HAUNTING EMILY

"Clarice, Jacob and I truly love each other. Can't you just let us be together? We've already shared a bed. If I don't marry him, how could I ever marry anyone else?"

In a daze, I heard my younger sister Bella crying out.

Father stood nearby, speaking up in her defense. "Clarice, maybe you could choose another fiancé instead. Bella just made a mistake in a moment of poor judgment."

He had always been biased toward Bella. After all, she was the legitimate daughter of his official wife, while I was merely the illegitimate child from one of his affairs.

I looked at Bella, who was kneeling on the ground. Though her face was streaked with tears and full of pitiful sorrow, the ambition and excitement in her eyes were unmistakable.

I knew then: she had been reborn too. And this time, she had made it to Jacob's bed before I did.

In my past life, I had chosen Jacob, the eldest son of the wolf clan, as my fiancé. I saw the serpent clan as cold-blooded and unfeeling, the fox clan as frivolous and unfaithful, and the dragon clan as proud and arrogant. Only the wolf clan, known for their loyalty and devotion, seemed worthy of trust.

Six months after marrying Jacob, I got pregnant with our child. And then, I gave birth to a half-beast white wolf, our son Tristan.

As the first half-beast child born from the human-beast union, Tristan naturally became the next leader of the Human-Beast Alliance.

Bella, enamored by the fox clan's beauty, had chosen their heir, Lucien. But she didn't expect him to be a shameless womanizer, constantly entangled with other lovers.

Eventually, she contracted a disease because of him—one that left her infertile and scorned by the fox clan.

She blamed me for her misfortune, jealous that I had lived a better life than she did. One night, she drugged me in secret and set a fire that burned both me and Tristan alive.

At the memory, hatred surged in my chest. I wanted nothing more than to kill Bella right then and there and avenge Tristan.

I clenched my fists inside my sleeves. The pain in my palms sobered me slightly.

Then I slowly nodded, masking my fury with a look of understanding.

"If Bella and Jacob truly love each other, I'd never stand in the way of their happiness."

Bella hadn't expected me to agree so easily. The tears she had squeezed out now hung awkwardly at the corners of her eyes.

"Bella, get up now. Hurry and thank your sister for stepping aside," Father urged, clearly relieved.

"Th-thank you, Clarice!"

Bella beamed as she rushed out, eager to bring the good news to Jacob and the wolf clan.

"Girls really do grow up and slip away too quickly," Father joked. But when he turned and saw the cold indifference on my face, his voice faltered.

"Clarice, among the eligible beast clan heirs, only two remain: Draco of the serpent clan and Lucien of the fox clan. I still think the fox clan would be a better match—better looks, higher status, clearly superior to the serpent clan.

"Besides, Bella once said—"

I cut him off. "Father, I choose to marry Draco of the serpent clan."

To most humans, snakes were cold-blooded and heartless, and that prejudice extended to the serpent clan beastmen.

For thousands of years, no human had ever chosen to marry into the serpent clan. As a result, they had never produced a single ruler for the Human-Beast Alliance.

Eventually, they were cast out from the ranks of the five great beast families and reduced to the lowest tier of the beast clans, denied even the smallest share of resources.

But in my past life, as the fire consumed me, I saw a pair of emerald-green eyes—Draco's.

He tried to save me.

But the flames were too fierce, and he… could do nothing.