Chapter 1

"Irene, Eli and I really do love each other! Can't you just let us be? We've already slept together. If I don't marry him, how can I ever marry anyone else?"

I could still hear my younger sister, Clara, sobbing as I was still in a daze.

My father, Richard, stood beside her and spoke up for her. "Irene, maybe you could choose someone else as your fiancé. Clara was not thinking straight."

He was always on Clara's side. She was his legitimate daughter born to his legal wife, after all. Meanwhile, I was just the illegitimate daughter he had had during an affair.

I looked at Clara kneeling on the floor. Tears streaked her face pitifully, but the ambition and excitement in her eyes were obvious.

I knew then that she had regressed too. And this time, she had gotten into Eli's bed before I could.

In my previous life, I had chosen Eli, the eldest son of the Valtore family, as my fiancé.

To me, the Noctis family was in decline, the Morven family had fallen into decadence, and the Drago family was arrogant and overbearing. Only the wealthy and faithful Valtore family seemed worthy of my trust.

Six months after marrying Eli, I became pregnant. I gave birth to our son, Seren, an exceptionally gifted boy. As the first hybrid born to a human and a vampire in our generation, he became the alliance's next ruler.

Clara had always wanted a handsome husband, so she chose Lucas, the Morven heir. She had not expected him to be a playboy who constantly flirted with other women. She eventually caught a disease from him that left her infertile, and the Morven family despised her for it.

She blamed me for how her life ended. She was jealous that I had a better life than she did. One night, she secretly drugged my dinner, then set a fire and burned Seren and me to death.

Hatred swelled in my chest as I recalled everything. All I wanted was to kill Clara right then and avenge Seren. I clenched my fists inside my sleeves. The pain in my palms woke me up a little more.

I slowly nodded, hiding my anger behind an expression of understanding. I said, "If Clara and Eli really do love each other, I won't stand in the way of their happiness."

Clara had not expected me to agree so easily. The tears she had forced out lingered awkwardly at the corners of her eyes.

"Get up and thank your sister for making way for you." Richard let out a long sigh of relief and urged Clara.

"Thank... thank you, Irene!" Clara rushed out with a bright smile, eager to tell Eli and the Valtore family the good news.

"Girls grow up so fast. Before you know it, they're getting married," Richard joked. But when he turned and saw my cold expression, the rest of the words got stuck in his throat.

"Irene, there are only two eligible vampire heirs left. Lorian from the Noctis family and Lucas from the Morven family. I still think the Morven family is the better choice. Lucas is handsome, and his family is clearly more powerful than the Noctis family. And as Clara mentioned before..."

I cut him off immediately. "I choose Lorian of the Noctis family."

Humans and vampires alike considered the Noctis family poor and weak. For nearly a thousand years, no human had chosen to marry into the Noctis family, which meant they had never produced a ruler for the alliance.

In the end, they were expelled from the five great vampire families and left at the bottom of vampire society. They were denied even the smallest share of resources.

But in my previous life, as the flames consumed me, the last thing I saw before losing consciousness was a pair of bright golden eyes.

Lorian's eyes.

He had tried to save me.

But the fire was too fierce, and the drug affecting me was too strong. My human body was also too weak. I couldn't hold on long enough for him to reach me.