He pulled me into a tight embrace,
“Claire, you’ve suffered.”
Just those few words shattered the mask of strength I had worn for so long
“Not at all, Father. As long as the people of Asteria are safe, everything is worth it.”
From him, I learned that Orion had sent assassins to eliminate Rowan amid the chaos of war.
It was Father who had secretly intervened.
He also cursed Orion secretly, forcing him to live through torment to atone for the 800,000 Asterian lives lost in the last life.
I gazed at the small, lonely grave in the distance, emotions churning within me.
“Claire, are you really still thinking about him? Even after he’s dead, you’re still staring at his grave?”
Rowan’s voice was thick with jealousy and he embraced me from behind.
“Should’ve asked your father for a love spell,” he murmured against my hair, “to make y
eyes see only me.”
I turned in his arms with a laugh. “You foolish. No spell needed…”
My fingers laced through his, guiding his palm to rest where our child grew “You’ve filled every corner of me–heart, sight, all of it” *Well… almost all, since now we
we have our baby.”
For the first time in two lifetimes, my hands held everything I cherish. I ask for nothing more
Chupter B
Chapter 1
Before I died, the King’s first love returned.
He allowed her to tear my dress and polson my kitten.
I couldn’t sleep, my heart aching, tears streaming down all night.
I had once been the King’s favorite his jeweled rose, his whispered promise of a crown.
He swore I would sit beside him as queen.
But then he began lifting another woman’s veil, forcing me to leel outside the palace chambers and listen to their passionate nights together.
He asked me, “Aren’t you jealous?”
I didn’t tell him I was already gravely ill, and death was closing in.
Three years into my reign as the King’s favored mistress, Lady Vivienne Wildthorn came back to court.
She moved like wildfire untamed, radiant, leaving scorched earth in her wake.
Since her arrival, Alaric hardly came to see me.
Rumors spread that I was losing favor.
Elara dealt with the gossiping maidservants, but the next day, Vivienne came to confront me.
The girls who had been spreading rumors about me were all under her service.
Vivienne had a face nearly identical to mine, and as soon as she saw me, she smiled.
“So you’re the famous Lady Seraphine,” she mused, tracing a gloved finger along my jaw. “How curious. We might be sisters, were 1 prone to vanity.
Her smirk cut deeper than any blade. “Though I suppose that explains his… attachment.”
Suddenly, I remembered the first night I spent in his chambers.
How he’d murmured “Vivi” against my throat like a prayer.
I’d thought him fevered–brought him wine, cooled his brow
He’d laughed, pulling me down into the furs. “Sweet fool,” he’d sighed, but his gaze drifted through me, searching for shadows.
Now I understood
Vivi… Vivienne.
So that was it
Chapter 1
Chapter 2.
“When you glare at people, it doesn’t look good. Don’t do it Alaric won’t like it.
Vivienne stood high above me, lecturing me as if my current position was all thanks to her.
Thated her.
And she likely didn’t know that anyone I despised would soon find their life very difficult.
1 set down my goblet. A flick of my wrist, and Elara drove a boot between Vivienne’s shoulder blades, sending her sprawling on the rushes.
Alaric had placed Vivienne on a pedestal, and she probably thought no one would dare touch her.
“You’ve hurt me! If Alaric finds out
Before she could finish, Elara slapped her across the face.
“You’re not allowed to speak, and who do you think you are to talk back?”
I leaned back in my chair, watching Vivienne’s swollen face, feeling a bit of relief from the suffocating anger in my chest.
I had always been a bold, headstrong person. Even princesses had to step aside when they met me,
My father was a duke, and my brother a general.
Half of the kingdom’s lands were won by our ancestors.
I was the most “disappointing” child in my family, for I was only a mistress, never the queen.
When Alaric arrived, I was busy stitching a pouch, my fingers pricked with
