Elara was still staring at the sentence written on the book's final page. The golden light that had filled the room slowly faded, leaving behind a silence that felt far more frightening than before.
When the heir of House Vale remembers her love, the king will lose his curse.
The sentence kept circling through her mind. Love. Memories. Adrian and death.
Elara slowly raised her face. Adrian was still standing before her, a sword in his hand. His gaze was fixed on the book, but from the way his jaw had tightened, Elara knew he was trying to hide something.
“How much do you know?”
Adrian didn't answer.
“Your Majesty.”
“I don't know everything.”
“How much?”
Adrian lowered his sword. “Enough to know that most of the history the kingdom has believed all this time is a lie.”
Elara stared intently at him. “And what about me?”
Adrian fell silent.
“Do you know who I was in my previous life?”
“No.”
“Do you know who Seraphine is?”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
Adrian lifted his face. “I don't know who you were before, Elara.”
“Then why did you call out Seraphine's name earlier?”
The question left Adrian silent for a long while. “I don't know.”
“And why does that ring have your initials and Seraphine's?”
“I don't know.”
“Why does your curse react whenever I'm near you?”
“I don't know that either.”
Elara let out a frustrated sigh. “So you don't know anything?”
“I know one thing.”
“What?”
Adrian stepped closer. “I never killed you.”
Elara fell silent. The conviction in the man's voice made her waver slightly. But the writing on the mirror was still vivid in her mind.
YOU DIED BECAUSE OF HIM.
“Then,” Elara said softly, “prove it.”
Adrian looked at her. “How?”
“Find out what really happened a hundred years ago.”
For a moment, there was no answer. Then Adrian nodded.
“All right.”
He closed the white book.
“Starting tonight, we'll search for the truth together.”
Lyra had disappeared by the time they left the secret room.
But before she went, she left behind one sentence that continued to haunt Elara.
Don't fall in love with the man who once killed you.
Elara walked beside Adrian toward the main hall. Neither of them spoke until Adrian finally stopped in front of a large window.
Outside, rain began to fall.
“You should return to your room.”
Elara shook her head. “I still have questions.”
“I know.”
“And I'm not finished.”
Adrian looked at her. “You should rest.”
“I can't sleep after finding out that I might have died by your hand.”
Adrian looked away. Elara noticed the change in his expression.
“Is that true?”
“What?”
“You really don't remember anything?”
Adrian was silent. Then he said slowly, “Not everything.”
Elara froze.
“You just said you didn't know.”
“I said I didn't know everything.”
“Then what do you remember?”
Adrian gazed at the rain beyond the window. “A woman.”
Elara didn't move. “Who?”
“I don't know her name.”
“What was she like?”
Adrian was silent for a long while. “She always wore a white dress.”
Elara's heart beat a little faster. “Like Seraphine?”
“Maybe.”
“And her face?”
Adrian turned toward her. “It looked like yours.”
Elara held her breath.
Adrian continued, “I've often seen her in my dreams ever since the curse appeared. At first, I thought they were only nightmares. But after I met you…”
He stopped.
“After you met me?”
“The dreams changed.”
Elara waited.
“Now I no longer see her from a distance.”
Adrian's gaze grew deeper.
“Now I can hear her voice.”
“What does she say?”
Adrian stared at her for several seconds. “She always says the same thing.”
“What?”
“Don't look for me.”
Elara felt her chest tighten. “Why?”
“I don't know.”
They fell silent again. Outside, the rain grew heavier.
Elara didn't understand why that simple confession made her feel sad. She should have been afraid of Adrian. She should have kept her distance from the man who might have killed her in her previous life.
Yet every time she looked at his face, something inside her felt safe instead.
Something that made no sense.
Something that seemed to have known the man long before they met.
Rain streaked the glass. In its reflection, Elara could see them both: the king in his dark shirt, and herself standing far closer to him than a stranger should.
She did not step back.
Neither did he.
Adrian’s gaze traveled slowly over her face, the damp curl at her cheek, the pulse she was certain he could see beating in her throat. He did not touch her. He only looked, the way a man looks at a fire on a winter night—wanting, and knowing better.
“You should go to bed,” he said, more quietly than before.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep standing here.”
Elara swallowed. Her hands felt strangely empty. “Does it bother you?”
For a long moment, the only sound was the rain.
“Yes,” Adrian said. “But not in the way you think.”
Heat rose to her face. She turned back to the window before he could see it, and pretended very hard to watch the storm.
“Adrian.”
The man turned toward her. Elara only just realized that, for the first time, she had called the king by his name instead of his title.
But Adrian didn't take issue with it. “What?”
“If I'm truly the same person as the woman in your dreams…”
Elara hesitated for a moment. “Do you hate her?”
The question left Adrian silent. “No.”
His answer came too quickly. Elara looked at him. “Why?”
Adrian didn't answer right away. He only studied Elara's face as if trying to find someone lost within it.
“Because every time I see her, I feel as though I've lost something incredibly important.”
Elara lowered her face. For some reason, those words made her heart feel heavy.
The next morning, the entire castle was in an uproar.
A messenger from the capital arrived with news that the nobles had held an emergency meeting.
They demanded that Adrian choose a potential queen immediately. The reason was simple. The kingdom needed an heir. And news of the king's curse was spreading further and further.
Elara heard it all from a servant while having breakfast.
“The nobles say King Adrian must marry before winter.”
Elara set down her cup. “Marry?”
“Yes, miss.”
“Whom?”
The servant lowered her voice. “The daughter of the Kingdom of Valmere.”
Elara fell silent. It was strange. She shouldn't have cared. Adrian was the king. It was only natural for him to marry for the good of the kingdom.
Yet somehow, hearing another woman's name mentioned as his future wife stirred a feeling she didn't like inside her.
Jealousy? No. Of course not. Elara slowly shook her head. She had only just met the man.
Before her thoughts could carry her any further, the hall doors opened. Adrian entered with several royal advisers.
“Everyone out.”
The servants immediately left the room. Adrian walked toward the table.
“Elara.”
“Yes?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Is it about your marriage?”
Adrian stopped. “You've heard.”
“The entire castle has heard.”
“I won't marry her.”
Elara looked at him. “Why not?”
“Because I don't want to.”
“The kingdom might want you to.”
“I don't care.”
Elara frowned. “You're a king. You can't always do whatever you want.”
Adrian moved closer. “If that marriage can't give me an heir, what's the point?”
Elara fell silent. The words sounded bitter.
For years, the entire kingdom had seen Adrian only as a king who had failed to fulfill a single duty.
No one cared what he actually felt.
“I'm sorry,” Elara said softly.
Adrian raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
“For thinking badly of you just now.”
“Are you jealous?”
Elara looked at him at once. “No.”
Adrian gave a faint smile. “I didn't say anything.”
Elara realized her face was beginning to feel hot. “Don't get too full of yourself.”
“I was only asking.”
“And I already answered.”
Adrian let out a quiet laugh. It was the first time Elara had heard the king laugh. Strange.
The sound made him seem far more human than the cold figure the entire kingdom had known him to be.
But the moment didn't last long. The hall doors opened again. An adviser entered with a panicked look on his face.
“Your Majesty!”
Adrian immediately turned serious. “What is it?”
“The forces from Valmere have arrived at the gates.”
“Why?”
The adviser swallowed. “They didn't come with a marriage proposal.”
He handed over a letter. Adrian opened it. His expression changed as he read its contents.
Elara stood. “What's happening?”
Adrian didn't answer. He handed the letter to Elara. The writing inside consisted of only a few lines.
To King Adrian Veyr.
We know the heir of House Vale has returned.
Hand the woman over to us before the full moon. If you refuse, Valmere will consider Aveloria an enemy.
Elara stared at the letter, her face pale. “They know about me?”
“It seems so.”
“How?”
Adrian took the letter back. “That's what we need to find out.”
But before he could take a step, the castle bells rang. Once. Twice. Then all the guards outside began shouting.
“Attack!”
Adrian immediately drew his sword.
Elara stood frozen. Through the hall window, she could see the sky above the castle turning red.
And through the fog descending from the mountains, an army was moving toward Aveloria's gates.
Adrian seized Elara's hand. “You're coming with me.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“And you?”
“I'll face them.”
Elara stared at the hand Adrian held. Golden light appeared between their fingers again. Adrian noticed it.
Then something happened. The curse symbol on his arm cracked wider. For the first time, golden lines pierced through the entire black mark.
Adrian looked at Elara with an expression that was difficult to interpret.
“Elara…”
“What?”
“I'm starting to remember something.”
“What?”
Adrian looked into her eyes. “We've been somewhere like this before.”
“Where?”
“In the middle of a war.”
Elara's breath caught. “And then…”
Adrian furrowed his brow, struggling against the pain that suddenly struck his head.
“I was holding your hand just like this.”
Elara stared at him. “What happened?”
Adrian closed his eyes. A memory surfaced. Fire. Screams. A burning palace. A woman standing before him, crying. And he himself raising a sword.
But before he could clearly see the woman's face, the memory shattered. Adrian opened his eyes, breathing hard.
Elara gripped his arm. “Adrian?”
He looked at Elara. This time, fear was plainly visible in his eyes.
“I saw you.”
“What?”
“In my memory.”
Elara held her breath.
“And I…” Adrian looked at the sword in his hand. “…was holding a sword when you died.”