And it would cost my entire family their lives.

A marriage that ended in execution and ruin was one I could not afford.

And no longer wanted.

I hadn't even made it back to the residence yet.

The news of my broken engagement with Lester Vance had already swept through Aurelia.

The visitors lined up outside the Black residence, waiting to pay their respects to my father, were the first to catch the scent of it.

One by one, they picked up their gifts and left.

"Does the eldest Miss Black still think the Blacks are the Boling Blacks of old? Marrying into House Vance was already above her station!"

"I only wanted to get close to General Vance through the Black family. Otherwise, who'd bother warming up to a house this cold?"

"Who does Norma Black think she is? All she has is a reputation as the capital's top literary lady. Other women would kill to marry General Vance, and she's been sitting on that betrothal for years. Now she breaks it off in public? Who is she trying to impress?"

"General Vance earned his glory young. A noble title is right around the corner. The Blacks are going to regret this until their guts turn green!"

...

I listened to all of it. My heart was still as dead water.

Gemma's little face flushed scarlet with rage. "They look down on you, Sister. They look down on our whole family..."

I patted her head. "Gemma, what other people think doesn't matter. What matters is that our family stays together, safe and sound."

Gemma sniffled.

Then her eyes lit up.

"Father!"

She threw herself into our father's arms the moment he stepped through the gate, still in his court robes.

The complaints poured out of her in a torrent: everything that happened at the city gate with Lester, every snide remark from every fair-weather visitor who'd turned tail and left.

I clutched the edge of my sleeve, unable to meet my father's eyes.

Not until I heard him ask, "Why don't you want to marry him?"

His tone was gentle. He didn't seem angry.

Only then did I dare speak. "I don't have feelings for him anymore."

It was the most straightforward reason I could think of.

I could hardly tell my father that I had married Lester Vance twice before.

That the first time, I fell from a cliff and died. That the second time, I lost my head on the executioner's block.

And that I had dragged the entire Black family down with me, every last one put to the sword.

He wouldn't believe me even if I told him. Better to say nothing.

My father studied me, brow furrowed. "Norma, you have never been reckless."

"There must be another reason."

"Since you won't say, I won't press."

"But let me remind you of one thing. Lester has been by your side since childhood. He has always adored you. A match like that is rare. Don't do something you'll regret."

A rare match?

I used to believe that too. That Lester Vance was everything I could hope for.

We were promised to each other before we were born. We grew up side by side.

From the first stirrings of young love, I dreamed of growing old with him. I held that dream for ten years.

Every letter he sent from the front, I smoothed flat beneath a paperweight and tucked carefully into a box, layer upon layer.

During the worst of the fighting, when word came that he was dead, I carved both our names into a plaque of pear blossom wood. Even if he was gone, I would marry his spirit tablet.

That was how much I loved him.

And Lester?

To pave the way for Scarlett's entry into the Eastern Palace, he surrendered his command and laid down his armor.

He told me, "Norma, you've always been so understanding. I know you'll support my decision."

He asked me to give up my noble standing and follow him to the countryside to live in poverty.

When I was carrying his child, he turned around and marched back to the capital, all to prop up Scarlett's position.

I tried to stop him.

He said I had changed.

"The Norma I knew would never be this unreasonable."

I stood there, frozen.

Something cracked open in my chest, and the cold wind howled straight through.

Three years of marriage. Three years in that countryside, choking down porridge made from wild greens.

Hands that once held embroidery needles split open at the knuckles from chopping firewood.

When the kindling was too damp to catch, I got on my hands and knees and blew into the stove until tears streamed down my face.

I never once complained.

And in the end, because Scarlett whispered one word of grievance,

he blamed me.

I ran after their carriage.

I just wanted to ask what I had done wrong.

I lost my footing at the cliff's edge. Two lives gone in an instant: mine, and my unborn child's.

Then came the second life. I was careful beyond measure, steering clear of the cliff, making it back to Aurelia alive. I said every kind word I could think of, poured out every ounce of devotion I had. But he still raised an army and stormed the palace for Scarlett Vance's sake. The entire Black family was executed because of it. I stared at him through burning eyes and asked, "Why?" Why sacrifice so many lives for one Scarlett Vance? He reached up and wiped the tears from the corner of my eye. "Because she's my sister." "I would betray the whole world to see her happy. What's the extermination of three clans compared to that?" In that moment, I finally understood. Childhood sweethearts, steadfast husband and wife, all of it was a lie. The only person Lester Vance had ever cared about was Scarlett. …… I pulled myself out of the memories and unclenched my fists, my palms aching where my nails had dug in. "Father," I said quietly, "I want to enter the palace." He blinked in surprise. "You mean you want to join the Crown Prince's bride selection?" I nodded. His lips moved soundlessly for a moment. "Norma, even if you don't marry Lester, there are plenty of fine young men in Aurelia worth considering. Marriage is too important a matter to decide out of spite." I cut him off. "Besides the Crown Prince, who in this empire outranks Lester Vance?" "The Blacks aren't what they used to be. You've already been generous enough to let me break the engagement with House Vance on a whim." "But I refuse to let our family keep declining." "Besides, a daughter of the nobility will have to enter the palace sooner or later. If not me, it will be Gemma." Father let out a long sigh. The Crown Prince was cold by nature. Nothing like Lester, who knew how to charm. In my previous life, only Scarlett had set her sights on the Eastern Palace. She had been singularly obsessed with becoming Crown Princess. The Emperor was wary of the Crown Prince forming alliances with powerful officials. Lester had to surrender his military command before Scarlett could be admitted to the Eastern Palace. To prove his loyalty and pave the way for her, Lester had also handed over every last coin of the general's household, including my dowry. The day we left Aurelia, Scarlett came to see us off in tears. She leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Rest easy in the countryside, sister-in-law. I'll put your dowry to good use." My heart sank like a stone. So my dowry had never been surrendered to the throne. It had gone straight to Scarlett. That was the first time I discovered Lester had lied to me. …… Father sent for the finest portrait painter in Aurelia to capture my likeness. I had barely settled into my pose when Lester came storming through the gates. He spotted me, faltered mid-stride, and took a moment to straighten his robes before closing the distance. His expression was ice. "You don't think you owe me an explanation for this broken engagement?" I lifted my gaze to meet his. "I wanted it broken, so I broke it. What is there to explain?" "Or does the great General Vance intend to force a marriage?" In the past, I had been nothing but gentle and considerate in front of him. Never willful. Never a harsh word. Lester's brow creased. "What's gotten into you?" "Are you upset that I didn't write these past few months?" "I figured I'd be marching home soon enough. There was no need to waste riders on letters." I let out a mocking laugh. "Funny. I hear Miss Vance received one every single day, delivered by express courier." "What happened to not wasting riders, General?" Lester looked at me with open disappointment. "Scarlett is my sister. You're really going to make an issue out of a few family letters?" "Norma, we haven't seen each other in three years. When did you become so jealous?" His sister. The same excuse. The same lie, told to me and to himself. I wiped the smile from my face. "What I've become is none of General Vance's concern." "The betrothal contract has been returned. We're both free. Don't let me keep you." "Norma Black!" Lester seized my wrist. "There's a limit to throwing tantrums."

"Our engagement was settled before we were even born. You can't just tear it up!"

He thought I was throwing a tantrum.

He had no idea that reaching this moment had cost me two lifetimes.

I spoke each word like a nail driven into wood. "I will not marry you, Lester."

His grip on my wrist tightened. "If not me, then who?!"

He was banking on the fact that the Blacks needed House Vance's support.

And he was certain my heart still belonged to him alone.

I met his furious gaze without flinching. "A peddler. A drifter. A merchant off the street. Anyone would do."

"Anyone but you."

Lester's breath caught.

He closed his eyes and drew in a long, slow breath.

Then he reached into his coat and pressed something into my hand.

I recognized it at once: the gift I'd given him ten years ago, the day he left for the front.

Back then, it had taken me half a year to find the white jade, and another half to have it carved into a ring.

When I placed it in his palm, I'd said, "May we be like this jade. Hearts never parting, forever bound."

The ring looked exactly the same as it had then.

But all I wanted now was to sever every thread that tied me to Lester Vance.

He didn't know what I was thinking. His voice softened. "Norma, I fought on the frontier for ten years, and you waited for ten. Everyone in the capital knows the depth of your devotion."

"Saying you won't marry me now, that's just anger talking."

"This ring is the one you gave me before my first campaign. I'm leaving it with you. On our wedding day, you'll tie it on me yourself."

He thought that lowering his tone and producing an old keepsake would be enough to coax me down the steps he'd so graciously laid out.

Where did he get that kind of confidence?

Lester said his piece and left.

I picked up the jade ring and tossed it into the painter's supply case.

"Miss, this looks far too valuable. I couldn't possibly keep it."

The painter fished the ring out carefully and held it back to me.

I waved him off. "It's yours."

"Do a good job on the portrait. If I'm selected, there'll be more where that came from."

The painter thanked me over and over.

"A beauty like you, Miss, is certain to be chosen."

I smiled and said nothing.

In the days that followed, while I waited for word from the palace, Lester came calling constantly.

Every visit, he brought armfuls of gifts.

Fashionable hairpieces, bolts of the finest silk fresh from the southern looms, and all manner of rare curiosities, until they spilled across my courtyard in heaps.

I stared at the mountain of offerings, lost in thought.

My mother took my silence for hesitation. "Norma dear, are you having second thoughts?"

"Lester is clearly still devoted to you, and you haven't been selected yet. There's still time to fix things. Just say the word and we'll set a date, have a proper wedding..."

I knew my mother had always been fond of Lester.

Growing up, anything she made for me, she made a second one for the Vance residence.

Winter coats, summer shirts, nightclothes, shoes and socks.

All sewn by her own hand, stitch by stitch.

She'd loved him like a second son.

She never could have imagined that Lester would prove so heartless, that he would bring ruin on every last member of our family.

I wrapped my arms around her and said softly, "He has feelings for someone else."

She asked who.

I shook my head. "All you need to know, Mother, is that he is not the right man."

Worry creased her face. "But Les... but Lester has made it known that anyone who dares propose to you is making an enemy of House Vance."

"If you aren't chosen this time, what will become of your future..."

My hands clenched, nails biting into my palms.

Lester wanted to bring home a decorative wife, a marriage in name only.

Every noble daughter in Aurelia was his for the choosing.

Why did he insist on clinging to me?

Was it simply because the Blacks had fallen far enough to be bullied?

Too bad for him. He'd miscalculated.

The summons for the Crown Prince's bride selection arrived, just as I'd expected.

My mother rose before dawn to help me dress.

The palace robes were elaborate, the hairpiece heavy on my head.

She steadied my shoulders, her eyes rimmed red. "Norma, whatever happens, selected or not, your father and I and every last member of this family will stand behind you."

A sharp ache bloomed in my chest. I nodded.

The carriage bound for the palace had been waiting outside the gate for some time.

After saying goodbye to my parents and my sister, I climbed in alone.