By dawn, the palace was still and quiet, but my thoughts churned like a restless sea. Sleep had been impossible. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the glint of the poisoned goblet… and the executioner's blade from my first life.
If the system was right—and it always was—then the plot to kill the King wasn't just treason. It was the first tug on a rope that would tighten around my neck.
I sat at my writing desk, ink staining my fingertips as I began a list. Not of allies—those were scarce—but of names from my first life. People who had whispered against me, testified at my trial, smiled in my face while twisting the knife.
Some were obvious. But one name, as it dripped onto the parchment, made my chest tighten: Lady Isolde Harrin.
In my old life, she'd been nothing but a polite shadow in the court—until she became the prosecution's star witness. I had never understood why… until now. She had ties to the Princess's faction. If she was involved this time, she wouldn't be moving alone.
System Prompt:
Side Quest Activated — Identify Lady Isolde's Role in the Sabotage.
Bonus Objective: Confront without alerting her allies.
I tucked the list into the false bottom of my desk drawer. My pulse was steady now. Controlled.
Footsteps sounded outside my room. Anna appeared at the doorway, hesitant. "My lady… there's a visitor in the east garden asking for you. They wouldn't give a name."
A perfect trap. I knew it instantly. My instincts screamed danger—but danger was exactly where the answers hid.
I rose, smoothing my gown and fixing a calm smile onto my face. "Tell them I'll be right there."
If this was the beginning of their game, then I would meet them on the board. Piece by piece, I would turn this script against them.
In my first life, I played the role of the accused. In this one, I'll be the hunter.
If you like, I can make Chapter Fifteen the garden confrontation scene, where Evelyn meets an unexpected "messenger" who claims to know exactly why she died the first time. This could push the tension and mystery into overdrive.
Do you want me to continue with that?