The day the King was ambushed, my husband—the Captain of the Royal Guard—was busy placating his childhood sweetheart, who had stormed off in a fit of pique. I did not light the signal flare in my hand. Instead, I stood before the King, my belly swollen with child, and became his human shield. I made this choice because, in my previous life, I had lit that flare. My husband had abandoned his precious Elara to rush to the King's side. He was hailed as a hero, named Lord Protector of the realm for his valor. But Elara, left alone, fell into the assassins’ trap and was killed on the spot. My husband said nothing at the time. But on the day I gave birth, he threw me into the Beast Pit. As the creatures closed in, I screamed at him, demanding to know why. He gave me a single, cold glance. “The King has a legion of guards. Why did I, and only I, have to return? It must be that you, with your eyes only for power and wealth, deliberately summoned me!” “If you hadn’t lit that flare, would Elara have died? The suffering she endured… I will make you repay it, tenfold!” The beasts tore me apart, devouring even the newborn child from my womb. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back on the day of the King’s assassination. … 1 “Protect the King!” The black-clad assassins moved with deadly precision. I took a reflexive step back. I was truly reborn. And it was right at the beginning. My eyes fell to the signal flare clutched in my hand. While no one was watching, I hurled it into a nearby lake. Then, with all my strength, I threw myself in front of the King, who was locked in a desperate struggle with the attackers. I saw the shock in his eyes as I became his shield, absorbing blow after brutal blow meant for him. I watched as the confusion in his gaze slowly gave way to disbelief, then to a dawning sense of awe. I knew, in that moment, that my gamble had paid off. My husband, Lord Valerius, was the Captain of the Royal Guard. He was meant to be by the King’s side at all times. Yet today, with the King’s life in peril, he was absent. He was chasing after his pouting first love, Lady Elara. In my last life, I had lit the flare, fearing he would be reprimanded for his absence. Instead, after being showered with titles and honors, he decided I was a power-hungry shrew who had orchestrated Elara’s death. He had me thrown into a pit of wild beasts he had “prepared” just for me, a final, gruesome end for me and my child. Since the heavens had granted me a second chance, I would not walk that same path to ruin. I shielded the King with my life. Blades plunged into my body, but I gritted my teeth and refused to make a sound. The King had other guards nearby; if I could just hold on until reinforcements arrived, I would live. The King understood this. Though it pained him, he took shelter behind me. The assassins, realizing my intent, exchanged a look. Then, one of them drove his sword deep into my abdomen. My child. I was eight months pregnant. I felt him move within me every day. In my last life, just before the end, I could have sworn I heard him cry. This single blade felt more agonizing than being torn apart by a hundred beasts. A raw scream tore from my throat. My vision swam with red. I felt their killing intent focus on me, the final blow about to fall. A sharp, tearing pain radiated from my core, different from the agony of my first death. I felt something precious, something vital, slipping away from me. I reached out, but my hand only found the King’s blood-soaked tunic. The thunder of approaching footsteps. I heard the King’s frantic roar. “Healers! Where are the Royal Healers? Whose lady is this? Someone, attend to her!” I opened my mouth, but only blood came out, spilling in crimson waves. The King knelt beside me, heedless of the gore. With the last of my strength, I forced out the words. “I am… the wife of the Captain… of the Royal Guard… Lord Valerius.” 2 After speaking, I felt myself slipping into darkness. But a sharp prick from a healer’s needle jolted me back. “My lady, you cannot sleep,” he urged, wiping sweat from his brow. “If you sleep now, you may never wake. Think of your husband, your child! They are waiting for you!” The King’s voice joined his. “Yes, yes, that’s right. You have saved the Crown. When you recover, I shall name you Lady Protector of the Realm, and you will want for nothing. And your child! If it is a girl, she shall be betrothed to my son, the Prince. If a boy, he will be granted a great title. You must hold on! I’ve already sent for Lord Valerius!” I managed a weak, bitter smile. I was no fool. The moment that blade entered my womb, I knew my child was lost. As for Valerius… he would not come. Just then, the messenger the King had dispatched returned, breathless. He fell to his knees, his eyes fixed on the floor. The King’s brow furrowed. “Where is Lord Valerius?” The page trembled. “My lord… Lord Valerius refuses to come. He said… he said not to use such cheap tricks to gain his sympathy.” The boy’s head hit the stone floor with a dull thud. I knew Valerius must have said far worse, things the page dared not repeat in the King’s presence. Of course. In Valerius’s heart, I was worth less than a single hair on Elara’s head. And yet, I was his lawfully wedded wife. Elara was merely his mistress. He had abandoned his post, abandoned his King, to chase after her. That signal flare… I had knelt and begged him for it before he left. In my last life, I lit it, and he called me ambitious. In this one, the King himself summoned him, and he ignored the call. If he loved Elara so much, why had he ever married me? Rage surged through me, and I coughed up another mouthful of blood. The healer, his cap askew, glanced nervously at the King. “Your Majesty, the Lady’s emotions are too volatile. If she does not have family by her side at this critical moment, I fear she will not survive!” The King looked at me, his jaw tight with fury, but he swallowed his anger. He pulled a heavy, carved jade pendant from his belt and threw it to the page. “Go. Tell him it is a command from his King. If he does not come, I will have his head!” He was truly enraged now. He was surrounded by guards, yet on this day, the one who mattered most was gone. I had nearly died for him, yet he could not even summon my husband. For a man of his absolute power, it was a profound humiliation. My condition was too fragile to be moved. The healers could only keep me alive with needles and potions while they brewed a stronger draught. When the page returned again, I was still conscious enough to hear his report. This time, he was not alone. With great effort, I opened my eyes. I saw a face I knew all too well from my past life: Elara’s handmaiden, Leah. Leah had originally been my maid. But after I became pregnant, she had started poisoning my food. By the time it was discovered, I was on death’s door. I had been about to have her executed when Valerius had walked in, Elara on his arm. I still remember the way he looked at me—with such coldness, as if I were not his wife, but his mortal enemy. Elara had been weeping, clutching Leah’s hand, her eyes pleading with me. “My lady, how can you be so cruel? You are not dead. Why must you take this girl’s life? It is monstrous! Valerius, my love, perhaps you could give her to me? Though I am only your mistress, surely I have the power to save one small life.” 3 Valerius had turned to Elara, sighing with a weary fondness. “You are too kind, my love.” Then he faced me. “Elara is right, Lyra. You are not dead. Why make such a fuss? Give Leah to Elara. And in the future, try not to be so dramatic over trivial matters.” I had stared at him in disbelief. I was carrying his child, and had almost been poisoned to death, yet he thought it was a trivial matter because I had survived. There was no justice in it. But at that time, I still loved him. I believed he was simply blinded by Elara, and that as his wife, I should be magnanimous. Then one day, I overheard them talking. Valerius’s eyes were full of adoration. “You silly girl. Next time you use poison, be more discreet. If you’re caught again, I won’t be able to help you.” Elara wrapped her arms around his, cooing. “I know, I know. Thank you for your help this time, my lord.” Leah stood nearby, smiling. The three of them, a perfect picture of harmony. And I, standing in the shadows, felt as if I’d been plunged into a frozen hell. All along, Valerius had known. He had even encouraged it. I was the only one who had been a fool. The hatred from that memory boiled within me, and seeing Leah again made my blood run hot. But in her eyes, my agitation was a sign of guilt. Her initial timidity vanished, replaced by a smug confidence. “Lady Lyra, my lord says he is with my lady Elara now. As for you, as long as you don’t die, it’s fine. If you bother him again, he will send you a writ of divorce! Not only that, he will make the child in your belly call my lady ‘Mother’!” “My lord also said that he never liked you. He only married you because your family had power and could help his career. Now that he is Captain of the Royal Guard, he keeps you around out of the kindness of his heart. If you continue to cause trouble, you will have only death to look forward to!” By the time Leah finished, the King’s face was black with rage. He smashed his teacup on the floor, and the servants in the hall dropped to their knees in a wave of fear. But Leah, oblivious, strode up to my bedside, sneering. “Lady Lyra, I advise you to save your energy. Your little act won’t work on my lord. And as for this… commoner?” She gestured vaguely at the King. “If you think you can make my lord jealous, you are sorely mistaken.” “When I tell my lord how you risked your own child to carry on an affair with this man, do you think he will have you drawn and quartered, or simply torn limb from limb?” She was gloating. The King’s royal robes had been ruined, and he was now wearing a simple linen tunic. She had mistaken the King of the realm for my secret lover. The King’s expression was unreadable, a mask of cold fury. He gave a sharp, humorless laugh, and with a nod, the guards who had just arrived seized Leah. She finally realized her mistake and opened her mouth to scream, but a page muffled her cries and dragged her away. “Take her,” the King’s voice was like ice. “Have her drawn and quartered. And throw her remains before Lord Valerius. I am very curious to see what is so special about this man that Lady Lyra would suffer so much for him.” I noticed the King’s choice of words. Lady Lyra. He had already separated me from Valerius in his mind. My gamble had not been in vain. 4 The life-saving draught the healers had been preparing was finally ready. I drank it down and gratefully fell into a deep sleep. When I awoke, a strange handmaiden was helping me sit up. “My lady, the attempt on His Majesty’s life is a matter of great importance. The King has returned to the palace, but he has commanded that you are to rest and recover here, under his protection. He will visit you once things are settled.” I nodded. In my last life, the investigation into the assassination had been a long and arduous affair. It was only after it was concluded that Valerius received his rewards. The King had been through a great ordeal; it was a testament to my sacrifice that he remembered me at all. All I had to do now was wait. I was just about to speak when the sound of frantic footsteps approached. Before I could turn, a rough hand seized my chin. It was Valerius. His face was a thundercloud. “You have some nerve,” he snarled, “to have Leah tortured and killed behind my back!” “Do you have any idea how much Elara grieved when she saw Leah’s body? You venomous shrew! I must have been blind to ever choose you!” His blow sent my head snapping to the side, my cheek burning. “Is that so?” I whispered, wiping away a tear. “Then let us divorce.” I had been holding those words in for so long. I had planned to wait for the King’s official decree, to leave Valerius with honor and grace. But I couldn’t bear it any longer. The hatred and grief from my past life, combined with the pain of this one, swirled around me like a suffocating cocoon. Valerius, who had been so self-righteous, froze. He frowned, his eyes raking over me, and just as I wondered what he was thinking, Elara appeared. The previous day’s turmoil seemed to have had no effect on her. She was as beautiful as ever. The moment she entered the room, Valerius had eyes for no one else. He gently gathered her into his arms, the same hand that had just struck me now caressing her face with infinite tenderness. “What are you doing here? You haven’t fully recovered.” Elara shook her head. “My lord, I was worried about you. I came to see you, only to hear you arguing with my lady again, and all because of me. I cannot bear to see you and my lady in such pain. Perhaps… perhaps it would be best if you divorced me! Then you would have no more worries.” She began to weep, her tears falling onto Valerius’s tunic. He was beside himself with pity, fumbling to comfort her. “Don’t say such foolish things. You know you are the only one in my heart. Her… she has my pity only because she carries my child. A woman like her could never raise a child properly. Once she gives birth, I will give the child to you to raise, and I will make you my equal wife!”
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