The last thing I remembered wasn't my crown, but the smell of bitter almonds.
I was Seraphina Von Astra, once the jewel of the Empire, now a nameless rat rotting in the dark. My fortune—the vast lands, the gold, the dignity of the Astra name—had been stripped away in a single afternoon. I had been framed for the poisoning of the Emperor, a crime I didn't commit, but one the world was all too eager to believe I was capable of.
I lay in the filth of the dungeon, my mind looping back to the day before the guards came for me.
I had seen her. Evelina. My "dear friend," the Saintess who had always smiled so sweetly at me. I had caught her in the garden, handing a small, leather-bound pouch to Killian, the Emperor's Shadow.
I had thought nothing of it then. But the next morning, the Emperor was convulsing, the Saintess and the Hero Alaric had vanished without a trace, and I was the one being dragged to the chopping block.
They left me, I thought, my breath hitching in my chest. They used me as the scapegoat and ran.
The heavy iron door of my cell creaked open.
I expected an executioner. Instead, I saw a familiar silhouette. Killian. He stepped into the damp cell, his dark armor glinting. He didn't look like a savior. He looked like the man who had received a pouch of poison from my best friend.
He walked toward me, his crimson eyes burning with an intensity that terrified me. He knelt beside my broken form, reaching out a hand as I breathed my last.
Traitor, I wanted to scream. You and Evelina... you took everything from me.
But the darkness claimed me before I could spit in his face.
__________
I sat up with a violent jolt, clutching my chest.
My heart was thundering against my ribs. I looked down at my hands. They were clean. No dirt, no blood, no broken fingernails from scratching at stone walls.
I was in my room at the Astra Estate. I was rich again. I was powerful again.
But the memory of Evelina's sweet smile and Killian's cold eyes felt like a fresh wound. I wasn't just a regressor; I was a woman who had been discarded by everyone she trusted.
"Lady Seraphina?" a maid called, knocking gently. "The Saintess Evelina is here to see you. She says she has a gift for you before the ceremony."
A gift. Just like the one she gave Killian in the past life.
I stood up, walking to the mirror. I looked at the girl in the reflection—the one with the black hair and the cold, diamond-like eyes. This time, I wouldn't be the naive friend. I wouldn't be the easy target.
If Evelina was a traitor and Killian was her blade, then I would have to become the very monster they accused me of being.
"Let her in," I said, my voice like ice. "I wouldn't want to keep my dear friend waiting."