Rebecca’s POV

​The air here didn’t burn my lungs. It didn’t smell like iron, gunpowder, or the terrifying scent of angry wolves. In fact, it didn’t smell like anything at all.

​I was walking down a path in a beautiful forest. The trees were tall, green, and glowing with a soft, strange light. It looked exactly like the woods from the last dream I had. Everything was completely quiet, peaceful, and still.

​Then, I saw her.

​Helen.

​The late queen. The woman whose shadow had been hanging over my entire life. She was standing near a clear stream, and she looked breathtakingly beautiful. Her long hair flowed softly, and her skin was clear and glowing. I blinked, my eyes dropping to her stomach. She didn’t have her baby bump anymore. Her belly was completely flat.

​I stopped walking, my mind spinning as memories of my life suddenly flashed through my head. The palace walls. The rogues attack. The cold gun in my hands. The loud BANG that had ripped through my chest.

​"I never believed I would take my life," I whispered, my voice sounding light, almost like an echo. I looked down at my chest, but there was no blood. No pain. "I am dead, right?"

​Helen turned around slowly. She didn’t look angry at me. Her eyes were soft and filled with a strange kind of pity. "No, Rebecca," she said, her voice sounding like sweet music. "You are not dead. You are just standing at the bridge between life and death."

​I let out a harsh, bitter scoff. Walking over to a smooth white stone, I sat down and crossed my arms. "Well, it doesn’t matter. Soon enough, I will die. My body will give up."

​Helen walked over to me. She sat down on the grass right across from me, shaking her head. "No, it is not your time. You have a lot of years ahead of you, Rebecca."

​"Well, I am not going on," I said quickly, my jaw tightening. "I don’t want to. I want to stay right here where it is quiet. Where there is no pain."

​"It is not for you to decide," she answered softly.

​"What?" I looked at her, my anger flaring up. Did everyone in this world, alive or dead, think they could control me? "I am not going back! Do you want me to go back to him? Your husband is a brutal monster! He will kill me. He will make my life a living hell. No. I refuse to go back to that palace."

​Helen didn’t get mad. Instead, a small, bitter smile touched her lips, and a look of deep sadness washed over her face. "You have no idea how lucky you are," she whispered, staring at her own hands. "I would do anything to be in your position right now."

​I scoffed loudly, leaning forward. "Be careful what you wish for, Helen. My position? You want to be locked in a room? You want to be maltreated and forced brutally by Kaden every night? You want a life where everyone hates your very existence? No. You cannot wish for that."

​"Not that," Helen said, her voice cracking as she looked up at me. For a moment, even in death, she seemed to be in so much pain. "I mean your position of being able to return to life. To return back to Kaden. To feel his touch one more time... to live the life we promised each other."

​I paused, the anger dying in my throat. Watching her, I realized that death hadn’t made her completely happy either. She was grieving for the life she lost.

​"If you miss him so much," I asked, my concentration and pity deepening, "then why didn’t the Moon Goddess send you back? Why did she let you die?"

​Helen let out a soft, sad scoff. "Because it was my time. When I reached this bridge, I realized my Chapter in Kaden’s book was completely over. Even if I hadn’t died the way I did in the library... I would have died during childbirth. The goddess showed me my fate. No matter what happened, I was never meant to live past this year."

​I sat there, completely shocked. My mind couldn’t even process what she was saying. She was always meant to die.

​"But you," Helen continued, reaching out toward me, though her hands couldn’t quite touch mine. "You are lucky. You have long, beautiful years ahead of you in your destiny. So, you are going back."

​"No!" I cried out, pulling away. "I refuse! Can’t I just say no? Must I be forced to live a life of slavery?!"

​Helen sighed, looking up at the glowing sky. "You can refuse to go back, yes. The goddess gives you a choice. But why don’t we do it this way? I will give you one week. Return and see what is happening for yourself. If after one week you still don’t want to stay... then I will personally tell the Moon Goddess to take your life and give you peace."

​I frowned, looking at her with deep suspicion and confusion. "How is she going to do that? If my body is healed, how can I just die?"

​Helen looked directly into my eyes, her expression becoming very serious.

​"By soul and body swapping," she said. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

​My mind spun so fast I felt dizzy, even though I didn’t have a real head to ache anymore.

​"I still don’t understand," I said, my voice shaking with confusion. "How can a soul just change places? What do you mean by swapping?"

​Helen leaned in a little closer, her eyes locked onto mine with intense seriousness. "Your soul will swap and enter the body of anyone you choose in the palace, and that person’s soul will enter your body. For one week, you will live and move in that person’s body. Through the eyes of that person, you will see exactly what is going on back there. You will see how Kaden truly acts when he thinks you are gone. After the one week is done, you will swap back into your own body, and if you still want to die, you will die. The goddess will grant you your peace."

​I gasped, completely shocked by her words. The sheer madness of it made my heart—or whatever was left of it—hammer against my ribs.

​"So, do you agree?" Helen asked softly, watching the panic wash over my face. "It is the perfect way to see the truth. You will see everything clearly without being trapped as a slave. It will help you decide if you should come back or not."

​I panicked. Cold, raw fear gripped my chest as I looked around the beautiful, silent forest. I didn’t know what to do. Going back to that horrifying palace felt like stepping back into a cage, and the thought of letting my soul inhabit a person’s body was terrifying. Yet, this was a choice. A real choice. For the first time, I had a card to play.

​Helen stood up from the grass and looked down at me, her expression urgent.

​"So?" she pressed, extending a glowing hand toward me. "Are you in, Rebecca? And if you are... whose body are you choosing?"

​I sat completely frozen, my mind racing through the limited options I had inside those cold palace walls.