It was damp and cold.

Here sat the most humble of the kingdom come and it was no place for the queen of s nation. She was of noble identity, but she was trapped and she did not know when she’d see the light again.

In fact, she had long given up the desire to escape and hope to survive. From the time the unborn child in her womb died and the time her husband abandoned her was the moment she died from the inside.

Squeeek…

The prison door opened and a woman dressed in baroque clothing walked in. She was wrinkled with fanciful jewelries and ornaments that was befitting of a queen. Near the prison bar rested a chair and the noble-like woman sat on it.

“Hello, dear sister.”

Rihannan looked up.

The noblewoman’s fiery eyes stared at Rihannan with unknown desire.

“Poor dearest sister.”

Unlike the words that flowed out of the the noblewoman’s mouth, her countenance was one of ridicule and criticism as opposed to one of compassion.

“I told you, sister… you needed to step back and give way to me. This would not have happened had you listened.”

Rihannan who listened to her half-sister without expression smiled in dismay. Yes, that was true. If she had chosen to back away quickly from him, none of the tragedy may have never occurred and she’d never have fallen from grace either.

But it was all his fault.

She loved him.

And that was also her fault.

“Sister, your throat will be slit open tomorrow. He no longer cares. You’ll die a miserable death as the crowd watches your tragic death. Your head will be severed, dropping to the ground and rolling over the dirt. Your blood will taint the ground whole. As your dearest sister, I can’t bear to watch that.”

Leticia, Rihannan’s half-sister, raised a small glass of bottle in her hand and passed it to Rihannan. Licking her lips, she continued.

“You don’t want others to watch your decapitation, do you? Give in. This is the last option to protect my sister’s honor and the last consideration I can give to you.”

The noblewoman’s purpose to rid of Rihannan quickly and oh she truly looked forward to this very moment for the longest of times. She’d even prepared Rihannan’s fall from the shadows long before.

But what was the point of it if Leticia did not receive the reaction she expected? It was all over and Rihannan had nothing left, but…

“Yes, thank you.”

Rihannan reached for the glass of bottle in Leticia’s had. She entangled her fingers around the bottle. This would be her end. Whatever Leticia’s purpose was, it was not so bad to die alone like this, Rihannan thought. In fact, she hoped to meet the hands of death ever so quickly.

A bitter smile spread on Rihannan’s lips.

“Thanks to you, this last road I take will be comfortable. I’ll drink this well.”

“…why are you pretending to be noble until the very end?”

Leticia gritted her teeth and shouted. Her eyes which should have celebrated in joyous victory fluttered with a deep-seated anger.

“Why? Why aren’t you frenzied with madness? Why don’t you cry for help? Why do you pretend to be so calm when you’re not?!”

“Is that what I’m doing? Why? What’s the point?”

“Because I feel… I can’t stand your hypocrisy!”

“You’ve already taken everything from me. My father, my husband, and now, my humble position. Is that not enough?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I took it from you? No, it was mine from the very beginning. Mine! If it weren’t for you, they would have belonged to me long ago. You don’t know that?”

It was an absurd remark. One day, at the age of twelve, Rihannan’s half-sister suddenly appeared and grabbed a hold of all that she owned, leaving her with nothing. Her family, the man she loved, and the child she could never have… all gone.

Rihannan closed her mouth and said no more. She was tired, too tired to argue. She only wanted to end it all. That was her only wish.

“I hope you’ll let me rest even in my death.”

“…you’re still going to put on airs until the very end.”

Leticia rose from her seat, donning a cruel smile over her beautiful face.

“This here is where you’ll die. It’s the perfect ending for you.”

After Leticia left the prison, darkness and silence pervaded the room once again.

Rihannan opened the lid of the glass bottle and drank the contents’ without a moment’s hesitation.

The medicine quickly spread all over her body. Her guts felt like it’d been torn apart and she vomited red blood countless of times. Soon after, the tingling sensation in her arms and legs disappeared and slowly, her heartbeat faded.

Rihannan laid on the cold, hard ground and waited for peace and serenity to come.

At the very last moment of her life, the face of someone she loved came to mind. Tears streamed down her cheek.

‘It’s a miserable end Rihannan… you were the last person I expected to betray me… you stupid thing…’

Her eyes closed gradually and she breathed her last.

If there was a next life, all would be different.

She would never love again nor would she give her pity.

It was her last breath…

But her eyes opened again.

To Rihannan’s surprise, she was twelve again.

She had awakened from a deep slumber and noticed she lied on the bed of the mansion, the place she lived in until she was married off. And her body, it was that a small child.

Rihannan rolled off the bed and looked at the mirror. Her eyes opened wide at the sudden understanding that she was twelve once more –– the time of her mother’s death.

“I’ve come back to the past?”

But she shook her in denial. She could not believe it. She’s dreaming. That or she’s seeing her past before crossing the Death River.

But by the time she saw the rising sun, Rihannan was forced to accept her reality.

She was back. She was really back. She was twelve.

It was an unbelievable reality and Rihannan sat back on the bed and watched the door in silence. If all was true, the door would open and her maid, Mary, who took care of her since she was a babe would walk right in. Mary’d often wake her every morning and she never missed a single day ‘till she was kicked out of the mansion with a false charge.

“Miss?”

Before long, the door opened and Mary entered the room. She gave a startled look at the sight of the young Rihannan wide and awake first thing in the morning.

“Miss, have you been up all night? Oh my goodness, you haven’t slept all night!”

Mary quickly ran to Rihannan and stroked her pale face.

“It’s because of your mother, right? Don’t be so sad, Miss. This’ll ruin your health…”

“Mary…”

" Yes, Miss?”

Rihannan looked at Mary, the woman she hadn’t seen in a long while. After the death of her mother, her father took in the child of another woman into the house, Rihannan gradually became isolated and Mary was one of the two people who stood by her side ‘till the very end. However, Mary was eventually driven away on the charge of the theft of her half-sister’s jewels.

“I missed you…”

“Miss?”

“Mary, I really missed you,” Rihannan said hoarsely.

Mary took a quiet, deep breath. Her warm, brown eyes carefully examined the young Rihannan and concluded that the child who’d recently lost her mother was in a state of shock that she’d gone and said strange things.

“Oh, poor child. You had a scary dream last night, didn’t you?”

Mary swept Rihannan into her arms affectionately and caressed her fine silver hair.

“It’s alright. You have your father and I. Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

Embraced in the arms of Mary, Rihannan bit her lip recalling the past.

‘No, that’s not true. Father will bring her in and he’ll take everything away from me…’

When the memories of her past came flooding in, Rihannan’s heart was wrought with pain.

“There, there. The Count will arrive soon. Though I don’t know why he went off in a hurry soon after the funeral, but all will be alright. The Count will always be with you.”

Mary did not know, but Rihannan already knew he ran off in a hurry.

He went to pick up his illegitimate daughter before he had the chance to see his wife buried six-feet-under. It was as if he had waited for this very moment to come.

“Then, Miss, wash your face first…”

“Mary, before that, would you call a lawyer?”

Surprised, Mary raised her brows. She looked at Rihannan’s ice-blue eyes and asked, “A lawyer? You mean Ned?”

“Yes. Call Lawyer Ned.”

“Why do you need a lawyer all of a sudden?”

“Mary, we’re running out of time. I have something to check with him before father comes back. Please, get in touch with him right away and tell him to see me.”

To Mary, lawyers were the kind of people she found difficult to understand, much so the nobles. And as for Rihanna, no matter how educated she was, she’d have a difficult time understanding what she’d been taught until she grows of age. And so far, Mary hadn’t recalled a particular encounter between the Miss and the lawyer that was worth remembering. Ned was always busy dealing with Count Alessin, the owner of the mansion. So why does a girl like that suddenly wants to speak to a lawyer? But regardless, Mary had no intention to refuse the young lady’s earnest request.

“Alright. I will send someone to see the lawyer. Wait a moment please.”

After Mary left the room, Rihannan sorted the messy thoughts muddling her mind. Today was the day after her mother’s funeral and the day her father, Count Alessin, brought in his illegitimate daughter. It was also the day her misfortunes began.

Maybe it was God’s mercy that she returned to the past for a second life.

If that is the case, she won’t pass up on the opportunity the deity provided her.

Rihannan clenched her lip, ice-blue eyes twinkling with determination.