"Names hold power," the witch once whispered. "Forget his name, and you forget the pain. But remember it… and the curse never ends."
I should've forgotten.
I should've burned the memory of him like the rest of the world had.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
Because his name was the one wound I never learned how to heal.
Kaelith Rhian.
The boy with a storm behind his smile.
The man who kissed me like I was the only truth left in the world…
And then watched me die with my name on his lips.
In my second life, he held my broken body in a field of dying light and whispered apologies to a corpse.
In the third, he never saw me ... not once. I watched him from the slums while he paraded through the capital like a god draped in steel.
In the fourth…
He killed me without knowing he'd already loved me once.
In the sixth life, he found me too soon ... recognized me in a moment that wasn't meant to happen ... and tried to stop the kiss before it came.
But fate doesn't ask for permission.
The curse always wins.
Now, in my seventh rebirth, I breathe again. But this time… this time I've awakened with fire behind my eyes and a vow sealed into the marrow of my bones:
I will not die for love. Not again.
The outpost they dumped me in was quiet ... a scarred corner of the kingdom called Erenthel Hollow, where people feared magic more than war. I spent weeks there, watching shadows, learning the rules, keeping my distance. The locals believed I was just another orphan from the Burnt Hills.
I let them believe.
I didn't come back to belong.
I came back to find him.
And today… I did.
It was the Procession of the Stars ... a day when the royals sent their messengers across the outlands with blessings wrapped in gold lies. They came through the market like they always did ... horses too clean, armor too loud, words too pretty.
And there he was.
Standing beside the War Minister, face like stone, wearing the royal insignia stitched in black and crimson across his shoulder.
Kaelith.
Older now. Sharper.
His hair longer, tied at his nape with a blood-red seal. His voice lower, giving orders to guards who followed without question.
The crowd bowed.
I stood still.
My heartbeat was thunder in a coffin.
Don't move. Don't speak. He doesn't remember. This isn't your moment. Walk away.
But I couldn't.
I looked at him like a starving soul finds water. Like a ghost finds its unfinished grave.
My entire body remembered him even if his eyes passed over me like I was nothing.
"Kaelith…"
The name slipped from my lips before I could stop it.
He turned.
The world stilled.
And for one moment — just one — I thought I saw something flicker behind his eyes.
Recognition?
Pain?
No.
"Do I know you, miss?"
His tone was neutral. Controlled. Cold.
He didn't know me. Not yet.
But I knew him.
And I smiled, slow and dangerous.
"No," I said softly. "But you will."
I walked away first.
Because this time, I held the memory.
This time, the story belongs to me.
That night, I stared at the stars from the roof of the tavern I called home and traced the seven scars on my back ... one for each death. They still burned.
But I wasn't afraid.
Because love isn't what I came for this time.
I came for the truth.
I came to break the curse.
And if Kaelith still stood in my way…
Then love wouldn't be the only thing to die.