Chapter 1

Carlos and I loved each other for a century, yet our lives ended in a mutual, agonizing torment.

He despised me for using a forbidden spell to forcefully awaken his memories—an act that drove his beloved half-elf, Lilia, to throw herself from the Astral Tower.

I resented him for forgetting our vows and falling for my best friend after losing his memory.

For the centuries that followed, he used every conceivable method to break me.

Right up until my very last breath, the words he had spat through gritted teeth still echoed in my mind: "Cecilia, you disgust me. I would rather have never remembered you at all."

I finally understood that I shouldn't have used our past love to chain a man whose heart had already changed.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day Carlos returned to the Dawn Court after losing his memory, bringing Lilia with him.

...

"Get out. Don't touch her."

Carlos's voice was colder than the biting winds of the Far North tundra.

The sharp sting at my throat was so vivid it made my senses reel for a split second.

I had been reborn.

Reborn and brought back to the exact day Carlos returned to the Dawn Court, memories gone, with my best friend—the half-elf Lilia—in tow.

In my past life on this very day, I couldn't accept that the lover I had spent a century with—the man who took a dragon's breath to save my life—had completely forgotten me.

Like a madwoman, I tore open a forbidden scroll, forcefully channeling my mana to restore his memories.

The forbidden magic worked, but the fallout ultimately drove Lilia to jump off the Astral Tower to her death.

Cradling Lilia's shattered body, Carlos had snarled through clenched teeth, "Cecilia, you disgust me. I would rather have never remembered you at all."

Those words formed the cage that trapped me for the rest of my life.

For centuries after, he tormented me by every means possible, locking me in a sunless dungeon until my mana withered away and I died.

But now, fate had granted me a second chance.

"Carlos," Lilia whimpered. "I'm so scared..."

Hearing this, Carlos pressed his longsword an inch deeper.

Blood seeped from my neck, trailing down my collarbone.

This sword was named Starfall.

A century ago, he had charged into a dragon's lair alone to forge it for me from dragon bone and meteoric iron. He used to smile and tell me that this blade would only ever point at my enemies.

Today, I was his enemy.

"Cecilia, I don't care what your status used to be in this Court. Lilia saved my life. From this day forward, she is the most honored guest of the Dawn Court. If you ever direct that hostile glare at her again, I will personally sever your mana pathways."

I looked at him calmly. Hidden inside my sleeve, I silently reduced the deadly forbidden scroll to ash.

"I understand."

Carlos flinched slightly, seemingly caught off guard by my absolute obedience.

I took a step back, letting the edge of the blade leave my throat. Then, without a second thought, I slipped the starlight ring off my ring finger.

It was the token of the High Lady of the Dawn Court, and the symbol of our engagement.

The ring hit the grand hall's marble floor with a sharp, crisp clink.

"What is the meaning of this?" Carlos frowned, a flicker of irritation flashing through his eyes—an emotion he didn't even seem to register himself.

"Returning what is yours," I said. "Since Your Majesty now has someone he wishes to protect, it is only right that I surrender this position. As of today, my engagement to Your Majesty is officially annulled."

A glint of wild ecstasy darted across Lilia's eyes.

But she immediately covered her mouth, feigning panic. "Please, don't do this... If my presence has caused a misunderstanding between you and His Majesty, I'm willing to leave. I'm just a lowly half-elf, I don't deserve to stay here—"

"Lilia. You don't need to apologize to her," Carlos interrupted, instantly patting her shoulder to soothe her.

He then shot me a glacial glare. "Cecilia, do you really think playing hard to get will soften my heart? This condescending act of yours is truly sickening."

He glanced around the hall, every corner of which bore the traces of our life together.

The magical map of the continent we had hand-drawn together hung on the wall. The mana-focusing crystal he had personally carved for me sat on the table. Even the drapes were dyed moon-white—my favorite color.

Carlos raised his hand. A scorching sphere of Dawnfire ignited in his palm. "If you want to cut ties, then let's make it a clean break. Let's get rid of all these eyesores."

With a casual wave of his hand, the flames instantly engulfed the magical map on the wall.

We had poured ten years of our lives into that map, traveling to every corner of the continent to chart it. Every single marker represented a life-and-death adventure we had survived together.

I just watched the flames dance, curl, and ultimately reduce it all to black ash.

"I also have some old relics related to Your Majesty." Turning around, I pulled a pile of items from my spatial ring—a magical journal he had gifted me, an amulet woven from his own hair, and a stack of letters entirely covered in sweet nothings—and tossed them all, without hesitation, directly into the blazing fire.

Every single item slowly disintegrated within the tongues of flame, incinerating every last trace of our shared past.

"Is this clean enough for you, Your Majesty?"

Without waiting for his reply, I turned on my heel and walked toward the exit.

The doors closed behind me, shutting him, that half-elf, and a burning pile of ashes out of my world for good.

The corners of my lips twitched up into a liberated smile.

Carlos, in this lifetime, I finally owe you nothing.