

On her coronation day, Empress Yedda Lara orders her betrothed, Ronan Vance, thrown into the furnace for allegedly draining the empire's dragon vein. Ten years ago, Ronan actually tore out his own dragon core to seal the demons beneath them, but now, he stands branded a traitor.Before he can burn, the ancient Vowstone shatters, unleashing memories that expose the truth to the entire court: it was Ronan who saved Yedda's life as a child, sacrificing his blood, his horns, and his power to protect her, while the true villain, Chancellor Cyrus, stole her memories and framed him.As her hatred shatters into agonizing guilt, the dragon vein begins to die. Desperate and broken, the empress falls to her knees, begging the man she just condemned to save them all.

"My husband, Victor Shaw, once asked me to have my uterus removed so we could stay child-free together. Ten years later, he brought home a pair of adopted twins, a boy and a girl, and told me to raise them well. I said yes. From that day on, I devoted myself to those two children. When they turned eighteen, they were accepted into the most prestigious universities in the country. At their graduation party, Victor handed me a property transfer agreement and asked me to put all my assets in the twins’ names. I agreed. Just as I picked up the pen to sign, my mother pulled me aside, her face full of worry. “Lana, those two children came out of nowhere. You can’t hand your entire fortune over to them.” I said calmly, “Mom, I trust my own judgment.” My mother broke down and dropped to her knees, begging me not to be a fool. When my father realized he couldn’t talk me out of it, he slapped me across the face in fury. “You stupid woman. You’re going to ruin this family.” Then he stormed out and slammed the door behind him. I signed my name. Victor burst into satisfied laughter. Then he affectionately wrapped his arm around another woman’s waist. The woman tossed a divorce agreement at me. “Lana Grant, thank you for taking care of Victor and our children all these years. Now it’s time for you to give them back to me so our family of four can finally be reunited.” I smiled faintly. “Of course.”"