His Unwanted Fiancée Is The Kingdom's Genius

Corrin Nolan POV:

I stood in the corner of the grand banquet hall, my eyes locked onto Jace-my husband of three years-as he intimately wrapped his arm around another woman's waist. He conjured a small, perfectly controlled wisp of orange dragonfire from his fingertips, using it to gently warm Elianna Rivers's goblet of wine before handing it to her. He looked at her with a soft, tender, and intensely affectionate gaze-a look he had never, not once, shown me in our entire marriage.

Elianna giggled, a high, breathy sound, and deliberately leaned her soft body against his arm as she tilted her head back to take a sip. As she moved, the chandelier's light caught a faint glimmer against her pale collarbone.

My breath stopped dead in my throat. The blood drained from my face.

Resting against her skin was a pendant shaped like a perfect teardrop, carved from pure, unblemished dragon crystal. It wasn't just any piece of jewelry. It was my mother's relic. It was the only tangible thing I had left of the woman who had birthed me, a sacred item I had foolishly entrusted to Jace for safekeeping. And now, he had given it away. It had become the sparkling symbol of their illicit, disgusting romance.

The crowd of laughing, sycophantic nobles surrounding them noticed nothing wrong. "Lord Jace and Lady Elianna are truly a match made by the Dragon-Gods!" a wealthy merchant cheered, his voice booming over the music. "Only a noble Half-Blood like her is worthy of standing by his side and aiding his ambitions. It's a tragedy he is legally shackled to that Dragonless peasant of a wife. She is nothing but a stain on the Davidson lineage, a useless weight dragging him down."

I didn't feel angry at their words; I only felt a deep, chilling emptiness.

Sensing my intense gaze, Elianna turned her head. She looked right at me through the crowd. Her manicured fingers drifted up, brushing deliberately and possessively against the crystal. She shot me a small, incredibly smug, and provocative smile. It was a silent declaration of victory.

I didn't hesitate. I stepped out of the shadows. I walked straight through the crowd, my heavy, purposeful footsteps cutting through the polite chatter like a blade. The nobles parted instinctively, their eyes tracking my plain gray dress with blatant disdain. I stopped right in front of the golden couple, my spine perfectly straight, my aura freezing cold.

"Miss Rivers," I said, my voice icy, loud enough for the surrounding nobles to hear. "The item around your neck belongs to me. Take it off."

Elianna gasped dramatically, immediately acting like a fragile, frightened deer. She shrank behind Jace's broad shoulders, deliberately pressing her soft breasts against his arm to stimulate his protective instincts. "Jace, I don't understand... why is Corrin being so aggressive toward me?"

Jace frowned. The familiar crease of annoyance appeared between his brows. He looked slightly guilty, but his pride quickly masked it with irritation. "Corrin, stop causing a scene and embarrassing me. It's just a small trinket I found in the vault. If you want a necklace so badly, I will take you to the capital tomorrow and buy you something far more expensive. Elianna really likes this one, just let her have it as a gesture of our friendship."

"Friendship?" A harsh, dry laugh escaped my lips. I looked at his defensive posture, shielding his mistress from his legal wife.

Before anyone could even blink, my body moved on pure instinct. I raised my hands. Slap! Slap!

Two crisp, perfectly symmetrical, and incredibly violent slaps echoed like thunderclaps through the grand hall. One struck Jace's left cheek, whipping his head to the side. The other struck Elianna's right cheek, leaving a bright red handprint on her pale skin. The entire banquet hall plunged into a dead, horrified silence. The music stopped abruptly.

While they were still reeling from the sheer shock of my physical strike, I lunged forward. My fingers hooked aggressively around the cold silver chain on Elianna's neck. I yanked hard. The chain snapped with a sharp metallic click, digging into her skin, and the heavy dragon crystal dropped safely into my palm.

"Ahhh!" Elianna shrieked, clutching her red, stinging cheek and her scratched neck. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at me with extreme, theatrical grievance. "Corrin, are you insane?! Why would you snatch Jace's gift to me and hit us? Please don't misunderstand, Jace and I are just bros! We call each other brothers! We are just good friends sharing a drink!"

I let out a laugh dripping with pure venom. "Bros? You rub your chest against my husband's arm, you look at him with eyes practically begging him to take you to bed, and you have the absolute audacity to call yourselves 'just friends'? You are nothing but a pathetic, home-wrecking mistress trying to act pure and innocent."

"How dare you speak to her like that!" Felicia, Jace's sister, marched over, her face twisted in absolute disgust. Her dress mimicked gold dragon scales, flaunting her status. "You jealous, uneducated peasant! Elianna is an independent, noble Half-Blood! How dare you strike her over a mere friendship gift? It's pathetic that my brother can't even have female friends without you throwing a jealous, hysterical tantrum!"

"Exactly! Look at your own status!" Caleb, Jace's sycophantic friend, sneered loudly, stepping forward to defend his Lord. "Lady Elianna is a wealthy noble. Why would she covet your cheap trash? You are just a gold-digging orphan with no background and low education. You probably made up that pathetic lie about a 'mother's relic' just to extort more money from Lord Jace! You are full of lies and jealousy!"

Jace rubbed his violently stinging cheek, his face flushing a dark, angry red. "Corrin, you are being completely unreasonable and childish! You have humiliated me in front of my guests. Apologize to Elianna right now, or there will be severe consequences!"

I looked at the man I had spent three years supporting in the dark, the man who was now threatening me to protect his mistress. I slowly raised the dragon crystal in my hand, my lips curving into a cold, self-deprecating smile.

"This piece of crystal might not even be worth a single bottle of the vintage wine you are casually drinking tonight," I said, my voice steady and echoing in the silent room. "But it is the most sincere memorial of my mother's love for me. It is a sacred relic of a fallen hero. It is not something for you to use to flirt with your cheap mistress."

I looked at Jace, who was still shielding Elianna with his body. My heart, which had held onto a tiny, pathetic sliver of hope for this three-year marriage, finally turned to absolute ash.

I looked at him with dead, freezing eyes, devoid of any love or anger. "Jace, do you even know what day tomorrow is?"