

Ethan mistakenly believed that Scarlett's father had killed his own father, leading him to confine Scarlett in a mental hospital, where she endured torment for two years. Later, Ethan, in an effort to thwart his stepmother Evelyn's scheme, chose to enter into a fake marriage with Scarlett, with a three-month deadline. However, just as Ethan and Scarlett received their marriage license, Ethan discovered the mysterious woman he had slept with, Sophia.

General Valerie, commander of the human legions, returns in triumph—only to find her family slaughtered and her parents' souls imprisoned. King Edmund, who once promised her the crown, has broken his oath and submitted to the Archbishop. Valerie reclaims command of her armies, slays those who murdered her kin, but is soon cornered by the Archbishop, who holds her parents' souls and the lives of her entire legion as leverage. Forced into an alliance with Raven, lord of Black Keep, she leads her human legions in a counteroffensive against the capital. They dismantle the old system, punish the king, and strike down the Archbishop himself. In the end, Valerie rejects the crown she once sought and establishes a new order—one built on freedom, not thrones.