Chapter 3

When we got back to the estate, my father shut himself in and wouldn't come out. My mother, on the other hand, was overjoyed. She kept saying how blessed I was.

This time, she threw a grand garden party in the name of the future Imperial Consort and invited every powerful noble family in the capital.

When I tried to refuse, she looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"This is the last little bit of time we'll have together as mother and daughter. I just want one lively celebration!"

But I'd never forgotten the sight of her on her knees, begging me in my previous life.

So before the party, I swallowed dozens of anti-parasite pills. Then I even cut my own body open on purpose. Only after I'd made sure no beetles crawled out did I dare attend.

At the garden party, everyone was busy flattering my mother and me. The place was bustling.

After a few rounds of wine, my mother suddenly collapsed. She foamed at the mouth and shook uncontrollably.

I held her in my arms and did everything I could to revive her. It took a long time before she came to.

But the first thing she did when she woke was point at me and sob.

"Elara, I know you're vain and set on becoming Imperial Consort. That's why I've kept quiet all this time and protected your secret affair with the coachman.

"So why are you still using hex beetles against me? Do you want to torture me to death so I can never speak again?"

With that, she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

In the blood was a swarm of hex beetles. The moment they hit the ground, they scurried eagerly toward me.

They clung affectionately to my hand, as if they'd found their master.

Gasps swept through the crowd.

The ladies who had been fawning over me moments ago now kept their distance, staring at me strangely.

I was even more shaken.

In this life, I'd killed the beetles inside my body. I'd guarded against everything, and my mother still had another way to frame me!

But I wasn't their master. So why were they drawn to me?

Before I could think it through, my father rushed over and kicked me hard in the chest, sending me crashing to the ground.

"You animal! Your mother gave everything for you. She knew you were a loose woman and still covered for you, and you'd kill your own mother with hexcraft just for wealth and status? Are you even human?"

"I didn't curse her!"

I struggled to my feet and faced him.

My refusal to admit anything only enraged him more. He pointed at the beetles clinging to my hand, shaking all over.

"The proof is right here and you're still lying? Today I'm going to teach you a lesson!"

He grabbed a heavy brass inkwell and hurled it at me.

I tried to dodge, but my mother threw herself on me and held on tight, crying.

"Elara, I know you've been secretly breeding beetles. You've lost your way. It's all my fault for spoiling you. That's why you've done something so terrible!

"But you can't keep going down this path. Apologize to your father. Stop being so stubborn!"

While she was busy pinning the blame on me, the inkwell smashed into my temple.

Blood poured down my forehead, and everything went red. But the pain in my heart was worse than the wound.

The last trace of warmth I felt for her disappeared. I tore free from her grip and glared at her with hatred.

She tried to throw herself at me again, but the look in my eyes drove her back. She could only hover where she stood.

"Elara, how could you hate your mother? Everything I've done has been for your own good!"

Seeing me refuse to repent, the ladies couldn't sit still any longer. They sided with my mother and heaped scorn on me.

"And they called her the most accomplished young lady in the capital. Never mind the affair with a coachman, she'd even harm her own mother. What good is talent without character?"

"Oh, please. A talent for breeding beetles to hurt people is worse than no talent at all! A menace like her can't be allowed into the palace to endanger His Majesty. I'll petition him to withdraw his decree right now."

"That's not enough. She tried to take her own parents' lives. By the laws of our empire, she should be paraded through the streets and then drawn and quartered. We can't let her go!"

Things were getting worse by the second. I knew I had to prove my innocence, or my rebirth would be for nothing!

Just then, someone flashed past outside the gate. I ran straight after him.