The Wraith Queen's Vengeance Reborn from the Cold Palace

Smashed to death against the ground.

I drove the silver needle into my chest without so much as a flicker of expression.

Not a trace of pain crossed my face.

Only the fury buried deep in my soul.

Perhaps it was this deathly, silent obedience that finally pricked at something guilty inside Dana.

His brow furrowed. His expression softened. He was just about to speak.

Then Lucretia Harding appeared, dropping to her knees without preamble, her voice fragile and trembling:

"Your Majesty, this is all my fault. I failed to protect our sister's child."

"I've been plagued by nightmares, unable to sleep. This is the punishment I deserve..."

"I only beg that our sister show mercy and stop cursing this poor child's spirit. Let the little one rest in peace."

A few sentences, and she'd turned every drop of blame onto my sister.

My gaze went cold. Killing intent churned behind my eyes.

Dana, who had been on the verge of relenting, moved to her side almost instantly, pulling her up and gathering her into his arms.

"Lucretia, why are you kneeling to her again?" His voice was thick with tenderness and edged with anger. "You are the Empress now. She is nothing."

"She's the one steeped in malice. You have no reason to lower yourself. I will see justice done for you."

He bent down and brushed the dust from her knees, his touch gentle, as if handling something infinitely precious.

Then he raised his head and looked at me.

"Guards! Consort Blackwood has forgotten her place. Hold her down and make her kneel before the Empress. She will confess and beg forgiveness!"

I watched the two of them perform their little act, and a cold smile curved slowly across my lips.

"You both truly..."

"Deserve to die."

My sister Clarissa and I were born as Twin Souls sharing one body.

Even in the womb, whenever our mother felt the slightest discomfort, Clarissa would push me aside and take control.

As children, every time a dark thought stirred in me, she threw herself in the way to stop it.

When I was five, I grew so sick of my father's distant cousin that I spent three consecutive nights creeping toward her with a knife, intent on slitting her throat.

The first night, Clarissa threw herself off a wall.

The second night, Clarissa jumped into the well.

The third night, Clarissa stabbed herself.

Arlene Henson stared at the knife in my hand and collapsed weeping into my father's arms:

"How has your wife raised this child to be like this?"

My father was beside himself with rage. At Arlene's urging, he summoned an exorcist.

The exorcist declared me a malevolent spirit. He drew up a Soul-Scattering Formation with great ceremony, intending to obliterate my soul entirely.

It was Clarissa who shoved me aside, seized control of the body, and wrapped her own soul around mine so that not a shred of harm touched me.

When I was ten, I tried to have Arlene Henson's daughter sold off.

That daughter was none other than the oh-so-delicate Empress Lucretia Harding standing before me now.

That time, even our mother was shaken.

Terrified our enraged father would beat us to death, she rushed us to Celestine Abbey.

The sacred light there seared me, keeping me from taking control of the body.

But Clarissa would sneak down the mountain to call me out, letting me taste the joys of the world beyond.

It was also at that abbey that she met Dana, then still a young imperial heir.

A sudden fire engulfed Celestine Abbey, turning the sky black with smoke and flame.

Clarissa charged into the inferno and shoved Dana to safety, only to collapse herself, her strength spent, surrounded by fire.

I was pinned down by the sacred light, unable to move an inch. I endured the searing agony in my soul and dragged myself to the threshold.

In the end, it was the cold and ruthless Ninth Prince, Roy Griffin, who pulled me out at the last moment.

Clarissa fell in love with the imperial heir. I fell in love with the Ninth Prince.

But the two of us could never go on living like that forever.

Our parents made a pact with us.

Whichever sister's beloved became Emperor would be the one to claim the body from that day forward.

Everyone poured everything they had into placing Dana on the throne.

The Ninth Prince, Roy, was sent to the Northern Frontier to guard the border.

Clarissa married the man she loved, just as she'd always wished.

I believed she would live happily ever after.

But now?