Chapter 1

On the day of Lucas Sterling's wedding, I left a signed annulment letter in our room and prepared to return to my quiet fishing village.

My maid asked me, full of concern, what I would do if my young son missed his mother.

I offered a bitter smile. "That is impossible. He has long wished for a commoner mother like me to disappear before his eyes."

"Besides, the woman his father is marrying today is the only mother he recognizes."

I walked away, perhaps fulfilling their secret wish, and severed all ties between us forever.

I donned my coarse, homespun clothes once more, but while fleeing, I was hunted down and forced over the edge of a cliff.

As my consciousness faded, I seemed to hear someone calling my name in a voice filled with agonizing despair.

1

I tumbled down the cliff, my head slamming hard against the jagged rocks below.

Just as I was on the verge of losing consciousness, familiar scenes flashed before my eyes, and long-buried memories finally flooded back into my mind.

The wind at the base of the cliff sliced across my skin, unbearable, yet it was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

I was Seraphina, the princess who had spent her youth traveling the countryside, only to lose my memory in an accident and become a simple village girl.

I lay on the ground, battered and broken, feeling the cruelty of fate.

As I stared blankly into the distance, I noticed a tattered little girl had appeared beside me.

She was filthy, but her eyes were extraordinarily bright as she stared at me and clearly whispered the word "Mama."

My heart was too heavy to acknowledge her, so I remained silent.

Yet, I stayed there for days, and she guarded me faithfully throughout.

She climbed trees to pick wild berries for me, fetched water, and even stood up to other children when they gathered to mock my state.

Even when she was beaten by a group of bullies and left bruised, she still screamed that she would protect me.

I could bear it no longer, so I forced myself up and drove the bullies away.

A few days passed until I could stand, but she followed me everywhere, refusing to be driven off.

"Mama, where are you going? Please wait for me!"

I turned back and swiped her hand away from my sleeve; she stumbled and fell, her already dirty clothes becoming even more unsightly.

I stopped and crouched down to explain.

"I am truly not your mother."

But she wouldn't listen, staring at me with those wide eyes, still calling out for me.

"You saved me, Mama. I have to repay you."

A thousand emotions warred within me; a stranger's kindness was this profound, yet the child I had carried for nine months had treated me like refuse.

Fine. If I left her alone here, she would surely be abducted by human traffickers eventually.

I would treat this as a good deed.

I scooped her up and turned toward the palace.

When my parents saw my ragged state, they dared not ask questions, only looking at me with hearts full of pain.

They scolded me for running off alone again, their voices thick with worry.

On the day of my official return, my father granted amnesty to the nation, and the court officials offered their congratulations.

The entire capital learned that Princess Seraphina had returned, bringing with her a young lady.

Though her royal blood was questioned, she was deeply favored nonetheless.