101 A Trip Down Memory Lane (1/2)
”AND KIHO, I wasn't the woman you loved in the past.”
To say that Kiho was shocked by what Tilly revealed would be an understatement.
I didn't love her in her first life?
To be honest, he was still confused by what Tilly was saying.
But he knew that she wouldn't lie to him. Most of all, the pain and fear in her eyes were very real. It broke his heart to see his strong wife suddenly crumble and become this vulnerable in front of him.
He wanted to hug her and protect her forever.
”I don't know how it happened but after I died in my second life, I woke up in this world again,” Tilly said in a cracked voice. ”I returned in this lifetime a few days before we met, Kiho. Do you believe me?”
Kiho nodded because even if he still didn't understand what was going on, he knew in his heart that he would always believe her. ”Tilly, what were you saying about your first life? Winter and I didn't love you? And I fell in love with another woman?”
He wanted to go back to where Tilly came from and punch himself. And scold Winter as well. How come they didn't love Tilly then?!
”It was my fault, Kiho,” she said in a sad voice that broke his heart even more. ”I was a bad person in my first life. I was greedy for the throne.”
”For the throne?”
She nodded before she explained. ”I didn't tell you this but in my first life, Her Royal Highness took medicine that made her infertile.”
He was too shocked to hear that.
”In my past life, I found out about the princess's secret,” his wife continued. ”I exposed that secret to the public. Her Royal Highness was exiled. She was supposed to be executed but I made a deal with His Majesty.”
”What kind of deal?”
”During my past life, I was influential to both the Royal and the Noble Faction,” she explained. ”I told His Majesty that if he made Winter his heir to the throne, I would convince the higher nobles to have the princess exiled instead of executed.”
Oh, god.
”I know what you're thinking and you're right,” she said with a hint of guilt in her voice. ”I was a horrible mother for using Winter that way. I was that obsessed with power that I neglected you and our son. No wonder you fell in love with another woman.”
”I'm not sure if I want to know who this woman is.”
She smiled bitterly at him. ”You've already met her, Kiho.”
His eyes widened in shock. ”I did?”
”She was the woman with the jet-black hair.”
His heart thumped hard and loud against his chest when he remembered that woman.
Is that the reason why I felt that way when I saw the woman with the jet-black hair?
He frowned at that. ”I don't care about that. And if you weren't the woman in the prophecy, how come you got pregnant with my child? Were people in your first life stupid?”
She smiled at that. Then, she gently pinched his cheek. ”I'm so glad that you are so different from the Kiho in my past life, hon.”
He felt gutted. ”Tilly… did I cheat on you?”
”You fell in love with her while we were still married.”
He closed his eyes to control his anger. Kiho of Tilly's first life, I want to murder you.
”Do you still want me to continue, Kiho?”
”Yes, please,” he said, then he opened his eyes. ”I want to hear everything, Tilly.”
She nodded before she continued. ”After meeting her, you asked for a divorce.”
Again, he was gutted. He wanted to cry for Tilly because he could clearly see the pain in her eyes. And most of all, her voice was filled with fear.
My poor wife.
”I agreed on the condition that I would still be acknowledged as Winter's mother, especially once he ascended the throne,” she continued sadly. ”But Winter eventually grew distant of me. Actually, our son developed a split personality because of how horrible of a mother I was.”
His brows furrowed in confusion. ”What kind of split personality?”
”He appeared like a perfect noble but in the shadows, he was a merciless killer,” she said in a voice filled with guilt. ”And he was only a young boy then, Kiho.”
He gently pulled her and hugged her tight. ”Shh. It's okay, Tilly. It happened in your first life. Not in this lifetime.”
”But I'm scared that it might happen again especially when she appeared earlier than expected,” she said. ”I don't want to die without being loved by my family.”
”What do you mean by that, Tilly?”