Chapter 1

At my eighteenth wedding rite with my fiance, everyone was taken away by my adopted sister again.

When the temple herald came hurrying over, his voice was anxious and edged with impatience.

"Lyra's stomach illness has flared up again. The king and queen have gone with her to Apollo's temple for treatment. Handle the wedding yourself. It has been canceled so many times anyway. You have experience."

Lina, the beloved songstress of the Muse temple and the closest friend I had grown up with, clicked her tongue.

"Can your wedding vows possibly matter more than Lyra's pain? She almost fainted from it, and you still expect us to stay here? When did you become so cruel?"

As for my fiance, Phaethon, the youngest chariot commander under Ares, he did not even send anyone to explain in person.

He only had an attendant deliver a word.

[The wedding is postponed. Another time.]

Another time.

I repeated those words over and over in my heart.

He had dismissed me with those words eighteen times.

A laugh tugged at the corner of my mouth. Suddenly, all of it felt utterly pointless.

"Moirai."

"Cut every thread of fate between me and them."

A familiar voice came from the depths of the temple, like a spindle turning, like the Fates whispering.

"As you command. Cleione, daughter of fate, every character's bond to your golden thread has been severed."

"In three days, they will lose everything they possess because of you."

"Including their lives."

---

Watching the three-day countdown appear on the Loom of Fate, I took the bronze staff the priest handed me and walked up to the wedding altar covered in violets.

My wedding, and yet the altar was filled with Lyra's favorite flowers.

How laughable.

"My apologies, everyone. Today's wedding rite is canceled."

The nobles and priests below exchanged glances. No one asked a single question.

"I knew it would be canceled. After all these years, not one of her weddings, big or small, has ever gone through. If I were the elder princess of this kingdom, I wouldn't even show my face."

"The whole royal family dotes on the younger one. If it were me, why would I keep fighting my own sister? I would just give him to her. At least then I wouldn't be a laughingstock across the entire city-state, and I might even earn a reputation for generosity."

"What do you know? The elder princess is no ordinary woman. Whenever Phaethon rejects her, the Phaethon family's warships sink the next day, and their armories catch fire. After losing several cities testing it, he finally settled down and agreed to marry her."

I left under everyone's pitying stares.

As I listened to their whispers, the curve of my mouth turned sharp with irony.

This time, it would not be as simple as a few sunken warships.

After changing out of my ceremonial robes and returning to the palace, I meant to gather a few things and leave.

But just as I reached the door, I ran straight into a group of people returning with Lyra at their center, talking and laughing around her.

The moment they saw me, every smile vanished.

Anger rose in Phaethon's eyes, and his voice carried open blame.

"Cleione, why didn't you explain properly when you canceled the wedding? If you don't make things clear, that's your fault. Now everyone will start suspecting it was because of Lyra again."

My father, the king, curled his lip and ordered,

"Cleione, you handled this badly. We never had to worry about temple announcements for the previous cancellations. This time you have disappointed me. Go swear before the city-state at once and say it was your own willful behavior that offended Hera."

Lina immediately took out a speaking stone engraved with the mark of the Muses.

"I'll have the bards and gate scribes spread the word right away. There is still time for Cleione to admit fault. Then we can have people in the market curse her a little more, and no one will speculate about Lyra."

Faced with their accusations, I said nothing.

I only looked silently at the threads of fate before me, visible to no one but me.

Two days left.

Then they would be finished.

"Cleione, why are you standing there in a daze?"

Phaethon walked up to me, his voice thick with impatience.

"Let me tell you, if you don't fix this properly, I can't promise when the next wedding rite will be."

Lyra finally spoke, soft and fragile.

"It's all my fault. I delayed Brother Phaethon's and Sister's wedding. I ruined everything."

"There are still auspicious days at Hera's temple this month. Please don't postpone it again..."

Before she could finish, she began coughing.

Phaethon rushed over at once and rubbed her back.

"This isn't your fault. Don't overthink it. Your sister will never be able to leave me in this lifetime. It makes no difference when we marry."

"Then you've overestimated yourself."

At last, I spoke my first words in a cold voice.

Several faces froze.

I lifted the bundle in my hand. "I'm leaving."

The words had barely fallen when, in the next second, a sharp slap rang through the entire palace hall.