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I fought brutal battles on the front lines, bleeding to earn military honors for the Carlisle family. But the moment I returned, my adoptive mother demanded I transfer all my hard-earned achievements to her useless biological daughter, Corinne. "It's best to look humble when you're begging for a favor," her maid sneered, tossing me a faded gray dress. Desperate for a crumb of my adoptive mother's affection, I foolishly agreed. That single act of submission was my ruin, stripping me of my only leverage. Once I was useless, she framed and executed my brilliant brother. She slowly poisoned my true mother to death under the guise of illness. Finally, she locked me in my room and set it on fire. As the flames seared my flesh from bone, the last thing I saw was my adoptive mother's triumphant, contemptuous smile. Until I burned to ash, I didn't understand. I had sacrificed everything for them. Why was my blind loyalty rewarded with the brutal slaughter of my real family? Opening my eyes again, I was back at twenty years old. It was the exact morning they were coming to make me surrender my honors to Corinne. I looked at the drab gray dress laid out for my humiliation, and tore it to shreds. This time, I put on my battle armor.
Contents
His Secret Reborn Warrior Fated Mate Chapter 1
Aurora POV:
A sharp, insolent knock slammed against the wooden door, harsh and unyielding, slicing through the quiet dawn of the manor.
"Aurora! Out of bed this instant! The Matron's been waiting ages. Do you truly think you're privileged enough to make your mistress wait on a worthless stray like you?"
Louisa's high, grating voice cut straight through the door. Louisa's high, grating voice cut straight through the door. Every syllable dripped with smug, petty arrogance. She reveled in lording power over me, a lowly servant clinging to her mistress's favor to bully someone far weaker.
For twenty years, I'd endured this hateful tone in my gilded prison. She never bothered to hide her scorn. To her, I was nothing more than a useless charity case, a shameful extra mouth the Carlisles were forced to feed.
I jolted upright in bed, cold sweat soaking my worn nightgown, my heart slamming violently against my ribs.
I had died once already. That was why the pain in my body, the voice at the door, and even the dust in the air felt terrifyingly familiar. This was not a dream. This was the morning I had returned to-the morning before everything collapsed.
In my past life, I had been the foolish girl who longed for family approval more than for her own life. When the my mother Genevieve ordered me to surrender the military Title of Honor I had earned through blood and battle to Miss Corinne, I obeyed. That cowardly surrender was the first step toward ruin: Sterling was falsely executed, Adeline was slowly poisoned to death, and I myself was burned alive in the end, buried beneath the lies and ambition of Genevieve.
Seeing that I didn't respond for a long time, she directly pushed open the door and walked in. Louisa bustled in, her face twisted into a pinched, disapproving scowl, her eyes sweeping over my disheveled form with a disgusted sniff.She tossed a faded gray dress hard onto my quilt, the fabric flopping limply like a tattered shroud.
"Put this on immediately," she snapped, hands planted rigidly on her hips. "Today you're going to beg the Matron for mercy and hand over your military Title of Honor to Miss Corinne. Dress humble, keep your head down, and speak only when spoken to. Don't embarrass the family with your insolence."
Her words crashed into my mind like a thunderclap, jolting loose the flood of buried memories. This day. The fateful day that had unraveled my entire life.
It is today, Genevieve ordered me to use my military merit to petition the Crown for Corinne's elevation. She was old enough to marry now, she said, and with a noble title she could secure a far grander match. In my previous life, I had carried out that order exactly as written. I had personally handed Corinne the honor that should have belonged to me, and she had used it to cast off her ruined betrothed and marry into the House of the Grand Duke.
A cold, bone-deep rage ignited in my chest, burning away every trace of the old me's timidity. I was no longer the foolish, craving girl who begged for a family's love.I had died in the flames, witnessed my loved ones' lifeless eyes, and tasted the bitterest despair humanity could bear.And now-I was back.
I stared straight at Louisa, my gaze steady, icy, and unflinching, no longer clouded by flustered obedience. A grim, mocking smile tugged at my lips.
"I will not wear it."
Louisa froze, eyes widening in utter shock. She had never heard me speak with such unyielding authority, such frigid defiance. For twenty years, I had bowed my head and swallowed every insult-until now.
"What did you say?" she hissed, stunned and furious. "You ungrateful girl-"
"Leave." My voice was low, sharp, and final, cutting through her rant like a blade. "I will get ready on my own. You may escort me when I am done."
Stunned by the sudden, terrifying shift in my demeanor, Louisa's bluster crumbled instantly. She hesitated, a flicker of unease flashing across her face, before spinning around and storming out, her footsteps heavy with indignant confusion.
The second the door clicked shut, I moved without hesitation. I snatched the tattered gray dress from the bed, fingers tightening fiercely on the dull fabric-the symbol of my past humiliation, my blind compromise, my self-destruction. With a sharp burst of strength, I ripped it apart, again and again, until it was nothing but useless, ragged strips.
I crossed to the cramped wardrobe, shoved aside the drab, meager clothes Genevieve had confined me to, and retrieved my well-worn field uniform, wrapped safely in oilcloth. The black reinforced trousers and fitted tactical tunic were not luxurious finery, but my armor-earned through blood, sweat, and courage on the battlefield.
I dressed swiftly, tying my messy silver Carlisle lineage hair into a tight, stern knot at my nape. Glancing at the cracked mirror, I no longer saw a weak, pleading orphan. I saw a soldier-sharp-eyed, cold-hearted, and resolute.
I tossed the shredded gray cloth into the cold fireplace, a funeral pyre for the naive girl who had burned to death in the fire. This Aurora Carlisle was dead. From this moment on, only vengeance remained.
I strode to the door and pulled it open. Louisa paced impatiently in the hallway, and her jaw dropped the second she laid eyes on my rigid, formidable uniform.
"You-this is impossible! The Matron ordered you to-"
"Lead the way." My tone was laced with biting, icy sarcasm. "I have much to discuss with my loving 'mother'."
I followed her down the manor corridor, every step firm and deliberate. The cool dawn air brushed my cheeks, a tangible proof of my second chance.
This time, I would not be a stepping stone for anyone. This time, I would burn every traitor who destroyed my family.
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