“Seraphine…”
The name was still hanging in the air when Adrian came to. He blinked several times, as if he had just awakened from an impossibly deep sleep. His breathing was heavy as his gaze swept over the surrounding area. The soldiers were still standing guard, swords drawn in their hands. The black mist that had filled the cemetery was slowly fading between the trees, and the woman who had emerged from the grave had vanished without leaving a trace.
Elara was still standing beside him. Her hand had gripped Adrian’s arm when he nearly lost his balance, but the moment she realized it, she quickly let go.
Adrian looked at her. “What happened?”
“You said that name.”
“What name?”
“Seraphine.”
Adrian fell silent. He closed his eyes, trying to remember what had just happened. But all that came to him were incomplete flashes. Fire. A grand hall. A woman in a white dress. And someone’s voice, sounding very close to his ear.
“Don’t let her go.”
Adrian opened his eyes. Elara was still watching him.
“Do you remember something?”
“No.” His answer came too quickly.
Elara furrowed her brow. “Really?”
“I don’t know what happened to me.”
For the first time since she had met him, Elara saw something different on the king’s face. There was none of the cold composure he usually displayed before others. None of a ruler’s arrogance. All that remained was confusion and fear, desperately concealed.
Before Elara could question him further, a soldier came running from the direction of the graveyard gate. He was panting when he stopped before Adrian.
“Your Majesty!”
“What is it?”
“We found something inside the grave.”
The soldier handed him a small object wrapped in cloth. Adrian unwrapped it and found an old gold ring. Engraved on its surface was the emblem of a dragon coiled around a black rose.
Elara immediately froze. “I’ve seen that ring before.”
Adrian looked up. “Where?”
“In a dream.”
Elara stepped closer and stared at the ring. For some reason, it made her head throb. She closed her eyes, and at once, a vision appeared in her mind.
A woman stood before her. Her hair was long, her dress was white, and her face was exactly like Elara’s own. The woman smiled as she held out the ring.
“Take it, Elara. One day, you’ll need it to remember who you love.”
Elara jolted and opened her eyes.
“Queen Seraphine.”
Adrian gripped the ring more tightly.
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because this ring belonged to my family.”
He turned the ring over. On the inside was a small engraving, almost worn away by time.
A & S.
Elara stared at it for a moment. “Adrian and Seraphine.”
Adrian did not answer.
His expression changed so quickly that Elara realized the name held far greater meaning than he wanted to admit.
“We’re going back to the castle,” he said at last.
The journey home passed in silence. No one dared speak of what had happened at the grave. Even the soldiers, who usually chatted during the ride, now only stared at the road with tense expressions.
Elara rode her horse beside Adrian. Several times, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. The king looked as calm as ever, but the hand gripping the reins kept clenching and relaxing unconsciously.
“Are you afraid?”
Adrian turned to her. “I’m not afraid.”
“You look afraid.”
“I’m a king.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Adrian was silent for a long while before finally sighing. “I’m not afraid of death.”
“Then what?”
Adrian’s gaze returned to the road ahead. “I’m afraid of something I can’t remember.”
Elara did not answer right away. She understood that feeling more than she wanted to admit. Ever since coming to Aveloria, strange fragments of memory had kept surfacing in her mind. Faces she did not recognize, places that felt familiar, and a voice calling her name as if it had known her for years.
“For three years,” Adrian continued, “I lived believing that the curse was a punishment.”
“And now?”
“I’m starting to think I only remember half the story.”
Elara looked at the road ahead. “Maybe we both do.”
Adrian glanced at her. “Both of us?”
“You and me.” Elara touched the pendant hanging around her neck. “If I really lived before, maybe something was deliberately done to make me forget.”
Adrian did not answer. But for the first time, they shared the same question.
What really happened a hundred years ago?
Night had fallen by the time they arrived at the castle. Adrian immediately ordered the guards to tighten security. No one was allowed to enter or leave without his permission, and all access to the Vale family tomb was sealed until the investigation was complete.
Elara was taken to a room in the east wing. It was spacious, warm, and far more luxurious than anywhere she had ever lived. But none of that luxury could put her mind at ease. She stood before the mirror, staring at her own face as she tried to understand how someone from the past could have looked exactly like her.
“Who am I?” The question escaped in a whisper.
Suddenly, the surface of the mirror before her fogged over. Elara frowned and stepped closer. The mist shifted slowly, forming letters that made her blood run cold.
“DON’T TRUST ADRIAN.”
Elara took a step back.
“Who’s there?”
There was no answer. The words slowly disappeared, and another sentence appeared.
“YOU DIED BECAUSE OF HIM.”
Elara’s breath caught. Her heart began to race. She stared at the words until they slowly vanished along with the mist on the mirror.
A knock sounded at the door. Elara flinched.
“Who is it?”
“Adrian.”
She looked at the mirror again. There was no writing on it. After making sure nothing strange remained, Elara opened the door.
Adrian stood outside without his crown or royal cloak. He wore only a simple black shirt, but his face still carried an authority that made him impossible to forget.
“Are you all right?”
Elara nodded. “Yes.”
Adrian studied her for a moment. “You look pale.”
“I’m just tired.”
Elara moved to close the door, but Adrian stopped her.
“Elara.”
“What?”
“I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“The library.”
Elara frowned. “Now?”
“Now.”
“Why?”
“There’s a book I’ve never read.”
Elara eyed him suspiciously. But her curiosity was greater than her exhaustion. In the end, she followed Adrian to the royal library.
The library looked different at night. Dozens of candles burned along the walls, illuminating towering shelves filled with old books. Adrian led Elara to the very back, past several shelves that appeared untouched by anyone.
There was a small iron door there.
“I’ve never seen this door,” Elara said.
“Because the room is sealed.”
Adrian took a key from his pocket. It bore the same dragon emblem as the royal symbol. When he inserted it into the lock, the sound of an old mechanism shifting echoed from inside the wall. The door slowly opened.
The room beyond was surprisingly simple. There was only a stone table in the center and a book resting on top of it.
The book was different from the other old volumes. Its cover was white, with no title and no royal emblem. Adrian picked it up.
“My father found this a few days before he died.”
“Why are you only opening it now?”
“Because there’s only one way to open it.”
Adrian placed his palm on the book’s cover. Nothing happened.
Then he looked at Elara.
“Try it.”
Elara hesitated, but eventually stepped closer and placed her hand over Adrian’s.
The moment their skin touched, a golden light appeared. The book trembled softly, then opened on its own.
The first page was blank. So was the second. Then, at last, golden light began to form words.
“To my child, if the blood of Vale ever returns to the palace.”
Elara held her breath. Adrian read the next line.
“Do not trust the history written by the kingdom.”
They exchanged a look. The next page turned by itself.
“Seraphine did not betray Aveloria.”
Elara went still. Adrian did not move either.
For a hundred years, the entire kingdom had believed that Queen Seraphine was a traitor who had destroyed Aveloria’s peace. Her name had been erased from the kingdom’s history, and her family had been hunted until it was nearly wiped out.
Yet this record said the opposite. The next page turned.
“She was sacrificed so the curse could be passed down to the descendants of Veyr.”
Elara’s palm turned cold. “So this curse…”
Adrian stared at the page.
“It wasn’t a punishment.”
The final sentence appeared slowly.
“It was a seal.”
Suddenly, all the candles in the room went out. Darkness engulfed them. Elara instinctively grabbed Adrian’s hand. He did not let go.
Several seconds passed in silence before a voice came from the corner of the room.
“Now you know.”
Adrian spun around and drew his sword.
The woman from the grave stood at the far end of the room.
But this time, her appearance was different. She no longer looked like a corpse that had just crawled out of a grave. She wore a long white dress embroidered with silver, her hair flowing loose, and a small crown perched on her head.
Elara recognized that face. The same woman from the grave. The woman whose face was identical to hers.
Adrian stepped in front of Elara. “Who are you really?”
The woman smiled.
“My name is Lyra.”
Adrian raised his sword. “Seraphine’s daughter.”
Lyra nodded.
“And I’ve come to take something that should have been mine.”
“What?”
Lyra’s gaze shifted to Elara. “Your memories.”
Elara took a step back. “What do you mean?”
Lyra raised her hand. At once, black shadows crept from the floor toward the walls. The air in the room grew so cold that their breath became visible.
Adrian moved even closer to Elara. “Don’t touch her.”
Lyra let out a soft laugh. “You’re still the same, Adrian. Even after a hundred years, you still want to protect her.”
Adrian fell silent. Elara looked at him.
“A hundred years?”
Lyra did not answer her question. Instead, she looked at the two of them with a faint smile.
“Do you want to know what happened in your previous life, Elara?”
Elara nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Then ask the man beside you.” Lyra’s gaze sharpened. “He knows everything.”
Adrian clenched his fist. “Enough.”
“No, Adrian. This lie has been kept for far too long.”
Black light began to fill the room.
But before anything could happen, golden light erupted from Elara’s body once more. The wave was so powerful that Lyra was forced to stagger back several steps.
The white book on the table opened to its final page. A single sentence appeared.
“When the heir of Vale remembers her love, the king will lose his curse.”
Adrian stared at the words. Then he slowly looked at Elara. Meanwhile, Elara could only stare back at him, her heart pounding.
If the prophecy was true, then the only way to destroy Adrian’s curse was to make him remember the love from his previous life.
But there was one problem. According to Lyra, in that life, Adrian had killed her.
And if all those memories returned… Elara might never be able to love the same king a second time.