The Forsaken Daughter

Lacus Kingston, the Alpha King of Silverania, was incredibly gratified that I was willing to marry his son, Alaric Kingston. It was just a pity that Alaric was currently away for training. Hence, the marriage ceremony would have to wait until he returned three months later.

On the way back to my room from Lacus' audience chamber in the palace, I overheard the maids around me discussing quietly among themselves.

"Look. That's the daughter of the Astoria Pack's Alpha, Sylvia Holting."

"You mean the daughter of the one who died a year ago? What a pitiful lady."

In their eyes, I was a pitiful person whose father had passed away not long ago.

"Pitiful? Hardly! She's already used this as leverage to request that the Alpha King approve her marriage to Mr. Cardell."

"Ah. I've long heard that she admires Mr. Cardell, but there's no pride in doing things this way!"

"That's right. As the daughter of the Astoria Pack's Alpha, she's completely lacking in dignity."

I listened quietly to their words of slander. Just as I was preparing to explain myself, Perry Cardell appeared before me.

He was furious. "You asked my father to arrange our marriage without my consent, Sylvia! Now the entire country of Silverania knows that you're about to become my wife! Can you not be so selfish?"

I gave him a baffled look. "When did I say I wanted to marry you?"

He scoffed. "Father summoned his ministers just now. He declared that you wanted to marry his son and asked them to hasten preparations for the ceremony. Your intentions are as clear as day."

I was speechless.

Perry was not Lacus' only son. In fact, Perry was only his stepson. When bringing up the topic of Lacus' son, shouldn't his more outstanding biological son, Alaric, be the first person to come to mind?

I explained, "You've misunderstood. You're not the one I want to marry—"

However, Perry cut me off impatiently. "Stop making excuses. I've already heard Father say that all our servants should treat you as courteously as they would treat a princess. Who else would you want to marry if not me?

"Weren't you the one who declared that your wish was to marry me during the celebration of our coming-of-age ceremony back then? Because of that, even a three-year-old Silveranian child knows that you want to marry me now."

Listening to him bring up the foolish things I did during my youth made me feel embarrassed. I certainly did many ignorant and daring things back then, during the time I still felt true admiration for him.

As shame kept me from speaking up, Perry approached me and spoke to me through mind-link. "I've already found my destined mate thanks to the Moon Goddess' arrangement, and I've already formed a bond with said mate.

"I don't mind letting you have the title of princess on the outside, but I'm only going to live together with my true mate!"

I stared at him in astonishment. Something like this had not happened in my previous life.

In my previous life, Perry had gone along with Lacus' arrangements without protest. He had simply formed a bond with me without seeking the Moon Goddess' divine guidance at all. Had this change occurred because he had also been reincarnated?