It was a strangely long dream. She had lived two lives. In her second life, she was untamable, living life as how she wanted to – a fulfilling life. On the other hand, her first life was nowhere near as content as her second life as it was disastrous, filled with hardships with every turn – losing her father who was beheaded for treason, her unskilled brother’s body lost with the many piles of corpses on the battlefield, and her younger sister turned into a royal sex slave. Luka was young, naïve, but cheerful, kind and loved by everyone in her household. And because her father was barely home, Luka grew up to be a bit timid when it came to stating her thoughts and opinions, never being resolute with herself.  

Her encounter with the twelfth prince was like every other innocent encounter, underneath the full moon in the royal garden where her father took her and her siblings to visit the King. At the time, she was only 12 and the prince 14. The twelfth prince, Daniel, was a kind and polite gentleman. Luka felt comfortable whenever she was in his presence. It was from that point on that her love for Daniel grew. Especially when her mother passed away when she was 16. It was always the twelfth prince that she found comfort and warmth in during the times she grieved for her mother. 

When she finally turned 18, it was as if her wishes had been granted. The twelfth prince proposed for her hand in marriage and the king granted that wish by decreeing the engagement. Johnathan Haines, General of the Haines household and of Deus, had a strong bond with the current emperor, King Richard Blackwood, as it was because they grew up together – brothers in arms through their childhood into adulthood.  

It was not until two years later that King Richard fell ill and ended up passing away within four months. And when Daniel finally became King, that’s when everything changed. Day by day, Daniel began revealing his true colors to Luka – neglecting her after having slept with her once ever since they got married. Daniel’s attitude towards her became cold and distant as Daniel began bringing more and more women into the inner palace.  

But due to Luka’s upbringing and timid nature, she could only bite her tongue and tolerate his actions as she too, tried to win him over. It wasn’t until another two years had passed by that Daniel announced to Luka that he was making the woman beside him, his official consort. Luka was in shock the moment Luka saw the woman’s face – it was Lillian Emerald – her best friend, who gave Luka a sinister smile.  

Lillian was the epitome of female beauty, one that men would go to war for, nothing like Luka. She was tall, had a voluminous body and gorgeous red flowing hair and green eyes. She was bewitching and captivating. And because Luka had none of that, she did all she could to try and win King Daniel over. But even then, her efforts proved to be futile. Luka had even gone to the lengths of offering herself to a neighboring kingdom in order to develop ties between the two kingdoms – it worked, but King Daniel only looked at Luka in disgust. 

“Selling your body to another man, how disgusting! Since you love it so much, I can give you to my royal brothers and uncles!” 

And with that, Luka was dragged away, screaming as she dug her nails into the marbled floor, leaving trails of blood. But it wasn’t only her that was thrown into the orgy, but her sister, Deanna, who was only 16, was also thrown in. Many times, they were both used in and out; there were many times Luka passed out and could not remember the full details of what happened, but she could always still hear Deanna’s crying voice begging for help.  

 Because their father, Johnathan, was down south by the southern border, fighting one of the most vicious battles against an invading nation, he was unaware of any of the events occurring in the capital city of Deus, Amber, were the main palace lie. Five years later after Luka had entered the main palace as Queen, when there was finally a break between the battles down south, Johnathan returned only to receive news that his youngest daughter has been sent to the neighboring kingdom of Alin as a sex gift.  

Marching his way to Alin, Johnathan ended up killing the king, being charged with regicide of another kingdom – to be publicly beheaded.  

As soon as Luka heard the news, she fainted on the spot. 

Now that Johnathan was dead, King Daniel finally had complete control of his army, placing in his own men to take over the Johnathan’s army. When news went around that Johnathan was beheaded for treason, it sparked the southern nation’s spirit to invade Deus because it was always Johnathan’s strength and army that kept them at bay.  

Because Johnathan was replaced with Daniel’s personal men, Cole, Luka’s younger brother was also sent to the southern border to defend their country. Upon hearing that her brother was sent to the southern border, Luka could only pray for him.  

Years passed on and she has never heard of a single news of her brother until one of the squadron captains reported that Cole died courageously in battle.  

=== 

Though Luka was nearing 60 years of age, she still retained her youthful looks with scattered strands of gray. Throughout her life as Queen, she had given birth to six children – four sons and two daughters. However, their lives were always cut short as they were not children of Daniel but of his brothers and uncles. None of her children ever lived passed the age of 15. Two of her sons and one of her daughters contracted illnesses and died young, while her other two sons were assassinated. Her last daughter was married off to another neighboring prince who was extremely perverted and loved young maidens.  

When Luka received the news that her youngest daughter tried fleeing back home and was cut down on the spot, Luka locked herself up for weeks. Not once, did she ever bear a child of Daniel’s blood as he claimed she has been sullied; it was all of his consorts and newly titled Queen, that bore his children. 

Staring out the window of her deserted courtyard in the east wing of the Golden palace, her tired and lifeless eyes reflected the gloomy night sky. Her title as Queen has been revoked and given to her once called best friend. Daniel broke all sorts of laws to get his way, and anyone who spoke out against him was immediately sentenced to death. His command was absolute, raising fear in the hearts of all people within his kingdom. Though he was ruthless and greedy, he was still fair to the common people as he still needed people to rule over – so he made sure all of his actions for the common people were just above adequate.  

Hearing the doors to her room creak open, Luka dragged her lifeless eyes to the door to see the erect and noble stature of her so-called husband and king. Though he was already 60 years of age, his handsome features remained vibrant – golden hair and golden eyes.  

“You look tired,” Daniel’s distant and cold voice spoke.  

“... I’m always tired. For the past 38 years, I’ve done everything for you,” Luka stared at her husband. “Not once did you ever turn your attention towards me. Even after all I’ve done for you, you took away everything from me.” Luka pushed herself off the cushioned couch from the window, staggering her way towards Daniel.  

Luka was dressed in a white oversized robe that was slightly sheer but not completely as it was slightly hanging off on side of her left shoulder, like it was ready to slide down but just barely. When she reached him, she looked up to see his handsome face. Once before, as soon as she saw his face, all of her worries vanished without a trace, even when he mistreated her, it was his very own existence that kept her going; his face that always made her feel like a young maiden again, but not anymore. There was nothing left, no love, nothing.  

“If you don’t love me anymore, why keep me around? You’ve kept me here for the last 38 years, why?” queried Luka.  

“I left you here because you still hold significance of being useful,” Daniel stated coldly. 

Luka’s eyes widened in wonderment as a crazed smile appeared on her face, “Still hold significance? Where?! How?! You used me to do your bidding! And in doing so, I lost everything!! During that one night when you first held me, was all that you said fake?! You promised to love me wholeheartedly, that it was only me in your heart!” 

Daniel said nothing, only letting silence answer her question. 

Luka gripped Daniel’s collar fiercely, “You monster! Give me back my family! Give me back my children! Give me back my innocence!!” Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she vigorously tugged at his collar. “Give me back my life!!!!!!” 

As Luka continued raging, she only stopped when she heard a small ‘chi’ sound and a tingling feeling from her abdomen. Looking down, Luka’s senses began tingling as she felt warmth spreading across herself. Her white sheer robe was now stained with the color of red. Daniel withdrew the dagger as Luka stumbled backwards, cradling her stomach.  

“You still held significance to me, that was until this moment,” Daniel commented as Luka plopped herself onto the cushioned couch, bleeding out.  

Feeling the warm liquid, Luka let out an amused chuckle. “I see. So, this is the thanks I get in return for all of my efforts. I hate you, Daniel. I hate you to the very core.” 

Throwing the dagger aside, Daniel ended up pulling out the sword that was by his side. As Luka eyeballed the sword, she realized what kind of ending she was going to get. A sinister smiled crawled upon Luka’s face as she burst into laughter, “You may have trampled over my life and over the lives of many innocents, but in the next life, I will definitely drag you down from that high throne of yours! I will have you grovel at my feet for forgiveness!!” 

Daniel lifted up his sword. 

“I will wait for you in HELL!!!!” 

Swiftly and cleanly, Daniel ended Luka’s life, removing her head from her body as her head toppled to the side with a sinister expression.  

=== 

Luka Haines was reincarnated into her second life, in which she was orphan. In this second life, her painful memories of her previous life were forgotten as she lived this life to the fullest despite being an orphan. Perhaps it was because she lived such a fulfilling life in her second life time that she was granted the opportunity to be reborn back into her first life to change her disastrous fate that Daniel inflicted on her.  

Upon opening her eyes, Luka shot straight up in bed, sweating and heaving heavily. Luka remembered everything. She had lived this life once before and has lived a second life before coming back. Could it be, the heavens have heard her prayer to come back to this first life and settle scores?! 

Looking around the room, she was on a large circle-shaped cushioned bed with velvet drapes. Getting off the bed, Luka made her way to mirror that was beside the bed. Looking at herself in the mirror was somewhat strange, In her second life, she was tall and would be considered a beauty, but in this first life, her looks were only slightly above average, however, her large obsidian eyes made her look like a doll. In this life, when she was young, she suffered an illness that stunted her growth, thus, Luka remained petite and maintained child-like appearance despite her age.  

Examining her current appearance, Luka guessed that she was now around the age of 22... and married to Daniel. Seeing that it was bright outside and that there were no maids or servants attending to her, Luka wandered out.  

Wandering around the marbled halls of palace, nearing one of the courtyards, she hid herself as she heard voices approaching. 

“I can’t believe I’m going to miss the execution!” 

“I know right! General Haines! He is a general loved by all! To think that he’d commit regicide in another kingdom. Tsk, tsk, tsk truly a disappointment.” 

Luka’s heart dropped. She made it back to the point in time where her father was going to be publicly beheaded. Luka moved swiftly and attacked the two men who were conversing, knocking both of them out as she snatched one of their cloaks, covering herself as she left the main palace bare-footed. 

As soon as she reached town square where the execution was taking place, she shoved her way through the crowd, making her way to the front. There were many knights who were keeping the citizens back. On the opposite end, sitting on an elevated platform was the one and only king, Daniel and his royal brothers and uncles with Lillian in her arms. Luka grinded her teeth, breathing heavily, as she was ready to charge in but as soon as she moved, the man who was kneeling in the center looked up to her and made eye contact.  

Luka stopped in her tracks as she stared into her father’s clear brown eyes, breath coming to a halt. Within moments of the executioner lifting his axe to sever Johnathan’s head, he spoke. Though it was inaudible, Luka clearly understood what he said to her. 

“Don’t. Live and survive.” 

Johnathan gave Luka one final smile as the axe came down, severing his head from the body, rolling onto the ground as people within the crowd gasped in horror at the sight the kingdom’s great general has become. Within his final moment’s Luka did not blink, nor flinch; she took it all in. Balling up her fists, her nails began digging into her skin. Those around her that saw her trembling body thought that perhaps she was frightened or spooked by the execution and felt sorry for her. But they were dead wrong. She could not wait to tear Daniel apart. 

As moments went by and the crowd began dispersing, Luka took a deep breath and relaxed her fists as blood dripped down. She looked up to Daniel with bottomless pit eyes that were tranquil, so tranquil to the point it was frightening. Just you wait, Daniel. I’ll let you have your taste of what it’s like to be on a throne. So, you better enjoy it while it lasts, because I am going to make your life a living hell.