Chapter 1

Five hundred years into my marriage with Garrett, the Dragon Prince, he tore out my heart scale.

He needed it as an ingredient to cure Chloe, his reincarnated soulmate and the supposed ancient True Goddess.

Looking at my battered, dying body, he ordered me to guard the alchemy furnace―a place we merfolk feared above all else.

"Chloe's divine pill is still on the fire. Watch the flames closely. With the Rainbow Cloak I gave you, you will be fine."

He did not know that a merperson dies without their heart scale.

Nor did he know that the protective cloak he gave me had already been used by our only daughter, Josie, as a foot mat for Chloe.

Josie told me I was too hideous to be her mother.

She even locked me inside the burning furnace to teach me a lesson.

As the flames consumed my flesh, the last trace of affection I had for that father and daughter turned to ash.

When the furnace refined my body, my sealed memories and divine powers broke free.

It turned out that I was Garrett's true reincarnated soulmate all along.

With my divinity restored, I had no lingering attachments to the mortal realm.

Later, I heard the Dragon Prince and his daughter sacrificed all their powers just to search for the dead mermaid they had discarded.

01.

"Calla, it is just a fish scale."

"You have always been sensible. Be a good girl and hand it over."

In the side hall, Dragon Prince Garrett tried to coax me with sweet words.

I looked down at my scarred body, clutching my chest as I shook my head in terror.

"Husband, if you take my heart scale, I will die."

"Josie is still so little. I do not want her to grow up without a mother…"

Garrett's expression instantly turned cold, his voice sharp with anger.

"Calla! When did you become so unreasonable?"

"Chloe is not just your sister! She is the reincarnation of the ancient True Goddess!"

"Her safety determines the fate of the entire Dragon Clan! The Shadow Clan is about to invade. Can you stop being so selfish for once?"

A bitter ache tore through my heart.

Chloe was my younger sister. Five hundred years ago, after our merfolk realm fell, Garrett took me in because of our arranged marriage.

He brought Chloe along to live in the Dragon Palace as well.

We wed according to the ancient pact. But after our wedding night, I showed no signs of divine awakening.

Instead, Chloe began having flashes of memories from a past life.

Garrett consulted the Dragon Clan's high priest. The priest claimed our old chieftain must have made a mistake, declaring Chloe the true goddess and Garrett's destined lover.

From that day on, Garrett treated me like dirt and devoted his entire life to Chloe.

Whenever Chloe called, no matter where he was, Garrett would rush to her side.

Even on the day I gave birth, hovering on the brink of death, he was by Chloe's side, helping her nurse a mundane potted plant she had brought back from the human realm.

He often told me, "Calla, you took your sister's place. What right do you have to complain?"

"I gave you the title of princess. Learn your place and stay quiet."

Even the child I carried for nine months, Josie, pushed me away as soon as she learned to speak, spewing pure disgust.

"You ugly monster, you stole Auntie Chloe's life! You are shameless!"

"I do not want a thief for a mother! I want Auntie Chloe!"

Back then, I thought Josie was just too young to know better.

I thought Garrett only cared for Chloe because the future of his clan depended on her divine awakening.

Now, I finally had to admit the truth. Even without the goddess prophecy, Garrett's heart would still belong entirely to my sister.

She was the only one he ever loved.

Numb with grief, I wiped my tears and begged one last time.

"Husband, take anything else you want."

"Just not my heart scale. Without it, I really will die…"

Garrett cut me off with an impatient sneer.

"Enough! You always claim you will die over every little thing, yet here you are, completely fine!"

"Calla, I used to think you were just ugly, but at least kind at heart."

"Now I see you are rotten to the core. Absolutely vile!"

"I am taking the scale, whether you like it or not!"

Garrett lunged forward. Ignoring my desperate struggles, he ripped the heart scale right out of my chest.

Blood gushed from the wound, and agony wracked my entire body in violent spasms.

Garrett casually tossed a colorful garment onto my bleeding torso, his face devoid of warmth.

"I have given you the Rainbow Cloak to protect your life."

"Put it on and stop playing the victim. Go to the alchemy chamber and watch Chloe's medicine."

"The Shadow Clan will attack any day now. This pill is crucial for Chloe's breakthrough. Nothing can go wrong!"