Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
I whimpered into his mouth, and he pulled back, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I lost control. I wanted to kill them first. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
I yanked him down and wrapped myself around him, clinging to him for dear life. “If you’re that sorry then take me home.”
“Home?”
“To Stein. I want to leave here. Take me back to Stein, Kalon.”
He curled his body around me, letting out a shaky breath as he rolled to the side. “Tomorrow,” he whispered. “I’ll take you away from here. I’ll train more knights. I’ll hire mercenaries. I’ll move in mages. I’ll find every assassin on the continent and bring them in. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I’ll take you home tomorrow, even if it means carrying you there myself.”
He brushed his lips across my temple, and I squeezed my eyes shut so that no more tears could fall.
“I promise that they’ll never hurt you again, my Allie. You will not be the one who dies this time. I swear.”
Epilogue
An Unexpected Ally
A rundown tavern, somewhere near a small village in the Sada Empire
Lillia de Armand clutched her cloak tightly under her chin, tugging the hood as far forwards as it would go. She couldn’t be sure, but she had the feeling someone had been watching her since she’d left the Kilgard villa earlier this afternoon.
She wasn’t breaking the rules. The stay-put order the Emperor had issued after the monster attacked was lifted hours ago, so she was allowed to come and go as she pleased.
That didn’t mean she wanted anyone knowing where she was going. The note that had been delivered on the foot of a crow had been quite clear about not getting caught, and she’d felt a little bad about lying to Baroness Kilgard about what she was up to.
After all, the baroness had been nothing but kind to her ever since she’d arrived in the capital. Lillia had no choice but to lie—she couldn’t get the kind baroness mixed up in her revenge against Alicia.
Alicia.
That woman.
That vile, greedy woman who wouldn’t stop getting in her way. In every life, there she was, hanging all over the Grand Duke. How many times had Lillia had to marry that stupid, jealous Crown Prince because of her? Why couldn’t she get what she wanted, even in the lives where the Grand Duke had fallen in love with her?
Alicia. She was the reason.
That was why Lillia had changed things this time. If she met the Grand Duke sooner, before Alicia had a chance to fall in love with him, then surely, she’d get the ending she dreamt of in this life.
She would become the Grand Duchess. She would have the love of the Grand Duke. She wouldn’t be stuck marrying a petty, jealous man who couldn’t see his own faults, even if he was the Crown Prince of Sada.
Not that it mattered. Torin’s position as heir had been hanging by a thread in every life she could remember. It wouldn’t take much to convince the Grand Duke to reclaim the title that belonged to him once they were married.
Once he did, she would become the Crown Princess and ultimately Empress, anyway.
But she’d been too late. She’d miscalculated. By the time Lillia had met the Grand Duke, he and Alicia were already engaged.
What was worse was the fact that he hadn’t fallen for her like he had in their past lives. Her perfume had failed.
He didn’t seem to care about her at all.
All he saw was Alicia.
She was different this time, too. She was almost bolder—smarter, even. Lillia wasn’t sure that the tricks she’d used to frame her in her last life would work this time.
That was the only reason she was responding to the anonymous request to meet.
She was truly desperate. The black magic she’d used to make sure she retained the memories of her previous lives was corrupting her soul. Her memories were incomplete, always starting and stopping from similar points, and she couldn’t figure out why.
Maybe this person who’d written to her would know. If they were responsible for hiring the one who’d let the wraithhusk loose during the hunt, she had a lot to thank them for. They’d almost solved her problem by getting rid of Alicia, but she’d thrown out some weird magic power.
That was new, too. She’d never seen her use such a power, and that made her nervous. Lillia’s grip on her black magic was shaky at best—without proper tuition, she was really at risk of going mad.
If only there was someone who could teach her.
Lillia stopped outside a pub that’d seen better days. Ugh—she’d never frequented such a shabby place, not even when she’d lived in that stupid little town as a poor noble. Of course, that was before she’d saved her father’s business with the knowledge that she’d gained of the trade route in her past life.