Everywhere she looked, all she saw was the fire that continued to spread.

Her parents were on fire, her body was on fire, and even her belongings had caught on fire. Melissa looked frantically around the house, trying her best to find an exit out of the mansion, her entire body aching. Inside and outside, all she felt was pain.

Her efforts were proven to be futile, as all the exits in the mansion were covered with fire, making it practically impossible for her to exit any of them. Besides, she had no energy, and she was frozen in place.

At this point, Melissa wasn't sure what to do at all. Her mind went blank, and she didn't know what to think or do anymore. Her parents' screams' weren't helping her either.

She tried to think of how even her mansion caught on fire; there were servants' maids and even knights everywhere. She then remembered, a moment, a few months ago in which she blindly told the Crown Prince her mansion's layout. She would have never thought in a million years that he would ever use it against her.

Of course, she told him. How could she not? He was her lover; after all, he deserved to know everything about her. She was blinded by love. Then again, love was the obstacle that made her put up with him.

Her mind started flashing her all her memories, the moment the Crown Prince confessed to her on her 20th birthday, the first time she had an outing with her parents. All of her memories were slowly flashing through her mind.

Slowly and slowly, her moments with the Crown Prince were shown. It was then she realized that he had been using her all this time. He had never truly loved her, only using her as a pawn. He had ruined her reputation, lied to her, and even cheated on her not once, not twice but multiple times. She had often caught him red-handed with another woman, yet every single time he would always try to deny it.

But of course, whenever Melissa even tried to confront him on this subject, but of course, he'd make up some dumb excuse such as "Believe me, Melissa, I am not cheating on you with other women, but I have to act like this so the Empress will see me as nothing more but a douchebag, a mistake to the royal family." or "Melissa, I'm doing this for us. I do not have any feelings for these women. Please believe me."

Of course, Melissa believed him, again, again and again. No matter what, she would always believe him, even if there was evidence of him lying. Looking at it now, Melissa felt so dumb. How could she have even believed him?

Heck, why did she only begin to realize it now? Did love blind her so much that she couldn't even notice the pitiful gazes of the knights who guarded the Crown Prince's chambers used to give her?

Her reputation had even plummeted to the ground because of him, he had always acted rude to her in public, and in private, he would claim that he was "acting" and truly loved her. Of course, this was all a ruse.

But well, people do stupid things in the name of "love." There were rumours that Melissa was stalking the crown prince, always following the Crown Prince everywhere he went, and that she had even harmed a woman because the Crown Prince was seen with her. Of course, this was all a lie.

But she couldn't even defend herself, and the mistreatment the Crown Prince had given her in public made her even more anxious and scared of the gossip and rumours. She was seldom invited to parties, and even during those times, she was often made fun of by the nobles.

Men never talked to her either or courted her, for that matter, as they didn't want to be associated with any of those rumours that encircled her. These events caused Melissa to be more dependent on the Crown Prince. After all, she had no friends.

Nobody wanted to be associated with Melissa, the stalker, the girl who always followed the Crown Prince, the girl who kept bothering the Crown Prince even when he had made it evident that he disliked her.

At least that was what it seemed.

She became more clingy to the Crown Prince, afraid that he would leave her. She wasn't that close with her parents either. Of course, they loved her, and she loved them. She wanted to tell them what was happening, but what could they do about it?

He was THE Crown Prince; she was… practically a nobody.

She was already embarrassed being made fun of during parties, being the talk of the empire. Besides, she didn't want to burden them with any of it.

She was scared of how they'd react. What if they banned her from meeting the Crown Prince?

What if she could never see him again?

She couldn't let that happen no matter what. The Crown Prince was her lover, after all. The Crown Prince had also promised her the seat of the Empress multiple times.

"Melissa, trust me, I'm doing all of this for us, when I become Emperor, you'll be beside me as the Empress, and we can punish everyone who made fun of you."

It was all a lie.

Everything he had promised her… it was all a lie…

All she wanted was to be loved by him…

And what did she receive in return instead?

Nothing but lies and deceit.

He'd cheated and even mistreated her numerous times; was it a crime for him to like her?

She regretted everything.

Loving the Crown Prince was a mistake.

Even the thought of him was now repulsive to her.

"Give me a second chance, give me just one more chance to exact my revenge on him, and I promise, in return, I'll never love again," she swore solemnly to herself before the light left her eyes.