Her Rebirth.

Amelia sat down slowly, as if her body couldn’t hold the burden any longer. Her hands trembled in her lap. Kai didn’t speak. He simply took a seat beside her, close enough that she could feel his presence but far enough that she wouldn’t feel crowded.

"I wasn’t always... her," she said quietly. "The real Amelia Cosgrove, the one born in this body is gone. I just... took her place. I don’t know how it happened, I just woke and found myself in the hospital in a strange world."

She looked at Kai, carefully gauging his reaction before continuing.

"In my world, I was Amelia Volemont. Empress of Akea. I was also the daughter of Duke Volemont, one of the most powerful men in the empire. I was raised to be perfect. Always graceful, always obedient. My father was a general, my mother died early, but I had two older brothers who adored me. My father, though strict, also deeply loved me. In all, we were the pride of high society."

Her voice cracked for the first time, the memories of her father and brothers’ smiles flashing in her eyes and then, their brutal deaths. Tears threatened to rush out, but she pushed on, the words tumbling out like a dam had broken.

"I fell in love with the ninth prince. He was forgotten, way below the inheritance line... but the first time I laid my eyes on him..." She could remember it clear as day. He had been at the palace garden, sitting all alone amidst the mist of gardenias, his hazelnut hair fluttering along the wind. She had been watching him silently until she stepped on a twig and he turned to her, his golden eyes piercing into hers, and her breath caught in her throat. He was beautiful, an angel to behold. That was when she decided, she had to have him.

"...I begged my father to support him for the throne and when Aldric ascended, he married me as part of the deal."

Kai’s jaw tightened slightly at that name, his eyes filled with jealousy at the fact that his little butterfly had another before him, even if it happened in her previous life.

"I thought we’d eventually fall in love. That if I gave enough of myself, he’d return it. But he never did. His heart always belonged to Countess Cecilia, his first love. I was his Empress for five years, and he made no attempt to hide his infidelity. In fact, he blatantly threw it in my face because he knew I’d still stay. As long as he showed me little bits of affection, as long as he gave me hope that he might one day come to love me, I’d still stay."

She paused, her fingers curling tightly around the edge of her clothes.

"I accepted it. I hated it, but I... still loved him. I tried to be content with what little love he had given me. I was even prepared to one day have to share the imperial power of an empress with another woman." Amelia smiled, but it was sorrowful. Though no tears fell, Kai could feel the weight of it.

"Then one day, after a war, my father returned victorious. We held a grand banquet. I stood by Aldric’s side, proud of my family, believing, maybe foolishly, that I finally had it all. I did have it all; after all, I was the daughter of a victorious general and the Empress of the empire. The only thing I lacked was my husband’s love. But I still foolishly thought that since my father brought glory to the empire, maybe... things were going to change."

Her voice fell and the tears she had been holding for a long time began to gush out.

Kai leaned forward slightly, pulling her close with his arms and silently comforted her.

"It’s alright, Amelia, you can cry. You can lay on me and cry."

She cried for a long time, right there in Kai’s arms, and when there were no more tears to cry, she continued.

"But Aldric was poisoned that night. He survived, but he accused my father of orchestrating it. Said it was treason. And just like that... everything crumbled."

"He had my father and brothers dragged outside before the public. And he made me kneel before them. I watched—I watched—as their heads were severed in front of me. My blood, my family... all gone. I screamed, I begged, but he just looked at me like I was filth. Then he threw me into the dungeon and left me to rot."

Her voice dropped into a hollow whisper. Her eyes filled with twisted fear and craziness.

"I was down there for so long, I lost track of time. And the guards... the guards..." She choked and held her abdomen as pain rushed through it.

Kai became worried.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Amelia nodded her head. "Yeah." But she wasn’t. Not a bit. But she had to tell Kai all of it.

"They did things to me. It increased their ego doing that to a noble and the former Empress they all once bowed to." She gulped in fear and her fingers trembled.

Kai went still. His eyes darkened with raw fury, it was a dangerous, seething silence.

They had hurt Amelia. His Amelia.

How had she gone through that pain? How had she survived all of it? The thought of what she had endured made his heart ache.

When he finally spoke, it was low and menacing.

"They will burn," he said, retracing every syllable with malice. "Even if it’s in another world, I will find a way to make them suffer."

His voice shook with emotion he rarely let her see.

"No one, no one should’ve touched you."

Tears welled up in her eyes again, but she gave him a fragile smile.

"Then... Cecilia came. She stood in front of my cell with a vial of poison in her hands. She said it was time to end things properly. And I... I drank it. Willingly."

Amelia finally turned to Kai. "I thought that was the end. But I woke up here. In this body. In this world. And I was her, Amelia Cosgrove. I didn’t know why or how, but I... I had a second chance."

She looked away. "At first, I thought I could just live quietly. But things happened and it led to now... But even though the original Amelia is dead and her soul probably gone, I still feel her emotions as if they are mine. And I’m scared that I might one day come to think I am Amelia Cosgrove and forget i am Amelia Volemont."

Silence settled between them for a moment.

Then Kai finally spoke, "You’ve carried all of that... alone?"

Amelia didn’t answer, just nodded.

"I believe you," he said. "Every word."

She looked up sharply, not expecting the certainty in his voice.

"I meant what I said," he continued, a small smile forming on his lips. "And I am happy that fate brought you to me."

He reached out and gently took her hand.

"You’re not her. But you’re you, Amelia Volemont."

Mass release: 3/4