Her Rebirth.

"Your Highness, I hate to interrupt."

A royal attendant approached with a bow. "Duke Valemont and the young lords Reynold and Cassius are in the palace."

Amelia’s eyes widened. Her family?

Aldric nodded. "Go. They’ve likely come for you. I’d love to escort you, but I don’t think Reynold will be happy to see me."

She stood, offering him a smile as she instinctively smoothed her gown. Reynold had never really liked Aldric because he had always felt Aldric stole his little sister from them.

Her heart raced out of anticipation. It had been so long since she’d seen Reynold and Cassius. A month, to be exact. They had been sent to the border to deal with some bandits who had been hijacking merchants and travellers. Duke Valemont, her father, had joined them a week ago, basically leaving only her with the maids.

She walked swiftly through the halls until she saw them gathered in the reception chamber.

Duke Valemont stood straight and commanding as ever, his salt-and-pepper hair combed neatly back. His green eyes were already trained on her, though the stern line of his mouth twitched just slightly when she stepped in.

To his left stood Reynold. He was tall and composed, the embodiment of the perfect heir. He bowed his head respectfully but allowed a faint smile to soften his otherwise serious face.

Cassius, the younger of her brothers, grinned the moment he spotted her and practically jogged over.

"Lia!" he exclaimed, scooping her into a hug. "You haven’t written in weeks! Have you forgotten about your favorite brother?"

Amelia heart tingles faintly in happiness. Cassius was the first to call her Lia and ever since then she took it as her alias.

"Don’t flatter yourself," Reynold said dryly behind him. "You’ve only been her favorite since she was five."

Amelia laughed, her chest blooming with warmth. "Cassius, you’ll wrinkle my dress," she said, but didn’t pull away from the hug.

Cassius leaned back with a dramatic sigh. "But it’s been forever since we last saw you. Father made us wait at the border for the inspection report before we could return."

Duke Valemont cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the room.

Amelia turned toward him, her posture straightening instinctively under his gaze.

"Amelia," he said in a low, deep voice, "you’ve grown more beautiful."

Her throat tightened. "Father... you saw me a week ago."

He stepped forward and placed a hand gently on her head.

"That doesn’t matter."

Amelia, the observer, felt her chest tighten and she wanted to cry because she knew she would be the cause of their deaths, all of them.

"Thank you, Father," she murmured, her eyes stinging faintly.

Reynold approached next, placing a wrapped parcel in her hands. "Books. I picked them up in the capital. Boring political ones, yes, but there’s a new novel inside too."

Her eyes widened. "You remembered."

Reynold had once caught her reading a smutty novel, and though he did scold her a bit, afterward, whenever he travelled, he often brought back novels for her.

"I always do."

"Unlike me, who didn’t bring anything," Cassius said, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "But I offer the gift of my charming company."

"Truly invaluable," Reynold muttered.

Amelia chuckled, forgetting the heaviness in her heart. Here, she was happy, surrounded by the only people who had always loved her.

She hoped it could be like this for a very long time.

.......

Amelia sat at the long mahogany table in her usual spot beside Cassius, across from Reynold. At the head of the table sat Duke Valemont. It was their family dinner.

The food was warm, the atmosphere even warmer. Platters of roasted duck, garlic-seasoned greens, and honeyed sweet potatoes adorned the table. Cassius, unsurprisingly, was already halfway through his second helping.

"So, Lia," Cassius said with a teasing grin, his fork pointing accusingly, "rumor has it you’ve been dining with His Highness alone."

Amelia arched a brow. "And who, may I ask, is spreading such rumors?"

Reynold didn’t look up from his wine. "The palace isn’t as discreet as you think. Gossip moves faster than you do." Then he muttered, "Though I don’t think you should be dining with him alone. He is merely your fiancé."

"Don’t be jealous, Reynold. They’ll be married soon," Cassius teased, relishing the way Reynold’s fingers tightened around his fork. "And very soon, they’ll have babies."

"Don’t say that," Amelia said, her cheeks tinged faintly pink.

Reynold slammed his fork on the table with a bang.

"I am not jealous Cassius," Reynold said smoothly and then turned to Amelia. "Besides, don’t you think you are too young to be married or even have babies?"

"I’m 19 years old, Reynold," Amelia groaned.

"Still too young," he answered flatly.

Cassius burst out laughing, and Amelia flicked a crumb at him with a glare that only made him laugh harder.

"I missed this," she muttered, smiling despite herself.

Duke Valemont set down his knife and folded his hands together. "Manners—it seems you all have forgotten them and will have to go through some lessons again."

Cassius’s face fell, and Reynold, though still cold, found his lips twitching lightly. Amelia’s laughter faded, and she immediately composed herself.

They didn’t want to go through that grueling lesson, especially since the one most likely to teach them was Countess Marie. She was basically a witch in their eyes. She had been their etiquette teacher when they were much younger, and she often slapped the back of their hands with a ruler whenever they made a mistake.

For Cassius and Reynold, they’d rather be sent back into battle than have to go through that grueling moment again.

"Amelia," Duke Valemont called, his eyes peering through her. "I won’t ask you to explain yourself. But I will ask one thing, and I want you to answer me honestly."

Amelia’s fingers twitched as she sensed the seriousness of his tone.

What did he want to ask her?

"Do you truly love Aldric?"

The question fell like a hammer, and silence fell over the table.

Reynold’s gaze snapped to her, and Cassius looked caught off guard, his mouth a bit open.

It was such a weird question to ask, as everyone could clearly see how obsessed she was with Aldric. But still...

Amelia looked down at her plate, the reflection of the candlelight shimmering against the edge of her silver fork.

Her first instinct was to deflect, to brush it off as a childish crush or courtly affection. But the question hung there, and her father would not ask unless he was prepared to act on the answer.

To ensure he took the throne if she did. Just as she had desperately begged.

She took a slow breath.

She really loved Aldric, didn’t she? Her heart fluttered whenever she thought of him, and besides, he always acknowledged his mistakes... Amelia touched the necklace lying around her neck... just like he did today. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"I..." her voice wavered. "I do."

She looked up, her gaze meeting her father’s directly. "I love him."