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「 Ophelia's memories, 7th Life」

"How do you plea?" the crown prince's voice echoed through the public square. 

My body was so thin you could only see the bones and my throat as dry as a desert. My hair had been cut and my figure was filled with bruises and wounds from the guard's abuse. My eyes were red and weld dark eyebags from the lack of sleep. I was so hungry that my stomach had begun eating itself. 

The people around me stared, murmured, and laughed as if my execution was nothing more than a free attraction. My sister held Bradley's arms tightly as she grinned. As per usual, his eyes looked bored, without any interest in what was about to happen. On the other hand, my father was standing close to the crown prince while glaring at me with disgust. 

I chuckle at the prince's remark. 

'How do I plea? As if it mattered...' this time when I went back in time again, I didn't want to go through the same hell again and so, I killed them. Terrel Wharton and Layton Verne both died at my hands. 

"Is something funny?" he asks as I continued laughing, louder and louder. 

"Your Grace, I think she has gone insane..." the prince's aide comments. 

"I will ask once more, how do you plea?" the red-haired man gets up from his seat and walks towards the edge of the balcony, looking down at me with those cold-blooded eyes. 

"Guilty," I declare with my rough voice. The prince's eyes widen with surprise at my statement and I grin. 

"I see... Then, in the name of King Julius II, I hereby declare Ophelia Criswell guilty of the murder of Terrel Wharton and Layton Verne," he speaks loudly while glaring at me with clear disgust, "Behead her." 

The guards grab me by the arms, roughly, and push my body onto the cold wooden table. Their strength was keeping me down but, the truth is, I wasn't going to try to run or to hide anymore. 

'Finally...' the sky was beginning to turn dark, announcing the arrival of the night, 'I will finally...' 

The sound of a man sharpening his ax is heard. I manage to look up, at the prince and all my family members who glared at me. For the first time, I smiled. I was finally going to be rid of this burden, of this curse... I would finally be free. The prince's eyes widen in surprise while becoming tainted with confusion. 

The footsteps were getting closer and I knew it was time. 

"Your highness!" a man yells loudly as a harsh breeze blew. The sound of someone falling on the floor is heard and I feel a sharp pain in my right arm. 

I look and see that I had been pierced by an arrow imbued in oil. Blood began pouring out fiercely but soon was dried by the flames. The fire was spreading through the cheap clothes, reaching my skin in a question of seconds. The burning sensation on my skin was getting worse and my sanity shattered completely. 

"Your highness! Please!" I yelled as he appeared again, straightening his attire from having fallen on the ground. 

'Don't tell me...!' I realized this arrow had been aimed at the prince but due to the wind, it blew to me, 'And of course, the fire stayed...' 

His eyes were looking at me confused, almost as if he felt some conflicting within himself. I began crying, begging for him to give the order for my execution. 

"Please! Kill me! Please!" I yelled as loud as I could. The despair was running through my veins as I felt the smell of my burning flesh. 

"We have to go, your highness!" his aide comments while trying to take the prince to safety. 

"Please! Prince! Please!" I kept on yelling as I felt my body become free of the restraints from the guards. My body was being consumed by flames and so, they walked away. 

I wanted to grab that ax but I couldn't move my body, the pain was unbearable. 

"Your highness!" the man yelled. 

As my vision became blurred I saw. My family continued to look at me in disdain, the people around me laughed as if this was a comedy show and the prince watched as I burned. He ignored my pain, my suffering and walked away without giving the order. 

'I swear I'll...!' the anger accumulating inside of me was overwhelming. I wanted everyone to suffer. I wanted everyone to feel the same pain as I did. 

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「 Back to the present 」

I didn't want to catch Blake's attention since I had seen how heartless of a man he was. 

"You may rise," after hearing these words I slowly get up and look down, trying my best to avert my eyes. The discomfort I was feeling was indescribable, I just wished to leave. 

"Thank you for your assistance, your royal highness. I am eternally grateful for your kindness," I politely state after grabbing the hem of my dress.

"Have a fast recovery," he states as he passed through me. His red cape flew along with the wind as his pearly white suit was covered with golden jewelry.

"Let's go," I declare before heading back to the front gates. 

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「 Later that night 」

"It still freaked me out..." as the moon rays shined down upon the room, I couldn't fall asleep. Nero was resting soundly at the end of the bed while I was sitting on the chair. My upper body rested on the wooden desk. Since Gilbert was still healing from his deep wounds I sent Jade to his room, I'd rather have him recover and, truthfully, I would like to be alone.

"I..." my eyes focused on my hands and I felt like throwing up one more time. When I returned from the castle I went straight to the bathroom, where I threw up everything I ate today. Maybe it was the nerves, maybe it was the uneasiness or maybe it was just the fear from my other lives returning.

'That man...' his grinning face kept on appearing on my mind, over and over again.

"Disgusting..." my fingers begin pressing its nails onto my left underarm. Re-opening up my wounds. It was painful but I needed to punish myself for my incompetence. I needed to cleanse myself.

'Take it off... This feeling... Take it off... I'm so disgusting... I'm so...' my mind echoed with depressive thoughts as I tried to skin myself alive, 'His hands... His voice... His touch... His smile... His eyes...' I kept on remembering every single night, every single scar he had left me.

"You must be pretty on the outside even if you're filthy on the inside," I mumbled repeatedly as Terrel's words echoed in my head.

"Disgusting. Filthy. Whore," I get up and start walking in circles as I bit the tip of my fingers harshly.

Suddenly, I stop. The mirror was reflecting me. My pearly white nightgown contrasted with my deep black hair and, as I saw my beauty I started crying in despair.

"Whore!" I yell as I push the mirror to the side, making the glass pieces shatter on the floor but, even broken I could still see my reflection, "You filthy whore!"

I kneeled on top of the glass, making it pierce my skin after ripping part of my gown as tears fell continuously. I covered my mouth with my left hand and started yelling as I grabbed a piece of the broken mirror that dug into my right hand, piercing its skin.

'It won't matter, I can't die either way,' I drop the glass and get up noticing that my dress was now stained with blood. Enraged I throw everything from the table to the floor. My feet hurt from stepping on the broken glass but I didn't care since it couldn't begin to compare to the pain I was feeling inside. 

I wanted to yell. I wanted to cry. I wanted to die. 

As the feelings from self-loathing and rage became numb, everything grew quiet, so quiet. One would almost think it was peaceful but in reality, it was all still a storm waiting to happen.

"Why me...?" I mumble, "Why me!?" I yell as I cover my face with my right underarm, hiding my eyes as tears dropped from them. The blood coming from my arm and hand was finding its way onto the purple carpet. I fall onto the floor, piercing my knees deeply with the remnants of the glass. 

It was painful, so painful. Much more painful than I thought it would be. I thought I had gotten used to it, used to him. I thought I didn't care anymore but my body is still so afraid of him, of his touch, of his presence close to me.

"That's enough," I hear a voice, calm and serene and right before I was able to see who it was, my eyes started to feel heavy, and soon after they closed. My body was losing its strength and I fell onto someone's embrace.

'It's warm...' my thoughts looked so far away, almost as if they had never happened.

"Who...?" I try to question but quickly lose consciousness and end up falling asleep peacefully.

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「 The day of the meeting 」

"Aldrich, I'm going out, don't bother me until I come back," Blake states before heading towards his chambers.

As he walked through the long castle corridors all the servants avoided his gaze. They all knew about the rumors surrounding the prince's character and no one wanted to know if they were real by experience.

"So tired..." Blake mumbles after entering his room. He had been working non-stop ever since he came back from the war in the east two months ago. Besides having to fix the kingdom's treasury, the crown prince had to deal with the complaints of the nobles, aristocrats, and commoners every day. 

'This is all their fault...' Blake blamed his father for being a negligent king and his mother for being a woman filled with greed.

He had been in the frontlines for more than five years, ever since the Kingdom of Lacen began to invade the territory. Two years ago Julius II became someone else, wasting money from the kingdom for his own lust and greed while ignoring all the problems, and then, one year later, he fell seriously ill. 

With this scenario in hand, the Queen, Blake's mother, was in charge of handling the matters of the crown. It wasn't long after that the discrepancies in power became overwhelming to society: the new nobles, commoners that had risen status due to the amount of money they wielded, had to face several new difficulties since the crown didn't help them, on the other hand, the nobles were heavily favorited and, without little effort, were able to regain their prestige. Of course, with this division the commoners, without any money or status, suffered the greatest losses. 

He knew this was due to his mother's family: the Evans house. The Queen's brother was the current Duke and he, along with several other members of the nobility, intended to climb one step further in status. They wished to gain the title of Grand-Duke. 

Blake had received a letter from an anonymous sender, possibly from a member of the aristocracy, complaining about the matters inside the kingdom. Without many options, he came back just to see his mother rule unjustly. Much to the noble's dismay, Blake took the power for himself, becoming a temporary ruler until the King's health improved since he was already of age. 

There was a big investigation in the first month, doctors from all over the kingdom were called but no one knew what was the king's decease. There were rumors floating around that he had been poisoned but there was no proof to support such claims. 

He opens a small hidden drawer in his desk and removes a small golden earring. Afterward, he places it on his ear and his ruby hair gradually turns blonde. Blake quickly changes into some cheap clothes, similar to what a commoner would wear, and heads towards the front gate. h

"Only Lady Ophelia may enter the palace," a guard states loudly. Blake sees a woman with deep black hair and bright blue eyes, almost as if they were jewels.

"You are aware that it is unfit, for an unmarried lady, to walk around without an escort, correct?" the young maiden had skin as pale as snow as she confidently stood her ground. Her voice was as sweet and addicting as a small sugar cube. 

'What is she doing here?' Blake realized this woman was none other than Ophelia Criswell, the person Lady Catherine had previously told him about. Swiftly he hides behind a tree, observing her from a distance, 'Could it be...?', he realized she was here to visit her fiancé. 

The crown prince was finally able to see the being he was so curious about but something was not right. Her overwhelming beauty as she spoke, gracefully, made his heart flutter. That unique crow hair was something he had never seen before, however, that didn't compare to her crystal eyes who harbored hidden feelings. 

"Right this way milady," the guard leads the way to the castle and Ophelia followed him quietly. 

'Where is he taking her?' Blake thought as he unconsciously walked behind them quietly. The route the guard was taking was unusually long, almost as if he was wanting to remove any attention that befell on them. 

They make a to an old building and the prince decides to stop. Deep down he knew something was not right since this is an area that hasn't been used for years but, even then, he decided not to meddle within her affairs. He realized that all this time he had been following her unconsciously, like a small bug towards the light. 

'Is this what happened to them...?' Blake's mind was beginning to understand how such a small and delicate girl had been able to catch the attention of all those nobles. He painfully chuckles and punches one of the trees out of frustration, 'I'm better than them...' 

Even then, he couldn't help but see her in his mind, walking gracefully with that superior expression, almost as if everyone around her were nothing but flies that needed to be squashed. Her thin figure was as tempting as a demon and her beautiful raven hair was like a siren, luring a sailor onto the sea to his death. 

'The Black Rose... It suits her...'  understanding the danger of the situation his resolve stiffens and he decides to remove her from his head. 

As he was beginning to walk away, a sound is heard and he quickly looks upwards. A window had been opened and Ophelia was standing on the ledge of it. Without a second thought, he hides behind a large tree and forgets his original objective. 

'What's going on...?' her frail arm was red, almost as if she had hit on something accidentally but, even then, she was trying her hardest to grab a branch from one of the trees. Suddenly, her confident eyes become desperate, 'I want to...!' Blake's primal instincts were screaming, saying that he needed to help her, to save her from whatever was happening.

He grits his teeth in frustration. This was the first time he had felt such tremendous lust for something other than blood and that terrified him. 

"Come on..." Blake sees Ophelia struggling. She kept on trying but her arms were too small to grab the branch. He couldn't understand what was happening. 

The young girl closes her eyes and begins swinging back and forth repeatedly, almost as if she was becoming one with the wind, then, without any notice, she glares confidently at the branch and jumps. 

'She'll fall! There's no way...!' Blake gasps and begins moving his body unconsciously to grab her. Much to his surprise, a smile appears on Ophelia's lips as she manages to grab the branch swiftly. He hides behind the tree since he remained unspotted, 'Don't tell me...!'