Chapter 1

After that faithless man abandoned her at the altar, my sister spent her days in gloom.

To coax a smile out of her, I gave her spirit stones, gave her an immortal manor, and even arranged for her to study under a master of relic-crafting as his disciple.

She was timid and withdrawn, so I threw away my own pride running around on her behalf, asking every immortal friend I had to look out for her.

My husband, the God of War, was far from pleased.

"A useless thing who can't even stand on her own two feet will only cause you trouble. She isn't even your blood. Do you really have to worship her like some ancestor?"

For the first time, I turned on him.

"Della Bennett matters a thousand times more to me than any so-called blood tie. When you're cruel to her, you're looking down on me!"

Later, when I spent a year in the untamed wilds putting down a rebellion, Aiden Crawford sent someone to deliver 199 relics to me.

When he reached me through the water mirror, his mouth curved with that proud little tilt.

"There. All ordered from that foolish sister of yours. I've been so supportive of her. Aren't I obedient?"

I was so moved I thought it was a concession born of his love for me.

I fought to win early and come home, desperate to be reunited with him sooner.

Only to walk in on Aiden and my sister, tangled together in our own bedchamber.

"Aiden, I made another relic for my sister. When we're finished, remember to have someone send it over, or my conscience won't rest."

"You've already given her 199 for free. You've spent so much of your spiritual energy on this. It breaks my heart. I was the one who chose to love you. You don't need to wrong yourself like this."

My whole body went rigid.

So those 199 relics were the tally of every time they had done this behind my back.

...

I sat alone in the courtyard the whole night through.

The servants watched my face and, trembling, crept in to change the water round after round.

Seven times in all.

The sounds of the two of them never stopped, not for a moment.

Not until dawn, when Aiden's sated voice finally drifted out of the bedchamber.

"Someone come. My wife wore herself out last night. Come in and help her dress."

Hearing that word, I let out a soft laugh.

The maid carrying the water was so frightened she dropped the basin on the spot and knelt on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

The two inside heard the noise, and after a moment, the door finally opened.

At the sight of me, both Aiden and Della froze.

They saw the 199 relics laid out neatly in the courtyard, and the servants kneeling all across the ground.

Della's face shifted, and she pulled up a smile and came toward me.

"Sister, when did you come in? Didn't you say putting down the rebellion would take two years? How is it over already?"

"I, I twisted my ankle last night, and Aiden said you kept fine immortal elixir in your room. I didn't mean to, I just got drowsy and fell asleep. He only came to see if my injury was any better..."

A pretext that clumsy and probing didn't even earn my attention.

"If I hadn't won early and come home, I might never have known the mistress of this War-God manor had already become you."

I tipped my chin toward the relics.

"Aiden seems well served, or you wouldn't be giving me so many gifts."

"Is this the tribute a concubine pays her rightful wife in advance? How very thoughtful of you."

Della went white in an instant.

"Sister, you've misunderstood, I never meant to..."

Before she could finish, her tears were already falling.

Aiden pulled her behind him, shielding her, and frowned.

"Janice Griffin, I was the one who went after her first. There's no need to blame her. This is your sister, not your enemy."

As he spoke, a faint killing edge rose off him.

It was the same air Aiden carried on the battlefield, facing an enemy.

Now, it seemed, it was my turn.

Yet when he turned to wipe Della's tears, nothing was left in him but tenderness.

"There now. Go home and wait for me. I'll come to you once I've dealt with this."

The words scraped my throat raw.

He called Della's dwelling home. Then what was this place, where we had lived together for almost a hundred years?

Della glanced at me warily, nodded, and in the end left without a single word of explanation.

I looked at the lovebirds sachet hanging at Aiden's waist.

One glance and I knew Della's needlework.

"As I recall, you never liked wearing these. Too womanish, you said. No dignity in it."

Aiden lowered his eyes, brushing the sachet, and his whole face warmed.

"Jan, you always used to say I was single-minded, that I couldn't bend. Now I've finally learned to change, and it feels surprisingly good."

"And of all those changes, the one that pleases me most is falling for Della. You'll understand, won't you?"

The irony of it hit me at once.

Once, the Heavenly Sovereign had teased Aiden on purpose.

"You're the God of War of the Ninth Heaven now, and still you keep only to General Griffin. How dull. Shall I take a few beautiful fairies into your household for you?"

Aiden's answer had been respectful and unshakable.

"I'm a stubborn man. Having set my heart on Jan, I would never so much as glance at another woman. If Your Majesty forced someone on me, I would sooner blow myself apart than disappoint Jan by a hair."

And now, without changing his expression, he was asking me to understand his betrayal.

Aiden seemed lost in some sweet memory.

"When you first left for the untamed wilds, the lovers' festival happened to come around. I remembered what you'd asked of me, so I went to visit Della."

"Everyone outside was paired off, and only she sat alone in her courtyard, holding that pair of sachets and weeping. Strangely, I wasn't annoyed. I ached for her instead. I even lost myself enough to share a meal with her and float a lantern, and I couldn't bear to leave her alone. That was when I knew my heart had turned."

My breath stopped short.

It was that day?!