I Let My Fiancé Marry His True Love After Rebirth

In my last life, I fought for power, kept the books, and built alliances for my fiancé from the Fire clan until I had secured his position as heir. On the night of the victory banquet, he killed me with his own hands. He said Sophia was the woman he truly loved. I had taken her place and forced their love into the shadows. They had been conspiring all along, and even the child I had raised so lovingly was their illegitimate son. I died consumed by hatred. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the marriage contract was to be signed. This time I wrote Sophia's name on it. Chapter 1 I died when Dante's fortunes were at their peak. At the grand victory banquet that night, an envoy from the Royal Court, the elders of the Fire clan, and representatives of the Northern Merchant Guild all sang Dante's praises. They said he was young and able, that he had brought the Fire Elves into the top five of the Elven Kingdom. What they did not know was that the Fire clan had never made it that far on Dante's efforts alone. I had won over the Northern Merchant Guild and placed the Wind clan's patrol at his disposal. Even the Fire clan's tax plan was mine, written over more than a dozen sleepless nights until it won the Council of Elders' approval. I thought that was what spouses did for each other. And I thought he would remember it. After the banquet Dante poured me a glass of moonberry wine. The moment I swallowed it, heat flared in my chest. It felt wrong, as if fire were burning its way out through my veins. Only when I collapsed did I see Sophia emerge from behind the screen. She wore the red gown I had given her and held the firecrystal charm Ash had worn as a child. Ash was the boy I had raised. I had taught him to read and to control his flames. Whenever he ran a fever, I stayed by his bed all night. Yet Sophia told me Ash was not my child at all. "He is Dante's son and mine," she said. "He has always called me Mother." I looked at Dante, hoping he would deny it. Dante merely frowned, as if I were an annoyance. "Evelyn, don't blame Sophia," he said. "She's the one who has suffered all these years. If you hadn't clung to your position as my betrothed, I would have married her long ago." I wanted to laugh, but I lacked even the strength to lift a hand. So the marriage I had fought to preserve all those years was, in his eyes, nothing more than me occupying Sophia's place. He came closer, and a blade of fire took shape slowly in his palm. "The Wind clan won't break with the Fire clan over someone already dead," he said, quite calmly. "Once you're gone, Sophia and I can start again." When the fire blade pierced my chest, all I felt was cold. The last thing I heard was the wind outside the window. When I opened my eyes I was back in the Elder Hall. The marriage contract lay in front of me, and the quill was in my hand. Dante sat across from me, his voice impatient. "Hurry up and write. Don't keep the elders waiting." I looked down at the blank line for the bride's name and smiled. This time, Evelyn would not be the name I wrote. I pinched my own arm first. The pain was real enough. The elders at the table still waited for me to put quill to paper. Sophia was still only a young woman of the Fire clan hiding behind the attendants' benches, and Ash had not even been born yet. There was time for all of it. I did not need to kill Dante immediately or rush to expose them. I had died too suddenly in my last life, before I could obtain much of the evidence. My first priority was to get away from him and gain the means to protect myself. The Wind clan was my home, but it could not break with the Fire clan for my sake overnight. Too much depended on the treaty between them, and my mother needed time to make arrangements. So I decided to go to the Royal Court first. If I secured a position at the Royal Court, Dante would no longer be able to control me as easily as he had in my last life. Chapter 2 On this day in my last life, I had signed my own name with a heart full of hope. I thought Dante and I were made for each other. The betrothal between the Wind and Fire clans had held for many years, and everyone said that once we married both clans would be stronger. And I believed he would come to love me eventually. It seemed laughable now. I looked up and asked the High Elder, "The contract only requires the Fire clan heir to marry a woman of the Fire clan. Is that right?" The High Elder of the Fire clan paused, then nodded. "Yes. As long as both parties consent, the Royal Court will recognize the betrothal." "Good." I picked up the quill and wrote Sophia Valen in the space for the bride's name. The whole Elder Hall went silent. Sophia was standing at the back, and the color left her face. She could not have expected me to push her out into the open. Dante froze as well. Then his face darkened. "Evelyn, what are you doing?" "Giving the two of you what you want." I pushed the contract across. "You love Sophia and Sophia loves you. In that case she is the one who should be your bride." "Don't be ridiculous." Dante lowered his voice. "Change the name back." He used the same tone as always, as if I were obligated to obey him. "The contract goes to the Royal Court tomorrow to be sealed," I said. "If the name isn't changed now, it will be read aloud at the wedding." Dante's expression darkened further. He wanted to explode, but the presence of the elders held him back. He leaned in and said through his teeth, "You can't leave me, and you can't leave this betrothal. Don't try to force my hand this way." I looked at him and suddenly felt nothing at all. In my last life, I had died at his hands. He believed even my life should make way for his love. And yet he still thought I was the one coercing him. "Dante, you've got it wrong," I said. "I simply don't want you anymore." I handed the contract to the Royal Court clerk myself. The clerk set the provisional seal on it. From that moment the wedding had nothing to do with me. After the elders dispersed, Dante tried to follow me, but the High Elder stopped him. The High Elder was plainly dissatisfied with Sophia too. I saw both confusion and calculation in his eyes. He knew that the Fire clan had lost not an ordinary bride, but the Wind clan's heir and all the resources she brought with her. But there was no way back from it now. I left the Elder Hall before the others. As I reached the door, Sophia called softly after me. I did not turn around. In the past, I would have stopped to comfort her, worried that she might feel embarrassed or that Dante might think me petty. Now I saw no reason to bother. She wanted Dante, and I had given him to her. Whatever came next was hers to bear. Chapter 3 That evening Dante came to the Wind clan house. He stood below the terrace, still in the red cloak of the Fire clan heir. "Get the contract back," he said. "The contract can't be retrieved." I looked down at him from the terrace. "It already bears the Royal Court's provisional seal. No one can alter it unless the correction is announced publicly on the wedding day." "Sophia isn't fit to be the lady of the Fire clan," he blurted. I nearly laughed. Of course he knew that. Sophia knew nothing about managing a territory or negotiating with the Guild, and she had no Wind clan behind her. Love was all she could offer Dante, not power or prestige. Dante had always wanted both. "But you love her," I said. "What use is love?" He frowned. "This is a critical time for the Fire clan. You have the Wind clan's support and understand the Council. Having you marry into the clan would be best for me and for the Fire clan." "So what you need is the Wind clan's strength, not me." "Evelyn, don't twist what I'm saying." "I'm not twisting anything," I said. "In my last life, those words might have softened me. I might have told myself you were simply under too much pressure. But not anymore." Dante looked at me for a long time. "You'll regret this," he said at last. "I've already regretted it once." He turned and left. I remained where I was, my palms slick with sweat. It wasn't that I didn't fear him. I knew exactly what he was capable of. But I could no longer live as I had in my last life, waiting for him to decide my fate. The next day, my mother came to see me. She put a letter of appointment from the Royal Court on my desk. "The Court needs an advisor on the wind currents," she said. "King Alwyn asked for you by name." In my last life, Dante would not let me go. He said the Court was too far, and that once married I should put the Fire clan first. And I had actually turned it down. This time I took the letter at once. "Mother, I'll go to Duskhold." My mother remained silent for a long time before asking, "Have you truly thought this through? Going to the Court means publicly distancing yourself from the Fire clan." "I've thought it through." I did not tell her I had already died once. It sounded too absurd, and telling her would only worry her. I could only show her through my actions that I would never again sacrifice myself for Dante. At last, my mother hugged me. "Whatever you do, the Wind clan will stand behind you." My eyes stung. In my last life, I had always felt that once I married Dante, I could not rely on my mother for everything. I worked to turn myself into a proper lady of the Fire clan and forgot that I was the Wind clan's heir in my own right. This time, I would not take my family's love for granted. Before I left, I did three things. First, I recalled every patrol writ the Wind clan had lent the Fire clan. Those were our finest troops. In my last life, Dante had used them to build his own reputation without so much as a word of thanks. Second, I had the steward stop supplying the Fire clan with our accounts and Guild intelligence. I had always thought of Dante first, so the Fire clan knew a great deal about the Wind clan's internal affairs. That channel had to be closed. Third, I wrote down every vital account I could remember from my last life and entrusted it to my mother. I marked every mine, smuggling operation, moonberry-toxin transaction, and suspicious attendant around Dante that I could recall. I could not guarantee that every event would unfold as it had before, but at least I would not be caught unprepared again. My mother read the list, her expression grave. She did not ask how I knew any of it. She only said she would send her most trusted people to investigate. I knew that from that day forward, I had finally begun building a future on my own terms. Chapter 4 Before I left, Sophia came to see me. She burst into tears the moment she entered, her eyes red and swollen. "Lady Evelyn, why did you put my name on the contract?" she asked. "You know perfectly well that Dante truly needs you." "But the one he loves is you." Sophia bit her lip and said nothing. I finished it for her. "You know as well as I do that he doesn't dare actually marry you. He wants to keep you hidden and have me run the Fire clan for him." "But now everyone will mock me," Sophia said in a low voice. "All I wanted was to stay by his side." "Then you should accept what he is truly offering you," I said. "If you want to be his wife, then be his wife. You cannot claim my position while refusing the responsibilities of the lady of the Fire clan." She looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. "You never used to talk like this." "I used to be a fool." I did not argue with her further. Sophia was not innocent. She knew Dante and I were betrothed, and she knew how much I had given to the Fire clan. Yet she conspired with him to deceive me, even hiding the truth of Ash's parentage. I would not concern myself with her anymore. That night Dante sent a letter. It contained not a single word of apology. Dante simply ordered me to continue handling the Northern Merchant Guild for the Fire clan despite the canceled marriage and to lend him the Wind clan's patrol. I read it and threw it into the fireplace. In my last life, I had treated every word from him as an obligation. This time, I found it absurd. I left Windvale with Mara and two guards and went straight to Duskhold. Before long, the Fire clan would hold the wedding. And I would not be going back. As the carriage left Windvale, Mara asked whether I wanted to leave a message for Dante. I said no. Dante and I had already said far too much in my last life. I had explained, fought, cried, and compromised, but he had never truly listened. Some relationships do not need a dignified farewell when they end. Walking away was answer enough.