Chapter 2
"February eighth." Elowen set the basin down and hurried over. "My lady, you're scaring me. What happened?"
February 8, Year Twenty-One of the Crown Calendar.
That year, I was fifteen. That year, Cedric had not yet left for the frontier. That year, there was still time.
Then I remembered what day it was.
Today was...
"My lady! My lady!" another maid called from outside, her voice sharp with urgency. "Lord Cedric is here. He's waiting for you in the front parlor!"
Elowen blinked, then turned to me. "My lady, Lord Cedric is here. Will you see him?"
I stood there as if something had struck me hard in the chest.
Cedric.
Cedric Harleston.
My childhood sweetheart. My Cedric.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to sound calm.
"Yes," I said. "Tell him to wait. I'll change and be there soon."
Elowen left to deliver the message. I stood in the room, watching the door close. Then I slowly crouched down and buried my face against my knees.
Cedric, in this life, I would not push you away again.
In the front parlor, a young man stood by the window with his back to the door.
Sunlight streamed in and outlined him in a soft golden glow. He wore a pale gray coat, his figure tall and lean, his back straight.
He was only standing there, yet he looked like someone who belonged in a portrait.
I stopped at the doorway.
He heard me and turned around.
The moment our eyes met, my heart missed a beat.
Cedric at seventeen still had a trace of boyhood in his face, but the quiet pride and cool elegance he would have later were already beginning to show.
He looked at me with bright eyes and a small smile.
"Ophelia." He said my name in a clear, familiar voice.
I stood there, gazing at him, my eyes starting to well up.
He paused, then walked over quickly and lowered his head to study my face. "What's wrong? Did someone upset you?"
I shook my head hard.
He frowned and lifted his hand as if to wipe my tears, but stopped halfway. We had grown up together, and he was only a year older than me, but we were no longer children.
"No one upset me." I took a breath, forced back the tears, and looked up at him. "Cedric, why did you come?"
His expression softened.
"I wanted to see you," he said. "I'm leaving in two days for the Northern Frontier. I may not be back for several years."
The Northern Frontier.
I remembered now. That year, raiders from the north had crossed the border, and the crown had called for soldiers.
Cedric had gone to the army with a full heart, determined to earn honor for himself and serve the kingdom. Before he left, he came to ask me to wait for him.
I had waited.
For three years.
What I got in return was my sister's scheme, Father's order, and a wedding that was never meant for me.
But this life would be different.
"Cedric." I caught his sleeve.
He looked down at me, puzzled.
"If you go to the Northern Frontier, I'll wait for you," I said clearly. "No matter how long it takes."
He froze for a moment. Then he smiled. The smile was so warm that it made my chest ache.
"Good," he said. "When I come back, I'll marry you."
That day, we talked in the parlor for a long time.
He told me the Northern Frontier was bitterly cold, but a man should make something of himself. He told me to take care of myself and stop skipping meals.
He said that when he came back, he would bring me something from the frontier. The furs there were famous, and he wanted to have a warm cloak made for me.
I listened, nodded, and smiled.
But my mind was on someone else.
My elder sister, Lydia Reed.
In my previous life, she was the one who arranged for me to marry the Duke of the North in her place.
She destroyed everything between Cedric and me. She left me to waste away in that estate for seven years.
This time, I would not let her win.
After Cedric left, I went back to my room and began sorting through everything that had happened in my old life.
Lydia was two years older than me. She was Father's eldest legitimate daughter, born to his wife.
My mother, however, had never been his wife. She died when I was twelve, and after that, life in the Reed estate became much harder for me.
Lydia seemed gentle in front of others, but behind closed doors, she never stopped targeting me.
In my old life, after Cedric left, she had people spread rumors that I was involved with another man. Then she whispered to Father that I had no shame and had disgraced the Reed family.
Later, when the Duke of the North's family came with a marriage proposal, the bride they wanted was Lydia.
But Lydia had already given her heart to someone else and refused to marry the duke. So she trapped me into taking her place.