Seraphina heard her husband plot to swap their baby with his mistress's child. He would raise the mistress's daughter as the prophesied Warden. Seraphina's own child would be crushed into nothing. She smiled, said nothing, and switched the babies back. Eighteen years later, she stood in the shadows and watched her husband beat his own daughter bloody. She watched him throw her into a viper pit. She watched his mistress brand the girl's face with a permanent scar. They never knew the girl was theirs. All that cruelty meant for Seraphina's child—they poured into their own. On Awakening Day, Seraphina gave her enemies everything they wanted—until she revealed the truth in front of the entire realm. Their ""chosen"" daughter was never theirs. And the girl they destroyed carried their blood.
