The Rasivan Empire.

It was a country built on blood.

It began, like most things do, with a god and a legendary hero.

King Uther of Old Rasiva. He was a great and cruel warrior. Though the smallest country on the continent, Old Rasiva was known for its military prowess, winning countless battles even when they were greatly outnumbered. Over decades, Rasiva grew, and grew, and grew.

Eventually, surrounding countries grew tired of Rasiva’s greed and conquest, and formed a powerful alliance to put a stop to it. Soon, King Uther found himself mortally wounded, dying in the middle of a raging battle.

But the god of war, Arzhur, was fascinated by Uther, a mortal who had killed so many with such rage and bloodlust. Arzhur found it a waste to let Uther die without knowing the full glory of conquest, so the god filled a golden chalice with his blood and fed it to the dying king.

As the god’s blood coursed through his veins, Uther became stronger, faster, and even more bloodthirsty, like a savage animal. His eyes, previously a stark blue, were now the color of crimson blood. That wasn’t all: He inherited the ability to control people with his voice. With this, he became the first emperor.

And thus, the Rasiva Empire was born.

Though the Power of Command hadn’t been seen again after Uther, each heir to the throne inherited powerful battle magic. Over the course of six hundred years, the empire grew and conquered nearly every neighboring country, all through the sheer ruthlessness of their Imperial Family and army.

This ruthless ideology permeated every aspect of Rasiva. The noble houses were constantly at each other’s throats, trying to gain the upper hand, all to get as close to the Imperial Family as possible, while the emperor looked down at them from his golden throne, like mere ants on a hill. Even within the mighty Imperial Family, the heirs to the throne competed with each other to be chosen, sometimes to the death. Living in Rasiva was a constant battle, no matter who you were.

There was a time I relished this battle, but now, after three lives, I was pretty exhausted by it all. Sure, I wanted to survive, but more than anything, I wanted revenge.

But I wasn’t an idiot. In order to get my revenge, I had to win.

“That’s right,” my father said, pulling me from my thoughts. “You’ll be betrothed soon, Navina.”

My stomach clenched as tight as a closed fist. My eyes flicked to my brother, Levas. He remained quietly eating, as if my father had said nothing shocking at all. Though we had the same dark teal hair of House Dekarias, he had my mother’s ice-blue eyes, whereas I had my father’s gold eyes. Around his neck was the deep blue feyanite pendant he always wore.

Our eyes met, and he grimaced at me.

At the time of my death, I hadn’t seen him in years. We had never been close, but we became strangers after I had married Valen in my last life. He was older than me by five years, and yet there were no talks of him being betrothed anytime soon. Instead, he attended the College of Mages and built his reputation as a powerful mage. He was allowed to spend House Dekarias’s money as he wanted, was allowed to entertain countless women, to gamble and party as much as he pleased. In my first life, I would have brushed this off as a natural law of life.

But now, it only pissed me off.

Yet my face remained cold. I looked up at my father and smiled.

“Yes, Father. I look forward to it,” I lied.

“Prince Valen has grown into a strapping young man. Hasn’t he, Navina?” my mother said, echoing my smile. I ignored the biting pain in my stomach.

“He’s quite handsome, yes.”

He’s also a bloodthirsty bastard, I thought.

“Handsome or not, he’s the only choice for Navina,” my father said.

Again, I felt like throwing up. I could practically feel the crepes coming back up my throat at the thought of marrying that crazy murderous bastard again.

“There are plenty of eligible bachelors in Rasiva,” I replied, hoping to gauge how he felt about me marrying anyone else. “Perhaps we should consider all of our options.”

Levas paused mid-bite. My mother had a look of utter shock on her face, and I watched as my father’s jaw tensed.

“There is no one more eligible than him, you fool,” he said through gritted teeth. “There is no doubt that the emperor will name him heir. If you marry him, one of your children, my grandchildren, will be emperor one day.”

Any further, and my father would certainly hit me. I was only testing the waters, determining how much it mattered to my father that I be betrothed to the empire’s heir.

Apparently, quite a lot. I figured.

“You’re right,” I said. “My mistake. Forgive me, Father.”

I had always chosen Prince Valen. I would have even said that I loved him, right up to the end. Even when he cheated on me, betrayed me, made me look like a fool, it didn’t matter.

He was the future emperor, and I was in love.

Maybe he loved me at the start, or maybe he was just playing me. He had orchestrated the most elaborate courting, gifting me gorgeous one-of-a-kind gowns, dazzling gemstones and jewelry, even a stunning white thoroughbred horse.

He told me, over and over, that I was the only woman worthy enough to stand by his side.

He made me feel special.

That was all a lie.

Even though I married him again in my second life, I had done it to get my revenge on Faustina for ruining my first life. In the end, I should have known it was Valen’s fault all along.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Fool me three times? I wasn’t going to let that happen.

“You will reserve your first and only dance for Prince Valen,” my father said. “That will signal to High Society and to the emperor that we plan to make good on our promise.”

I nodded, swallowing the bile rising to my throat. My birthday banquet was at the end of the week. Just four days away.

I had to come up with a plan, and quickly.

Maybe I could run away. But my family was powerful, and my father would certainly hunt me down. There would be nowhere in Rasiva I could hide.

Then… could I leave Rasiva?

I thought for a moment. This would be the year Rasiva decided to go to war with Baatar, the Eastern Kingdom. Soon, the borders would be closed to all outside travel.

The only option would be to stay.

Then there were two options: I could cause some scandal, make myself unmarriable. But that risked the chance of imprisonment or another cruel death.

Plus, what kind of revenge would that be?

The other option would be to marry someone else.

Someone who could help me get my revenge.

Was there anyone in Rasiva like that?

If I didn’t figure that out soon enough, my parents would marry me off to Prince Valen, and there was no way I’d let them.

In truth, I’d rather die. For good.