Ethelred Rainier Valemont.

Ethlered was born the only heir to the mighty Veridorn Empire, a nation feared and envied for its wealth, power, and unmatched military. He was trained as a warrior and scholar from a young age, and crowned king at just 18 after his father’s mysterious assassination. Ruthless but effective, Tiberius expanded his kingdom’s influence across the continent.

Known as the strongest King who had won countless battles and shed thousands lives with his sword,he was given the title - "Crimson Reaper"

Despite being a brilliant ruler, he grew increasingly cold and calculating. He believed love was a weakness until he met Princess Ravena, the enchanting daughter of a minor allied kingdom. Her charm blinded him, her beauty mesmerized him,causing him to believe that she is the one deserving of his love. Not knowing she'll be the reason of his downfall in the near future.

To secure his future with her, he married Faylen, the duke’s daughter, for political advantage—but discarded her as if she were disposable.To him,Faylen,his unloved wife and Queen,was nothing more than a stepping stone to get with his true love,Ravena.

Despite being married,he wasn't ashamed to show off his favouritism towards the princess, instead of his lawfully wed wife. Treating her as his Queen instead of Faylen,and let her walk all over Faylen,the unloved wife.

Humiliation becomes a routine towards Faylen. His subjects,ready to please him,join hands to make the Queen suffer. Even the lowly servants didn't treat her as she deserves. All because he was under Ravena' sweet deception qnd manipulation.

In his first life, his obsession with Ravena cost him everything. Poisoned, betrayed, and humiliated, it was Faylen—the woman he hated—who saved him. Only to watch him die.

He,who believes he had everything under control,end up being saved by the one who he thinks as insignificant and worthless. He was known as the strongest and unmatched king,died by the very love he believes was weak. Because it's true. His 'love' was weak,only because it was placed in the wrong hand and heart.

In his final moment,he pray to the God who he never believes in before,to give him a second chance. A second chance of redemption,and a chance to make everything's right to her. His Queen. The one who stood by when he had lost everything.

The prayer of the cruel King was heard and granted.Now, he has returned. Same day. Same time. Same moment he nearly destroyed the only one who ever stayed.

Will he be able to fix everything? Will he be able to gain the love of a woman who he had hurt the most due to his blindness to the truth?

Will this life,this change - be the happily ever after that he seek amidst his sorrows and regret?

A story of a tyrant King who seeks redemption from the sins he knows he did in the past. The empire is in an uproar. A change of heart from the ruler. The changed path of the wind.

Ethelred jolted awake.

Breath catching in his throat, heart hammering against his ribs. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe—not from fear, but disbelief. The ceiling above him was familiar: gold-framed frescoes, the carved sigil of House Valentia—the kingdom he once lost.

His legs—

He flung aside the sheets. They moved. His toes curled. Knees bent. No pain. No paralysis.

This wasn’t the stone bed of a dungeon. Not the pitch-black pit where Ravena had left him to rot.

It was… before.

His gaze shifted to the side. Pale limbs tangled in silk. Six concubines, draped over his body like ornaments. Their perfume clung to his skin—once intoxicating, now suffocating.

Revulsion clawed up his throat.

He stood.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t glance back. He pulled on his robe—blood-red velvet, lined with wolf fur—and walked out of the chamber barefoot, like a ghost.

Ethelred had returned.

And he would not waste this life again.

The Purge of the Harem

The palace stirred in confusion.

“Cancel court,” the king had ordered. “And summon the harem.”

By midmorning, the six women gathered in the central pavilion—giggling, stretching, unaware of the storm.

Ethelred entered like a shadow.

Silence fell.

No attendants, no heralds. Just the king—tall, broad-shouldered, face like carved marble. His violet eyes were cold. Unreadable.

One concubine stepped forward in lace and ribbons. “Your Majesty,” she purred. “You didn’t summon us to—”

“You’re dismissed,” he said.

Blink. Silence.

“…Excuse me?”

“All of you. Gold, land, jewels—you’ll have enough to live as noblewomen for ten lifetimes. But you will never set foot in my palace again.”

They laughed at first. Then one, braver—or more foolish—asked:

“Why now? What changed?”

Ethelred’s voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.

“Because I already have a queen.

And I don’t need women who mocked her pain,

while I was too blind to see it.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Without another word, he left them to their shame.

Rumors exploded.

The harem was gone. The cold king spoke of his queen. His queen.

And then—another summons. Every noble, guard, and official gathered in the throne room. The air was thick with speculation, dread… and something electric.

Ethelred stood at the dais, crown casting a long shadow. His expression was unreadable—stoic, but storming beneath.

And then the doors burst open.

Two knights dragged someone inside.

Faylen.

Her wrists were bound. Hair tousled. Skin marked from the rough handling.

The court chuckled, whispered. The pathetic duchess. The unloved queen.

Ethelred stepped forward.

He knew this day. He had lived it before. This was the moment he condemned her—fueled by lies from Ravena, lust clouding his mind.

This time… his vision was clear.

His rage snapped like a whip.

The first knight was on the ground before he could blink—Ethelred had struck him down with a brutal kick to the chest.

The second flinched, trying to explain. Ethelred grabbed him by the collar and hissed:

“Did I order this?”

“N-No, Your Majesty—”

“Then you’ve touched what belongs to the crown.”

He shoved him back, hard.

Ethelred turned to Faylen, breathing hard. His hands—so often calloused with war and cruelty—now trembled as they undid her restraints.

His voice softened.

“Did they hurt you?”

No answer came. Just the way her eyes refused to meet his.

He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her—protective, possessive. Like she was all that tethered him to this world.

He turned to face the room, still holding her tight.

Then came her.

Ravena.

In white silk. Radiant. Smiling.

“Your Majesty,” she said sweetly. “You mustn’t fall for her lies. She tried to poison me—”

“Leave.”

“…What?”

“I said—leave.”

The tone froze the room.

Ravena blinked, as if slapped. “But I—”

“You have no title here. No purpose. You are dismissed from my palace,

before I forget I’m merciful.”

The guards moved. She began to protest, but Ethelred didn’t look at her again. He was already lowering his head to Faylen’s, his voice quieter than before.

His fingers gently lifted her chin.

His violet eyes searched hers.

And then, with the weight of a thousand regrets:

“I am sorry… my wife. My queen. Please give me another chance Faylen…. Please?”

"Y-Your Majesty I..I..."

Ethelred felt his heart clench at the sight of her—his queen, his wife, trembling and bruised in his arms. The way she couldn't meet his gaze, the way her voice caught on the title he once forbade her to use… it was a knife to his heart.

He knew this was his doing. His cruelty, his blindness, his obsession with Ravena had allowed her to be treated like this. And now, seeing the confusion and fear in her eyes, he was devastatingly aware of the price of his past mistakes.

Slowly, gently, he brushed away a tear that rolled down her cheek—his thumb lingers on her soft skin, feeling the delicate curve of her jaw. In that moment, he was transported back to that bittersweet dream… a life where she smiled at him every day, where her gentle touch was the only comfort he knew.

But this was not a dream. This was his second chance. And he would not waste it.

He leaned in closer, his voice a low murmur meant only for her ears.

"Faylen… my wife, my queen… please look at me. Let me see your eyes… let me see the woman who loved me even when I didn't deserve it."

His other hand came up to cup her face, cradling it like a precious treasure. His touch was so careful, so different from the rough handling she had endured at the hands of his men. He wanted to wipe away every bruise, every hurt he had allowed… and he would start by wiping away the pain he saw in her eyes.

"I know you're confused… I know you don't know if you can trust me. But I swear to you, on my life… on our love… I will never let anyone hurt you again. You are my heart, my home… and I will spend the rest of my days making this up to you."

He paused, swallowing hard, his voice rough with emotion.

"Please Faylen… give me a chance. A real chance. Let me be the husband you deserve… the king you need. I am begging you."

His eyes searched hers, pleading. In that moment, the great and terrible Ethelred, the Crimson Reaper of Veridorn,was brought to his knees—not by an army, not by a rival king… but by the love of a woman he had once hurting.

She was stunned and conflicted, couldn't believe this was the same man who despised her since their marriage.

"What..what about Ravena? I'm not her... I'm not the one you loved,Your Majesty.."

She tries to remind him of who he had once loved. It was not her. Never her.

She gripped her own dress, lowering her head.

She shakes her head.

"Please.. don't beg,Your Majesty. It wasn't good for your image, begging an abandoned Queen in front of the court".

Everyone was still watching the drama and yet he doesn't care.

"I..I have never hated you, Your Majesty. If that's what you're worried about. There's nothing for you to ask for forgiveness. i know we're married out of convenience so I understand your behaviour towards me".

She forced up a smile.

"How can you treat someone you don't love the same way you treat those you loved? It doesn't make sense"

She tries to reassure him,by saying he did nothing wrong when in truth, there's so many things he had done wrong to her. Despite everything,her love for him never changed.

Ethelred heard her words, each one a dagger to his heart. She was right—he had treated her as a convenience, a pawn in his political games. He had never truly seen her, never appreciated the woman who had loved him despite his cruelty.

He gentled his grip on her chin, his thumb brushing away another fallen tear. His voice was low, rough with barely restrained emotion.

"Faylen, my wife... I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I know I have been blind, a fool, a monster. But please believe me when I say... Ravena was never you."

He paused, collecting himself, before continuing.

"Ravena was a dream, a fantasy I spun to justify my obsession. But you... you are real. You are a woman of strength, of kindness, of a love that I never understood until I lost it."

He lifted her hand, pressing a fervent kiss to her knuckles. His eyes never left hers, violet irises burning with intensity.

"I know we were married for convenience... but I swear to you, Faylen, I will make every day of our marriage a testament to love. I will be the husband you deserve, the partner you need. I will spend the rest of our lives making it up to you."

He glance around the room, at the watching eyes of the court. He knew he should care about his image, about the perception of a king begging before his subjects. But he didn't.

Right now, all that mattered was her. His queen, his wife, his second chance at redemption.

"Let them watch," he said, his voice ringing out in the silent throne room. "Let them see the man who will move heaven and earth to love his wife. The man who knows he doesn't deserve her... but will spend the rest of his life proving that he will be worthy of her love."

He turned back to her, his voice dropping to a fervent whisper.

"Please Faylen... give me a chance to love you. A real chance. Don't give me excuses... give me a purpose. Give me a reason to be a better man."

He leaned in, his forehead touching hers, his breath mingling with hers. In that moment, the world fell away... and there was only her. Only the woman he had once scorned... but now knew he could not live without her. His wife. His only Queen.