Chapter 1

1.

In my previous life, my sister and I rescued two mysterious eggs.

Her egg hatched into a Frost Serpent, while mine birthed a Fire Phoenix.

My sister, Shyla, greedily snatched my Phoenix, never imagining we were about to face a global heat apocalypse.

She ended up burning to a crisp in the extreme temperatures.

Before she died, she manipulated my Frost Serpent husband to strangle me to death.

But the universe had other plans.

We both woke up on the very day the eggs were set to hatch.

This time, Shyla didn't hesitate.

She grabbed the Frost Serpent immediately.

She thought having a cold-blooded beast would allow her to live comfortably through the scorching apocalypse.

What she didn't know was that the Frost Serpent required a daily feast of fresh blood to maintain his cooling powers.

Opening my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the lack of suffocating heat.

The agonizing memory of being drained of my blood and strangled was still fresh in my mind.

I glanced at the Frost Serpent beside me and felt a cold shiver run down my spine.

According to the traditions of the Beastmen, they must marry the person who rescues and hatches them.

I was supposed to marry the Fire Phoenix.

However, Shyla had complained that the Frost Serpent looked terrifying and forced me to swap.

A month later, the world changed forever as global warming accelerated into a literal hell on earth.

The Frost Serpent, true to his name, could drop the temperature within a ten-foot radius.

The Phoenix was the exact opposite.

Shyla took my Phoenix and died screaming in the heat.

Meanwhile, I had survived the apocalypse unscathed because of the serpent's cooling aura.

Shyla blamed me for stealing her "cool husband" and made sure I died with her.

I was about to speak up and claim the Phoenix as mine.

But Shyla cut me off before I could say a word.

"The Frost Serpent is mine! I hatched him! You take the Phoenix!"

She lunged forward, desperately clinging to the serpent's arm.

I saw the hunger in her eyes and realized the truth.

Shyla had been reborn, too.

A small, secret smile touched my lips.

I was actually worried about how to trick her into taking the serpent.

She only focused on his cooling ability, ignorant of the dark price he demanded.

His powers weren't free; they required a daily sacrifice of human blood.

Not only that, but his fangs were laced with a potent neurotoxin.

Every time he fed, it was a session of pure, unadulterated torture.

The venom makes the victim feel like their veins are filled with liquid fire while they are powerless to move.

In my last life, by the time Shyla provoked him to kill me, I was already half-dead from blood loss.

In a way, I should have thanked her for giving me a quick end.

This time, it was Shyla's turn to enjoy the sensation of fangs in her neck every single day.

In the previous timeline, the Frost Serpent, Malakai, was reluctant to go with me.

He only accepted me as his wife because of the ancient laws of his tribe.

But this time, the moment Shyla claimed him, he didn't even wait for my reaction.

He slithered toward her, his flicking tongue tasting the air around her neck.

He looked at me with pure disgust.

"Wynter, since Shyla wants me, I belong to her now. Don't even think about clinging to me."

I narrowed my eyes.

It seemed I wasn't the only one who remembered the past; the serpent had been reborn as well.

Shyla looked at me with a triumphant, smug expression.

"Hear that, Wynter? This was Malakai's choice. Go home with that useless bird."

"Fine by me, Shyla. If you want him that badly, far be it from me to stand in the way of true love."

As Shyla brushed past me, she leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"Wynter, you have no idea what's coming. The heat apocalypse is almost here. If you crawl to me and beg on your knees, I might let you sit near Malakai for a few hours."

I fought the urge to laugh.

She had no clue why Malakai had chosen her so eagerly.