Sunlight slipped through the windows of Lysandra's room, falling across the polished floor. Outside, everyone in the palace was already awake. Servants hurried through the corridors carrying trays, maids chatted softly as they worked, and somewhere in the distance, the palace bell rang, calling ministers to the morning court.
Inside her room, everything still looked the same.
One maid opened the curtains.
Another laid out the dress Lysandra was expected to wear.
A younger girl stood behind her, carefully brushing her silver hair.
"Your hair is tangled today, Your Highness," the girl said with a small laugh.
Lysandra smiled apologetically.
"I must have moved around in my sleep."
The lie came easily.
The maid laughed again and continued brushing.
No one noticed the scrape across her palm, nor could they have guessed she had spent the night climbing over the palace wall and wandering through the city.
As the maids finished helping her dress, her thoughts wandered back to the city.
The missing servant.
She couldn't stop thinking about it.
Had that servant run away?
Or had someone made sure they never returned?
She frowned.
She couldn't remember hearing anything about a missing servant in her first life.
Had her investigation already changed something?
If it had...
Then perhaps fate wasn't as fixed as she had believed.
That thought gave her hope.
In her previous life, when Kyler collapsed, everything had happened too quickly. The council accused her before she even understood what was going on. She had spent every day trying to prove her innocence instead of looking for the truth.
Maybe the clues had always been there.
Maybe she simply hadn't lived long enough to find them.
A knock sounded, pulling her out of her thoughts.
One of the palace guards stepped inside and bowed.
"Your Highness."
Lysandra looked up.
"His Majesty wishes to see you."
"I'll come."
The walk to the throne room felt longer than usual.
Servants bowed as she passed.
Some greeted her politely.
Others quickly looked away.
Rumors had already spread through the palace faster than wildfire.
Everyone knew the prince had been poisoned.
Everyone knew the council had begun asking questions.
Everyone was waiting to see who would become the scapegoat.
The great doors opened.
Lysandra stepped inside.
The throne room was just as grand as she remembered. Tall pillars reached toward the painted ceiling, and the polished floor reflected the morning light.
The last time she had stood here...
She had been dragged in wearing chains.
The sound of iron scraping across the marble still echoed in her memory.
She forced herself to push it away.
Today, there were no chains.
Only silence.
The throne stood empty.
Her father wasn't sitting on it.
He stood by the window instead, looking out over the palace gardens with his hands behind his back.
For a moment, he didn't notice she had entered.
Or perhaps...
He simply needed a moment before speaking.
Lysandra bowed.
"You wished to see me, Father?"
The King turned slowly.
A tired smile appeared on his face.
"You haven't called me Father in a while."
Lysandra blinked.
Had she not?
Perhaps, in her first life, she had stopped.
After all...
He had been the one who signed the decree for her execution.
The memory made her chest ache.
So many times she had wanted to ask him...
Did you really love me?
Or were you simply in a hurry to see me die?
But those questions remained trapped inside her heart.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
Just... unfamiliar.
The King looked out the window again.
"Do you remember your mother?"
Lysandra lowered her eyes.
"I don't."
"I didn't think you would."
His voice was quiet.
"You were only a baby."
He rested one hand on the windowsill.
"She hated mornings like this."
Lysandra looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because she said mornings were too quiet."
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"She would open every window in the palace and complain that everyone was far too serious."
He chuckled softly.
"The ministers couldn't stand her."
"But the servants adored her."
Lysandra found herself smiling.
She had spent years wondering what her mother had been like.
This was the first real story anyone had ever told her.
The King continued.
"She waited many years to have you."
His smile slowly faded.
"When the physician finally told us she was expecting..."
He stopped.
His eyes remained fixed on the gardens below.
"I thought every prayer I'd ever made had finally been answered."
Lysandra didn't interrupt.
"...She held you once."
His voice almost disappeared.
"She smiled."
"And then..."
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
"...she was gone."
Silence filled the room.
Lysandra swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I'm sorry."
The King shook his head.
"You have nothing to apologize for."
He turned toward her.
"When I look at you..."
He smiled sadly.
"I see her."
Lysandra looked down.
"I've always wished I could remember her."
"You don't need to."
The King stepped closer.
"You carry enough of her already."
Lysandra's eyes drifted toward the portrait hanging on the far wall.
A beautiful woman smiled gently from the canvas.
Her mother.
Mother...
If you were still here...
Would this family have fallen apart like this?
For the first time since returning to the past, Lysandra saw not a king...
But a man who had never truly recovered from losing the woman he loved.
Then another thought quietly crept into her mind.
But that isn't right...
If he loved Mother that much...
If everyone says I have her eyes...
Then why was he the one who ordered my execution?
What happened?
What am I still missing?
The King sighed.
He looked at her for a long moment.
It was as though he wanted to say something else.
Something a father would say.
But when he finally spoke...
He was a king again.
"The council met this morning."
"I expected they would."
"They're growing impatient."
Lysandra nodded.
"They want answers."
"They want someone to blame."
Neither of them said the words that came next.
Because both already knew who that someone would become if the truth remained hidden.
"I'll find whoever did this," Lysandra said quietly.
The King looked at her for a long moment before smiling.
"I know you will."
She looked up in surprise.
"I've never seen you this determined before."
He paused before adding softly,
"And for the first time in days..."
"I believe Kyler has a chance."
Lysandra lowered her eyes.
Not because of hope...
Because this time...
I refuse to lose him again.