Rania opened her eyes to find the man who tried to kill her now looking at her with a worried face. There was no blood there, no red eyes that wanted to devour her immediately. But Rania could still feel the real fear, so it was just a dream.
"It was just a bad dream. Go back to sleep..." said King Alaric hugging Rania's warm body back into his arms. "It's okay, and I'm here. No one will dare touch you."
But Rania did not calm down, and she felt more and more as if a rope was wrapped around her neck, ready to hang her in seconds. She was threatening her life before she could avenge her parents.
Rania's fears, feelings, thoughts, and hearts are often tense and uncertain with time. There was a time when Rania would feel frightened by sudden things like king Alaric who often came to touch her or sleep hugging her until dawn.
Every time there was the sound of footsteps, she was frightened. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind wandered about a death better than this life. But Rania remembers her father's last message before being sentenced to death, and she must take revenge.
And Rania was easily surprised by the touch, but her mind was now exhausted. All that had happened during her stay in the dungeon. Her mind was unacceptable, and she often hallucinated about seeing her parents.
It was overthinking that made Rania back in the cradle of a dream, along with anger that suddenly appeared.
.....
"Mother, am I not your biological child?!" asked the little man, aged eight years, towards an old woman holding her teacup. Even though time had passed so fast without realizing it, the queen dowager's face still looked young and firm without any wrinkles.
She looks like a young woman in her 20s.
"What exactly are you talking about, kid? You are my son, no matter what." The queen dowager Cassia replied to her youngest son.
"I already know everything, mom!! Tell the truth, I am not your biological son, and I also have an older sister who has been called a big sinner!!" said his little son to the queen dowager.
Hearing Benedict's son's words, Cassia suddenly put her teacup firmly on the table. Those beautiful green eyes were similar to Benedict's, and the queen dowager sucked in a breath, trying not to get emotional.
After Hera, Benedict's wife, gave birth in the past. The queen dowager took her son for adoption with the permission of king Alaric with a newborn innocent of any kind. It was all to fulfill her obsession with owning half of Benedict.
She named Benedict's son the same name as his father with the prefix Ben, Benjamin the Gustaf. She will be the next king after Alaric, and she raises her son Benedict with all the love she has. Or maybe, her passion for Benedict that she never conveyed until now she gave to her son.
The queen dowager stood up and walked to her youngest son's side, saying, "Son, whatever other people say. That's not what you should hear because you are still my son, whom I love the most." She said, trying to calm Ben.
"Then may I see my older sister?" Benjamin asked, at last, making Cassia frown in disapproval.
But refusing Benjamin's request, Cassia could never keep her son waiting. But she also didn't like to see Rania, Benedict's eldest child inheriting the face of Hera, a woman the queen dowager hated to the bone. The woman who took Benedict's heart until her sad death.
"Yes, I will send a guard, and Emma will accompany you to your sister's place in prison. But remember one thing, you can't show your face to her. She is a sinner, and we can't do anything for her." Said the queen dowager, warning Benjamin.
And when his mother gave permission, Benjamin's face, which had been staring disapprovingly at the queen dowager, turned into a happy one.
"Good, you are more handsome when you smile. Don't look at mom again; I feel like I've done something bad to you, son." Said the queen dowager told a little of her heart.
"Um… thank you very much, mom. I am pleased. After all, my mother allowed me to meet my older sister because I felt jealous of my friends who have older sisters. They can be spoiled, get affection, and even be pampered, while His Majesty King Alaric looks cold and scary. He seems to hate me..." Benjamin said honestly.
"Yeah, sorry about your brother. He may be a cold man, but you must accept that because he is a king."
Benjamin nodded and then continued their tea.
.....
Rania awoke as her cold prison door opened, and she could barely even hear footsteps. The raging thoughts made Raia more alert than ever, considering that King Alaric often sneaked into her prison, which was now magically turned into a proper place to live.
No more than one candle is even replaced once a week, and there is no smell of broken mattresses or hunger because food can come once a day, or even the guards deliberately don't bring food.
Now there is only an ever-burning oil lamp illuminating her cold prison,
The prison now feels more comfortable, but Rania doesn't want it. The man took off his coat and heard heavy clothes falling. One by one, King Alaric took off his outer garments leaving his white shirt and trousers loose.
He had just finished a meeting with the royal ministers who were still discussing past sinners to be put to death immediately. At the same time, he balked at twisting the words of the ministers and royal fortune tellers in the past. Before starting the crazy thing where the sinner has atoned for her sins, he will be made a concubine by him.
King Alaric came to hug Rania's body, and he knew that this woman would wake up every time he visited his prison.
"Aren't you cold? It feels like ice on the outside, but you're only wearing this light white nightgown and this light blanket," said King Alaric.
"That's none of your business, Your Majesty," Rania replied, who had dared to respond to the king's words.
King Alaric chuckled happily, hearing Rania's sweet voice, "You always say that. Your comfort is my happiness too."
"It's funny how you talk about comfort when even I've lost my sense of comfort with everything here," Rania said flatly.
King Alaric then fell silent, unable to answer. But his body was getting closer to hugging Rania's back, and a calming scent emerged from the body of the woman he had loved so far. Since realizing that even he couldn't turn his back on his childhood fiancé, King Alaric has grown more desperate and has caused big waves in the kingdom."I will release you from this prison, but on the condition that you will be my mistress!" said King Alaric, suddenly making Rania's body freeze.Rania did not answer, and the woman stared blankly at the wall in front of her. Her eyes were already giving any reaction, and she lost herself when the person who had given her a bad experience came to take the most meaningful thing she had and was snatched away by this devil-hearted man."Will free you from this place, Rania." King Alaric said, kissing the back of Rania's neck."On what basis did you let me out of this prison? After so many years, this place became my home!" replied Rania, finally opening her v
"Fine, I'll do what I can," Pitter replied resignedly.Looking at the pale figure in front of him, this woman was already lifeless, but Alaric still preserved her body. It had been a week, and he continued to treat every old scar with all strength until now, that face looked even paler than before.After finishing the treatment, every scar on Rania's body disappeared and left her cold skin and stiff body."I discovered a terrible conspiracy from death, Rania..." blurted King Alaric to Pitter, who intended to say goodbye."What did you find? Did it happen to the ministers?""My mother, queen dowager Cassia. She ordered someone to release the fugitive from prison with the lure of unconditional freedom. I also found an oddity in every Rania's blood taken several years ago. Didn't burn the blood like the fortune teller said, but spread all over the walls of the royal castle that protected the city from monsters…." King Alaric explained."Then what are you going to do now?" asked Pitter."
"I'm going to go wandering, and it's been two years since my sister's death." Said 10-year-old Benjamin.His body was tall, and his face looked more grown. Even though he was only a ten-year-old boy, his thoughts were above those of an adult worrying about king Alaric as his adoptive brother."You are still only ten years old. It will not be allowed for you to wander around!" answered king Alaric to the younger brother of his childhood sweetheart."I have Mikael to accompany me; he is a trained warrior. I want to find mom, so she can explain everything that happened to me! And take responsibility for it!" said Benjamin with great confidence."It won't be that easy, Benjamin. You know that mother is the strongest and most stubborn woman. Even her cunning is not easy for me to know if not with the experience I've been through." Said king Alaric honestly.The palace scheme is worse than anything else. Even husband and wife can kill each other. King Alaric realized this all started with t
"Where's Oscar?!" asked Rania after a day after she realized.Hera looked at her daughter with a pale face, "You must be hungry. Mother will send Ines to bring lunch," her mother got up from the chair. Rania watched her mother leave, and her father did not go to fulfill the king's invitation because of the current problems. There was an illegitimate child in the Guinevere family, a real illegitimate child."Mom! I'm not hungry. May I know where Oscar is?" she asked again to her mother, who stopped her steps.There, Hera closed her eyes, remembering two days ago. When she was hysterical when she found out that her husband had an illegitimate child and her daughter was carried in Oscar's arms, soaked and unconscious, she beat the young man in anger. She accuses Oscar of hurting her daughter and avoiding his husband.And when Rania wakes up, she realizes God has given her a second life."Don't ask about him, please... mom doesn't want to hear anything about him!" Hera answered without wa
After this second life, Rania realizes that not everyone in her castle is a good person. There was the traitor, the spy sent by the current queen Cassia and her aunt. Even though some were royal ministers, they were all mad to bring down the Guinevere family due to their greed for honor and wealth. Greedy, to the point of killing everyone in her father's castle.But there was one person who survived, and that person was the closest person to her father.Rania walked into the hall of her father's enormous castle. The castle that was once very old was changed to be so luxurious and extensive, like a building in the kingdom. Her eyes roamed every corner of the alley and the garden she passed. How much she missed all of this in the past. A serenity she had never felt in her first life was only filled with fear and extreme pain.Rania wanted to see her mother, who was still avoiding her, and she didn't wish for Hera to continue to wail. Her family's life is in danger, and if Hera can't mak
Rania brought her mother to the garden, and they returned to a light conversation about what they would do if they met a royal socialite woman who was so arrogant and had high self-esteem if she met those with a higher status than them.In the end, Hera mentioned again the coronation party that made Rania stunned."I hope this election, there will be no bloodshed. Remember how King Philips had to pass through his brothers and sisters with the blood, tears, and sweat of those who supported King Philips then. Luckily there is only one descendant this time, even though queen Cassia has already been appointed. No information of her pregnancy has come from her…." Hera said, looking behind Rania's body, not realizing that her daughter's face had gone deathly pale until she took her tea and glanced at Rania. "Dear!! Why is your face so pale? Are you sick? Tell mom where you feel pain—"Rania shook her head, "No. I'm not sick, but can you not discuss the royal family in front of me?" she aske
"Ines, please throw away this meat and tell father that the meat in the kitchen this time is awful and not fit to eat!" she said, glancing at Ines, who was surprised because usually, if she acted then, Rania would block her. Accepting this lowly maid's bullying, not even allowing her to report the butler's and Margaret's actions to ladies and gentlemen."Well,""A young lady!! What are you doing? Food is so hard to come by in winter, like now!! It's a pity for the hunters who have caught this venison. Many people have difficulty eating the meat—" Margaret spoke without being asked while continuing to make her conscience feel very guilty. Still, those words would only affect Rania in her first life, not the current Rania."I'm not asking your opinion if you feel sorry for the hunter who caught this deer. You should cook properly so that it tastes good to eat and not go to waste like it's not edible now!!" Rania replied while looking into Margaret's eyes which were now shocked because h
Benedict rested his forehead on his fist and had just come home looking pale and tired. But when he got home, he had to hear another bad news, his daughter was followed by the butler and also his prostitute, who he spoiled in his own house. The butler, whom he had trusted since his father's days were still around, committed another crime, corrupted his daughter's monthly allowance, and did not take action against Margaret when Rania reported it."Fuck!"Benedict looked up to see a tray of stew and water right by his side, then looked at his assistant, Caleb Peterson."Please eat first. You haven't eaten anything after returning from the palace," Caleb said, lowering his head before retreating backward."I have no appetite. Please return this from the table." Benedict stared in disgust at the meat soup. For some reason, he felt no appetite, let alone to eat. That regret was taking over him, from Oscar to Hera and Rania."But, sir. This is an order—""—Have you forgotten who your master