No one moved.
The woman who had emerged from the tomb stood several steps in front of Elara. She had the same face. The same eyes. The same long hair. Even the tiny mole near the corner of her lips was in the exact same place.
Yet there was one thing that convinced Elara the woman was not her. Her gaze.
The woman looked at Adrian as though she had known him for hundreds of years.
“Adrian.”
The name left her lips like a memory she had kept buried for far too long.
King Adrian tightened his grip on his sword. “Who are you?”
The woman laughed softly. “Are you still pretending you don’t know me?”
“I’ve never seen you before.”
“Really?”
The woman stepped forward.
Adrian immediately raised his sword. “Stop.”
The woman wasn’t afraid. “You said the same thing back then.”
Elara looked at Adrian.
“Your Majesty…”
“I don’t know who she is.” Adrian’s answer came quickly. Too quickly. The woman smiled.
“See?”
She looked at Elara.
“He’s still good at lying.”
Elara frowned. “What is the relationship between you two?”
The woman was about to answer, but Adrian spoke first. “Don’t believe anything she says.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know who she is.”
The woman laughed. “Don’t know?”
She raised her hand. In an instant, the ground around the tomb began to tremble. Black mist poured from the cracks between the stones, moving like living smoke.
The soldiers backed away.
“Your Majesty!”
Adrian stepped in front of Elara. “Defensive formation!”
The soldiers immediately formed a circle. But the mist did not attack them. Instead, it drifted toward Elara. Slowly. As though it recognized her.
Elara backed away. “What is that?”
“Don’t let it touch you.”
Adrian seized Elara’s hand and pulled her back. The moment their hands touched, golden light appeared again. The black mist hissed.
Then it retreated.
Adrian stared at their hands. So did Elara.
“Why does it happen every time I touch you…”
“I don’t know.”
“This isn’t a coincidence.”
Adrian didn’t answer. The woman from the tomb watched them with a strange look in her eyes.
“So it’s true.”
“What is?” Elara asked.
“The seal has begun to crack.”
Adrian turned sharply. “What seal?”
The woman pointed at Adrian’s chest. “The seal holding back your curse.”
Adrian fell silent.
“For three years,” the woman continued, “you thought the curse was punishing you.”
She smiled. “But the curse was waiting for you.”
The hair on the back of Elara’s neck stood on end. “What do you mean?”
“This king wasn’t cursed because he was unable to live a normal married life.”
The woman looked at Adrian. “He was cursed because he killed someone he was never supposed to kill.”
Adrian raised his sword. “Enough.”
“Why?”
The woman’s gaze sharpened. “Afraid he’ll remember everything?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Elara looked at him. “Your Majesty.”
“Don’t.”
“What really happened?”
“I said don’t.”
Elara pulled her hand from Adrian’s grasp. “I have the right to know.”
Adrian looked at her. For a few moments, they simply stared at each other.
Then the woman said, “He killed you.”
Elara froze. “What?”
“In your previous life.”
The wind suddenly began to howl. Strange flashes flooded Elara’s mind. A room.
Fire. A white dress. A crown. And a man standing before her. Adrian. But his face was much younger. His hands were covered in blood. Elara clutched her head.
“Ah!”
Adrian immediately moved toward her.
“Elara!”
“Don’t!”
Elara backed away. The vision grew clearer. She saw herself standing in a vast hall. People were kneeling. Someone was placing a crown on her head.
Then Adrian’s voice rang out.
“I had no choice.”
Then everything went dark. Elara opened her eyes. She was already kneeling on the ground. Adrian stood several steps in front of her. His face was filled with concern.
“Are you all right?”
Elara didn’t answer. She stared at Adrian’s hands. There was no blood on them. Yet the memory had felt so real.
“What happened that night?”
Adrian fell silent.
“I don’t know what you saw.”
“Liar.”
Elara’s voice trembled. “I saw you.”
Adrian clenched his jaw. “In a dream?”
“In a memory.”
The words left Adrian speechless.
Lysandra walked closer. “She’s beginning to remember.”
Adrian turned to her. “How do we stop it?”
Lysandra gave him a faint smile. “You can’t.”
“I can.”
“Not this time.”
Lysandra raised her hand toward Elara.
“Memories locked away for a hundred years are beginning to surface. The closer she gets to you, the more she’ll remember.”
Adrian looked at Elara. “Then she has to leave.”
Elara stared at him in shock. “What?”
“You’ll leave the castle tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Because the closer you get to me, the worse your condition will become.”
Elara looked at him in disbelief.
“So after bringing me here, you’re going to throw me out?”
“I want to protect you.”
“From what?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“From yourself?” The question left Adrian silent. Elara stood. “I don’t know who I am.”
She pointed toward the tomb.
“I don’t know why my family is hated.”
Then she pointed at Adrian. “I also don’t know why your body reacts to me.”
Her eyes began to glisten, but her voice remained firm.
“And now someone has emerged from my family’s tomb with a face like mine and claimed that you once killed me.”
She shook her head. “So don’t tell me to leave before I get some answers.”
Adrian stared at her for a long time. Then he slowly slid his sword back into its sheath.
“All right.”
Elara furrowed her brow. “All right?”
“You’ll stay.”
Lysandra let out a soft laugh. “Your first mistake.”
Adrian looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“If you let her stay by your side…” Lysandra looked at the golden light in Elara’s hand. “…your curse may truly break.”
Adrian said nothing.
“And when that happens,” Lysandra continued, “everything the kingdom has kept hidden all this time will come to light.”
“Such as?”
Lysandra looked at Elara. “Who really killed Queen Seraphine.”
Elara was stunned. “Queen Seraphine?”
Lysandra nodded. “The woman whose face is identical to yours.”
Elara looked at the tomb. “Then… who was the woman who came out of there?”
Lysandra smiled. “She isn’t Queen Seraphine.”
Elara held her breath. “Then who is she?”
Lysandra looked at the woman standing in the darkness. The woman smiled.
“She is Seraphine’s daughter.”
Elara froze.
Lysandra continued, “And she has waited a hundred years to meet you.”
Adrian immediately stepped in front of Elara. “Why?”
The woman looked at them. “Because she wants to kill the same person who killed her mother.”
Her gaze shifted to Adrian. “And this time…” Her smile vanished. “…she won’t fail.”
Lightning tore across the sky. At the same moment, the curse symbol on Adrian’s hand suddenly spread up his arm.
Elara looked at him anxiously. “Your Majesty!”
Adrian staggered. Before he could fall, Elara managed to catch him. Golden light exploded from their bodies. Everyone covered their eyes.
And from inside the tomb came the woman’s voice:
“It has begun.”
When the light faded, Adrian was still standing. But his eyes had changed.
For an instant, his usually dark irises turned the same golden color as the woman’s from the tomb.
Adrian looked at Elara. Then he said in a voice that was not entirely his own, “Seraphine…”
Elara froze. Because that was not a name she had ever heard Adrian mention before.
And when Adrian came back to himself, he looked just as confused as Elara.
In the distance, the woman from the tomb smiled. “Now…” She turned toward the darkness. “…let the past find them.”