The Shadow King Hates Me For A Century

My sister died in a brutal war, leaving behind a newborn child fathered by the King of the Shadow Realm. For the sake of that infant, the powerful Shadow King, Silas Blackwood, married me.

I was nothing but a low-rank wolf with no noble blood. Yet, to ensure my sister's son was my only priority, I endured the agony of a ritual to hollow my vessel every single year.

For a century, I gave everything I had to Silas and the boy, Caspian.

But Silas was like the ice on a mountain peak. He never granted me a single shred of warmth.

The end came when I returned to the Temple of Souls, screaming in agony as my essence was severed once again.

Silas walked in and mistook my pain for a desperate attempt to conceive. He was livid. "Your sister's grave is barely cold, yet you're trying to seduce your brother-in-law to secure your status through a child!"

I was already dying from a lingering frost venom. Instead of comfort, he threw me into the bone-chilling waters of the River of Souls.

The child I had poured my life into only sneered. With a wave of his hand, he turned the river into solid ice.

A hundred years of guarding them, a hundred years of obsession... it all lost its meaning in an instant.

I returned the Soul-Bond Locket and walked out of the Shadow Palace.

He sat on his high throne, his expression cold and indifferent. "Seraphina, you can never leave the Shadow Realm."

Soon after, word spread throughout the realm. To break the Soul-Bond, Seraphina had carved out her own heart and leapt into the Vortex of Reincarnation.

From the heavens to the abyss, we would never meet again.

1.

The night before Silas married me, I endured the ritual to sever my womb in the Temple of Souls.

The pain lasted all night, leaving me in a pool of my own blood.

But when I thought of young Caspian, I felt a sense of peace.

The essence of a supernatural being can regenerate. That meant I had to return to the temple every year to endure the same bone-deep agony. I did it to ensure I would never have a child of my own, so I could love Caspian with all I had.

Silas caught me while I was still clutching my abdomen, trembling before the Goddess of Life. He was furious. "Seraphina, I only married you for Caspian's sake. Your sister is barely gone, and here you are, trying to replace her."

I shook with pain. When I reached out to him, he stepped on my fingers with his heavy boot.

He let out a cold laugh. "Go stand guard at your sister's shrine tonight. The River of Souls is cold. Go keep her company and beg for her forgiveness."

After Silas left, the Goddess of Life sighed. "You gave him your whole heart. How could he not even listen to your explanation?"

I looked down at my bruised, swollen fingers and smiled bitterly.

The sweet whispers he once shared in bed seemed like a lifetime ago. His affection was so shallow it couldn't survive even a hint of doubt.

He didn't believe me. Explaining was useless.

Silas, do you even remember that I once took a poisoned blade for you? My body is still riddled with frost venom.

The River of Souls is freezing. How am I supposed to survive the night?

My blood turned the dark river water a sickly crimson. As my consciousness began to fade, I saw Caspian walking toward me.

My eyes stung with tears.

I had raised this boy with my own hands. He used to be so devoted to me. If I so much as scratched my finger, he would cry while bandaging it.

I forced myself to stay awake. "Caspian... I'm okay. Don't worry..."

He stepped closer, but there was no worry on his face.

"Why would I ever worry about you?"

I froze. As I struggled to swim toward him, Caspian stepped back with a look of disgust. He cast a spell, turning the water around me into jagged ice. "I think the river isn't cold enough. You need to wake up and see what you are."

The boy who used to cling to my knees felt like a complete stranger. "Caspian, when did we end up like this?"

He mocked me. "You're just a liar. You were only good to me to get to my father. Now that the truth is out, stop acting like a loving mother."

He didn't look at me again as he turned to leave.

The river froze inch by inch. Shards of ice pierced my skin. I lost my strength and began to sink into the dark depths.

Just as I reached the bottom, I saw Caspian running back, his eyes red.

My throat tightened. I used the last of my strength to swim toward the surface. But his gaze didn't even flicker toward me. He was carefully holding a woman, feeding her a healing potion.

The cold was in my marrow, but suddenly, I couldn't feel anything at all.

"Auntie Vivienne, I've already messaged Father. He'll be here soon. Just hold on."

Vivienne opened her eyes weakly. Silas arrived a second later, looking frantic.

"What happened?" He rushed to Vivienne's side, pouring his power into her body to heal her.

Caspian sobbed. "It's my fault. A rogue attacked us, and Auntie Vivienne got hurt trying to protect me."

Vivienne was Silas's childhood sweetheart. They had been engaged once.

Silas scooped her up in his arms. "Hang on. I'm taking you to the Moon Altar."

The Moon Altar was a sacred healing ground. It had the best medicine in the realm, but its doors had never opened for me.

Caspian followed closely behind, whispering comfort to her.

As they passed the river, Silas saw me, pale and broken. He spoke as if he were giving a command to a dog. "Seraphina, go home. Stop being an eyesore."

Their figures disappeared. I dragged my lifeless body to the shore and collapsed. I couldn't hold back the sobbing anymore.

I clutched the skin over my heart, leaving a trail of blood as I walked away.

Behind me, my husband and child were surrounding Vivienne with love.

The low-level spirits and guards didn't bother hiding their mockery. They laughed at me like I was a stray dog.

"She stole her sister's husband. She should have known this day would come."

I lowered my head and laughed at myself. A thought finally became clear. "Seraphina, was it worth it? Giving up everything to stay in this hell for two men who will never look at you?"

No. It wasn't.

I looked at the glowing Vortex of Reincarnation in the distance. My nails dug into my palms, but my mind was finally calm.

2.

The frost venom tortured me all night. The next morning, I dragged my exhausted body to the Shadow Palace.

Usually, I would be there to help Silas dress.

But it was Vivienne who opened the door. My head was spinning so fast that I accidentally bumped into her.

Vivienne was fragile. She fell heavily to the floor.

Silas heard the noise and stormed out. He shoved me aside and pulled her into his arms. "Vivienne! Are you okay?"

Vivienne's eyes flickered. She looked at him with tears ready to fall.

I tried to explain, but someone shoved me hard from behind. Caspian ran in, glaring at me. "Seraphina! You're just jealous of Auntie Vivienne. How could you attack her while she's injured?"

The wounds on my back tore open again. Blood soaked through my shirt. I stumbled, clutching the wall. "I'm sorry, I just..."

In my confusion, I accidentally stepped on the hem of Vivienne's dress. She began to cry. "Seraphina, I didn't mean to stay at the palace. Silas was just worried about my wounds..."

I stood there, speechless. I knew I wouldn't get a chance to defend myself.

Silas looked at me with eyes full of ice. "Kneel. Apologize to Vivienne."

I refused to bend. Caspian grabbed my shoulders and forced me down. My knees hit the stone floor in front of Vivienne.

A strange sense of calm washed over me. I looked at the men who were forcing me to apologize to a mistress. I started to laugh quietly. "Silas, I was never allowed to stay the night in this palace. I was never allowed to heal at the Moon Altar. Since you love her so much, why don't you just marry her?"

I looked at Caspian. "I poured my soul into raising you. I warmed your medicine with my own body in the winter. I fanned you all night in the summer. Caspian, my conscience is clear. Why won't you just let me go?"

Tears rolled down my pale face. I must have looked pathetic.

Silas and Caspian remained unmoved. They both looked at me with the same coldness. "Seraphina, what kind of drama are you trying to start now?"

Vivienne reached out to touch me, acting like she was being kind. I pulled away.

Caspian shielded her and screamed at me. "You aren't my mother! You're just a low-born stray my real mother took in. You're a loser. You don't deserve to raise me, and you definitely don't deserve my father!"

I smiled. Finally, he said it.

I was his shame. I couldn't give him power or status. It made sense that he hated me.

I nodded slowly and forced myself to stand up. My wounds were screaming, but I didn't care.

"Fine. I won't be your mother anymore."

Caspian looked stunned for a second, then he sneered and led Vivienne away. "Good. I've been waiting for that."

I stood alone with Silas in the grand hall.

He was as calm as ever, just like he had been for the last hundred years.

This time, my heart didn't ache. "Silas, I don't want to be your wife anymore. I'm leaving."

His eyes narrowed. "Seraphina, just because I punished you? How long are you going to keep acting like a child?"

I reached into my robe and pulled out a jade locket.

It was the token Silas gave me on our wedding day. It belonged to the wives of the Shadow Kings.

I placed it gently on the floor and bowed one last time.

"On our wedding night, you said this locket meant we would be of one heart. Now, I'm giving it back. I wish we had never met."

Silas's face darkened. He kicked the locket across the room. "Seraphina, you can't leave the Shadow Realm. We have a Soul-Bond. I can find you no matter where you run."

He was the King of the Shadow Realm. I was a nobody with a bond tied to his soul. Where could I go?

I didn't answer. I just walked out of the palace that never felt like home.

Behind me, I heard the sound of him smashing a glass against the wall.

3.

I left the palace and headed straight for the healer's hut, clutching my side.

In the Shadow Realm, people rarely needed healers unless they were low-rank like me.

I reached the door, but before I could knock, a massive shadow slammed into me.

I wasn't fast enough. I screamed as my ankle snapped and I hit the ground.

Blood poured from my wounds. A rogue spirit, sensing my weakness, growled and prepared to pounce.

Its claws ripped into my shoulder, tearing through the meat.

Just as I thought I was dead, a sword flashed in front of me, shattering the spirit into mist.

I was hunched over, unable to move from the pain. It was Caspian and Vivienne.

Caspian's tense expression relaxed when he saw it was me. "Oh, it's just her. At least no one innocent got hurt."

Vivienne sighed. "Caspian was practicing and accidentally let a rogue spirit escape. Good thing it was just Seraphina, or Silas would have been furious."

I ignored them and tried to limp into the healer's hut.

Caspian was annoyed that I ignored Vivienne. He blocked my path. "Auntie Vivienne is talking to you!"

Cold sweat dripped down my face. I didn't have the energy to argue. I pushed past him and called for the healer.

Caspian gave a cruel smile to the healer who ran out. "Seraphina was disrespectful to Vivienne. No one is allowed to treat her wounds."

I stopped. I couldn't believe the boy I had nursed and raised hated me this much.

Vivienne fake-pulled on his arm. "Caspian, don't be mean. She's still your mother, technically."

She looked more like his mother than I ever did.

I looked at Caspian one last time. "It's okay if you hate me. It's okay if you want her to be your mother. I'm done hurting for you."

I walked away, ignoring his curses.

I cried with every step I took.

Once, I was a lost soul in this dark realm. My sister was the only one who gave me a home.

She was a high-tier goddess, but she cared for a weakling like me. If she were alive, she would be heartbroken to see me like this.

When she died, the whole river turned red.

She begged me with her last breath. "Seraphina, please. Watch over my son."

I promised her I would. She died in peace because of that promise.

I had protected that boy with my life. I endured Silas's coldness and everyone's mockery just for him.

And all I got was a broken body and a son who told me I wasn't worthy.

"Sister," I whispered, my tears disappearing into the sand. "I miss you. I miss the girl I used to be."

I found myself walking toward the Vortex of Reincarnation. The swirling portal felt like it was calling to me.

The guard at the portal laughed. "The Queen of Shadows? What brings you here?"

A second later, he screamed.

I took off my shoes and stepped into the bloody swirl of the vortex.

Within moments, the portal spat me back out. New wounds covered my body, deep enough to show bone.

The guard trembled. "You have a Soul-Bond with the King! You can't enter the cycle of rebirth!"

I gritted my teeth and crawled back toward the edge. Blood was gushing from my chest. "What if I force my way in?"

The pain of a thousand arrows piercing my heart pushed me back again. I was thrown onto the ground, my internal organs crushed.

The guard looked away, unable to watch. "The Soul-Bond is written into your very heart. The portal won't let you through as long as that heart beats."

My mind suddenly cleared. "So that's how it works."

I pulled out a sharp dagger. I crawled back to the edge of the vortex. Right before I jumped, I plunged the blade into my chest.

The pain blinded me. Blood and tears soaked my clothes, but I felt a strange sense of victory.

I twisted the handle, ignoring the sound of my own lungs failing. I literally carved the heart out of my chest cavity.

A lump of flesh, glowing with the runes of the bond, fell away from my body. I felt light as air. I leaped into the vortex.

In my final moment, I saw Silas running toward me, his face pale with horror. I gave him a weak smile.

"From the heavens to the abyss, Silas... we will never meet again."

My body fell like a withered leaf. He only managed to catch a scrap of my sleeve.

"SERAPHINA!"

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