I am the most unwanted true heiress in the capital.
My mother took one look at the rough, simple-minded girl who had grown up on the frontier and acted as though she wanted nothing to do with me.
She gave me a purse of silver and coldly sent me away. “Consider it your dowry.”
I was about to leave with my head hanging when my elder brother and half-sister stopped me.
My brother saw that I was beautiful and wanted to use me to win over powerful men.
My half-sister thought I was a fool and wanted to keep me as the maid who washed her feet.
My mother burst into tears and tried desperately to drive me away.
That was when I realized she had never refused to acknowledge me—she was afraid she could not protect me.
The servants tried to hold me there by force.
In the struggle, a jade pendant fell from my sleeve.
My half-sister’s face changed the instant she saw it. “Where did you steal this?”
I answered honestly, “A gentleman with an eye condition gave it to me after I saved his life.”
