Luna, a mixed‑blood Beta, is used as a scapegoat by her family. She is offered up in place of her arrogant older sister Selena to Kael, the Shadow Lord, who is rumored to be terrifying‑looking and whose partners never survive more than three years.
In the grand hall of the Shadow Citadel, she witnesses the tyrant writhing in agony as dark crimson curse runes devour his body. By chance, her touch causes the curse marks to crack and fade — she is the living antidote he has sought for three hundred years.
Against her will, he pins her upon his throne and hurls her onto the carpet, forcing her to endure both agony and pleasure. Three days later, he personally sends her into the Moonlit Trials, forcing her to stand before the entire nobility with her low‑status mixed‑blood heritage.
When her sister publicly smashes her tournament insignia and sneers that it is a counterfeit, the mysterious supreme lord in his silvery‑white mask steps out from the crowd. His deep voice rumbles: “A token bestowed by my own hand, and you dare call it counterfeit?”
