Chapter 2 – The Mark of the Goddess
The night after Selene's awakening was colder than any she could remember. The wind whispered against the windows, carrying fragments of the past she could never forget.
She sat at her vanity table, a single candle flickering beside her. Its flame trembled as if it, too, feared what the dawn would bring.
Her reflection in the mirror looked almost foreign — pale, wide-eyed, haunted. Yet behind that fear, something new glimmered. Determination.
"Seven years before my death," she murmured. "Seven years before the temple… before Kael…"
She bit her lip, steadying her breath. If this were truly the past, she could still change everything — her family's fall, her engagement, and her death.
But how?
Her gaze dropped to the faint silvery mark pulsing against her chest. When she touched it, warmth spread through her veins — not painful, but heavy, like a heartbeat that wasn't hers.
Then, the candle flame flickered and split into two.
Selene froze.
The air rippled, and for a brief moment, she saw images flashing in the reflection of the mirror:
A knife. A letter. Blood on a white ribbon.
The vision vanished as quickly as it came, leaving her chest burning and her mind spinning.
"So… this is your power," she whispered. "You let me see what will happen…"
The Moon's Mark didn't just give her life. It let her glimpse fate itself.
But there was a price — she could feel it. A faint pull at the edges of her memory, like a thread loosening. A small part of her is forgotten already.
Still, she smiled.
"Then I'll use it carefully."
The door creaked open.
A young maid entered, balancing a tray of tea.
"Lady Selene, are you awake already? It's still dawn—"
Selene turned to her, blinking in shock.
It was Mira, her childhood attendant.
Mira had died in the fire that destroyed the Viora estate — years ago.
Her throat tightened. "Mira…"
The maid blinked, startled by her lady's expression. "My Lady? Are you unwell?"
Selene forced a smile and shook her head. "No. I'm just… glad to see you."
Mira tilted her head, confused, but smiled back shyly. "You're acting strange today, milady. But it's good to see you smiling."
When the maid left, Selene let her composure slip. Her eyes burned, not from tears but from fury.
All the faces of those who would die — her loyal servants, her father, even the priest who once protected her — flashed through her mind.
"Not this time," she swore. "No one I care for will die again."
Later that morning, she descended the grand staircase of the Viora manor. Every step echoed with memories she thought she'd buried.
Servants paused, bowing politely, and her father's steward appeared from the hall. "My Lady, His Grace the Duke is waiting in the solar."
Her heart skipped. Father.
In her last life, he had been framed for treason and executed days before her wedding.
When she entered the solar, sunlight streamed through the glass, catching the silver threads of her father's hair. Duke Alaric Viora looked up from a pile of documents.
"Selene? You're awake early. Is something wrong?"
She wanted to run to him, to hold him, to tell him how much she'd missed him — but she couldn't. Not yet.
Instead, she smiled faintly. "Father… may I ask you something?"
He raised a brow. "Anything."
"What if I told you," she said softly, "that our family will be betrayed? That someone close to us will sell our name to the empire?"
The duke froze, his expression tightening. "Selene, what nonsense—"
Before he could finish, a knock came at the door.
A priest in white robes entered — tall, calm, and with eyes like moonlight. His presence silenced the air itself.
"Forgive the intrusion," he said, bowing slightly. "I am Lucien, envoy of the Moon Temple. The Goddess sends her blessings…"
Selene's breath caught.
Lucien. The man who would one day preside over her execution.
Yet as his eyes met hers, something flickered there — recognition, perhaps even surprise.
He smiled faintly. "It seems fate has allowed us to meet sooner than expected."
Selene's pulse thundered.
He shouldn't know her — not yet.
So why did it feel like he did?
"The Moon never chooses twice," he murmured under his breath, too softly for the duke to hear.
"And yet… here you are."
Selene's hand clenched around her skirt.
"Then let's see," she whispered, her voice trembling with resolve.
"If the Goddess has chosen me again… or if she's given me this power to destroy you all."
And for the first time since her rebirth, the moonlight outside shimmered—
as if it were listening.