Chapter 1
When Edward Langley was crowned Crown Prince from obscurity, the first thing he did was force me to swap places with his mistress.
He planned to take our son and her back to the palace, a picture-perfect family of three.
"Charlotte," he reasoned, his voice all cool practicality, "Evelyn saved my life. And as an outsider, it isn't proper for her to stay here.
"You're from this village. You'll have people to look after you. Once I become king, I'll return for you. I'll make you a royal consort."
I fought like a wild thing. I couldn't surrender our love, and I would never give up our son.
His answer wasn't a compromise. It was annihilation.
To erase every trace of his past, he turned his soldiers on the very villagers who had sheltered him for years.
Overnight, the village became a graveyard. No one was spared.
He claimed he couldn't bear to kill me, that he wanted me with him forever.
So he gouged out my eyes, cut off my tongue, and broke my limbs with his own hands, then confined me to a water vat in the Eastern Palace's rear courtyard.
He left only my ears, so I might forever listen to his whispered sorrow and regret.
It was a pitying maid who finally freed me from torment, her blade a merciful end to the nightmare.
When I opened my eyes, I was back at the beginning, the very day the King acknowledged Edward.
This time, I didn't want him anymore. I wanted peace.
*****
When the King arrived in Greenhill Village disguised as a commoner, I was out in the fields planting seedlings.
From across the way, my neighbour Bella called out, "Charlotte! You've got important guests at your house. Looks like quite the occasion.
"Word is they're here to take your husband to the capital to become an official. Aren't you going to see?"
I stood frozen, as if I'd stepped into another lifetime.
The men and women from the village were all here, working right before my eyes. But in my mind, all I could see were piles of bodies and rivers of blood.
Without thinking, I touched my face. It still felt like the blood from my previous life was burning against my skin.
Fear washed over me, and my hands shook so badly I could barely hold the hoe.
Once I steadied myself, I forced a calm smile. I said, "I always knew Edward was meant for greater things. It was just because I was afraid people in the village would chase him off that I pretended to be his wife all these years.
"Bella, the truth is... Evelyn is the one Edward really married. And little Henry? He's their son. Me? I was just the decoy, helping them keep up appearances."
The villagers all stopped and stared at me as if I'd lost my mind.
Bella frowned. "Charlotte, marriage isn't something to joke about. Is something wrong? You can tell us. We've got your back."
My parents died when I was young. I was raised by the whole village, passed from home to home.
These people were good and honest. They treated me like their own daughter.
That was why, in my previous life, when Edward tried to make me his concubine, the entire village stood up for me.
But that loyalty only led them into a nightmare that destroyed everything.
From the elders to the newborns, every one of them died because of my stubborn, foolish hope.
I swallowed the ache in my chest and pretended not to care.
"Bella, nothing's wrong. I'm just too soft-hearted. I can't bear to see anyone without a home," I said.
I chuckled. "If you really care about me, please don't speak of that marriage again. That way, I might still have a chance to marry someday myself."
Bella finally understood. She stomped her foot and called out, "Oh, that does make sense! Let's go home and spread the word. Not a word about this slips out.
"Otherwise, our Charlotte might never find a good match."
These people were simple and kind. No tricks, no schemes, just wanting to do right by others.
When Edward first arrived, everyone was wary, but they still brought out their best wine and the meat they saved for Christmas, just to make him welcome.
They worried he might bring trouble, but what truly moved them was the thought of him going hungry or cold.
How could people this good never get the happy ending they deserved?
I wondered in my whole previous life, but the answer always slipped through my fingers.