I was eighteen years old the day I died for the first time.
My name was Anabella de Rougemont, daughter of the famed Count Edgar de Rougemont, and his beloved wife, Countess Reina de Rougemont.
Father and mother met while he was on his way back from a campaign. She had been selling flowers on the side of the road and, as father and his soldiers passer through, she gave one to each of them in gratitude for their service. She got an earful for it from her guardian since she hadn't made much money that day - but she walked away with something far more valuable; the heart of a hero.
It had been love at first sight for them both.
And even though she, Reina, had been an orphan from the most humble background, she married Edgar, consequences be damned, and rose to the position of Countess.
True to form, a lot of the nobility disagreed with the match. Perhaps the greatest dissenter was father's most powerful benefactor - Tmperor Marcus Helloise, the Bright Sun of the Fareigh Empire.
The Emperor had hoped that father would marry his daughter, Crown Princess Leticia Helloise. The renowned beauty was not called "The only jewel in the Emperor's Crown" for nothing. She was the envy of all women in the empire - and she had set her cap for Edgar de Rougemont.
However, none of her wiles could stand in the way of true love. Perhaps nobody truly understood the depths of feeling Leticia had for her father's most loyal vassal. But there was no arguing the point with father. Leticia, spurned and embittered by the rejection, turned many nobles against House de Rougemont.
And so father fell out of favour with the Emperor despite his many years of loyal service and sacrifice.
That was the beginning of the end.
All of my friends and potential suitors disappeared or altogether ignored me and my family. We were losing our wealth and any respect the nobility had for the house was lost. A few loyal friends supported the estate and father's established business dealings, but even those would eventually lead to naught. We became a ruined family.
Shortly after the last of our servants had departed from an estate falling apart, father's enemies attacked. Our family was forced to flee into the neighbouring country aided in part by one or two of his best friends. They would later meet terrible ends, as we heard later on. While defending the last of the two, father lost his life.
Stricken with grief, mother was not long for this world. She followed her beloved not a month later, in a cold room in a tiny cottage, much like the one she had grown up in.
"Everything comes full circle," she had said to me that evening, and then breathed her last.
With nothing to my name and nowhere to go, I, Anabella de Rougemont, found my end at the hands of ruffians looking to relieve passers-by of their gold. They took what little I had and left me for dead.
I cursed my fate with my dying breath.
***********
In my second life, I was born Georgina Malik, daughter of a middle-class suburban couple. My mother was a teacher and my father, an ordinary salaryman.
I grew up happy and healthy and lived a relatively good life. I went to good schools and got good grades, graduating with a good degree. After I got my first job, I climbed through the ranks to become a Marketing Director, receiving awards for my hard work and dedication.
I found and married the love of my life. I had three beautiful children. We worked hard together and built our wealth which afforded us a good house in a pretty neighbourhood. I had many friends and I visited my family often. It was true bliss... except for one thing.
I remembered my past life as Anabella de Rougemont.
When I was in college, I came across a Web Novel titled "The Count's Curse." It was the story of Edgar de Rougemont and his many daring feats, leading up to the end of his life. In this story, I learned of the true reason behind my former family's suffering.
Count Edgar de Rougemont was a cursed man.
On the last of his campaigns - the one he was returning from when he met my mother - Edgar had ruthlessly lain waste to a village in the Northern Lands, albeit at the behest of the Emperor. He was a monster on the battlefield cutting down his enemies without mercy. However, on this specific campaign, with much anguish, he also ensured the death of countless children. Nobody was to be left alive.
Men, women and children had fallen or fled. The village priests had been slain on their knees praying to the goddess they served for strength or protection. One by one, they all fell, save for one woman. She screamed her anguish as she cradled the limp body of a little girl. Setting her eyes upon father with his battle armour and recognising his rank, she pointed a finger at him and spoke.
"You, Edgar de Rougemont, shall face ruin! You shall never escape the end - a monster like you shall never know a peaceful rest! I place a curse on you and all who reside with you; you shall remember me in your final days!"
Edgar had stayed his hand from slaying her, her words piercing straight through the heart he shielded to complete his task assigned by his master. Whether out of fear or pity, Edgar left her alive and his men departed from that place.
Perhaps it might have been better had he killed her. For this was no ordinary woman but a powerful witch. And the curse she had placed upon him was unbreakable. She had never been seen nor heard from again and the curse had eventually claimed the Count and his entire household.
The author of the novel posted it and, a few months after finishing it, had completely disappeared. There was no follow-up story and there was no response to fan mail. I had no way of discovering who this elusive author was or how they knew so much about my past life.
Then again, maybe that life had been a fever dream? More of a nightmare if I was being honest.
But what did I care about some curse that had nothing to do with me in my previous life? The gods had finally blessed this wounded soul with good fortune. I could leave all of that behind and forge my path forwards into the rest of this second life I had been granted.
I lived to grow old and grey. My children and grandchildren were with me in my last moments and I remember thinking how happy I was that I finally got to see the end of a long and prosperous life. Before I closed my eyes and left the world of the living, I heard an echo from a dream say "Everything comes full circle..."
**********
And in the next moment, bright sunlight pierced through my closed eyelids and I blinked as the sounds of morning filled my ears.
"Rise and shine, my lady! 'Tis a beautiful day for a picnic, don't you think?"
My lady? Whose lady?
I groaned rubbing the sleep from my eyes and sat up slowly as I looked around. Was this heaven?
But as the room came into focus and the sleep fog lifted, realisation dawned. Icy tendrils of dread crept around my heart as I recognised the furnishings, the fresh cotton sheets and fluffy blanket, the gilded mirror and chairs, the lush carpet running from one end of the room to the other... the large windows overlooking the grounds and the snowy mountains beyond...
I nearly fell out of bed, tripping over the bedsheets as I rushed for the mirror. It couldn't be. It could not be... but it was.
The face looking back at me was fresh and rosy-cheeked, young and pretty, framed by a shock of bright red hair. Rosy lips parted as I took in my eyes, green as the verdant hills flecked with shades of blue.
Eyes passed down by Edgar de Rougemont to me, his daughter; Anabella Marie Giselle Ariette de Rougemont.