My whole family favored my sister, Luna Hastings. No matter what she did wrong, I was always punished!

I saved the powerful Regent Osborne Kensington, but Luna stole the crystal pendant and claimed my credit.

My parents called me a liar, and Osborne had me poisoned to mute my voice.

My father married me off to his poor student, Alexander Baker, to whom I gave everything to help him become the top scholar.

"If you didn't look like Luna, do you think I would have married you?" So, Alexander, my beloved husband, only saw me as a replacement!

He gouged out my eyes, and Luna plunged a knife into my heart. I died with grievances unresolved!

Reborn into this life, I would give you the gift of utter destruction!

1

When I opened my eyes again, the thick smell of medicine in the room stung me. Something was burning.

Then, the sound of a porcelain jar shattering, followed by Luna's scream; she had burned her hand on the medicine bowl.

Mother came rushing in and, without a word, slapped me.

"All you do is sleep! How come you didn't just sleep forever when you can't even handle something as simple as brewing medicine?"

Mother called me useless, blaming me for Luna's burn. She went to get the burn ointment for Luna, and her eyes were red with distress.

"My sweet girl, you're just too soft-hearted. Let her do the complex tasks; there's no need for you to intervene."

My heart ached at her words, but Luna, pretending to be gentle, said, "It's not Eleanor's fault; I saw her sleeping so soundly that I couldn't bear to wake her. It's Luna's fault."

She began to cry. "If I wasn't blind, she wouldn't lack even the skill to carry a bowl of medicine."

At the word "blind", I reflexively knelt, and as expected, Mother erupted.

Earlier, it was just a slap, but now she ordered someone to drag me away and give me twenty lashes.

We were sisters by blood, yet our parents always favored her!

Luna was good at pretending to be weak. When she was born, Mother had a severe illness and passed it on to her, so she was weak from birth.

Mother felt she owed Luna and always tried to lavish all her love on her, saying Luna was the one who indeed resembled her, both in looks and character. On the other hand, she would bitterly call me an ingrate, as if I were picked up from the streets!

Mother pinched me hard and her words harsher than usual. When I was younger, I would resist, and she would have the maids hold me down and beat me mercilessly!

My body trembled uncontrollably!

"How could I have given birth to such a liability, unable to handle even the most minor tasks and always looking to cut corners?"

My mother's voice was laced with fury as she kicked over the stove, sending scalding coals tumbling onto my body. I instinctively tried to dodge.

But she grabbed my hand firmly, pressing it down. "Seems like you won't learn unless you feel the pain."

"Mother, I know I was wrong. It hurts... please, have mercy," I pleaded, tears streaming down my face as I looked at my severely burned hands.

They showed not a shred of compassion, fearing I would never learn.

When I was eight, Luna discovered a secret about my mother in the rear mansion by the artificial hill.

She was running when she tripped and fell. At that moment, my mother was lost in a reckless affair, oblivious to the world around her.

After that day, Luna was blinded. I suspected someone had intervened, wanting to inform my father.

Instead, he beat me harshly, accusing me of spouting nonsense at such a young age and already capable of slandering others.

He hung me upside down in the room, and through my tears, I begged him to ask Luna.

But Luna said she didn't see anything and accidentally broke her eye.

Father then declared that from then on, I would be Luna's eyes and wouldn't need to be a young lady anymore. I would be Luna's servant!

After that, my mother grew to hate me even more, frequently beating and scolding me. As the legitimate daughter of the house, I lived worse than a servant.

Luna constantly found new ways to torment me. She would deliberately fall, and when our parents accused me of negligence, they would beat me mercilessly.

She would poke at my cuts and bruises with a hairpin, viciously stabbing the healing wounds and reopening the scabs.

She even drugged her caretaker for amusement, throwing him into my courtyard.

My parents only accused me of being spiteful and flirtatious.

Each time Luna pleaded for me, claiming she was blind and useless, it would stir their affection.

I would be severely punished.

I only had time for myself at night when Luna was asleep. I would sneak out to a neglected little courtyard in the back alone.

In my past life, it was there I saved Osborne after he fell from a tree, severely injured, and nearly dead.

I hid him in the backyard, dressed his wounds, and distracted his assassins. He left behind a crystal pendant, promising to repay me once he stabilized the political situation.

I didn't take his words to heart, and the next day, he was gone. But a year later, when he gained power, he indeed sent for me.

Osborne took me to his residence, offering to fulfill a wish in gratitude for saving his life. All I wanted was to escape my dreadful home, trusting Osborne's protection against my parents' tyranny.

When Luna learned of this, she wept, claiming she was the one who had saved Osborne!

The following day, my parents and Luna came to Osborne's door. Luna, holding the crystal pendant she had stolen from me, told Osborne that I was an imposter and that it was not I who had saved him!

"Eleanor has always been vicious-hearted, always seizing what belongs to her elder sister, and now she has audaciously claimed Luna's life-saving grace for herself."

"I didn't, I'm not!" I protested. Osborne, too, was puzzled, questioning why I couldn't produce the crystal pendant.

Just then, Luna pleaded on my behalf. "Eleanor wasn't intentional. I shouldn't have exposed this, but I didn't want you deceived nor my sister to repeat her mistakes."

Under the guise of looking out for me, she was slowly pushing me into the abyss.

My mother rushed over and slapped me. "How did I end up with such a liar for a daughter? That night, you weren't even at the estate. It was Luna who saved the day."

Osborne sent people to investigate, and everyone at the estate testified I was in the countryside that night. Furious, he accused me of daring to deceive him.

"Liars must pay the price." At Osborne's command, I was rendered mute!

Back at the estate, my father, disgraced by me, locked me in the backyard.

"Please don't blame me for being harsh. You shouldn't have claimed the life-saving grace that belonged to Luna. Consider this your punishment."

I opened my mouth but could no longer make a sound. I collapsed in tears; I had long realized that my father didn't care about the truth.

The truth about that incident when I was eight, he knew it well. Afterward, he dealt with Mother's lover and became affectionately devoted to my mother, turning into a couple envied by everyone in the Central Capital.

He sought reputation, not truth.

After locking me away for a while and seeing I neither cried nor resisted anymore, he conveniently married me off to one of his students.

Alexander was a talented but low-born scholar. He treated me well, buying me sweets and beautiful dresses when he went out.

Alexander would take me to see the fireworks and stand up for me when his mother, Louisa Baker, cursed at me.

I thought life would continue peacefully like this. I wore out my hands embroidering to save money for his exams, but I never expected that on the night he passed his exams...

He drunk as a lord, and he kicked the door open. I greeted him with a smile, but he slapped me across the face.

"I've had enough of you, dummy. If you didn't somewhat resemble Luna, do you think I'd keep you around?"

The pain made me realize I was just a stand-in for Luna. Tears streaming, I looked up at him.

"Now that I am the top scholar, what kind of wife could I not have?"

He desired to marry Luna and had made his intentions clear to my father. Back when Luna had saved Osborne's life, she had hoped to become Osborne's wife but was rejected.

Osborne preferred men and couldn't possibly marry her, yet he bestowed upon her honors even more significant than those of a princess!

Luna, bolstered by Osborne's support, amused herself with high officials in the Central Capital, wielding her influence!

The next day, Luna came to visit me under the pretense of concern, but in reality, she was arm-in-arm with Alexander, smiling at me.

"I'm blind, how could I possibly deserve today's top scholar?"

Hearing this, Alexander gave me a sinister look. To amuse Luna, he cruelly gouged out my eyes!

I collapsed in a pool of blood, voiceless, as Luna playfully grabbed his hand. Together, they plunged a dagger into my heart.