Chapter 3

3

The moment Celeste saw me, her eyes lit up. She hurried over, grasping my hands and looking me over with genuine concern.

Corbin snapped instantly. "Celeste! Step away from that lowborn failure before you catch whatever curse she carries."

A flicker of dark fury crossed Celeste's eyes, but she quickly pulled her hands away and returned to Corbin's side with a sweet smile. "Your Highness is right. I will remember your guidance."

Corbin laughed loudly, pawing at Celeste's waist. He then turned to Gideon with a vulgar smirk, asking how exquisite it felt to bed a six-tailed fox.

Hearing his vile remarks, both Celeste and Gideon darkened with disgust.

The arrogant fool had no clue he had just enraged the two deadliest people present.

Gideon finally snapped. Shifting into a massive radiant bird, he lunged straight at Corbin. Corbin unleashed his own fiery beast form, and the two brothers clashed violently over the springs.

By the time the Phoenix King arrived, the sacred sanctuary was reduced to rubble.

Surveying the devastation, the old king kicked both battered princes in fury, directing his harshest wrath at Gideon. "Gideon! How dare you attack your elder brother?"

Gideon kept his head down, taking the blame in silence.

Unable to watch him suffer unfairly, I stepped forward to explain, but Gideon gripped my hand tightly to stop me.

Corbin stood smirking beside his father, wearing a smug look of victory.

The Phoenix King examined Corbin's superficial scratches with immense distress, then ordered Gideon and me to be placed under strict house arrest.

Gideon was covered in bloody lacerations, yet his father did not spare him a single glance.

Gideon looked at me with pleading eyes, silently begging me not to provoke the King. I swallowed my righteous anger and stepped back.

Back in our estate, I yanked my hand free and sank onto a chair, boiling with resentment.

Gideon knelt in front of me, his handsome face filled with gentle sorrow. "Kendra, Father loves Corbin more than anyone. He will never believe Corbin is in the wrong. Speaking up will only make him think you are slandering the Crown Prince."

Seeing him so resigned to injustice made my tears spill over.

Gideon rested his head gently against my knees. "Do not cry, Kendra. Once our confinement is lifted, we will leave the royal capital behind. I will take you anywhere in the world you wish to roam."

The King confined us to our estate for six full months.

During those months, Gideon planted rare blossoms with me, guided my meditation, and even found secret tunnels to smuggle me out for midnight walks.

Meanwhile, rumors spread across the palace about how Corbin doted on Celeste.

He dismissed all his secondary consorts, declaring he would touch no woman other than Celeste.

I sneered whenever I heard the news. A narcissist like Corbin was incapable of love; he cared only for his own ambition.

The moment Celeste failed to give him a phoenix, he would discard her like trash.

Of course, knowing my sister, she would tear him apart long before that happened.

One morning, just as Gideon and I prepared to slip out through the tunnel, Corbin kicked our front doors open.

He looked around our modest courtyard with pure disdain. "Look at how pathetic you two live. Kneel and beg me, and maybe I will order the servants to send you edible meals."

I clenched my fists. The stale, spoiled food we received over the past months had indeed been Corbin's doing.

Corbin carefully guided Celeste to a stone bench. That was when I noticed the slight swell of her belly.

Her face was pale and her eyes carried deep exhaustion.

Remembering Corbin's biological deficiency, a cold chill ran down my spine.

"Celeste is carrying my heir," Corbin announced pompously. "She wanted to share the joyful news, so I brought her over to show you what a real mate can do."

Celeste ran her fingers teasingly across Corbin's chest, asking for a private moment with me. Corbin hesitated.

"I carry a divine phoenix in my womb," Celeste purred. "Kendra would never dare harm me. Please, Your Highness, she is my sister after all. Let us share some private words, will you?"

Her sultry tone left Corbin utterly dazed. He nodded without another thought.

Once inside the private chamber, Celeste pulled me into a fierce embrace. Warm tears soaked into the collar of my tunic.

She wept silently for a moment, then gently wiped the tears from my own face.

"Kendra, hold on just a little longer," she whispered. "Everything will be over soon."

Seeing her ghostly complexion, my heart ached with bitter sorrow.

I gripped her frail hand. "Celeste, I am living well here. Please stop using forbidden blood rituals. Your body cannot take much more of this."

Corbin was biologically incapable of siring a child. In our past life, I had to burn my own heart's blood every single day just to sustain that fragile spark of life in my womb.

Celeste's physical health was already weak. I was terrified she would destroy herself.

"Do not worry," Celeste whispered softly. "I have been siphoning Corbin's own life force to nourish the fetus. I will stay by your side forever."

Before I could reply, she looked at the plain surroundings and frowned with displeasure.

She squeezed my hand tightly. "Kendra, I promise you will never suffer again. I will protect you. This time around… Corbin will never lay a hand on you."

She muttered that last sentence under her breath, but I heard every word clearly.

My breath hitched in shock as the truth clicked into place.

I discreetly channeled my spirit power into her meridians. Her energy core was severely depleted, and the fox phantom behind her revealed three nearly invisible, faded tails.