Chapter 1
I plunged down the cliff in a desperate attempt to save my daughter, and sustained severe injuries that caused me to lose my memory.
Everyone in Crownspire believed I had died.
Even Cedric thought I was gone.
A year after my death, he remarried.
His new wife resembled me both in appearance and character.
She and Cedric were a perfect match, their bond as harmonious as any, and even my children had grown attached to her.
When I returned home, Cedric stood beside his tearful new wife, his eyes cold as he regarded me.
“Rosamund was also a legitimate bride,” he said. “There’s no reason for me to make room for you.”
I sighed with relief.
Years of lost memories had changed me.
I, too, had moved on.
I had remarried.
When I returned home, Cedric came to meet me.
He stood two steps away from me, his tone calm as he reminisced.
“Lysette resembles you now. Though she’s been studying painting under Lady Silvermarch’s tutelage, so she couldn’t come to greet you immediately. As for Edric…”
He hesitated.
“When you left, he was still quite young, and he’s long forgotten what you looked like.”
Lysette was my eldest daughter, Edric my second son.
When I fell off the cliff, Lysette was only three, and Edric barely one.
It was only natural that he didn’t remember me.
Talking about the children, my heart softened.
During the five years I’d lost my memory, Cedric had taken a new wife. I had taken a new husband.
There was no reason for me to return.
But I couldn’t let go of my children at Blackthorn Keep.
Cedric’s voice softened. “You must have heard. Four years ago, I remarried.”
I turned to look at him.
When he spoke of his new wife, his expression softened, a faint tenderness flickering in his eyes.
“Rosamund is not like you. She came from lesser standing, and her health is fragile. If she ever offends you… be kind.”
Every word he spoke was protective of Rosamund.
I paused for a moment, then quietly replied,
“Why would I trouble her?”
They were deeply in love, and I had a husband of my own now.
If it weren’t for the children still being at Blackthorn Keep,
I wouldn’t have returned.
Cedric led me through the long corridor.
I gazed at the surroundings, my mind drifting.
Cedric and I had once been childhood sweethearts, young lovers.
When he asked for my hand in marriage, he had ordered the rebuilding of the garden, making it as serene and elegant as the place I had lived in before marriage.
Now, the trees by the pond and the roses in the courtyard were nowhere to be seen.
Cedric explained, “Rosamund has a breathing disorder and cannot be around pollen.”
So, this was where Rosamund resided now.
I lowered my head and smiled faintly. “Naturally, her health must come first.”
Cedric paused for a moment.
He stared at me, furrowing his brow.
“Elinor, you’ve changed a lot.”
I answered casually, “Is that bad?”
He suddenly smiled. “No.”
“I was worried that you might not be able to accept Rosamund, but now it seems you’ve grown more understanding.”
When we were young, I had demanded his vow—no other wives, no mistresses.
At the time, he had sworn his vows, speaking of eternal love.
I never expected that this “eternity” would be so short, and after just four years of marriage, I fell off the cliff, then the world believing me dead..
His remarriage should have meant nothing to a ghost.
But I was alive, and I had returned.
So, this was his idea of “understanding.”
I furrowed my brow.
“Cedric, it’s not like that…”
