Novel-novel oleh WINNIE WRITES

CHAPTER TENALARIC’S POV“Spying on the Queen again?”The voice behind me made me flinch. I turned quickly, heart jumping into my throat, only to see Rowland standing there with that same smug look he always wore when he caught me doing something questionable.“No,” I said, forcing a laugh. “Far from it.”He raised a brow, clearly unconvinced. “Come on, Alaric. There’s nothing to be shy about. You’ve been doing this since you knew Elara was your betrothed.”I scoffed, walking past him toward the hallway. “Not like I care. I despise her now.”“Oh, you do?” he teased, following me. “Could’ve fooled me.”“Who would love someone like her?” I muttered. “She was close to killing me once… and now she’s suddenly closer.”Rowland chuckled. “How so?”I stopped walking, turning to face him fully. “What’s with this sudden act of kindness? Acting pure, soft, and perfect. It doesn’t suit her.”He shrugged. “I heard rumors in Pricetown that the Queen might be suffering from some strange illness.”

CHAPTER NINEThe Queen Mother was already seated when I walked in, her posture regal and cold, her fingers glittering with rings that caught the dim light from the burning candles. Beside her sat an older man, his presence familiar enough to make my chest tighten. My father.They were deep inside her private chambers, far away from curious ears. The air was thick with the scent of incense and deceit.“Mother,” I greeted quietly, my voice low, almost hesitant. Then I bent again, respectfully, to greet my father.She barely looked up. “We don’t have all day for courtesies, Elara.”My father’s eyes studied me, gentle but confused. “Elara, what’s going on?”“Nothing, Father. I’m fine.”He frowned. “I don’t think you are. You gave us your word about the money, and…and then you went ahead to give it away.”“I gave it out for charity,” I said, firm but calm.“Charity?” The Queen Mother’s voice rose sharply, laced with mockery. “I thought this act of yours was just for show. Tell me, since

CHAPTER EIGHT“Can you hear me?”The voice was soft, gentle. My eyelids fluttered open, and the first thing I saw was an old man with gray hair leaning over me. His wrinkled face looked kind, but his eyes carried worry.“Where… where am I?” I asked, my throat dry.He smiled faintly. “You’re in your room, my Queen.”My room.I turned my head slowly, and realization hit me like a slap. Elara’s room. The silk sheets, the carved golden mirrors, the faint scent of lavender oil in the air,it wasn’t my world. It was hers.For a moment I thought I was back to the 21st century “Can you see me?” the man asked again, as if he wasn’t sure I was really awake.“Yes. Yes, I can.” I pushed myself up immediately. My head throbbed, but the memories rushed back like water breaking through a dam.The fear. Alaric. His voice calling my name. Or had that been my imagination?“Did… did the King come?” I asked quickly.The man nodded. “He did, my Queen. But he left a while ago. He returned to his chambers.”

CHAPTER SEVENLiana’s POVI tried to fall asleep, but my mind wouldn’t rest. Who could, after everything that had happened? I wasn’t just tired from the day’s chaos, I was exhausted from existing in someone else’s body.It still didn’t make sense. One moment, I fainted. The next, I woke up as Queen Elara, a woman destined to die.The bed beneath me was too soft, too expensive. Silk sheets, scented pillows, drapes flowing like clouds. Everything screamed royalty, but it felt wrong. Too perfect. Too quiet. And I couldn’t stop wondering… why wasn’t I sleeping in Alaric’s bed? Wasn’t he my husband in this world? Or maybe they didn’t share one. Maybe Elara had ruined that privilege long ago.The next morning, I woke to the sound of hurried footsteps.“Your Majesty,” Valerie’s voice came softly, as if she feared being overheard. “The thousand gold coins you ordered have arrived. Shall I find a way to send them off to Sensborn?”I sat up, blinking. “Send what to where?”She looked at me lik

CHAPTER SIXAlaric’s POVSleep refused to come. I rolled to and fro until the sheets tangled around my legs like chains. My mind wouldn’t rest. Every time I closed my eyes, her face flashed before me, the softness in her voice, the strange calm in her eyes.That wasn’t Elara.It couldn’t be.Elara was a storm in human form sharp-tongued, cruel when angered, proud beyond reason. The woman I married hated everything I stood for. She mocked my patience, disobeyed my rules, and made sure I felt like a stranger in my own bed.But tonight… she smiled.And that smile: gentle, uncertain, human, has been haunting me ever since she stepped out of my chamber.What changed?Why did her eyes look… different?The same woman who once spat venom now looked at me like I was someone she wanted to understand. There was warmth where there should’ve been fire, hesitation where there used to be pride.She tripped earlier, fell right into my arms, and for a moment… everything else disappeared. Her scent, th

CHAPTER FIVE“Her Majesty is here?”The guard’s voice cracked like thunder across the hallway. His eyes went wide the moment he saw me standing there, tall, calm, glowing in the dim golden light that poured from the torches.I couldn’t help the little smirk tugging at my lips.Yes, I looked good. Way too good for someone trapped in a stranger’s body and stuck in a century that didn’t even have toothpaste.The maids had bathed me in warm milky water mixed with lavender and crushed herbs. They used something that smelled like coconut oil as pomade, rubbed it into my skin till it shimmered like glass. Candles burned all around the bath, and I’d felt a weird kind of peace for the first time since I landed here.Then came the hair, long, dark, and soft like silk. They straightened it with something hot enough to burn a village down. After that, they painted my lips red, lined my eyes with soot, and wrapped me in a long floral gown that made me look like sin itself.When I looked in the mir