LOGINThe sisters rushed to comfort Clara."Clara, don't listen to him. We all have pillows like that.""That's right. Those pillows aren't anything special. Every one of us has one."They looked at her with concern in their eyes. It was always easier to dismiss something when it hadn't happened to you personally. Distance made it feel safe.Oscar turned to the group. "That's right. Every one of you has one."Amara, your pillow carries a faint sandalwood scent. Is there any smell left in it? Did your migraines start coming back around the time the scent disappeared?"Diana, yours is lavender. You've been having trouble sleeping, haven't you? Vivid dreams. Is there any scent left in it?"Giana, what does yours smell like? A faint green note. That's dendrobium."He named them one by one. With each name, the corresponding face changed. What he described had always been there, unnoticed, like a constant no one ever thought to question.It had seemed natural and self-evident, but had any
"In the end, your father concluded that no ordinary child was possible. That was when he stopped trying." There was no trace of humor in Oscar's tone.The sisters pressed their lips together.Was that really all there was to it? It seemed impossible. No one could predict the course of a person's entire life from infancy. Besides, the traits he had described were hardly extraordinary. Didn't most people end up more or less the same way as they grew older?Oscar continued, "Your father always told me that the reason you all turned out this way was that each of you was born missing something. That's why he brought me in as his adopted son."He said I possessed a natural abundance that could compensate for what each of you lacked. I never fully understood what he meant. But after I left, I did."He was telling the truth. You wanted to know what I did for this family? Then come and see."Oscar drove his foot into Clara's door.The villa was large enough that not all the bedrooms were
Amara's expression remained impassive. "My headaches are nothing worth talking about. And all that nonsense about using blood as a medicinal catalyst? That's ridiculous."She had drunk Oscar's herbal tonic, and the pain had eased somewhat, but she refused to credit his blood for it. This was a modern country, not a feudal village. She wasn't a child who had never opened a book."Fair enough. Ridiculous. But doesn't it strike you as equally ridiculous that all nine of you sisters were born with something wrong?"The sisters exchanged glances. A thoughtful look passed across their faces.All nine of them carried some kind of ailment. They had never examined that fact directly before. Now that it had been placed before them, they considered it and realized it was true."What are you implying?" Amara asked with a frown.Getting sick was normal. She suffered from migraines, but those were the result of overwork and constant stress. Everyone who worked hard these days got headaches.H
Someone standing right beside Amara had achieved her ultimate goal and lifelong dream long ago. Yet he had never told her. He had simply stood there in silence, watching her make a fool of herself.Who could possibly take that in stride?Although Amara now knew Oscar's true identity, it inspired neither awe nor reverence. If anything, it brought her closer to losing control.Oscar emerged from his thoughts. He didn't understand what Arthur had been thinking. However, when he put himself in Amara's position, he could see it clearly enough. If he had stumbled across marriage contracts like those, he would have assumed they were forged as well.What father would want all of his children married to the same person? It looked calculated. It looked like the work of someone with an agenda.Amara had found her justification for driving him out. Still, that justification did not give him any reason to forgive the family."Revenge on the family? Please. Do you really think you're worth tha
Amara recognized the Dracobsidian Guard uniforms.Arthur had served in the Dracobsidian Guard during his younger years. He had eventually left the order and settled in Silverton. Drawing on everything he had learned there, he became a man of influence in the city, founded the Chamberlain Group, and built the family into what it was today.Robert had once tried to join the Dracobsidian Guard and been rejected. The setback had never left him. Some believed it was the beginning of everything that had eventually gone wrong within him.If she remembered correctly, the Dracobsidian Guard served as the personal entourage of the Draconox Archon.Amara felt herself sway slightly as she looked at Oscar. "You are... You're the Archon of the Draconox Order?"If Oscar was the Draconox Archon, then everything made sense. Caleb had spoken up for him. He had gone out on a limb to defend him in public. Then, the moment Caleb offered that support, Solareon had dispatched the Centurion Trade Consort
Oscar frowned. "If I wanted your family, why would I need a scheme like that?"Then he looked at Amara. Something shifted in his chest. He had an absurd realization. 'This is real?!'"You're telling me you drove me out because I forged marriage contracts? Because I wanted to marry all nine of you?" he asked in disbelief.Amara wouldn't meet his gaze.Clara nodded without hesitation. "Jason was just an excuse. The real reason Amara made that decision was the marriage contracts. "Oscar, we are your sisters. You had thoughts you never should have had. Are you saying we were wrong to drive you out?"As the words left her mouth, Clara felt something loosen in her chest. The suffocating pressure of the last hour had made it feel as though the family stood on the losing side of this confrontation.Now she remembered the simple truth at the heart of everything between them and Oscar. The family had driven him out not out of cruelty, but because he had been the one in the wrong.Amara ke







