Chapter 1

As dragon shifters, we choose our fertility blessing when we come of age.

When it is finally my sister Ella’s turn and mine, our father, the head of our House, places The Ancestral Blessing and The Brood Blessing before us—one believed to be the strongest, the other the weakest.

Ella chooses The Ancestral Blessing without hesitation, leaving The Brood Blessing to me.

When it is time to choose our mates, she even convinces Prince Adrian, the man she loves, to take me with them, making me nothing more than her companion in his House.

But a year later, the dragon she gives birth to shows no ancestral awakening at all.

It is only a low-ranking black dragon.

Meanwhile, with The Brood Blessing, I give the royal family several heirs and earn the Dragon King’s favor.

Before long, I am treated far better than Ella.

Then, during one of my pregnancies, Ella offers to take care of me.

Instead, she drives a knife into my stomach and twists it again and again, killing me and my unborn children.

When I open my eyes again, I have been reborn.

This time, Ella grabs The Brood Blessing first.

Then she convinces Father to send me to the lowest-ranked Ash Dragon House.

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Dragon females from our House possess rare fertility blessings, which makes us highly sought-after mates among the other Dragon Houses.

Father is the head of our House, and he does not want anyone accusing him of favoring his own daughters.

So he deliberately brings out one of the strongest blessings and one of the weakest.

Young dragons from powerful Houses have already arrived.

They are only waiting for Ella and me to make our choices.

“The Ancestral Blessing and The Brood Blessing,” Father says. “Ella, Emma, choose for yourselves.”

Two spheres of violet light float in front of us.

The moment Father finishes speaking, Ella reaches straight for The Brood Blessing.

Father’s expression immediately darkens.

He clears his throat, obviously trying to stop her.

“The Ancestral Blessing can awaken the ancient bloodline within your mate or your offspring,” he explains seriously. “Any child born under this blessing will have a chance to awaken a bloodline stronger than their parents’.”

Then he looks at the other sphere.

“The Brood Blessing only allows you to carry more eggs at once. The more heirs you carry, the more diluted their bloodline may become.”

Dragons care more about bloodline than almost anything else.

The stronger and purer the bloodline, the greater the dragon’s power and status.

Father is clearly warning Ella.

Having more children means nothing if their blood is weak.

He wants her to choose The Ancestral Blessing.

When he notices me watching him, Father looks away awkwardly.

“Emma, Ella is the elder sister. Let her think it over and choose first.”

He is always like this.

He favors Ella because she looks more like him and has always been livelier than I am.

In my previous life, I would have felt hurt.

Now, I simply wait for Ella to make her choice.

The moment she reaches for The Brood Blessing, the blessing she has always looked down on, I know for certain.

She has been reborn too.

Sure enough, no matter how much Father tries to persuade her, Ella still reaches for The Brood Blessing.

“Father, I think The Brood Blessing is perfect,” she says. “A big family sounds wonderful.”

Violet light wraps around her arm and sinks completely into her body.

A satisfied smile immediately appears on her face.

Then she turns to me with a mocking look.

“See how good I am to you, little sister? I even left you the strongest fertility blessing.”

I almost laugh at how foolish she is.

She has just handed the strongest blessing directly to me.

In our previous life, proud Ella chose The Ancestral Blessing, leaving me no choice but to take The Brood Blessing.

Back then, she looked down her nose at me.

“Only pigs are proud of having that many babies, Emma. You should be embarrassed to have The Brood Blessing.”

Funny.

Now that she is the one who wants it, suddenly it is different.

I smile and pretend to be grateful.

“Then I really should thank you, Ella.”

“But carrying so many eggs at once can be hard on the body. You should be careful.”

Ella immediately lets out a cold laugh.

“You should worry about yourself.”

“If no one wants you, you might not get the chance to have children at all.”

She grabs my arm and quickly pulls me toward the doors.

The young dragons who have come to choose mates have been waiting in the main hall for a long time.

The moment Ella and I walk in, their eyes light up.

One of them immediately asks,

“So what fertility blessings did the two princesses receive?”