My nails dug into the leather straps of my satchel of herbs.

In my first life, I thought I had spent a decade nursing him back to life.

That my magic had finally given him a human form.

I was wrong.

He could have done it all along.

For years, he let them mock me.

Let them call me the girl with the dud egg.

And he did nothing.

Now, even in his weakest state, he could force his way out.

Adrian's gaze cut through the crowd.

It bypassed everyone else.

It found me.

His eyes were wide, desperate.

A silent question. A plea.

"Oh, gods! He took human form!"

Isabella's eyes lit up with wild joy, her earlier hesitation gone.

"He's hurt because of me! I'll take full responsibility!"

A dragon that could take human form was a dragon on the verge of godhood.

The villagers were too stunned by Adrian's god-like beauty to speak.

Seeing me just standing there, Isabella moved to block him from view, a casual shield for his naked form.

"Eva, since you said you didn't want him, and you wouldn't listen to me… I suppose I'll just have to take him home and care for him myself."

"You don't have to explain, Isabella! She said she didn't want him! If she tries to go back on her word, she'll be a disgrace!" a villager shouted.

"Exactly! What a good eye you have, Isabella! To find a dragon like this!"

"Oh my..." Isabella blushed, feigning shyness. "I'm sure my sister isn't the type of person to go back on her word..."

I stared coldly at Adrian.

He was still looking past everyone, right at me.

That desperate hatching, that complicated gaze…

He was looking at me like he knew me.

And I understood.

He was back, too.

He hadn't hatched because he fell.

He'd hatched because he sensed I was walking away.

And when I turned my back on him without a second glance, I saw shock, and something like betrayal, flash in his eyes.

The village was soon buzzing with the story of how I'd thrown away a future god.

Adrian's divine beauty had convinced everyone.

No one doubted he would one day ascend.

They laughed at my blindness and praised Isabella's sharp instincts.

Everyone expected me to come crawling back, begging for a scrap of Adrian's favor.

But after I got home, I never gave him a second look.

Finally, one day, as I was passing him in the hall, an icy hand shot out and clamped around my wrist.

I struggled, but his grip only tightened, feeling like it could crush bone.

He just stared, his brow furrowed.

His eyes burned with questions he couldn't ask.

And under it all, a flicker of resentment.

Why are you acting like this?

The question hung in the air between us, as sharp as a shard of glass.

Did he really not know?

I couldn't break his grip.

So I pried his fingers off my skin, one by one.

Then, rubbing my reddened wrist, I stormed back to my room.

Adrian stared down at his empty hand, then at my retreating back.

A raw, wounded look crossed his face.

The corners of his eyes turned red.

I suppose when someone worships you for a lifetime, you forget they can learn to stop.

The second I took my love away, he looked at me like I was the one who had betrayed him.

Remembering how I'd carried him through wind and rain, forging what I thought was an unbreakable bond, a bitter pang shot through my heart.

Later that night, I was thirsty and went for water when I heard low voices from a room down the hall.

I peeked through a crack in the door.

Adrian stood there in a white robe, his back to me, looking like a god descended to earth. His voice was the sound of ice chimes.

"I came back to fix what I broke."

The person kneeling behind him was cloaked in shadow. "But… didn't your brother already choose Lady Isabella?"

"And?" Adrian turned his head slightly.

I saw his cool, clear eyes burning with a fierce, unfamiliar heat.

"I came back for her. Nothing will stand in my way. Not even my brother. I will not yield."

The words were like daggers.

I turned to leave.

But just as I did, I heard the other ask, "Forgive my boldness, my Lord, but why are you so devoted to a mortal woman?"

Moonlight softened Adrian's eyes.

"At Moonspring Lake," his voice went low, reverent. "I fell from the heavens. Broken and dying. And she found me. She protected me for forty-nine days, never leaving my side."

He paused.

"Without her, my trial would have been a failure. I would have faded into dust."

Moonspring Lake.

The name was a punch to the gut.

The world froze.

My blood turned to ice.

My hands began to shake.

Moonspring Lake?

Wasn't that… where I saved a little white dragon?

I had watched over him for forty-nine days, and only left to bring my herbs back to the village once I saw he was better.

I never told a soul about it.

That was… him?

Clenching my fists, I let out a bitter, silent laugh.

You absolute fool, Adrian.

I had no intention of letting him know.

This time, I was fixing my own regrets.

So-called dragon companions had nothing to do with me.

I went out to gather herbs less and less.

Most days, I was holed up in my room, buried in ancient magic texts.

It wasn't until the annual Spring Equinox Festival that Isabella dragged me out.

The Church of the Holy Light sent proctors for the annual aptitude trials, and Isabella dragged me from my room.

"It's the annual trials! If you don't go, you might miss your chance to train with the Church, Eva."

The Church of the Holy Light? The trials?

I glanced back at my dog-eared copy of the Codex of Holy Light. After a moment's thought, I nodded.

"I got you a new wand! You can finally throw away that crude thing you always use. You need something better for the trials!"

She pressed an exquisite wand box into my hands.

I spent another day buried in my books.

It wasn't until the morning of the trials that I finally opened the box.

Inside was an ornate piece of junk.

It was a pretty trinket, not a tool. Too many crystals, rough wood. Its mana conductivity was practically zero.

When I looked for my own wand, it was gone.

After a day of reading, my stomach was growling. With no other choice, I took the useless wand and went to the trials.

I had just reached the village square when I ran right into Isabella.

Dressed in elegant white robes, she was chatting with her circle of friends while they waited.

The Church's mages had already set up the magical testing array. A proctor in pristine white robes stood on the platform, his expression stern.

When they saw the wand in my hand, the crowd stared.

"Gods, does she really think she can pass the trial with that thing?"

"It's always the ugly ones who try the hardest. As if a fancy prop could hide what she is. Trash is still trash."

"Is she trying to upstage our Isabella?"

"Hah! Well, she succeeded. As a clown."

"Please. Isabella's wand is laurel wood with a pure mana crystal. Lord Adrian chose it for her himself. And this girl shows up with a toy? She's not even in the same league."

"Everyone, stop it!"

Isabella, smelling of sweet perfume, glided toward me. She grabbed my arm, her eyes wide with fake shock.

"Sister, why would you bring this wand to the trials?"

"It's my fault. I should have helped you choose a proper one."

With that, her eyes reddened.

The onlookers immediately rushed to comfort her.

"Isabella, it's not your fault! She's the one who can't use it right!"

"Exactly! You even got her a new wand. You're the best sister anyone could ask for! Don't blame yourself!"

"Right! I refuse to believe she didn't have another wand to use! This was her choice, it has nothing to do with you!"

Isabella dabbed at the corner of her eye.

"But... she's my sister... How can I not feel terrible, seeing her humiliate herself like this?"

"Next, Miss Evangeline!" the proctor's voice boomed.

I took a deep breath and walked onto the testing array.

"A basic incantation of Light, if you please."

I raised the garish wand and began the incantation.

But the wand channeled nothing. The holy light that should have bloomed from it just sputtered weakly and died.

"Pfft!"

A snort of laughter came from the crowd.

"Is that her Light spell? It's dimmer than a glow-fly!"

"Isn't that the wand you gave her, Isabella?" someone shouted intentionally from the crowd. "Did you set her up to fail?"

Isabella shot to her feet, her eyes glistening.

"The wand I gave Eva was made from the finest materials! The crystals were hand-picked! Don't you dare slander me!"

"How could I possibly want my sister to fail? I want her to pass more than anyone!"

I walked off the platform, a cold smile on my face.

"Isabella, are you done with your little show?"

My words silenced the square.

I walked up to her little clique.

"You," I said, pointing to one of them. "You said you refused to believe I had no other wand. Then, Isabella," I turned to Isabella, "why don't you tell them who took my real wand?"

Isabella was speechless.

In my past life, I would have just walked away, too tired to argue.

Not this time.

"That laurel wood wand in your hand is exquisite," I continued. "A gift from the dragon, I'm sure. But I bet you had a hand in 'helping' him choose it, didn't you?"

"You're such an expert on wands. So why did you pick this piece of trash for me?"

Isabella gasped, covering her mouth. "Eva… you're accusing me!"

"Stop playing the victim." I laughed, shrugging off her touch. "Doesn't it get exhausting? If you're so innocent, then let's go to your room. Right now. We'll see if my wand is hidden there."

Isabella's face went pale.

I turned and started walking back, and when Isabella frantically grabbed for me.

I dodged her easily.

"Eva!" Isabella's tears hit the ground. "Whether I hid them or not, you're tearing us apart as sisters!"

"We'll see about that after we look."

I was almost at her door when a sharp pain flared on my wrist.

I glanced down.

A faint shimmer on my wrist.

A mind-control hex.

The mark was so familiar... I'd seen it on Adrian.

Suddenly, my mouth opened, and words that weren't my own poured out.

"So what if my wand has no magic? I'm more talented than Isabella anyway! I'll show everyone she's a useless fraud!"

"I even threw my own wand in her room to frame her! Let's see you defend her now!"

I clapped a hand over my mouth, horror icing my veins.

The looks on their faces had shifted from mockery to pure hatred.

"I knew it! I knew you were behind this!" Isabella's friend shot a magic missile straight at my face.

The crowd surged forward, hurling fireballs and ice shards at me.

"You should be grateful you even have a wand, you picky wretch!"

"You don't deserve the one Isabella gave you!"

I stumbled back under the barrage of spells and had no choice but to turn and run.

As I ran, Adrian appeared at Isabella's side in a flash of light.

He pulled her into his arms, shielding her from a threat that wasn't there, his cold glare pinning me in place.

In his arms, Isabella hid her triumphant smirk behind a mask of tears.

Remembering the flash of white light on my wrist, I gritted my teeth.

While I was recovering at home, Adrian actually came to my room.

I slapped the potion from his hand.

Vials and pills scattered across the floor.

He gave me a complicated look.

Then he picked up a pill, pinched my jaw, and forced it into my mouth.

He leaned in, his voice a low snarl at my ear. "Swallow it. Or choke on your pride. I don't care which."

Staring into his threatening eyes, I clenched my teeth and swallowed the antidote.

Finally, the uncontrollable words stopped.

He waited a moment longer, making sure I was stable, then turned to leave.

At the door, he paused.

"You have nothing to say to me?" His voice was tight, stretched thin by a pain he refused to show.

He knew. He had to.

We were both ghosts from another life, and I hadn't offered him a single word.

I kept my eyes shut. "No."

He gave me one last, long look before shutting the door.

After that, my reputation in the village was utterly ruined.

People spat my name like a curse.

"Scheming witch."

"Ugly hag."

I disappeared for a while.

Everyone said I couldn't stand living in the village anymore.

But a few months later, I returned.

Under Adrian's care, Isabella was glowing.

She was more beautiful than ever.

When she saw me, she patted my shoulder. "I know you're bitter, but a person has to accept their own shortcomings. You can't have what isn't yours, Eva. Adrian chose me. It's not something I control. And it's not something you can change. Understand?"

I had no time for her games.

I turned my back on her.

The moment our shoulders brushed, Isabella let out a piercing scream.

She collapsed backward, right into the arms of Adrian, who had just entered.

Her eyes immediately reddened. "Eva, I was just trying to welcome you back. Why can't you understand that I'm trying to help you?"

Adrian's brow tightened.

He pulled her behind him. "Evangeline, apologize."

I just scoffed.

His face darkened.

"My choice was mine," he bit out, his voice cracking like ice. "It had nothing to do with her. Stop hiding. Stop tormenting her."

Just as he finished speaking, a horn blast shattered the tension.

A herald from the Church of Holy Light, mounted on a shimmering unicorn, held a scroll aloft.

"A summons for the Lady Evangeline!" the herald's voice boomed, shattering the tension. "For achieving the highest marks in the Paladin trials, you are summoned to an audience with the High Bishop himself! He will name you the first female Initiate Paladin in the history of the Church!"

"A Paladin?" Isabella gasped.

"You? With your pathetic flicker of magic? You passed?"