CHAPTER 3

Three days passed.

Three days since she defied the Crown. Since she looked the prince in the eyes and walked away. Since she reclaimed her freedom.

Society did what it always did when confused—it gossiped.

Lady Elira has lost her mind.

She must be in love with someone else.

She dared to reject the Crown Prince—how reckless. How foolish.

But Elira moved like none of it touched her.

She emerged from her estate not with shame, but with poise. Attending tea salons, literary gatherings, and charity events not in dresses that she once wore to impress, but in deep, striking shades of black, crimson, and sapphire. Unapologetic. Bold. A new woman.

In her past life, she had been careful. Soft-spoken. Harmless.

This time, she voiced opinions. She offered clever critiques of lawd. She praised noble houses that had been overlooked and subtly undermined those who once betrayed her. Every word was calculated, every smile sharpened like a blade.

And society didn’t know what to do with her.

The nobles began to notice. Young lords sought her attention not out of obligation, but out of intrigue. Older women praised her insight. She was becoming a name of her own not as a bride to be, but as a force in her own right.

Meanwhile, in the palace, unrest brewed.

Kaelion Thorne had not spoken of the incident publicly. But those closest to him whispered of his quiet anger. Of how he requested reports on Lady Virellan’s activities. Of how his gaze lingered on the court windows when her name was mentioned.

He was a man not used to being refused.

And now he was obsessed with the refusal itself.

Elira sat in a private tea lounge in the capital with Lady Anissa, the youngest daughter of the influential House Delacroix. In her first life, Anissa had died young barely living till twenties. But Elira remembered her intelligence, her passion for law.

“Why me?” Anissa asked cautiously, looking over the scroll Elira had shared. “You could work with any of the great houses. Why choose a minor one?”

Elira smiled, her gaze sharp and warm. “Because power is built on the overlooked. The underestimated. And I don’t need a great name to change the world I need someone with a voice.”

Anissa stared at her, something sparking in her eyes.

Elira would start here. With allies who were never given a chance. With women whose names history had forgotten. This time, she would not beg for a throne. She would build a court of her own.

She would become untouchable.

That night, a letter arrived.

No crest. No seal.

“You’ve changed...changed into someone who no one knows. I don't know the reason of this change but i will be the first one to know it”

Elira folded the note without a flicker of emotion and threw it into fire.

Let him try.

She had already died once because of him.

This time, she would not be the girl he could kill or control.

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