Chapter 116

MILA

If being in Sofia’s In-Between realm was a shock to the system, nothing could have prepared me for what she was getting ready to reveal.

I was still reeling from the news that she had been Fresonia’s first queen–and that the love that Felix and I once shared was the only thing keeping the magic of the kingdom healthy. Apparently even in my past life, I was condemned to be in love with men who merely saw me as a method to get what they wanted.

As if she could sense my anger, Sofia reached out and stroked my cheek. “You need to open your heart, Mila. There is so much that you do not yet understand.”

I understood perfectly. I had been born to save the dying magic of a kingdom that never wanted me in the first place. Felix and his family had screwed me over, as they had been predestined to do by fate. And I had given my life for a man who didn’t really love me at all.

“It’s not like that.” Sofia’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Please, Mila, take a look.”

And just as soon as Sofia had appeared, she vanished, leaving me alone in that strange void.

No–not alone, and not in the void.

I was standing on the stony banks of a large lake. It was a beautiful sunny day, and there were several rowboats on the water.

To my left, there was a large group of people wearing Victorian-style clothing, their hair immaculately coiffed and their faces curious as they peered at something going on behind me.

“That’s Prince Frederick,” an older woman whispered to her daughter. “He’s about to propose.”

I turned around and my jaw dropped.

There, on the bank, stood a man in a perfectly pressed blue coat and stiff white collar. He beamed with love and pride at the woman standing next to him, wearing a ridiculously puffy yellow dress and a tiny hat.

Felix. But not Felix–I realized, the truth of the situation slowly sinking in. Prince Frederick.

And standing across from him was me.

But not me, not really. A version of me in a past life.

Frederick sank down onto one knee, his grip on her–my–hand never loosening. “Sabrina, will you marry me?”

Sabrina covered her mouth with one hand. A memory suddenly sparked in my brain: Countess Sabrina from the South Smyth Islands had fallen in love with a mysterious gentleman on her beach vacation the summer prior, not knowing that her lover was actually Prince Frederick, to whom she’d been betrothed since birth.

“Yes,” Sabrina breathed, eyes shining with joy.

The crowd behind me cheered, but I could only barely hear them over the roaring in my ears.

So these versions of us, likely from the 1800s, if our clothing had anything to say, had gotten engaged. But if only Felix and I had ever gotten close to breaking the curse, then that meant…

A cold dread filled my body. Although I could not remember the details, I had a bad feeling about what happened next.

The scene dissolved, and I was suddenly staring at my past self being held at gunpoint by a group of gangsters.

Tears were streaking down Sabrina’s face as she pleaded with the men. “Please! I’ll give you anything! I have money, I have jewels–”

“We know, honey,” one of the slimy men growled. “The prince told us just how much that precious little ring of yours cost, right before letting us know exactly where to find you.”

Sabrina’s face paled. “Frederick set me up?”

“The kingdom has debts,” another gang member said. “This is the only way to repay them.”

I turned away just as the gun went off.

Just as suddenly as I’d been thrust into Sabrina’s story, I was now back in the Fresonian castle, those familiar stone walls feeling somehow newer than they were in my memory.

A version of me with much longer hair and wearing a floor-length velvet dress was pinned against one of the walls, a man dressed all in black holding a dagger to her throat.

I knew her name instinctively, some long-buried part of me flickering to life. Cassandra Lumos, an orphan born and raised in Italy, who had met Prince Daniel of Fresonia at an art fair a few years prior. She was set to marry Daniel in a few weeks’ time.

Until an assassin had broken into the castle, claiming to be acting on behalf of the Crown Prince, and slit her throat in the hallway.

Next was Madeline Patterson, an intrepid American reporter stuck in Fresonia during the Second World War. When given the opportunity to interview Prince Maddox, it was love at first sight.

When Fresonia was invaded, the entire royal family–and Madeline–were taken prisoner. It soon became clear that Maddox was to be killed in order to show a message to the Fresonian people.

And then Madeline was burned to death by a dragon after being swapped for Maddox in the middle of the night, saving the Crown Prince’s life by (unwillingly) losing her own.

Lady Greta Honor in the 1730s was madly in love with Prince James, and was the perfect match for the future king. She had been born into a wealthy family of Dragon Knights, raised from birth to be the perfect nobleman’s wife.

When Prince James finally proposed, Greta was thrilled. However, Fresonia was struggling economically due to its inability to adapt to the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution. Greta and James then learned that her incredibly large inheritance would be enough to save the kingdom from financial ruin.

However, Greta wanted to use the money to open a school for girls in the mountains, hoping to teach the next generation of Fresonian women how to read.

Greta died by poison the next day.

Alexia Lane was a prostitute working the streets of Fresia when King Milo found her and took pity on her. It was not long before they fell in love and were secretly married in a tiny chapel in the mountains.

Once the people of Fresonia found out about Alexia’s past profession, however, there were calls for her head all over the kingdom. Knowing that laws strictly prevented a King from divorcing his Queen, Milo was backed into a corner, and unsure of how to proceed.

Until guards hauled Alexia out of her bedchambers in the middle of the night and chopped her head off, leaving Milo free to marry a woman of noble descent.

Seeing my past selves meet their untimely ends had exhausted me. It also showed me something even more important–as much as I had to change, let go of my anger, and move forward, it was also on Felix to do better as well.

All of my past selves had died thinking that their version of Felix had set them up for death. It didn’t matter that they were all misunderstandings–the women had died with hatred and bitterness in their hearts. In my heart. Seeing them all die awakened an anger in me that I didn’t know existed.

None of these misunderstandings would have happened if Felix’s past selves had been more reassuring with their love, had made me feel treasured and valued and not just a token.

Each time, I had died to save either Felix or Fresonia. Each time, I was nothing more than a pawn–or so I thought.

The curse may have ultimately been my fault, but it was on both of us to break it.

The real question was whether I was ready to forgive Felix.