Chapter 1

After that faithless girl jilted him at the altar and ran, my younger brother spent his days sunk in gloom.

To coax a smile out of him, I gave him spirit stones, gave him an immortal manor, even placed him as an apprentice under a master of enchanted relics.

He was timid and withdrawn, so I swallowed my pride and went around smoothing every path for him, asking my immortal friends to look after him.

My wife, the God of War, was not pleased.

"A useless thing who can't stand on his own two feet will only bring you trouble. He isn't even your blood brother. Do you really have to wait on him like he's some ancestor?"

For the first time, I turned on her.

"Wesley Ashford means a thousand times more to me than so-called blood. When you're cruel to him, you're looking down on me."

Later I went to the Wildlands to quell a rebellion for a year, and Serena Crawford had someone deliver 199 enchanted relics.

When we spoke through the water mirror, she pursed her lips with that proud little tilt of her chin.

"Here. All commissioned from that foolish brother of yours. I've been such a supportive wife, haven't I? Aren't I obedient?"

I was moved. I thought it was her concession, her way of loving me.

So I fought to win early and come home, desperate to be with her sooner.

Instead I walked in on Serena and my brother, tangled together in our own bedchamber.

"Rena, I've made another enchanted relic for my brother. When we're done, remember to have someone send it to him, or my conscience won't rest."

"You've already sent him 199 for free. You've burned through so much of your spiritual energy, it breaks my heart. I'm the one who fell for you first. There's no need for you to wrong yourself like this."

I froze where I stood.

So those 199 enchanted relics were the number of times they had gone behind my back.

……

I sat alone in the courtyard through the whole night.

The servants watched my face and, trembling, crept inside to change the water, round after round.

Seven trips in all.

The soft sounds inside never stopped for a moment.

Not until dawn did Serena's sated voice finally drift out of the bedchamber.

"Someone come in. Your master worked hard last night. Come attend to his robes."

At that word, master, a low laugh escaped me.

The maid carrying the water dropped the basin at once and knelt on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

The people inside heard the noise, and after a moment, the door finally opened.

When they saw me, Serena and Wesley both went stiff.

When they saw the 199 enchanted relics laid out in neat rows across the courtyard, and the servants kneeling all over the ground.

Wesley's face changed, then he pulled up a smile and came toward me.

"Charlie, when did you get back? Didn't you say the rebellion would take two years? How did it end so soon?"

"I—I twisted my ankle last night, and Serena said you had some fine immortal elixir in your room. I didn't expect to doze off. She only just came in to check whether my injury was better…"

His probing, clumsy excuse didn't even interest me enough to hear out.

"If I hadn't come home early with the victory, I'd never have known the master of the War God's manor had already become you."

I jerked my chin at the relics.

"Serena's been well served, it seems. Otherwise you wouldn't have sent me so many gifts."

"Is this a male favorite paying tribute to the first wife in advance? How very dutiful of you."

Wesley went white in an instant.

"Charlie, you've misunderstood, I never meant—"

Before he'd finished, the tears were already spilling down his face.

Serena pulled him behind her, shielding him, and frowned.

"Charles Griffin, I was the one who went after him first. There's no need to blame him. This is your brother, not your enemy."

As she said it, a faint killing edge rose off her.

It was the aura Serena carried only when she faced an enemy on the battlefield.

And now, it seemed, my turn had come.

Yet when she turned to wipe Wesley's tears, nothing was left but tenderness.

"There now. Go home and wait for me. I'll come find you once I've dealt with this."

The words scraped my throat raw.

She called Wesley's dwelling home. Then what was this place, where we had lived together for nearly a hundred years?

Wesley stole a careful glance at me, nodded, and in the end walked off without a single word of explanation.

I looked at the lovebird sachet hanging at Serena's waist.

One glance told me it was a matched pair with Wesley's.

"As I recall, you never liked wearing these. You thought them too precious, too lacking in authority."

Serena lowered her eyes and stroked the sachet, tenderness rippling across her face.

"Charlie, you always used to say I was single-minded, that I didn't know how to bend. Now I've finally learned to change, and it feels surprisingly good."

"And of all these changes, the one that brings me the most joy is falling for Wesley. You'll understand, won't you?"

The irony of it hit me at once.

Once, the Heavenly Emperor had teased her on purpose.

"My dear minister, you're the God of War of the Ninefold Heavens now, and you still guard only General Griffin? How dull. Shall I find you a few handsome male favorites?"

Back then Serena's answer was respectful and unshakable.

"Your servant is a single-minded soul. Having fixed my heart on Charles, I will never spare another man so much as a glance. If Your Majesty forced someone on me, I would sooner destroy myself than disappoint Charles in the slightest."

And now she stood there, unmoved, asking me to understand her betrayal.

Serena seemed lost in some lovely memory.

"When you'd just left for the Wildlands, it happened to be the lovers' festival. Remembering what you'd asked of me, I went to visit Wesley."

"Everyone outside was paired off, and he was sitting alone in his courtyard, holding that pair of sachets and crying. Strangely, I didn't feel annoyed. I felt sorry for him instead. I lost myself so far as to share a meal with him and float a lantern, unwilling to leave him alone. That was when I knew my heart had strayed."

My breath stopped short.

That day, of all days?!