Chapter 3

Seventeen.

Elowen could hardly believe how quickly the years had passed.

It felt like only yesterday that she had awakened in her fifteen-year-old body, staring at her reflection and wondering whether she had truly been given another chance.

Now, two years had already slipped away.

She stood on the training grounds her father had built for her, the morning wind tugging gently at the ribbons of her riding coat.

Before her stood fifty knights.

Fifty men.

Fifty swords.

And, more importantly, fifty people who had chosen to stand behind her.

Elowen slowly looked across the formation.

They were disciplined. Silent. Their armor gleamed beneath the morning sun, and every one of them stood with their hands resting near their weapons.

She had begun gathering them a year ago.

Among the fifty stood fourteen knights she recognized immediately.

Her eyes lingered on them.

Fourteen men who, in her first life, had eventually become Nathaniel Ashbourne's most trusted knights.

And most importantly, she remembered how they had been recruited.

Nathaniel had gathered them one by one in her first life.

This time, Elowen had reached them first.

Nathaniel had lost fourteen knights before he had even known he needed them.

Elowen almost smiled at the thought.

Her father had also kept his promise.

The moment he realized how serious she was, Duke Alistair Ravelle had given her the land she requested.

Then he had done even more.

He had transformed the empty property into a proper training estate.

A large training ground stretched across the land, complete with wooden practice dummies, archery targets, weapon racks, stables, an armory, and barracks for the knights.

It had once been nothing but unused land.

Now it was the foundation of something entirely hers.

But the knights weren't the only thing Elowen had changed.

Over the past two years, she had also begun working alongside her father.

At first, Alistair had been amused.

His fifteen-year-old daughter had suddenly developed an interest in the family business.

He had expected her enthusiasm to disappear after a few weeks.

It didn't.

Instead, Elowen began surprising him.

She remembered things from her first life that she had never understood the importance of back then.

Markets that would eventually collapse. Trade routes that would become valuable.

Businesses that would flourish. Investments that would fail.

Political alliances that would affect commerce.

She never revealed how she knew.

She simply presented her ideas as observations.

And sometimes, when her father followed her advice, the results spoke for themselves.

Eventually, Alistair stopped treating her suggestions like the enthusiastic ideas of a young daughter.

He began asking for them.

"Elowen, what do you think?"

That question had become surprisingly common in the Ravelle household.

And she loved it.

Because unlike her first life, she was no longer merely waiting for her future to happen.

She was building it.

Piece by piece.

Business by business.

Knight by knight.

Elowen stepped forward.

The knights immediately straightened.

Her expression became calm and commanding.

"From today onward, I expect nothing less than absolute discipline from every one of you."

Fifty voices answered in unison. "Yes, Lady Elowen!"

Their voices echoed across the training grounds.

Elowen looked at them for a long moment.

Seventeen years old. A Duke's daughter. A growing force in the Ravelle businesses.

Owner of her own estate. And commander of fifty knights.

Yet despite everything she had accomplished, one thought still remained at the back of her mind.

She had a year left before the marriage that had destroyed her first life.

But this time...

Nathaniel would not be marrying the same Elowen.

After the training ended, Elowen returned to her room and took a long bath.

After drying herself, Elowen stood before the large mirror and studied her reflection.

For a moment, she simply stared. Was that really her?

She had changed so much since she was fifteen.

Her face had matured, losing the softer features of childhood. Her waist had become more defined, while her hips had naturally grown wider. Her figure was no longer as straight and slender as she remembered from her first life.

Even her chest had developed noticeably more than she remembered.

Elowen tilted her head, studying herself with genuine confusion.

"This is... different."

In her first life, she remembered growing into a much slimmer figure. She had never looked unhealthy, but she had remained rather thin, especially during the years of her unhappy marriage.

This time was different.

She wasn't muscular despite her training. Instead, her body had developed naturally as she grew older.

She touched her waist thoughtfully.

"Is this because I was reborn?"

The thought sounded ridiculous even to her.

She frowned at her reflection.

"Or..."

Her eyes moved toward the healthy meals she had insisted on eating for the past two years.

Maybe her body had simply been given what it had lacked in her first life.

Elowen looked at herself again.

Whatever the reason, she wasn't going to complain.

She had spent too much of her first life neglecting herself.

This time, she wanted to be strong—not merely strong enough to wield a sword, but strong enough to live.

She smiled faintly at her reflection.

"I suppose this is what happens when I actually take care of myself."

She turned away from the mirror and reached for her robe.

Elowen paused before leaving her room.

Her hand rested on the door handle, but her thoughts had already wandered somewhere else.

She remembered the timeline of her first life clearly.

Her debut had come first.

Then, only a few months afterward, the engagement between her and Nathaniel had been formally settled.

A month later, they were married.

Elowen closed her eyes.

If everything followed the same course, then she still had some time before she would see Nathaniel again.

Perhaps months.

Perhaps even close to a year.

And Julian...

Her heart tightened at his name.

She had no idea exactly when their paths would cross this time.

In her first life, Julian had entered her world through Nathaniel. He had been one of the knights serving him, someone Elowen had barely noticed at first.

She never could have imagined that the man she had overlooked would eventually become the person she loved most.

The father of her child.

The man she had chosen when she finally ran from the life that had suffocated her.

And the man she had lost.

Elowen slowly opened her eyes.

"Not yet..."

There was still time before she met either of them again.

That realization brought her an unexpected sense of relief.

She wasn't ready.

Not yet.

But what would happen when she finally stood before Nathaniel again?

Would her heart still react the same way?

And what about Julian?

Would she recognize him immediately?

Would he recognize her?

Would fate somehow pull them toward the same path again?

Elowen didn't know.

She only knew that this time, she wouldn't simply wait for events to happen.

She would meet them prepared.

She walked toward the window and looked out over the Ravelle estate.

Beyond the glass, the afternoon sun stretched across the grounds, illuminating the distant training field where her knights had gathered earlier.

A small smile appeared on her lips.

Perhaps...

Perhaps this could become her way out.

"Perhaps I'll become the most troublesome bride in Valoria."

She shook her head.

There was still time.

She didn't have to decide today.

For now, she would prepare every possible path.

If she could escape the marriage, she would.

If she couldn't...

Then she would make certain that Nathaniel Ashbourne would never have the power to destroy her life again.