Wisdom Quotes

Imagine being murdered by the very woman meant to protect you, your own grandmother, consumed by her lust for power. It sounds unreal, doesn’t it? But that has been my reality. This is my seventh life, seven times I have been reborn, and seven times I have died before the age of eighteen. At only five years old, I hid in a cupboard and watched through a crack as my grandmother, Lunice, gave the order that slaughtered my brothers, the royal princes of Ahenil, after news came that my father, King Ahenos, had been killed in battle. To secure her throne, she commanded the execution of every male in the royal bloodline. My mother’s maid, Martha, risked everything to smuggle me away. She raised me like her own, alongside her daughter Jane, the girl who became my light, and later, the love of my last life. But no matter where I ran or how I lived, fate found me. In each of my six past lives, my grandmother’s shadow hunted me down, ending me at eighteen. Sometimes she killed Jane too. Sometimes even Martha. Each death left me broken, yet each rebirth filled me with memories, scars, and a growing resolve. Now, in this seventh, I am no longer the helpless boy cowering behind a cupboard’s door. I carry the wisdom of six lives, the pain of countless betrayals, and the fire of vengeance that will not be quenched. This time, I will reclaim my throne. This time, I will protect those I love. And when October comes, the cursed month of my death, the world will remember my name. I am the rightful heir, the cursed prince reborn. And this time… I will defy fate itself.

Shantali Mae Cross, a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Ancient Arts, encounters an impossible phenomenon during her night shift—smoke from the heating vents coalesces into the form of a cobra near ancient Egyptian canopic jars, showing her visions of possible futures. She sees herself accepting a promotion, arguing with a dark-haired man in a hospital, wearing a wedding dress, and standing at a graveside in autumn. Shaken by the experience, Shantali becomes obsessed with understanding what she witnessed, diving into research about serpent smoke divination practices. Her investigation reveals that others throughout history have experienced similar visions at crucial crossroads in their lives, but those who became consumed with interpreting and controlling their prophetic glimpses inevitably destroyed the very relationships and opportunities the visions had shown them. As Shantali spirals deeper into her research, she begins shutting out her boyfriend David, a fellow security guard who loves her deeply. When David witnesses the cobra phenomenon himself, he helps ground her in reality rather than obsession. Through her studies, particularly the warnings left by Dr. Amelia Thorne—a researcher who died alone after chasing similar mysteries—Shantali realizes the cobra's true message: choose love over fear, presence over obsession. The visions weren't warnings of tragedy but glimpses of a life fully lived with all its ordinary struggles and profound connections. When David proposes, Shantali chooses their real relationship over her pursuit of supernatural answers. She completes her research by writing a fictional novel about her experience, transforming obsession into art while helping future cobra witnesses understand that some mysteries are meant to guide rather than be solved. The story explores themes of choice versus destiny, the danger of sacrificing present love for future certainty, and the wisdom of embracing life's uncertainties alongside those who love us.