Chapter 1

"Your Majesty, my daughter Elara is not a maiden. Her red chastity mark disappeared long ago!

"To raise her as Imperial Consort would trample the dignity of the throne. I beg Your Majesty to withdraw the decree!"

My father's frantic plea rang in my ears.

I froze.

I was alive again.

I had returned to the very day my father accused me of no longer being a maiden.

In my previous life, after I was chosen as Imperial Consort, I asked His Majesty for permission to summon my father to the palace. Once a woman entered the palace, she might never see her family again, and I'd only wanted a proper farewell.

Instead, the moment my father, Lord Edmund Ashbourne, saw me, he ran before the throne, struck the petition drum to demand justice, and accused me of having lost my chastity.

I'd been stunned by the absurdity of it, but I wasn't foolish enough to confess to something I'd never done. I fought desperately to defend myself.

"Your Majesty, before I came to the palace, I lived a sheltered life at home. I never even met men outside the household, much less had an affair with one!

"Besides, if I'd entered the Emperor's choosing already ruined, I'd have been destroyed the moment anyone found out. Why would I take that risk?

"Once Your Majesty consummates our marriage, you'll know for certain whether I'm untouched!"

The Emperor's anger began to cool, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then my father lunged at me.

He tore my sleeve to shreds and exposed my bare white arm.

Holding up my flawless arm, he wept and begged the Emperor's pardon.

"Look, Your Majesty! Elara's chastity mark is gone. She truly has lost her virtue.

"She may be my daughter, but I'm loyal to my sovereign. I can't stand by and watch her deceive you!"

Before I could say another word, he slapped me across the face.

"Wretched girl! Confess and accept His Majesty's punishment!"

I had no defense left.

My father stripped away my consort robes with his own hands.

The furious Emperor sent me straight to the palace prison, where they put me through every torture they had.

I went from a celebrated Imperial Consort to a harlot everyone spat on. The torturers broke all ten of my fingers. I wished I were dead.

But I couldn't understand it.

I was still a maiden. So why was my chastity mark gone?

And why would my own father spread lies that ruined my life?

At least my mother believed me when I came home.

When my mother, Lady Margaret Ashbourne, saw my battered body, her heart broke. She swore she would prove my innocence.

She gathered every elder of our house and led them in a great procession to the petition drum, meaning to ring it and demand justice for me.

Just when I was full of hope that my name would be cleared, my mother suddenly dropped to her knees in front of everyone. She pressed her forehead to the stone again and again, her face full of fear.

"Elara, I swear I'll never tell anyone about you and the coachman!"

"Please stop using your hex beetles to torture me. I can't take it anymore!"

Then she collapsed, convulsing on the ground in agony.

The crowd erupted.

I rushed to help her up, insisting I'd never cursed her.

My father charged forward and kicked me down. He took a knife and sliced my body open.

Swarms of hex beetles crawled out of me.

Everyone stumbled back in horror.

His eyes bloodshot with rage, my father pointed at me and roared.

"You didn't do it? Then where did these beetles come from?

"The proof is right here and you're still lying? You're shameless and vicious. I have no daughter like you!"

Blood poured from my wounds. Drawn by the smell, the beetles went into a frenzy, tearing at my flesh.

I writhed on the ground in pain. Even that wasn't enough for him. He picked up the drumstick from the ground and brought it down on me again and again.

Only when I was on the verge of passing out did he disown me, with the elders' backing, and lead my mother away.

When I had nowhere left to go, my brother Julian, who had always doted on me, arrived just in time and took me to the frontier.

On the battlefield, enemy soldiers ambushed him. I used my own body as his shield and took dozens of sword strokes, holding on until reinforcements arrived.

But the first thing Julian did when help came was pull out letters proving I'd committed treason. He pointed at me and shouted.

"I took her in out of kindness, and she conspired with the enemy to kill me. When I survived, she even tried to curse me with her beetles..."

His words sent the soldiers into a rage. They raised their swords and closed in to cut me down.

Dragging my broken body, I knelt and begged my brother to spare me.

He only looked at me coldly.

"You deserve to die."

In the end, they hacked me to pieces. I died a miserable death.

Until my last breath, I couldn't understand why the family who had loved me more than anything would do this to me.

But fate had given me a second chance at life.

This time, I would uncover the truth and get justice for myself.