I am Rowan, Oracle of the Verdant Clan. The Exiled Prince, Reed, spent three years banished to the Verdant Wilds. That I claimed him, bending his will to mine, became the greatest stain on his honor. Years later, he seized the throne, then personally led his armies to conquer the Verdant Clan. The day he burst into my chambers, the Blight within me flared, a torment worse than death. His fingers clamped around my throat, his voice a ragged growl. “Back then, you cruelly toyed with me, then cast me aside. Do you regret it now?” Fighting the agonizing gnawing of the blight-worms in my heart, I managed a brittle laugh. “Reed, you are the Emperor now, master of all lands. Could you perhaps find me a root of ancient ginseng?” “Still unrepentant!” He dragged me back to Crownsgate, subjecting me to endless torment. But he never knew that, all those years ago, when he lay dying from the poison... ...it was I who invoked the Soul-Link Parasite, drawing the venom from his veins into my own. Now, I was dying. 1 I woke in the dank darkness of the dungeon, the first thing I saw a gnarled root of ancient ginseng beside me. A jolt went through me, my heart a tangled knot of emotions. My trembling hand reached for it, but then a heavy boot slammed down, pinning my wrist to the cold stone. Reed stood cloaked in shadow, his gaze as bleak as winter. “Rowan, when you shamed me, did you ever imagine this would be your end?” I looked at Reed, a thousand thoughts swirling, but the words that spilled from my lips were a desperate plea. “Reed, I need so many ancient herbs. Will you… will you help me again?” The words hung in the air, and a spark of fury ignited in Reed's glacial eyes. He ground his boot down on my wrist, a cruel twist. “Three years, and that's all you can say to me? Do you truly believe I am still the broken prince you once commanded so carelessly?” Agony, sharp and splintering, shot up my arm, draining my face of what little color remained. A bitter, hollow laugh escaped me. “You are Emperor now. If I didn't speak like this, your Empress might misunderstand, might think I still harbored lingering affections for you.” At my words, Reed's movement faltered, his expression twisting into something ugly, discomfited. Everyone knew he and Empress Isolde shared a love profound and enduring, a bond forged in shared struggle. The next moment, he crushed the ancient ginseng beneath his heel, pulverizing it. “Rowan, you dare presume!” He seemed poised to do more, but Isolde, who had been waiting outside the cell, gently grasped his arm. Isolde stood tall, her tone dripping with mock pity. “The esteemed Oracle of the Verdant Clan, now a common prisoner. How utterly pathetic. But had you not been so blind, had you not tormented Reed so relentlessly back then, you wouldn't be in this wretched state! Were it not for Reed's and my wedding today, a day for no bloodshed, I would have had you torn apart a thousand times over.” Only then did I notice. Reed and Isolde were clad in robes of vibrant, blinding crimson, the color of celebration. I bit my lip, silent, as memories, sharp and painful, flickered through my mind. Six years ago, Reed, the disgraced prince, was banished to the Verdant Wilds. It was then that I, Rowan, found myself captivated by him at first sight. I pursued him relentlessly, and we fell into a love that consumed us. Reed and I, all we truly wanted was to be a simple couple, to live out our days in quiet peace. But alas, Reed's status as a disgraced prince made him a target. Assassins, wave after wave, hunted him without end. During one such attack, Reed was struck down by a potent poison, one with no known cure. The only hope lay in the Soul-Link Parasite – a forbidden ancient ritual to transfer the venom from his body, a life for a life. … The blight-worms gnawed at my very flesh, my heart a raw, aching wound. I snapped back to the present, watching Reed lean down to press a tender kiss to Isolde's forehead, his eyes overflowing with affection. “Had she not betrayed me so cruelly, I would never have found you,” he murmured. “To have a wife like you, what more could a man ask for? The auspicious hour is upon us. Let us not be delayed by her.” The ceaseless ache in my heart tightened its grip, stealing my breath. I turned my face away, unable to watch. But Isolde's gaze lingered on me, a chilling smirk playing on her lips. “Reed,” she purred, “wasn't she your former wife? For our wedding, why don't we invite her to add... a touch of entertainment?” … Reed hesitated for only a breath, then nodded. At his command, guards seized me, dragging me roughly toward the grand hall. Crimson silks draped every surface, and the air throbbed with the rhythmic beat of drums and gongs. Reed and Isolde stood side by side, bowing in their wedding rites, as the assembled courtiers offered their congratulations. My eyes, betraying me, stung with unshed tears. Reed and I, too, had once exchanged vows. In the Verdant Clan, it is the women who lead the lineage. As Oracle, I was destined to take a husband, never to be given away. The world whispered that I had forcibly claimed Reed as my husband, merely to humiliate him. They never knew it was his own choice. He had said that if it meant being with me, he would willingly become a pledge-husband, bound to my clan. And besides, he was then a mere commoner, stripped of all ambition, seeking only to grow old by my side... All those memories, now they felt like a fleeting dream, a mirage shimmering in the heat. Isolde's voice, laced with malicious intent, drifted down to me from the dais. “I've heard tales that the Oracle's blood can repel all blight-creatures. Is it true? Reed, I should like to see it for myself.” Reed was silent for a long moment, then uttered a single, chilling word: “Good.” At his assent, a terrifying cold seeped into my very bones. The next instant, I was seized and flung into a massive wooden vat, teeming with all manner of venomous creatures. A writhing tide of blight-worms surged towards me, their mandibles tearing at my skin. I writhed on the floor of the vat, screaming in agony. My blood flowed freely, and wherever it touched the blight-worms, they shriveled and died. But even so, a relentless flood of creatures continued to swarm, gnawing at my flesh. They were ravenous, a hunger driven to madness. I bit down hard on my lip, yet fractured, desperate wails still tore from my throat. Reed rose abruptly, his face a mask of terrible darkness. “Enough!” Tears streamed down my face, and then, mercifully, the pain consumed me, dragging me into unconsciousness. Memories flashed through my mind like a frantic, spinning kaleidoscope. Six years ago, Reed lay on the brink of death, consumed by poison. I invoked the Soul-Link Parasite, allowing the blight-worms to draw the venom from his body into mine. Though I used the clan's ancient magic to suppress the Blight within me, clinging to life, I couldn't halt its inexorable spread through my very being. My fate was sealed; death was a certainty. Yet I knew Reed loved me to his core. If I perished, he would surely follow, sacrificing himself in grief. So I used every cruel trick I knew, shattering his heart. I even entwined myself intimately with another man, right before his eyes. I told him he was a mere commoner, his lineage too lowly to ever be worthy of the Oracle of the Verdant Clan. I declared I was bored with him, that I wished only to sever all ties. To this day, that scene remains burned into my memory: Reed, who even after being stripped of his princely title and exiled to the frontiers, had never once bowed his head to another... knelt before me for the first time, pleading with me not to leave him. The day I banished him from the Verdant Wilds, the Blight within me flared, a torment so excruciating it felt like death itself. The Blight in my body would surge every seven days. If he had remained by my side, I could never have hidden it from him. Thankfully, he was gone. I lingered in the simple wooden cabin we had once shared, clinging to a thread of life for three long years. I heard he had reconnected with his former allies, returning to Crownsgate. I heard he had found a deep affection with Isolde, the General's daughter, swearing eternal vows to her. I heard he had seized the throne, crowned Emperor. All the while, my body grew weaker, so frail I struggled to walk even a short distance. I never imagined Reed and I would meet again. The moment my eyes fell upon him, I understood: these three years of painful struggle had been for this last glimpse of him. He didn't know the Blight had long since permeated my very bones, my flesh, which was why the blight-worms died the instant they touched me. Now, I was truly dying. … When I next opened my eyes, I found myself lying in the cold, desolate chambers of the neglected wing. A palace maid roughly smeared salve on my wounds, her tone laced with undisguised disgust. “It's ill-omened to shed blood on a wedding day,” she spat. “That's the only reason His Majesty spared your wretched life. Now that the Emperor and Empress are celebrating their new union, your death will come the moment he deigns to remember you.” A bitter smile touched my lips. I could only hope my failing body would last until Reed came to see me again. In the days that followed, the maidservants deliberately tormented me. My wounds, far from healing, festered and worsened. The maid made no secret of it. “The Empress said,” she announced, “just keep a breath in her. Nothing more. After all, His Majesty wishes to deal with you himself.” A sudden, sharp pang shot through my heart. So Reed truly hated me that much, wished to kill me with his own hands. Perhaps it was for the best. To die by Reed's hand would surely be less torment than succumbing to the Blight's relentless agony. But I never saw Reed. Instead, I saw someone who should never have been there: Rhys, the Sacred Son of the Verdant Clan. The day Reed marched his armies against the Verdant Clan, I had ordered Rhys to lead our people deep into the Shrouded Mire, a part of the Verdant Wilds. The Mire was cloaked in venomous miasma, teeming with monstrous creatures, a place armies dared not tread lightly. And I, alone, had remained to face the empty city. Reed had come for me. As long as I was here, he wouldn't relentlessly pursue my people. Rhys saw my battered form, his eyes burning crimson with anguish. “Why didn't you tell him, all those years ago, that it was you—” I cut him off. “What's done is done. What meaning is there in speaking of it now? When I decided to conceal the truth from him then, I never intended for him to learn it.” Rhys looked at me, his gaze brimming with pain, his voice raw. “Rowan, I'll take you away.” I shook my head. “There's no need. Go, quickly. Don't let a dying woman drag you down.” Rhys's eyes trembled violently. “There's still hope! I will find a way to save you!” Ignoring my protests, he swept me into his arms. Suddenly, the heavy doors of the desolate wing crashed open. Reed stood there, his face carved from ice, his eyes radiating a glacial chill that cut to the bone. Isolde's voice was dripping with scorn and venom. “What a truly devoted pair you are, risking your very lives to rescue your beloved. Presumably, in the Oracle's heart, the Sacred Son is her one true love. Otherwise, she wouldn't have abandoned Reed for him three years ago.” Her words seemed to ignite a fresh spark in Reed, reminding him of my supposed abandonment for another man. Reed's jaw clenched, his voice a tight, grinding rasp. “Rowan, you are just as you were three years ago! The humiliation you both inflicted upon me then, I will never forget. Guards! Seize this treacherous pair! I will have them torn apart, piece by piece!” The guards drew their blades, surging forward in a rush. With my last ounce of strength, I pushed Rhys away. “Go quickly, don't mind me!” “Rowan, I won't leave you!” Before he could finish, the guards swarmed him, dragging him down. Meanwhile, Reed's hand closed like a vice around my throat. His voice, chilling as frost, whispered against my ear. “What do you take Crownsgate for? A place you can waltz in and out of as you please?” I gave a bitter laugh. “What is between you and me has nothing to do with him. Will you let him go?” The next instant, the hand at my throat tightened, veins bulging, and the suffocating darkness began to swallow me, inch by agonizing inch. Reed's eyes blazed crimson as he hissed. “You show kindness to everyone else, so why do you reserve all your cruelty for me?” … I had no strength left to struggle, so I simply closed my eyes, the agony overwhelming. The next moment, Reed flung me violently to the ground. My already fragile body, unable to bear the impact, spasmed, and I coughed up a mouthful of blood. Rhys struggled furiously, but Reed's boot pressed down hard, pinning him. Isolde stepped forward, feigning a look of pity. “Reed, it seems they are indeed two hearts deeply intertwined. Since that is the case, why don't we fulfill their desire and let them die together?” At her words, Reed seemed to grow even more enraged. The blade in his hand hovered dangerously at my throat as he sneered. “Between you and him, only one can live. Which one will it be?” My heart felt like ash, and I closed my eyes, resigned. I was a dying woman. Why should another innocent life be sacrificed? The blade at my throat trembled violently, tracing a thin line of blood. I flinched at the sting, my brows furrowing, and opened my eyes. Reed's face was etched with an unyielding coldness. “How could I ever let you die so easily? I will make you suffer a hundred, a thousand times more than I ever did!” With those words, his fury seeming to boil over, he landed a brutal kick to my stomach. I clutched my stomach, my face ashen with pain. But the next instant, a sudden, searing agony erupted in my chest, and my face contorted in a silent scream. The Blight had flared, prematurely. Once it began, it would rage for three hours, a torment worse than death. I writhed on the ground, desperate to clamp my teeth together, but my agonizing wails erupted, each one louder than the last. Tears spilled unchecked from my eyes, like a broken string of pearls, and blood gushed from my mouth, mouthful after mouthful. Reed froze, rigid. Rhys's face paled instantly. “It's the Blight in her! Reed, I beg you, save her! Don't you understand—” Tears stinging my eyes, I shook my head, a silent plea to Rhys. Rhys's lips trembled, unable to form words. Isolde gave a subtle signal, and a guard clamped a hand over Rhys's mouth. She took Reed's hand, her voice laced with mockery. “She's the Oracle of the Verdant Wilds! What blight-poison in this world could she not master?” At her words, the anger and hesitation in Reed's eyes solidified into cold resolve. “Rowan, do you think this little performance will make me release you? You dared to deceive me. Now you'll taste the price of that deception.” At his command, the guards surrounded me, raining down punches and kicks. The blows rained down, but they were a distant ache compared to the soul-shattering torment of the Blight. My breaths grew shallow, my cries of agony fading to mere whimpers. For three long years, I had endured the bitter agony of the Blight. Now, finally, release was at hand. Reed's gaze trembled, and a raw, anguished shout tore from his throat. “Enough!” He turned his back, unable to watch any longer. “Isolde, let's go. This farce you wanted me to see, there's nothing left to it.” He gently took Isolde's hand, and they walked away. Rhys, unable to bear it, bit down hard on the guard's hand. The guard yelped in pain and let go. Rhys's voice, ripped from his very soul, bellowed. “Reed! When you were dying from poison all those years ago, Rowan used the Soul-Link Parasite to save your life! A life for a life! She's dying, do you understand?!” …
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