Chapter 2Posthumous Conquest

The gruesome sound of flesh being rent echoed in the frigid air, and a sharp, involuntary gasp of pain escaped me. Just as I was about to drive the blade deeper, an unexpected resistance stopped it, preventing it from piercing further. Warm blood splattered onto my face, and I opened my eyes in disbelief. Corbin had seized the blade with his bare hand, blood gushing from his palm like a winding river.

I caught a fleeting glimpse of panic in his eyes, but before I could truly register it, he wrenched the sword from my grasp. “Elara, haven't you put on enough of a show?! To burden Charlotte with ill omens, you'd even disregard your own life? You truly are beyond ruthless!”

Though Corbin had intervened in time, the blade had still grazed my neck. I clutched my bleeding wound, a bitter sneer lacing my voice. “Ruthless, am I? Then why, Lord Corbin, did you stop me? Why didn't you just let me die?!”

At my challenge, Corbin's lips pressed into a tight line, a flicker of discomfort crossing his face. But quickly, contempt returned to his gaze. “Your movements were clumsy just now, weren't they? Were you not waiting for me to intervene? If you truly wished to die, Elara, no one could have stopped you!”

His words ignited a furious, derisive laugh within me. “Clumsy movements? My knees are shattered, Lord Corbin! And for whom did I shatter them?!”

Those three agonizing hours kneeling in the snow had left my knees with an irreversible affliction. Back then, Corbin had stood by my sickbed, promising me, word for word: “My Elara, from this day forward, I will be your legs.” Years had passed, and now, he had clearly forgotten that vow.

As if a forgotten memory stirred within him, Corbin's hand clenched into a tight fist. “If you know the agony of crippled legs,” he retorted, his voice strained, “then why did you cripple Charlotte?!” Hearing him still convinced of my guilt, still clinging to the narrative that I was the orchestrator of Charlotte's misfortune, I closed my eyes in weary resignation.

Noticing the blood still trickling from my neck, Corbin roughly pulled me into his arms. “Charlotte's coronation is almost upon us. If you die, you'll only bring ill luck upon her celebrations.” He spoke with brutal pragmatism, then, disregarding my struggles, dragged me directly to a grand hall in the southernmost part of the Royal Palace.

The path grew increasingly familiar, and a grim realization dawned: Corbin was taking me to Master Eldrin, the Grand Seer of Solara.

Inside the Seer's Sanctum, Master Eldrin stood, robed in flowing white, an ethereal figure reminiscent of a celestial being. He was meticulously grinding herbs in a mortar. Hearing footsteps, he assumed it was a palace attendant, and his voice held a gentle, almost tender quality. “Take the balm I've just prepared to Charlotte. Do not tarry.” However, the moment his eyes landed on me, Master Eldrin's gentle expression vanished, replaced by stark fury.

“You wretched blight! Who permitted you to escape the Shadow Wing?!”

Hearing Master Eldrin repeatedly brand me a 'blight,' my mind drifted back eight years. The Solaran Kingdom was weakened then, and in a bid for peace, they sent their Crown Prince, Alaric, to my homeland, Veridia, as a hostage. With him came Master Eldrin, the sole heir of the renowned Eldrin family, famed throughout the lands for their prophecies and healing arts. Due to Solara's diminished standing, both Alaric and Eldrin had endured harsh lives within the Veridian royal court. Master Eldrin, in particular, was often tormented by other princes for his constant fascination with herbs and poultices.

One day, Eldrin was lured into an isolated manor where fierce, exotic beasts were kept. I, heedless of my own safety, had drawn my bow and, without hesitation, shot down the wild wolf just as it was about to tear into him. That day, after I helped him to his feet, Eldrin stared at me blankly for a long moment before finally whispering: “Princess, are you the divine being sent from the heavens just for me?”

But with Charlotte's arrival, everything changed. Charlotte, who hailed from the southwestern territories, insisted on keeping venomous insects and serpents within the Seer's Sanctum, leading to numerous attacks on the palace staff. When I suggested eradicating those dangerous creatures, Charlotte's eyes welled up, and Eldrin, his brow furrowed, immediately confronted me on her behalf.

“Charlotte merely seeks a sense of home within this vast Solaran Palace,” he had snapped. “Why must you be so relentlessly aggressive?!”

Later, when Charlotte framed me, Master Eldrin brazenly fabricated a divination, branding me a 'blight' and leaving me to be scorned by all.

Hearing Corbin's accusation that I was attempting suicide, Master Eldrin merely cast a cold glance at the wound on my neck. “You would resort to any means to contend with Charlotte,” he sneered. “A woman like you? How could you ever willingly embrace death?”

“Corbin, do not be deceived by her…”

But before he could finish, I thrust my hand directly into the cage where he kept his venomous pythons. The moment he registered my action, the pestle in Master Eldrin's hand clattered to the stone floor.