Three Regrets and a Second Chance

After the death of his first love, Caspian Stormcrown hated me for ten years.

No matter how carefully I tried to please him, he met me with nothing but sneers.

"If you really want to make me happy, go and die," he said.

The words cut deep. Yet when a burning beam collapsed during the palace fire, he shoved me out of the way and died in my stead.

He lay in my arms as his life faded. When I reached for him, he spent his last strength brushing my hand aside.

"Evelyn Frostwood, how much better would my life have been if I had never met you…" he whispered.

At the funeral, his mother sobbed until she could barely remain standing.

"This is my fault," she cried. "I never should have forced you to marry her. If I had let you marry Amelia instead, would today have ended differently?"

His father looked at me with open hatred. "Caspian saved you three times. Why did you only ever bring him disaster? Why did you live instead of him?"

Everyone regretted that Caspian married me.

So did I.

In the end, I leapt from Starfall Tower and returned to the past, 10 years earlier.

This time, I chose to sever every tie between Caspian and me and give everyone the ending they wanted.

"Evelyn Frostwood. You're something else." The young man's low, cold voice reached my ear, polished enough to cut. "You actually got my parents to threaten me with death so I would marry you. Do you really think marrying me will make you happy?"

I opened my eyes in a haze and looked straight at Caspian Stormcrown.

He stood right in front of me, dressed in red, the tailoring sharp against his frame. His brows looked untamed, his gaze wild. Everything about him, his presence and the way he spoke, felt unlike the Caspian I knew 10 years later.

This was the 18-year-old Caspian Stormcrown.

So I truly had gone back 10 years.

I forced the ache down and allowed myself to study him anyway, hungry for every detail.

"You don't want to marry me," I said, keeping my voice steady. "Because the one you actually want is Amelia Greenvale. Right?"

He let out a short, humorless laugh. "So what if I do? Are you going to let it happen?"

"I can," I said.

My parents had died on the battlefield. They had given their lives protecting the country, and King Aurelius Thalassar had rewarded me with a royal marriage decree. The decree bore no name, which meant I could marry anyone I chose. And just as easily, I could request another decree for someone else.

Caspian froze for a moment. Then his lips curled, as if I had told him a joke. "You used His Majesty's decree to pin me down. My parents are forcing me too. Our marriage is already decided."

His gaze swept over me, his contempt clear and sharp.

"And now you're saying you're 'going