Catherine.
A perfect smile required a perfect sacrifice.
I stood behind the gold-trimmed velvet curtains of the eastern corridor, lightly smoothing the immaculate white lace of my dress.
For three years, I had meticulously played the role of the fragile, shadow-bound second daughter of the House of Abernathy.
It was so easy to whisper sweet praises to my father while subtly poisoning Vivienne’s reputation.
To the world, my sister was nothing but an ungrateful brute.
Today was supposed to be the flawless execution of my ambition.
I had personally paid the maid, Sarah, to lace Vivienne’s gown so tightly that she would faint before the royal dais.
Then, I would step out from these curtains—a radiant, innocent maiden ready to comfort Crown Prince Julian in his moment of public embarrassment.
Julian didn’t want a strong partner; he wanted a submissive puppet.
And I had spent a lifetime making myself look like the perfect string to pull.
Bang!
The heavy oak doors of the Grand Hall didn’t swing open with the grace of a blushing bride.
They slammed against the stone walls with a violent, echoing crash.
My breath hitched.
I parted the velvet curtain by a fraction of an inch, my sapphire eyes widening in absolute shock.
Instead of a gasping, struggling girl in crimson silk, Vivienne marched into the hall dressed in pitch-black leather.
Her posture wasn’t weak; it was straight, rigid, and radiating a freezing authority that made the room feel dim.
“There will be no engagement ceremony today,” Vivienne’s voice echoed, cold and absolute.
“Or ever.”
My nails dug into the velvet until the fabric groaned.
No. This is wrong.
Where is the dress?
Where is the clumsy girl I broke?
“Have you lost your mind?!” Duke Abernathy roared, his face turning purple as he marched toward Vivienne, his hand raised instinctively to strike her face.
“You ungrateful brat—”
Before his palm could connect, Vivienne caught his wrist mid-air.
I watched in horror as my sister twisted the Duke’s heavy arm back with ironclad precision.
My father—a high-tier metal mage—gasped in sudden, agonizing pain.
Vivienne leaned in, whispering something directly into his ear.
Whatever she said made the Duke’s face drain of color instantly.
Julian stepped forward, his perfect gentlemanly mask fracturing, his fingers whitening against his golden goblet.
“Vivienne, you are making a scene. Rejecting an imperial marriage proposal carries heavy consequences.”
“Then let the family bear it,” Vivienne replied flawlessly.
Suddenly, her dark eyes locked onto the exact curtain where I was hiding.
“If you want a submissive bride so badly, Julian, look behind the curtain in the eastern corridor. My half-sister Catherine has been waiting there with her bags packed for the last hour, hoping I wouldn’t show up.”
A cold, nauseating wave of panic flooded my chest.
Every single head in the room snapped toward my hiding spot.
My flawless, invisible orchestration had been ripped wide open in front of the entire imperial vanguard.
Fueled by burning rage, I ripped the velvet curtains aside and ran out into the light.
Dozens of royal knights and noble ministers stared directly at me, their eyes tracking the heavy travel bags resting by my slippers.
I had been caught red-handed.
“Julian… Father…” I stammered, my voice instantly dropping into its most pitiful, trembling frequency.
Tears flooded my eyes as I rushed toward the Crown Prince, reaching out to clutch his sleeve.
“It isn’t what it looks like! Vivienne has lost her mind! She fabricated this entire lie to tear us apart!”
Julian didn’t look at me with his usual soft expression.
His eyes were bloodshot with boiling humiliation.
Vivienne had rejected him, exposed his greed, and dismantled his reputation.
He was a cornered beast, and I was the closest target.
“Get away from me,” Julian hissed.
Before my fingers could touch his uniform, Julian violently shoved me aside.
The raw force sent me stumbling backward across the marble, crashing heavily against the sharp edge of a stone pillar.
“Ah!” A sharp pain flared in my hip as my lace corset dug into my ribs.
Julian didn’t even look back.
He slammed his golden goblet onto the floor, the wine pooling like blood across the marble.
“The imperial carriage is leaving,” he barked at his knights, stomping furiously out of the estate.
“Go home! Every single one of you, clear the hall!” Duke Abernathy roared, dismissing the remaining noble guests and guards.
The heavy oak doors slammed shut, leaving only my father and me in the vast, empty hall.
I forced myself up from the stone floor, ignoring the stinging pain in my side.
I rushed over to my father, wrapping my hands around his trembling wrist.
“Father, do not listen to her! Vivienne is stupid! Let her run away into the rain. I can take her place. I can marry Julian and secure the southern mines—”
“Enough!” Duke Abernathy snapped, violently wrenching his hand out of my grip.
He looked down at me, his eyes cold and devoid of affection.
“Do you think a royal marriage is a game, Catherine?” the Duke whispered, his voice trembling with dangerous fury.
“Vivienne holds the receipts. She knows about the illegal weapon smuggling. She knows things she should not know.”
My heart stopped.
Weapon smuggling?
How could Vivienne possibly know about that?
“Go to your room,” the Duke ordered coldly, turning toward his private study without a backward glance.
I stood alone in the middle of the ruined ballroom.
I looked down at my torn lace, my fingers curling into tight, trembling fists.
The pitiful, innocent maiden was gone.
A deep, unadulterated venom consumed my chest as I looked toward the grand entrance where Vivienne had disappeared.
You will pay for this, sister, I vowed silently, my teeth grinding together until they ached.
If you think escaping to the north will save you, you are a fool.
I will ensure you never make it back alive.