Chapter 9
“Love me?” I echoed, incredulous.
[He wept for you. All his betrayal and cruelty… he did it to protect you, didn’t he?]
There was hesitation in the system’s voice—rare, mechanical, almost confused.
My eyes fell on Sebastian.
“But hurt is hurt,” I said flatly. “He says he did it for me, but he never even asked me. He just killed our children, over and over.”
“If he truly loved me… he could’ve trusted me. I could’ve let go of the child–but not like that. Not knowing he was murdered by his own father.”
The system was silent.
I wasn’t from this world. But I’d learned the ways of the court–its oaths, its intrigues–from years at Sebastian’s side. I knew how to bend, to survive.
I would’ve given up everything for Sebastian.
That was the problem.
I’d stayed in this world for him.
And he destroyed me for it.
Suddenly, someone stumbled into the hall.
I looked up. Seraphina.
She saw Sebastian kneeling in anguish and something flickered in her eyes–jealousy.
“My lord,” she whispered, sliding beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
“You still have me.”
Sebastian stilled.
“Yes… you’re still here.”
There was something wrong with his tone. I felt it immediately.
Seraphina, however, didn’t notice. Her eyes lit up with hope.
He stood, cold and detached again. Whispered something to the butler.
The butler’s eyes widened. Then he bowed deeply and left.
When he returned, he carried a bowl of dark liquid.
I recognized it instantly.
The potion. The one I had been forced to drink nine times.
Seraphina’s face blanched. She stepped back–but the guards grabbed her.
“What are you doing? Let me go! I’m carrying the Ashford heir!”
The guards didn’t move.
The butler advanced, spoon hand.
Seraphina panicked. “No! Please, no! I’m sorry! I’ll behave! Just–just don’t kill my baby!”
“It’s
your child?” Sebastian sneered. “All I see is a reminder. Of every time I betrayed Grace.”
He forced the potion down her throat. She gagged, choking, trying to vomit it back up. The guards held her steady until the last drop was gone.
Two hours passed.
Seraphina curled on the floor, clutching her stomach, screaming in agony.
Blood pooled beneath her.
Sebastian just watched.
Chapter 9
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“So this is what it feels like,” he murmured. “No wonder Grace couldn’t bear it. I made her suffer like this… nine times.”
Sebastian stood motionless, the candelabrum’s flame casting shadows across his hollowed face. He turned to the butler, voice low and final. “Dismiss the
servants.”
The butler bowed deeply, his weathered face tight with unease. “As you command, my lord. May you find peace.”
He hesitated. “Shall I remove Miss Fairfax from the estate?”
Sebastian laughed coldly. “No. She wanted to be here. Let her burn with it.”
“No!” Seraphina shrieked. “Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me here!”
She dragged herself toward the door, smearing blood in her wake.
ༀ ་ ཆ ཇ ༠༦
But the butler bowed and left.
Click. The door locked.
Sebastian turned to my coffin, stroked the lid gently.
Then he picked up the candelabrum.
He lit the veils.
The fire caught instantly, racing up the drapes.
Seraphina screamed in terror.
Sebastian climbed into the coffin. It was barely wide enough, but he fit.
He took my hand, laying beside me.
“Grace… I’m coming for you. Wait for me. Next life—I’ll love you right. Just us. Always.”
“No,” I said quietly. “I don’t love you anymore.”
His eyes flew open. They locked on me–my soul.
“Grace?”
He reached for me-
But then the warmth surrounded me.
[Goodbye, host.]
A beam of golden light enveloped me.
When I opened my eyes, the world was familiar again. Steel towers. City lights.
[As a reward for completing your task, remaining points have been converted to local currency, Total: 350 million.]
My system vanished.
And the sun rose on my new beginning.
