[ SILENT FATE ]
The rain fell in silence.
It was not a storm, nor a gentle drizzle — but the kind of rain that blurred the world, veiling blood and betrayal beneath a silver mist.
Evelyne knelt before the executioner's block, spine straight despite the iron shackles biting into her wrists. Mud clung to the hem of her once-gilded gown, and her raven-black hair clung to her face like shadows refusing to let her go.
She did not tremble.
Not even when the crowd jeered. Not even when the gallows bell tolled.
> "Traitor," they whispered.
"Murderess."
"The Scarlet Snake of Ravienne."
Let them speak.
She had heard it all before.
The man who once kissed her forehead in the garden of roses now stood before her in full ceremonial armor, sword drawn. Prince Caelan of Ashedan. Her husband. Her judge. Her executioner.
His eyes were empty. Not cruel — that would have been easier to understand — but utterly devoid of the man she once knew.
> "Evelyne Ravienne," he said, voice echoing through the square, "you are condemned for high treason, regicide, and conspiracy against the crown. Your sentence is death."
A hush rippled across the plaza.
She raised her head slowly, gaze locking with his.
> "The truth will outlive you," she said softly. "Even if I do not."
The executioner moved.
She closed her eyes.
And then—
> [SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[Unique Soul Signature Detected: EVELYNE R.]
[Status: Terminated]
[System "SILENT FATE" Activated]
[Temporal Reversal Protocol Engaged: -7 years]
---
The world fractured like glass.
And rebuilt itself.
---
She awoke with a gasp, the scream caught in her throat before it could leave. Her hands flew to her chest — no blood. No chains. No rain.
The room around her was drenched in soft candlelight. Velvet curtains. Scented oils. Gilded mirrors.
Her childhood chamber.
> "No..."
She stumbled to the mirror.
A girl stared back. Sixteen years old. Untouched by scandal, unburdened by death. Wide violet eyes, unscarred skin, the faint curve of innocence still on her lips.
> "This is before it all began."
Before the engagement. Before the betrayal. Before her name was carved into history as the villainess of the empire.
> "I'm alive…"
A flicker of light blinked in her vision.
> [WELCOME, LADY EVELYNE]
[YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED BY THE "SILENT FATE" SYSTEM]
[OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE THE COURT, UNRAVEL THE LIES, ASCEND THE CROWN]
[NEW TRAIT UNLOCKED: Queen's Intuition]
[Achievement Unlocked: Return from Death]
Her breath steadied.
No screams. No tears.
Only resolve.
> "They silenced me once," she whispered, stepping away from the mirror. "This time, I will be the silence they fear."
And the crown — the real one — would not be worn on her head.
It would be forged in every secret she uncovered… and every fate she rewrote.