Chapter 1

"Lyra, your sister brought a man back!"

I groggily opened my eyes as Jade Black grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.

Bitter wind and snow hit my face, making it impossible to keep my eyes open. Ever since the frozen apocalypse a hundred years ago, Earth had entered an ice age, and wind and snow had become the norm.

Most of the world was covered in ice and snow, resources were scarce, and terrible blizzards occurred from time to time. Our serpent clan had migrated several times to survive, and the entire clan had finally settled in this barren wasteland.

When Jade and I arrived, Damien Hunter was holding my sister's hand as he lay on the makeshift bed the clan had built.

"I am willing to offer 10 thousand gold pieces to marry Briar Vale."

Jade looked envious and whispered in my ear, "Briar is so lucky. This man..."

"Is the crown prince of the Ice Wolf pack, the Northern Plains royal family," I interrupted.

"How did you know?"

Because in my previous life, I was the one who saved him.

I stared at his face, hatred boiling in my chest. In the frozen apocalypse, the beastmen struggled to survive in the ice and snow. The serpent clan had lost their territory several times and became the lowest rank, but the Ice Wolf pack had dominated and ruled thanks to their natural physical advantages.

However, their pack valued males over females, so their females were scarce. They could only marry outside the pack with heavy gold payments.

In my previous life, after Damien and I married, we lived happily as newlyweds until I gave birth to my first daughter. When he heard that it was a girl, he didn't even look at her and had the maids take her away.

"Raising daughters in the royal palace will bring bad luck. Once you give birth to a son, we'll have someone bring her back."

I missed my daughter so much that I wanted to cry every day, but as a powerless beastwoman from a foreign clan, I had no options except to keep trying to have offspring.

I prayed to every deity and consumed folk remedies and secret medicines. I disregarded my own health to get pregnant year after year, hoping to give birth to a son so my daughters and I could be reunited. But I only gave birth to daughters.

The Wolf King despised me for being unable to produce a male heir. He made me kneel in punishment daily and follow strict rules. Damien also changed from being considerate at first to either beating or scolding me.

Later, after I gave birth to yet another daughter, Damien completely lost his mind. He brutally killed my newborn daughter by throwing her to the ground right in front of me.

I held my daughter's mangled body in grief and despair, grabbed a pair of scissors, and fought him desperately. But after years of repeated pregnancies, my body was weak and fragile.

He easily grabbed my neck and slowly crushed my windpipe. He told me that the daughter who had been sent away had already died of illness long ago. Everything went black before my eyes, and I violently coughed up blood and died.

After my death, he threw my and my daughter's corpses into the wilderness to be devoured by hungry wolves. He then ceremoniously married Briar, who was five months pregnant.

Damien was focused on getting sons to inherit the throne, but I learned that I had awakened the Creator Goddess bloodline after my death, and my daughters would have inherited ancient power to end this apocalypse.

But they never even had the chance to grow up because they died at the hands of Damien, the beast!

I clenched my fists, wanting nothing more than to rush out right now and kill my enemy with my own hands. At that moment, Briar, who was in his arms, suddenly turned her gaze toward me, her eyes filled with smugness and satisfaction.

"Lyra, you look upset. Are you upset with Briar?" Mother walked over and pinched my arm hard while Father shot me a reproachful look. I suppressed my hatred and shook my head.

Briar turned to look at Damien, her smiling face bright with blatant mockery.

"Your Highness, you probably don't know this, but my sister has a terrible personality. More importantly, the oracles in our clan once said she was cursed to only bear daughters.

"Unlike me. I only give birth to sons."

Damien glanced at me with disgust and pulled Briar closer. Then, as if remembering something, his gaze lingered on me for a long moment before he spoke.

"I have a younger brother with a rather odd temperament. He's crippled in one leg, but he'd be a perfect match for your sister. How about I arrange their marriage today?"