A Love Torn by Time Novel – After the death of his beloved, Vincent de Valois resented me for ten long years. No matter how much I tried to earn his affection, his cold, scornful words never ceased. “If you truly wish to win my favor, perhaps you should disappear from my life.” His words cut deep, but when disaster struck and the beams of the castle roof began to fall toward me, he threw himself into the flames to save me, sacrificing his own life in the process.
As he lay dying in my arms, he used his last breath to push my hand away weakly. “Seraphina Sinclair, I wish I had never crossed paths with you in this life…” At the funeral, Lady Valois was inconsolable. “Vince, it’s my fault. I should never have forced you to marry her. If I had let you marry Guinevere as you wanted, would things have been different?” Lord Valois looked at me with eyes filled with anger. “Vince saved your life multiple times, yet all you’ve done is bring him misfortune.
Why isn’t it you who died?” Everyone regretted Vince marrying me—even I did. In the end, I jumped from the Astral Keep and returned to ten years earlier. This time, I vowed to sever all ties with Vince and make things right for everyone. … “Seraphina, you’re something else. You even made my parents threaten to disown me unless I married you. Did you really think marrying me would bring you happiness?” The voice was low and cold.
As I slowly opened my eyes, I found him standing before me—youthful, rebellious, his demeanor and speech completely different from the man he would become in ten years. This was the Vincent of eighteen. I had truly returned to ten years ago. Swallowing the ache in my thorax, I drank in the sight of him greedily. “You don’t want to marry me, because the one you truly want to marry is Guinevere, right?” Vincent scoffed. “And what if it is? Will you step aside?” I replied firmly, “Yes.” My parents had passed away in battle, the kingdom was stable, and the king had granted me a royal marriage decree.
The decree bore no names, so I was free to marry whomever I chose. I could also petition the king to issue a marriage decree for someone else. Vincent froze, then laughed in disbelief. “You used the King’s decree to force my hand. My parents are threatening to cut me off unless I marry you. Our marriage is already decided. What do you mean by ‘stepping aside’?” “Seraphina, I don’t have time for your games. Take the marriage decree to the palace yourself. I’ll stay here.” With that, he turned and leaned against the palace wall.
The disdain in his eyes shattered me, as though I had been stung. In this life and the last, I had loved Vincent for years. Twice, he had risked everything to save me, and I had mistaken his courage for affection. Overjoyed, I had asked the King for a marriage decree and married him. But it was only after his beloved died that I realized—his love had always belonged to someone else. My ten years of love had been nothing more than a source of torment for him.
In my past life, I had done everything in my power to earn his love, exchanging my own life for his, all in the hope of giving him a chance at rebirth. Before my rebirth, a wise old witch had warned me: “In the twelve hours following your rebirth, you must resolve three of his regrets. Once done, you must part ways with him. From then on, you will follow different paths, and he will not face a tragic fate at thirty because of you.
But rebirth comes at a cost. Be ready to pay it.” As long as Vince could live, I was willing to pay any price. I met with the king and secured a marriage decree for Vince and Guinevere. I knew Vince’s regrets—they were written in his journal. “Regret marrying Seraphina, regret not resisting my parents’ wishes, regret not saving Guinevere.” Now, his first regret was finally resolved.