At the sacrifice ceremony, her newborn son was thrown into the deep-sea grinder. Iron teeth crushed flesh and bone. Blood mist stained the abyss red. They ripped off her last golden scale. Helena died cursing their names. Then she opened her eyes. Reborn. Back to the day of the royal engagement. Zael exposed her white-scale curse. Stripped her of everything. Exiled her to the mud. Forced to marry a crippled outcast. This time, she didn't cry. She crawled into the black market. With a kiss and a drop of blood, she woke a translucent monster — forgotten, abandoned, rotting in a cage. No one knew he carried the last drop of the Kraken's bloodline. No one knew her womb would birth a true god. Let her sister fake a royal heir. Let the prince kneel and beg. When the iron throne shatters and the abyss rises — Helena crushes the crown under her tail. Lifts her newborn high. "Bow. He is your new god."
