Chapter 1

I am the vicious Duchess everyone whispers about.

Arthur brought back a blood slave from the border named Lilith.

She's been lavished with his affection. Yet tonight, she suddenly collapsed.

Arthur cradled her corpse as his claws pressed against my throat.

"You poisoned Lilith! I'll make your entire bloodline pay!"

Suddenly, I heard her demon whispering to Lilith.

[Demon: Perfect. The fool thinks you're dead.]

[Demon: The Draught wears off in two hours. Teleport out from the crypts. Return with a new face and replace that bitch as his true Duchess.]

Oh? Fake death? Planning to return and humiliate me?

I wiped the blood from my neck and threw myself onto her "corpse" with a sob.

"Poor girl! She died from a blood curse! Her soul will mutate! Seal her in the Obsidian Coffin! Pour mercury down her throat! Perform the rites and release her soul!"

The whispers panicked:

[Demon: What?! This bitch is actually purifying you?!]

......

The guards approached with a bucket of steaming mercury.

Arthur's wings exploded from his back.

His blade flashed. The guard screamed, his arm severed. Mercury splashed across the floor, burning it black.

"No one touches Lilith!"

He stood before her corpse, sword dripping blood.

I stepped forward to meet his gaze.

"My lord Duke, this is ancestral law! Blood curse victims carry the heaviest corruption."

"Without mercury sealing and the Obsidian Coffin, she'll rise as a ghoul on the seventh night and slaughter this entire castle!"

I pointed at the ancestral portraits lining the walls.

"Would you disgrace a thousand years of House Crimson for a blood slave?"

Arthur's knuckles whitened on his sword.

"Chloe Nightshade, spare me your superstitions! You just want to desecrate her!"

I smiled coldly. Desecrate? No. Obliterate.

More whispers:

[Demon: Stay calm. Your consciousness is waking early.]

[Demon: Half an hourglass more. I'll activate the teleportation circle.]

[Demon: She won't really pour mercury. The Duke will stop her.]

Half an hourglass? Dream on.

I drew the Blood Covenant Token and raised it high.

"The Elder Council's Supreme Decree! The blood slave Lilith entered this House through binding ritual. Her life and death are subject to our laws!"

"Crypt Keepers! The coffin! Drive the stakes in!"

Eighteen hooded priests stepped forward with ash-wood stakes covered in runes.

Arthur froze at "Elder Council's Supreme Decree."

In that heartbeat, the priests lifted her into the black obsidian coffin.

"Close the lid!"

CRASH!

"Drive the stakes!"

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

Ash-wood stakes pierced through the coffin. Wood splintered. Flesh tore.

The whispers screamed:

[Demon: The stakes pierced your shoulders!]

[Demon: Don't move yet! The potion is still active!]

[Demon: Where is that fool Duke?!]

I smiled. Pierced? Perfect.

Arthur lunged forward.

"STOP!"

I blocked his way.

"If you open this coffin, you defy the Elder Council! You'd sacrifice House Crimson's thousand-year legacy for this whore!"

"Kill me first. Step over my corpse!"

His claws pressed my throat. Blood trickled down.

"Chloe Nightshade, if her body is harmed, your entire bloodline dies!"

I didn't flinch.

"Continue! Pour the molten lead! Seal it!"

Guards poured liquefied lead along the seams.

Sizzzzz...

Sealed completely.

Then, from inside, a faint groan.

"Mmph..."

Arthur's face changed. He spun around.

"What was that?! Lilith isn't dead?!"