"Rosella, you're the only one for me. You'll be my empress. I will love you till the rest of my life."
Liar.
Liar.
Just how many words that come out of your beautiful lip was the truth?
An empress?
If I hadn't died six times already, my whole life will be dedicated to studying to be a perfect empress for you, and in the end, at our wedding, in my pretty white dress for the bride, I will hold the rose watching you leaving for your true love again.
You realized your love at the last minute, you ran without answering yet to the woman you loved kissing her in front of all nobles, in front of me.
Andrien, I have already given you many chances but it had never been different from how you realized your true love. If I didn't catch you kissing with her, or catch you on the bed with her, you would just order the knights to execute me before making her the official empress.
I'm really tired. Exhausted.
I didn't want to run after something I would never get my hand on again.
"Oh about that, I don't love you, your highness. My apology for this misunderstanding." I got up from that spot we shared together, the lake we would throw rocks bouncing on the water together, under the green leaves tree, that was also the spot you killed me with our baby in the third life.
"I'm sorry for confessing in such a time...please don't hate me...I just--I just want to cheer you up from yesterday's incident."
I turned to look at the emerald eyes crying for me and the soft hair brushing against my cheek as he hugged me tightly as soon as I turned to him.
"I'm not interested in love, your highness. So please let me go." I talked to you the same way you talked at me in my past lives, cold, no emotion, hatred.
Every time I died, I would get an hour in peace before I returned to three seconds before the woman Andiren loves came into my life.
But that hour in peace was everything to me. I wanted to die.
I knew the perfect place to die. I didn't need to be hanging on anything meaningly since everything looked worthless in my eyes after the six lives I lived.
Leaving the prince of the empire at that place, I walked into the throne room near the garden wearing the black dress, a perfect fit for the day to die.
"Lady Hera is the child of the miracle...She will be your sister from now on." it didn't change one bit of how he used his words to comfort me.
"I see. Then can I ask you one thing, your majesty?" I asked my father, the emperor of the Phoenix Empire, also the closest empire to the Stanada Empire which was ruled by Andrien's father.
"I know this is hard for you...alright, ask anything you want."
I never hated you for bringing the child you got from a woman of the random noble family, father. I despised you because you were the one forcing my mother to her death. She begged you every night for you to keep your promise not to take other concubines. But you still broke the promise, I never got back in time to save my mother from your affair.
My father who sat on the golden throne full of power and glory, I wondered what face you made if I told you this around this time.
"I want to die."
Bang
Even in my last breath, my head fell on the floor, he didn't step down from his throne. I wished you to stay on the throne forever.
"Princess!!!!!"
"Hurry, get the doctor!!!!"
"Rosella...blood...my daughter...daughter..."
Tsk. You should have stayed cold and ruthless just like how you killed me in the fifth life. That way, I won't have to die with this ashamed and guilty feeling.
...
It is quiet. Nothing bothered me here.
I'm free from all those lies and all my suffering. For now, I don't want to think back at the living world. I wished I would just die and return back here easily, but dying was so painful. No matter how many times I died, I just never got used to it.
"This will be your final life. You have wasted all of your seven chances. One chance remains. You must pay the price now, emperor Reuben."
What's going on???
What's that voice???
What price?? Why did my father need to pay the price??? What did he do???
"I'm not emperor Reuben..." I yelled with the cold sweat rolling down on my forehead on the voice of a being lurking in the shadow.
"Well, then you must be the one to pay instead of him."
"What price??? And why do I always return back to the past??"
"The price will be your most precious person, Rosella. Farewell."
And my eighth life began with only a slight difference, my father didn't have an affair with anyone. There isn't Hera anymore.
I woke up on the day of my father's funeral with my mom was still alive and crying over my father's coffin.
The emperor of the Phoenix died on that summer of protecting his own daughter from an assassin.
The price...for the eight lives...and the one life I wasted killing myself...was my father...
"Father!!!!! No!!!!! Don't die!!!!! Open your eyes!!!! No...no...no...get up!!!! Get up now!!! Sit on your throne!!!!!! Ahh...heuk...euk...papa..."
To be continued...!