The Marriage Meant for Another

My husband and I were the two people who hated each other most in this world.

He hated me for tearing him away from the woman he loved.

And I hated him because that his heart remained occupied by another woman.

For eight years of marriage, the words we spoke to each other most often were not love, nor duty, but curses.

Yet on the day the city fell, everything changed, the enemy banners were already visible beyond the inner gate.

He rode ahead and took the road,

putting his body between the enemy and my escape.

“Live,” he said quietly.

Then he raised his blade and did not look back.

Arrows came like rain.

As they tore into him, he turned his head once—only once—

After that, his body held the road,and nothing passed.

“If there is another life…may Your Highness grant me the mercy to belong to her.”

That night, with the city in ruins and the people either dead or fleeing,

I climbed the highest tower of the palace.

I leapt.

When I opened my eyes again,

I went to the king.

“The northern kingdoms require a royal bride,” I said.

“I will go.”

This lifetime,

I will be the one to cross the border.

In my previous life, he died believing he had failed her.

This time, I will not allow that regret to exist.

I will take the marriage meant for her.

I will carry the crown meant to exile her.

I will walk into a future she should never have to endure.

Let her stay.

Let him protect her.

Let him live his life believing he has finally kept his promise.

“You will take her place?”

My father stared at me as though he had misheard.

Among all his daughters, I had always been the one most openly hostile toward Elara.

If she so much as stumbled, I was expected to step aside and let her fall harder.

Sending me north—to the barren borderlands, to a political marriage meant to trade a woman for peace—should have been unthinkable.

“Only days ago,” the king said slowly,“you were in tears, begging me to grant you a marriage to General Adrian Vale.”

I paused.

Then I said calmly,

“There is no need. Give that honor to my sister.”

My father studied me in silence.

There was not confusion in his eyes.

Between Elara and me, he had always favored the younger one: sweeter, softer, easier to love.

In my previous life, had I not resisted with everything I had,

he would have sent me north in her place without hesitation.

At last, he turned away.

“Amend the decree,” he ordered.

It was raining when I left the Grand Hall.

Cold rain, relentless, washing the marble steps clean.

And there—kneeling in the storm—was Adrian.

In my previous life, he had knelt in the rain just like this,refusing to rise until the king withdrew the order sending Elara north.

That day, I had people drag him inside by force.

After that, I forced him into marriage with me.

This time, I merely stopped beside him and tilted my umbrella slightly in his direction.

He looked up.

Our eyes met for a brief moment before he frowned and turned away, as if my presence itself were an inconvenience.

“Have you considered,” I asked quietly,

“that if His Majesty withdraws the decree, someone must still go north?”

His voice remained steady, unyielding.

“I am the king’s general,” he said.

“I will not allow any princess of this realm to be traded for peace.”

I let out a soft laugh.

“Adrian,” I said,“either my sister or I will cross that border. No amount of kneeling will change that.”

His gaze snapped toward me, sharp and cold.

“If the Crown Princess refrains from manipulating His Majesty,” he said,

“this alliance may yet be prevented.”

I withdrew the umbrella.

“Then that is truly unfortunate.”

I turned and walked away, ignoring the shock on his face.

I had no intention of telling him the truth—that the bride had already been chosen.

That it was me.

In my previous life, he had endured so much humiliation for my sake.

Let him endure a little longer this time.

After all,

when the wedding day comes,

and the woman waiting at the altar is my sister—not me—

won’t he be happier?

As I walked, memories rose unbidden.

The battlefield.

The smoke.

The chaos.

The way he had bound me to his horse,then turned back alone to hold the enemy pursuit—buying me time with his life.

My chest tightened.

I had used every means possible to keep Adrian by my side in my previous life.

Yet even when he gave me his life,his heart had already died with her—on that northern frontier.

Adrian Vale.

You paid for me with your life once.

This time,

I will give you a gift in return.