Chapter 1

They called Seraphina was the most shameless, most scandalous princess the lycan capital had ever seen — and one jug of spiked wine had finished off nineteen years of the Luna Temple's priest's sacred vows of purity.

Rumors spread like wildfire: surely she would use the scandal to force a royal decree, demanding the priest leave his post and marry her.

After all, she and the current Lycan King were twins. She was his most cherished person in the world.

At ten years old, she'd marched into the royal court and yanked three white hairs clean from the Royal Tutor's beard. At twelve, she'd snapped the General's ceremonial sword in half before an entire assembly. At sixteen, she'd moved out of the palace and set herself up in her own estate — with ninety-nine lovers on retainer.

The common folk dared only mutter behind closed doors about what a shameless creature she was, and they all wagered on when the King would finally issue the decree forcing the priest to marry her.

But half a month passed. The palace and the Princess's estate were both deathly silent.

The Princess who had always been so brash and loud — she stopped making her daily pilgrimages up Frostpeak Mountain, stopped using "prayer" as a flimsy excuse to chase after the priest. She stopped throwing jealous tantrums every time the priest lit a candle blessing for one of her handmaidens.

This time, Seraphina simply knelt in the palace, her spine straight as a blade.

"Brother," her voice was eerily calm, "grant me a decree to ride to the borderlands as a marriage alliance, mating with Ironrust Pack's alpha."

...

The Lycan King shot to his feet and reached for her hands himself.

"The border may be restless, but I will never send my sister away as a peace bride! Besides, you've been in love with the priest since we were children!

You took lovers the moment you left the palace — ruined your own reputation on purpose — just so no matchmaker could ever pair you with someone else."

The King tightened his grip on her hands.

"And now — Caden has already petitioned me. He plans to release his sacred flame at the next full moon ceremony and leave the Temple. After the ceremony, he intends to take you as his mate. Sera, why are you—"

Seraphina blinked, just once. He was going to leave the Temple? He wanted to marry her?

But she straightened up quickly, lowered her lashes, and spoke in a voice rough as gravel:

"Brother. I no longer wish to marry him."

"Why?"

Because the person who had shared that shameful night with him was never her to begin with.

The wine had been her birthday gift to him — she'd poured it herself with her own hands. But he'd taken only one sip before collapsing into unconsciousness.

Panicked, she'd run down the mountain in a blizzard to fetch a healer. When she returned, she learned he had spent the night with Roselyn.

Roselyn was her most trusted handmaiden.

That was when she discovered the wine had been laced with a desire-inducing drug. Furious, she demanded answers — and all she got in return was his ice-cold stare.

"Princess. Let this end here. If you dig further, the truth about Roselyn and me will come out — and with her low station, she'll have no way to defend herself."

But the story leaked anyway. Only it twisted into something else entirely: that Seraphina had drugged the priest and forced him into a scandalous night.

The ministers who had long despised her seized the chance to file petitions against her. She tried to clear her name — and he stopped her again.

"Roselyn is innocent. She shouldn't suffer for this. But you're different. Your reputation is already notorious, and your rank protects you. People will forget soon enough."

He said it like it was obvious. Like she deserved everything raining down on her.

But he knew, better than anyone, that every outrageous thing she'd ever done had been because she loved him.

The entire capital cursed her name. Fanatical devotees of the Luna Temple knelt at the palace gates daily, demanding she die in penance.

And she never said a single word in her own defense — because when she was ten years old, he had saved her life.

Consider us even, she thought. From here, we owe each other nothing.

The King stared at her for a long time. This was the sister who had always looked out for him since they were small. This was the fearless, reckless Seraphina who was afraid of nothing under the sky.

But the person kneeling before him now looked like someone whose heart had already died.

At last, he let out a long, heavy breath. "I... grant it."

Seraphina was about to rise when hurried footsteps echoed from outside the hall.

The head chamberlain entered with a deep bow. "Your Majesty. A joint petition — signed by the entire court—"

The King took the scroll and his expression darkened with fury.

"They want the Princess to crawl on her knees up all nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine steps of Frostpeak Mountain — one kowtow per step — as a public apology to the priest? To appease public outrage?"

Seraphina lowered her eyes. She wasn't surprised.

The ninth-generation priest of Frostpeak Mountain — Caden Vale — was the most extraordinary one the Temple had ever produced.

Skin pale as first snow. Eyes sharp and cool. An air about him like a solitary peak above the clouds — utterly untouched by the world below.

His divinations never failed. When he prayed for rain, rain came. He was revered by all — second only to the Lycan King himself, first in the hearts of the people.

She had ruined him. The court wanted her to grovel. It made sense.

"Absurd! Go tell them — she's already agreed to the marriage alliance."

"Brother." Seraphina stopped him, her expression unreadable. "If we announce the marriage alliance now, the Ironrust Pack will think my intentions aren't sincere. It's better to reveal it at the same time as the Keeper's succession ceremony. It will prevent too much unrest."

She paused. "As for the steps — I'll kneel them. To keep the peace."

...

At the base of Frostpeak Mountain, nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps rose straight up into the clouds.

The stairs were buried in thick snow. Ice hung from the pines on either side. The wind cut like a blade.

Seraphina stood at the foot of the steps.

She was about to lift her foot when voices drifted down from above.

It was Caden and his head acolyte.

"Why would the priest want to marry the Princess?" The acolyte couldn't hide his confusion. "She wronged you. Your name is in ruins because of her. Why would you take her?"

Seraphina's foot froze mid-step.

That was a fair question. Why had Caden petitioned to marry her? He could have stayed on the mountain even after leaving the Temple. He didn't have to take anyone.

Was it out of guilt? To compensate her? She needed to set him straight — she didn't want his charity.

But then that cool, snow-like voice answered:

"Roselyn and I have understood each other since childhood. We were always... bound, by something. But our stations made it impossible."

Caden's voice was detached. "If I marry the Princess, I can see Roselyn every single day."

Seraphina stood at the bottom of the steps. She heard every word. Her eyes burned, her nose stung — and yet, she laughed.

Of course. He wanted to marry her for Roselyn.

He said he and Roselyn had understood each other since they were young. That they were kindred spirits.

Then what was she?

When she was a child, she had fought to protect Caden time and again after he saved her. Her father's fury eventually locked her inside the palace walls. So she had Roselyn carry letters to him — one after another, year after year — until the day her brother took the throne and she was finally free.

She thought Roselyn was her messenger. She never imagined she'd been the one who had let those two fall in love.

No wonder he protected Roselyn so fiercely. Seraphina tipped her head back and gazed up at those endless, endless steps. The corner of her mouth curved.

Fine.

After mated with Ironrust Pack's alpha, they would never have anything to do with each other again.