Chapter 3

As I stayed in the palace and enjoyed some grapes, Balram Lorde, my brother, came to me and said in resignation, “Father said that he wants to punish Afton, but you stopped him. Could you tell me why?”

I studied Balram. His usual smile was gone from his face. All that was left was worry for me.

I saw no sign of the horrifying wounds he would gain later.

Meeting his concerned gaze, I remembered how he had struggled on his dying breath while his mouth was filled with blood from poison. Back then, he had cried out desperately for me to leave.

My heart twisted in pain, as though I had been pierced by needles. The pain spread throughout my entire body, and I started crying again.

Balram panicked. “Why are you crying, my dear? Aren’t you worried that you will end up making your baby a crybaby? Come now, stop crying. Do whatever you want. I’ll protect you. Since you want to continue living with Afton, we will pave the way for you.”

I could not hold back anymore and threw myself into Balram’s arms. I did the same when I was a child and lightning struck in the sky.

In the previous timeline, Afton had stayed outside the palace gate for seven days and nights to beg for my father’s mercy.

This time, I was not going to be a fool and suffer with him.

…

Time passed, and it had been a month since my return.

Afton had come to see me a few times with Melinda, but whenever I saw him, I would always remember that nightmarish life.

As such, I avoided him, and this let Afton set up the stage for Melinda. He started spreading tales of his love with Melinda in the capital while painting me as the wicked woman who broke them up.

He wanted me to allow them to be together, but I refused.

The horrible rumors never bothered me. What nearly broke me instead were the bloody murders.

The memories from the previous timeline were far too painful. Whenever I closed my eyes, I would remember Afton’s savage expression.

I could never reveal those things, as I was worried that my father and Balram would find me odd. But more so, I feared that they would blame me for what had happened.

However, my father’s heart ached for me when he saw me suffering from worry.

He convinced me to go to Sandalwood Mountain with some guards and have a priest present me with a blessed rosary.

The forest on the way up the mountain was quiet, and my guards shielded me tightly.

Among the swaying branches, I saw Afton and Melinda.

His gaze was gentle and loving as he looked at her. Their lips were swollen.

I was not an ignorant maiden, and I knew what that meant.

Afton had never looked at me that way.

During the ten years after Melinda’s passing, he had regarded me calmly. I thought that he had already made peace with it.

In truth, he remembered her passing every moment of his life.

I smiled calmly and said to my guards, “There is no need to give Afton any special privileges anymore. In a few days, he will no longer be my husband.”