Chapter 1

After the War of the Gods, Olympus forged a new pact with the last of the Titans.

From then on, the mortal realm was ruled by demigods. Those who carried the blood of the gods within them.

Once a century, Olympus held the Sacred Marriage.

The twelve ruling gods would choose mortal noblewomen as brides.

Their goal: to sire heirs with divine cores.

The rule was simple: whoever birthed a demigod first would see her husband crowned the next High Councilor of the Gods.

In my past life, I married Deimos, the son of Ares, a man renowned for his fierce devotion.

Soon after, I gave him a son—a demigod brimming with raw power.

A prophecy declared our boy would one day rule Olympus, and Deimos rode that promise to absolute power.

Meanwhile, my sister Evadne, blinded by the beauty of the Sun clan, insisted on marrying Lucian, Apollo's playboy heir.

But Lucian's philandering left her with more than a broken heart.

He gave her a divine blight, a curse that left her barren.

She blamed me for it. She hated me with every fiber of her being.

On the very night I was crowned Queen of the Gods, she set the holy temple ablaze, burning me and my son alive.

Then I opened my eyes.

I was back on the day of the Sacred Marriage.

Evadne had already broken into the temple and climbed into Deimos's bed.

I knew it right then. She had been reborn, too.

But she didn't know the truth.

The blood of the War God is violent.

Deimos wasn't a prize to be won. He was a monster in disguise.

...

"Please, Ianthe. Deimos and I... we gave ourselves to each other last night. On the altar of the War Temple."

Evadne sobbed, tears rolling down her pale cheeks.

"Deimos said he only loves me. His divine soul burns for me alone," she looked up, her voice trembling. "I know he was promised to you, but you can't fight true love. Please, let me have him!"

I almost laughed. She played the victim, but couldn't hide the frantic ambition in her eyes.

Yes, she had been reborn, too. That was the only reason she thought climbing into Deimos's bed was a winning move.

"Ianthe, what's done is done. Let it go," my father snapped, breaking the silence. "Once a divine mark is made, mortals cannot defy it."

He looked at Evadne with nothing but pity. But when he turned to me, his eyes were dead cold.

"If you cling to this engagement, you'll only humiliate our family in front of the gods."

I stared coldly at my father. He was always biased. Growing up, he always made me give Evadne whatever she wanted. Just because I was the motherless older sister, and she was the golden child he had with my stepmother.

In my past life, I chose Deimos. I thought he was safe. The Hades line was too cold, the Apollo line too fickle, the Zeus line too arrogant. Only the War clan, known for loyalty and devotion, seemed safe.

Six months into our marriage, I got pregnant. Then I gave birth to Tristan, a fiercely powerful boy. As the first demigod born from the Sacred Marriage, Tristan naturally became the next leader of the High Council.

Meanwhile, Evadne was obsessed with Lucian's pretty face. She used to parade him in front of me just to gloat.

"How can a brute like Deimos compare to Lucian? He's gorgeous. He radiates sunlight, and his gentleness in bed is something a savage war god could never learn."

But she never expected Lucian to be such a player. He slept his way across Olympus and left her with a curse that made her barren. She lost any chance at power. She blamed me for her misery and envied everything I had.

Then came that night. She drugged me and burned Tristan and me alive with divine fire.

Just thinking about it made my blood boil. I wanted to kill her right here, right now, to avenge my son. I clenched my fists inside my sleeves. The sharp pain in my palms kept me grounded.

No. Killing her now would be too easy.

"Fine. You can have him." I nodded calmly. "If you love Deimos that much, I won't stand in your way. I wish you both the best."

Evadne's tears stopped instantly. She practically jumped for joy. She smoothed out her dress and sprinted out of the room without even a "thank you," clearly eager to tell Deimos the good news.

"That girl..." my father chuckled, watching her leave. He turned back, saw my deadpan stare, and dropped the smile.

"Ianthe, I'm glad you're being so reasonable. As for your marriage... I have a plan." He walked to the window. "Perseus, the eldest son of Poseidon, has always liked you. Lucian, Apollo's heir, has also shown interest. They are both high-ranking, especially Lucian—"

"I'm marrying the heir of Hades."

My father froze. "What?"

"Orion. The eldest son of Hades. I'm going to marry him."

"Are you insane?" My father spun on me, horrified. "Hades? Ianthe, their house rules the land of the dead. Every other god shuns them. They don't even get any divine resources! They've sunk so low that..."

"So low that what?"

"That they can't even maintain basic divine dignity!" he pleaded desperately. "You'll suffer if you marry him! Pick Lucian or Perseus. They can give you wealth, status..."

"My mind is made up," I said flatly. "It's Orion."

I knew what most people thought. Hades meant death and rot. That prejudice bled over to his heirs.

For thousands of years, no noblewoman had ever married into the Underworld. Because of that, they never produced a High Councilor. They were shut out of Olympus's inner circle, forced to the absolute bottom of the food chain, starved of power.

But in my past life, as the divine fire consumed me, I saw a pair of silver eyes. Orion's eyes.

He was the only one who tried to run into the flames to save me, risking the fire's backlash. The blaze was too strong. He couldn't reach me.

But his charred fingertips reaching for me, the single silver tear that struck the ashes... that was the only warmth I felt in my final moments.