Chapter 6

But Edward had other plans.

On the fourth morning, Charlotte had barely sat up in bed when her maid came rushing in with a grin plastered across her face. "Your Highness! Prince Edward is here!"

Charlotte's hair was still a mess, her face unwashed, and she sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but her nightgown, not even half awake.

Before she could react, the door swung open.

Edward arrived in a simple dark coat, carrying a silver tray. On it sat a bowl of oatmeal, two slices of buttered toast, and a soft-boiled egg.

"Breakfast." He set the tray on the table, his tone flat enough that one might think he did this every morning.

Charlotte looked at the oatmeal, then at him. Her mind turned over several times before she found her words. "Your Highness, why are you delivering breakfast yourself?"

"I was passing by."

"Passing by?"

His study was in the east wing. Her chambers were in the west. There was nothing along the way to pass by.

Charlotte didn't call him out. She gave a small nod. "Thank you, Your Highness. You can leave it there. I'll eat in a moment."

Edward didn't leave. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

Charlotte hesitated. "Is there something else, Your Highness?"

"Eat first," Edward said. "I have questions for you after."

Charlotte glanced at him but said nothing more. She got out of bed, washed her face, combed her hair, changed into a day dress, and sat down at the table to eat.

Edward sat across from her and watched.

His gaze made her uneasy, and her fork paused halfway to her mouth. "Your Highness, aren't you eating?"

"I already ate."

"Oh."

Charlotte lowered her head and kept eating, pretending the person sitting across from her was a piece of furniture.

But this particular piece of furniture had far too much presence.

Edward's gaze rested on her with an almost physical weight, and the fine hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

She finished quickly, wiped her mouth, and looked up. "What did Your Highness want to ask?"

"How did you know there would be a flash flood outside the city?"

Charlotte's stomach dropped.

She had almost forgotten. In her previous life, around this same time, the village of Peachbrook had been devastated by flash floods after days of relentless rain. Half the village was submerged, and over thirty people drowned.

Three days after her rebirth, she sent someone to warn the villagers to evacuate. The excuse she gave was that the Princess had received a vision from a mountain fairy.

She assumed no one would look into it. She hadn't expected Edward to dig that far.

"I had a dream," she said.

"What kind of dream?"

"I dreamed a mountain fairy told me Peachbrook would flood, and that I needed to save the people there."

Edward looked at her. His expression said everything his mouth didn't, "Do you actually expect me to believe that?"

Charlotte held his gaze, unflinching. "If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you're welcome to ask the villagers. They'll all say it was a message from the fairy."

Edward was quiet for a few seconds. Then he spoke. "I looked into it. The morning you sent someone to Peachbrook, it was still dark out. Even the Royal Weather Office hadn't predicted the storm."

Charlotte said nothing.

"You knew a full day before it happened." His voice dropped low. "Charlotte, how did you really know?"

Charlotte lowered her eyes and tapped her fingers against the table.

She was deciding whether to tell the truth.

In her past life, every honest word she had spoken to Edward earned her three years of exile in the forgotten wing. This time around, she knew better. Some people didn't deserve the truth.

She looked up with a small smile. "Some things are better left unknown, Your Highness."

Edward's brow furrowed. "And if I insist on knowing?"

Charlotte searched his eyes. The cold contempt from her memories was gone, replaced by something she couldn't read. Curiosity, maybe. Or something else entirely.

She didn't know, and she didn't care to find out.

She kept her voice even. "Your Highness, I'm just a baseborn daughter no one ever wanted. The only reason I'm still alive is luck."

She paused. "If you find me suspicious, investigate all you like. But sign the divorce papers first."

Edward's expression went rigid. She was back to the divorce again.

He stared at her for a long moment, then rose to his feet and looked down at her. "You want to leave that badly?"

"More than anything."

"Then I won't sign it." Edward turned and walked toward the door. At the threshold, he paused without looking back. "There are assassins tonight. Stay inside."

The door closed, and Charlotte stood frozen, her mind catching on the last thing he'd said.

There had been no assassins in her previous life.

She rose and crossed the room to the window, pushing it open.

Edward's figure had already disappeared at the far end of the corridor.

She frowned, turning it over, and then it clicked. There had been no assassins last time because she had still been suffering under Isabelle's cruelty at this point, and Edward hadn't even been at the estate.

But this life was different. She had changed things, and the butterfly effect had already begun.

Charlotte closed the window and returned to the desk. Her fingers traced absent circles on its surface as the thought took hold.

If Edward was telling the truth, someone was coming to the estate tonight to kill. The question was whether the target was Edward or her.

She closed her eyes and traced the timeline of her previous life.

By this point, Eleanor had already started making her moves.

Edward commanded a hundred thousand soldiers and stood as the greatest obstacle to Eleanor's son's claim to the throne.

Eleanor wanted him gone, and the first step was always to start with the people closest to him.

In her previous life, Charlotte's own people had been bought off, turned, and silenced, one by one. She hadn't known until the day she died.

Charlotte opened her eyes, and the warmth had drained from them.

This time, no one would touch what was hers.