Chapter 1

I stood in the great hall of the Dragon Court, the pain in my chest from my last death still not entirely gone.

"Vera Watson really is lucky. She's only a lowly black serpent, but somehow the crown prince chose her."

"After this, her status in the Serpent Clan may even rise above her sister's. Maybe if she bears a little dragon, His Highness will grant her a dragon core and let her ascend."

I looked at Adrian Draven standing before me, and hatred rose in my heart.

So Heaven had taken pity on the wrong done to me and given me the chance to live again.

Just like in my last life, Adrian had chosen me during the bride selection. King Aurelius sat high above us, his expression displeased.

"You are my most promising son. Are you truly willing to defy me for a lowborn black serpent?"

Adrian suddenly stiffened. In the next breath, he flung my hand away with disgust written across his face.

"Father, I was confused just now. How could I possibly marry a filthy, lowly black serpent?"

I understood at once.

He had been reborn too.

In our last life, when King Aurelius questioned him, he had chosen me without wavering. The king, furious, had driven him from the Dragon Court.

More than ten years after our wedding, I finally became pregnant and gave birth to a tiny black serpent. Adrian was enraged.

"The forbidden book clearly said you carried primordial power. Why did you still give birth to a lowly serpent?"

He smashed our baby on the ground, then pierced my heart with his sword.

Now that he had returned to the past, of course he would not repeat the same mistake.

Adrian said coldly, "I mistook this wretch for Princess Celeste of the Serpent Clan.

"The one I wish to marry is the auspicious white serpent, not this black serpent who only brings misfortune."

Among the Dragon Court, status was judged by the color of one's scales. The most honored were the golden dragons, followed by crimson, azure, white, and finally the black dragons at the very bottom.

Golden dragons appeared perhaps once in a century. Even in this life, Adrian was the only golden dragon.

In my previous life, my sister Celeste had married the second prince and given birth to a rare golden dragon, helping him seize the throne.

I watched Adrian pull Celeste to the center of the hall. Her face could not hide her surprise and delight.

She leaned shyly into his arms. "Thank you for your favor, Your Highness. But you already chose my sister just now. If you change your mind now, won't she be heartbroken?"

A deep venom surfaced in Adrian's eyes.

"A shameless servant who doesn't know her place deserves only to kneel and wait on you. If she displeases you, throw her into the pit and feed her to the venom bugs."

Celeste lowered her eyes, all meekness and grace. "Since Your Highness cares for me so much, may I ask for one wish?

"I want to arrange a marriage for my sister as well."

Adrian did not object. "A thing like her has been abandoned by me. No one else will want her. You're too kind."

A flash of cruelty passed through Celeste's eyes.

Because Father loved my mother, I had received more affection than she had, even though I was only a black serpent.

And just now, Adrian had chosen me first. To Celeste, that was humiliation.

She smiled innocently and pointed to a dark corner below the platform.

"If no one wants her, then let her marry that lowborn worm servant."