Reborn to Let My Sister Steal the Wrong Blessing

As dragon shifters, we choose our fertility blessing when we come of age. When it is finally my sister Ella’s turn and mine, our father, the head of our House, places The Ancestral Blessing and The Brood Blessing before us—one believed to be the strongest, the other the weakest. Ella chooses The Ancestral Blessing without hesitation, leaving The Brood Blessing to me. When it is time to choose our mates, she even convinces Prince Adrian, the man she loves, to take me with them, making me nothing more than her companion in his House. But a year later, the dragon she gives birth to shows no ancestral awakening at all. It is only a low-ranking black dragon. Meanwhile, with The Brood Blessing, I give the royal family several heirs and earn the Dragon King’s favor. Before long, I am treated far better than Ella. Then, during one of my pregnancies, Ella offers to take care of me. Instead, she drives a knife into my stomach and twists it again and again, killing me and my unborn children. When I open my eyes again, I have been reborn. This time, Ella grabs The Brood Blessing first. Then she convinces Father to send me to the lowest-ranked Ash Dragon House. ------ Dragon females from our House possess rare fertility blessings, which makes us highly sought-after mates among the other Dragon Houses. Father is the head of our House, and he does not want anyone accusing him of favoring his own daughters. So he deliberately brings out one of the strongest blessings and one of the weakest. Young dragons from powerful Houses have already arrived. They are only waiting for Ella and me to make our choices. “The Ancestral Blessing and The Brood Blessing,” Father says. “Ella, Emma, choose for yourselves.” Two spheres of violet light float in front of us. The moment Father finishes speaking, Ella reaches straight for The Brood Blessing. Father’s expression immediately darkens. He clears his throat, obviously trying to stop her. “The Ancestral Blessing can awaken the ancient bloodline within your mate or your offspring,” he explains seriously. “Any child born under this blessing will have a chance to awaken a bloodline stronger than their parents’.” Then he looks at the other sphere. “The Brood Blessing only allows you to carry more eggs at once. The more heirs you carry, the more diluted their bloodline may become.” Dragons care more about bloodline than almost anything else. The stronger and purer the bloodline, the greater the dragon’s power and status. Father is clearly warning Ella. Having more children means nothing if their blood is weak. He wants her to choose The Ancestral Blessing. When he notices me watching him, Father looks away awkwardly. “Emma, Ella is the elder sister. Let her think it over and choose first.” He is always like this. He favors Ella because she looks more like him and has always been livelier than I am. In my previous life, I would have felt hurt. Now, I simply wait for Ella to make her choice. The moment she reaches for The Brood Blessing, the blessing she has always looked down on, I know for certain. She has been reborn too. Sure enough, no matter how much Father tries to persuade her, Ella still reaches for The Brood Blessing. “Father, I think The Brood Blessing is perfect,” she says. “A big family sounds wonderful.” Violet light wraps around her arm and sinks completely into her body. A satisfied smile immediately appears on her face. Then she turns to me with a mocking look. “See how good I am to you, little sister? I even left you the strongest fertility blessing.” I almost laugh at how foolish she is. She has just handed the strongest blessing directly to me. In our previous life, proud Ella chose The Ancestral Blessing, leaving me no choice but to take The Brood Blessing. Back then, she looked down her nose at me. “Only pigs are proud of having that many babies, Emma. You should be embarrassed to have The Brood Blessing.” Funny. Now that she is the one who wants it, suddenly it is different. I smile and pretend to be grateful. “Then I really should thank you, Ella.” “But carrying so many eggs at once can be hard on the body. You should be careful.” Ella immediately lets out a cold laugh. “You should worry about yourself.” “If no one wants you, you might not get the chance to have children at all.” She grabs my arm and quickly pulls me toward the doors. The young dragons who have come to choose mates have been waiting in the main hall for a long time. The moment Ella and I walk in, their eyes light up. One of them immediately asks, “So what fertility blessings did the two princesses receive?”

Ella lifts her chin proudly and ignores every other dragon in the hall. She walks straight to Prince Adrian and speaks to him sweetly. “Adrian, I chose The Brood Blessing. I want to give you more heirs.” Ella has dreamed of becoming the most powerful woman in the Dragon Realm since she was young. As ancient bloodlines continue to fade, the Golden Dragon House has become the most respected among all Dragon Houses. Everyone wants to be connected to them. At every gathering in the past, Ella always stayed close to Adrian and tried her best to please him. Eventually, the two of them really did fall in love. Adrian had already promised to come for her on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony and take her as his wife. Hearing this, Adrian laughs and pulls Ella into his arms. “Ella and I love each other. From now on, she is my wife.” Then he looks at Father. “But I remember The Brood Blessing is the weaker blessing.” His eyes fall on me. “Did Emma get The Ancestral Blessing?” In my previous life, Adrian claimed he came only for Ella. But in truth, he also wanted The Ancestral Blessing. He hoped to have a golden dragon heir and win the Dragon King’s favor. Now the woman he loves has chosen the blessing he wanted, and he is ready to leave with her. But Ella has always been used to keeping me around as her inferior. She immediately leans against Adrian and says, “Adrian, even though my sister got that useless blessing, I still want to bring her with us.” “Let her stay with you too.” No other House dares compete with the Golden Dragons. So even though I am a princess too, I can only become Adrian’s second mate. Ella pouts and looks at me with obvious disgust. “The Ancestral Blessing is completely useless. Adrian, don’t let anyone fool you.” I almost laugh. She has no idea how powerful The Ancestral Blessing really is. As long as a male dragon carries even a trace of ancient blood, his children can awaken a stronger bloodline and rise far above ordinary dragons. The Brood Blessing is different. It does not just dilute the parents’ bloodline. Carrying too many eggs at once can also drain the mother’s body and cause permanent damage. Ella really thinks being reborn means she has stolen the better life. Adrian is not convinced by a few words from her. Instead, he turns to Father. “Is The Ancestral Blessing really as useless as Ella says?” Father looks at me. Then he looks at Ella. “Yes, Prince Adrian,” he says firmly. “Ancestral awakening is only a legend. No one in our House has ever succeeded.” He simply does not want me competing with Ella. Fine. I have no interest in becoming a tool between Adrian and Ella anyway. I turn toward another Dragon Prince. In my previous life, I nearly chose him. I am just about to speak when Ella suddenly covers her mouth and laughs. “Father, you don’t know yet?” She looks at me with a smile. “Emma has already fallen for Dorian, the Ash Dragon Prince.” “She’s just too embarrassed to admit it.” Ella tilts her head. “She even keeps one of his scales beside her bed.”

I turn to Ella in shock and meet the challenge in her eyes. She mouths the words at me. “You belong with a lowly Ash Dragon.” Ash Dragons have always been looked down on. Other Dragon Houses treat them as weak and inferior, and they are often mocked or bullied because of their bloodline. Without even asking whether Ella is telling the truth, Father summons a golden whip and lashes it across my body. “You shameless disgrace!” I clutch my bleeding arm. The Dragon Prince I was about to choose immediately takes a step back. The way he looks at me is full of contempt now. Whispers break out around the hall. “How shameless. She was already sneaking around with a man before coming of age.” “I thought she was innocent. Who knew she had such terrible taste?” I have not even had a chance to explain when Dorian steps in front of me. His voice is serious. “Princess Emma and I had never met before today. None of this is true.” “There is no proof. How can you accuse her like this?” Ella lets out a soft laugh. “You’re already protecting her, and you still expect anyone to believe there’s nothing between you?” She gives a small nod. One of our maids immediately heads toward my room. A short while later, she returns. There is a dark dragon scale in her hand. Ella looks at me. “Emma, what else do you have to say?” “This was found beside your bed.” Dorian and I look at each other. We are both stunned. Then I suddenly remember the Dragon King’s birthday celebration last year. Adrian looked down on Dorian because of his weak bloodline. He had his men set fire to the road the Ash Dragons were traveling on just to humiliate them. He laughed as the flames scorched their scales. Ella had dragged me along to watch. Dorian’s situation reminded me too much of the way Ella always treated me at home. I could not bear to watch, so I turned away. I never thought Ella would remember something that small for so long. Or use it to set me up now. I take a deep breath and clench my fists, ready to defend myself. Then my personal maid suddenly drops to her knees in terror. “Please forgive me, my lord!” She looks up at Father. “Princess Emma has been secretly meeting Dorian every month. I helped cover for her.” I look up. Ella is smiling. And suddenly, I understand everything. Even though she saw for herself in our previous life that The Ancestral Blessing had failed, she still does not want to take any chances. She does not want me choosing a dragon from another powerful bloodline. And she wants to make sure Adrian gives up any thought of taking me because of my blessing. Father’s face turns dark. He gives me two choices. “Either kill yourself here and preserve the honor of this House, or take ninety-nine lashes and leave this family forever.” Ella leans against Adrian, watching me like she is enjoying a show. I look at the scale in the maid’s hand. At a certain angle, a faint golden shimmer flashes across its surface. It reminds me of a story Mother once told me before she died. Something inside me settles. I turn toward Dorian. If there is no place for me in this House, then I will find somewhere else to belong. “I’ll take the lashes and leave.” Then I look directly at him. “Will you choose me as your mate?”

Dorian looks moved, as if he never expected anyone to choose him willingly. There is insecurity in his eyes, but his voice is firm. “I may not be good enough for you, but if you are willing to become my mate, I will do everything I can to protect you.” “I will never let anyone mistreat you.” The moment he finishes speaking, Ella’s mocking voice reaches my ears. “An Ash Dragon?” “What can he possibly protect you from?” “The Golden Dragons could destroy his House whenever they wanted.” “Even with The Ancestral Blessing, the best you could do is awaken a slightly stronger Ash Dragon.” “Your child still wouldn’t be worthy of standing beside mine.” I ignore her and step onto the punishment platform. My mother may have only been Father’s second mate, but she was once a seer in our House. She once told me about an ancient bloodline known as the First Dragon Bloodline. It was one of the oldest and most powerful dragon bloodlines in existence. Only descendants carrying that bloodline could show faint traces of gold beneath dark scales. And the scale found in my room is clearly black with a golden shimmer. Now I also have The Ancestral Blessing. Our child may not be weaker than Ella and Adrian’s at all. Dorian steps forward and blocks my path. He turns to Father. “I’ll take Emma’s punishment for her.” But the rules of our House cannot be changed. Father swings the whip with all his strength. Every strike tears open my skin. Ella seems to remember the life I had in the Golden Dragon House before she killed me. She mutters under her breath, “She stole my life once.” “It would be better if Father just beat her to death.” After ninety-nine lashes, Father finally stops. His voice is cold and sharp. “Emma, you are a disgrace to this House.” “From now on, you are no longer part of this family.” By then, I have already lost consciousness. When I wake again, I am in the Ash Dragon House. My wounds have been carefully bandaged, and cool medicine soaks into my skin. Dorian walks in. His face immediately turns red. “Don’t worry. A maid changed your bandages. I…” Compared with Adrian, who has always been shameless with women, Dorian is almost painfully innocent. I cannot resist teasing him. I smile slightly. “We’ve already chosen each other as mates.” “Why wouldn’t you change my bandages yourself?” “Are you regretting your choice?” His eyes widen. He quickly shakes his head. “No.” “I don’t regret it.” Just then, a guard walks in and hands us a golden invitation. Only then do I realize how badly I was injured. I have been unconscious for more than a month. Adrian and Ella are already married. Ella is even carrying his children. The invitation is for a banquet announcing that the Dragon House finally has new heirs on the way. Dorian already knows from the coming-of-age ceremony that Ella and I do not get along. He tosses the invitation aside. “If you don’t want to go, we won’t.” His voice is gentle. “You still need to recover.” “I’ll find a way to turn them down.” “No.” I pick up the invitation with a playful smile. “We’re going.” “There’s still a good show waiting for us.”