Valeria collapsed onto the marble floor.Her face, usually composed and unreadable, twisted with agony. Each breath came shorter than the last, her chest rising only a fraction before falling again.Lucian watched her for half a second.Valeria had insulted him, deceived him, and tried to buy her freedom from their engagement as though he were a servant. But none of that mattered now.A life was still a life.He stepped toward her and knelt.His fingers found her pulse.It was thin, irregular, and fading rapidly.The poison had already reached her heart meridian, corrupting her life force with every weakening beat.“Internal burning has begun,” Lucian murmured.Valeria clawed at her chest. The carefully maintained mask of the War Goddess had vanished, replaced by naked pain. Her breathing became a desperate wheeze, and a faint blue tinge spread beneath her skin.Lucian pressed two fingers against her wrist again.“The poison has entered the heart meridian.”He reached into his coat an

Upon hearing Seraphina’s words, Elias’s eyes widened. For a moment, he thought he had misheard her. “He’s awake?” he asked. “He opened his eyes,” Seraphina replied, her voice still filled with disbelief. “He recognized me. He even asked why everyone was standing around him.” Elias frowned. That should have been impossible. He had personally examined Seraphina’s grandfather the previous evening. The old man had been suffering from the Silent Ember Poison, an extremely rare toxin that gradually attacked the nervous system and clouded the mind before weakening the heart. The poison was so unusual that even Elias had struggled to identify all its properties. Without the proper herbs, the treatment could not be completed. And he had not yet obtained those herbs. “How did this happen?” he murmured. His mind began reconstructing the old man’s condition—the weak pulse, the darkened veins around his wrists, the faint silver discoloration beneath his fingernails. The poison should s

Upon hearing Seraphina’s words, Elias’s eyes widened. For a moment, he thought he had misheard her. “He’s awake?” he asked. “He opened his eyes,” Seraphina replied, her voice still filled with disbelief. “He recognized me. He even asked why everyone was standing around him.” Elias frowned. That should have been impossible. He had personally examined Seraphina’s grandfather the previous evening. The old man had been suffering from the Silent Ember Poison, an extremely rare toxin that gradually attacked the nervous system and clouded the mind before weakening the heart. The poison was so unusual that even Elias had struggled to identify all its properties. Without the proper herbs, the treatment could not be completed. And he had not yet obtained those herbs. “How did this happen?” he murmured. His mind began reconstructing the old man’s condition—the weak pulse, the darkened veins around his wrists, the faint silver discoloration beneath his fingernails. The poi

When Celeste’s voice came through the speaker, Nadia leaned closer to the phone. Her sharp eyes narrowed, and her lips curved into a contemptuous smile. “Really?” she said. “This is the story you’re going with?” She turned toward her mother, her voice dripping with ridicule. “He hired an actress to play along. Isn’t that pathetic?” Margaret folded her arms tightly across her chest, fury twisting her features. “You have some nerve,” she snapped into the phone. “How dare you help him with this ridiculous performance? Do you think we’re fools?” Celeste’s voice remained calm despite the accusations. “I don’t know what this misunderstanding is, but I assure you—” “Don’t bother,” Nadia cut in coldly. “No one here is falling for this little act. Honestly, Lucian, this is low—even for you.” Lucian opened his mouth to respond, but Margaret’s sharp voice cut through the room. “Enough. Do you really think your lies will get you anywhere? You have embarrassed yourself enough

Upon hearing Kai’s calm and unshaken challenge, Nadia’s confident smile curled into something sharper, something meaner, and she crossed her arms with a hostility that seemed to sharpen every syllable she spoke into the humid afternoon air of the antique market. "You really believe you can outbid me here, Kai?" she said, letting her voice rise deliberately, pitching it just loud enough for the gathering crowd of onlookers to catch every word, as though public humiliation might restore whatever dignity she felt he had stolen from her the moment he refused to yield to her earlier demands. "Do you even understand what you're attempting to do, standing here pretending you belong among people like us?" She leaned toward the vendor with theatrical confidence, savoring the attention gathering around them like a performer basking in the glow of an audience she had not yet lost. "In case you don't know," she continued, tilting her chin upward with practiced superiority, "Julian came here