smugness, "Nothing really, just noting how lonely you looked descending alone. Unlike me, accompanied by the Beast King himself—clearly, he holds me in high regard."

I smiled thinly, "Indeed, so valued that upon learning he'll marry you, he rushed to take a rabbit demon as a concubine. Quite the measure of his esteem."

Elara's complexion turned ashen. "The Beast King assured me, once I come of age and we marry, he will dismiss those concubines!"

"Didn't you once claim no man could ever be truly loyal? Why the surprise now?"

Elara, incensed, raised her hand to strike me, but the Empress intervened, reminding her to maintain her composure before the Beast King.

Elara glared venomously at me. "Phoebe, should misfortune befall you, don't dare beg for my help."

I turned away, struggling to contain my laughter.

This life promises quite the spectacle!