Chapter 1
When my life reset, the King's first decree was to grant me my freedom.
He said, "I give you your liberty. Go wherever you wish."
Ten days later, he paraded his first love into the palace, in a spectacle of banners and golden finery.
I watched the magnificent procession and turned southward, leaving it all behind.
Five years passed. The border was in turmoil, and the King went incognito to inspect the frontier.
In a quiet coffee shop, I held my daughter in my arms, my son standing beside me.
When his eyes fell on us, his coffee cup froze mid-air.
Glass shattered all around us.
*****
The very first thing Xavier Zimmerman did after his life was reset was to issue an royaledict: depose the Queen.
When the royaldecree arrived at the Sapphire Hall, I was carefully pruning lily.
The court steward's shrill voice shattered the dead silence of the palace. "By royal command, the King decrees..."
I didn't bother listening to the rest.
It was just the usual—declaring I was unfit to be the Queen, lacking both talent and virtue, and that from this day forward, I was deposed and would leave the palace when the time was set.
The palace attendants all bowed in unison, not daring to make a sound.
Only I, holding my little silver scissors, snipped off a withered leaf with a crisp click.
The court steward, Reese Grant, spoke with a hint of pity in his voice, "Cadence Haley, receive the decree."
He looked exactly the same in my previous life.
I placed the silver scissors on the tray, smoothed out my sleeves, and slowly bowed.
"I accept the decree." My voice was calm.
My calmness was so unexpected that Reese froze for a moment, clearly caught off guard.
I lifted my gaze to meet his.
There was unmistakable pity and sympathy in his eyes.
I knew exactly what kind of gossip was spreading through the palace halls.
Everyone said the King was clearing the way for his beloved, Allyson Tillman.
They said I, the Queen who rose to power thanks to my father and brother's military glory, was always meant to be cast aside in the end.
They weren't wrong.
In my previous life, when I heard that royaldecree, it felt like I'd been struck by lightning.
I cried; I raged, and I pleaded.
I asked Xavier, "Was everything between us—when we were young and married—just a lie?"
He just stared at me, cold and emotionless.
Xavier said, "Cadence, between us, it was always just King and subject, never husband and wife."
Later, Allyson married in grand style and took her place in the main palace.
As for me, he handed me a cup of poisoned wine and ordered my death in the cold palace.
When I died, snow blanketed the world.
Urgent news arrived: Lumiville, where my brother was stationed, had fallen.
My father was framed for treason, and the Haley family was slaughtered to the last.
I wore nothing but thin prison clothes, blood seeping from the corner of my mouth, staining the snow beneath me crimson.
So, Xavier didn't just want my title as Queen. He wanted the Haley family wiped out, every last one of us.
When I traveled through time, I found myself once again at the very moment the royaldecree arrived.
There was no love or hate left in me—just a numb, icy emptiness where my heart used to be.
I accepted the royaldecree from Reese's hands and rose to my feet.
"Thank you, Reese," I said.
Reese looked at me, lips parting as if to speak, but in the end, he said, "My lady, please take care of yourself."
I just nodded quietly, not saying another word.
With the decree in my arms, I walked back into the hall.
The palace attendants knelt on the floor, heads bowed low, bodies trembling.
I moved as if I hadn't heard a thing.
I dropped the royaldecree on the table, as if it were nothing more than a scrap of paper.
Then I picked up my small silver scissors.
Resuming my work, I began pruning the lily.
I snipped off every dead branch and withered leaf.
With each snip, I cut away the last bit of wishful thinking I shouldn't have had for him.
Xavier, in this life, I would step aside for you.
And please, just let me be.
That evening, Xavier showed up.
He dismissed everyone.
In the huge palace hall, it was just the two of us.
Dressed in black royal robes, he stood tall and looked strikingly handsome.
But he wore the same icy indifference I'd come to know in both lives.
"You got the decree?" Xavier said.
His voice was flat, showing no emotion.
"I did," I answered.
He seemed surprised by how calm I was, his brow furrowing ever so slightly.
"Don't... Don't have anything you want to ask the King?" Xavier said.
Last time, I asked too much.
And this time, I had nothing more to say.
"No," I said.
I looked at him, my gaze utterly indifferent, not a ripple of emotion in sight.
"I will abide by all of the King's decisions," I said.
He fell silent, and the air seemed to freeze.
He studied me, his deep eyes carrying a trace of scrutiny.
It was like he was seeing someone he'd never met before.
"I can offer you compensation." Xavier finally spoke.