Page 186 of The Fifth Life of Alicia
That woman.
That vile, greedy woman who wouldn’t stop getting in her way. In every life, there she was, hanging all over the Grand Duke. How many times had Lillia had to marry that stupid, jealous Crown Prince because of her? Why couldn’t she get what she wanted, even in the lives where the Grand Duke had fallen in love with her?
Alicia. She was the reason.
That was why Lillia had changed things this time. If she met the Grand Duke sooner, before Alicia had a chance to fall in love with him, then surely, she’d get the ending she dreamt of in this life.
Shewould become the Grand Duchess.Shewould have the love of the Grand Duke.Shewouldn’t be stuck marrying a petty, jealous man who couldn’t see his own faults, even if he was the Crown Prince of Sada.
Not that it mattered. Torin’s position as heir had been hanging by a thread in every life she could remember. It wouldn’t take much to convince the Grand Duke to reclaim the title that belonged to him once they were married.
Once he did, she would become the Crown Princess and ultimately Empress, anyway.
But she’d been too late. She’d miscalculated. By the time Lillia had met the Grand Duke, he and Alicia were already engaged.
What was worse was the fact that he hadn’t fallen for her like he had in their past lives. Her perfume had failed.
He didn’t seem to care about her at all.
All he saw was Alicia.
She was different this time, too. She was almost bolder—smarter, even. Lillia wasn’t sure that the tricks she’d used to frame her in her last life would work this time.
That was the only reason she was responding to the anonymous request to meet.
She was truly desperate. The black magic she’d used to make sure she retained the memories of her previous lives was corrupting her soul. Her memories were incomplete, always starting and stopping from similar points, and she couldn’t figure out why.
Maybe this person who’d written to her would know. If they were responsible for hiring the one who’d let the wraithhusk loose during the hunt, she had a lot to thank them for. They’d almost solved her problem by getting rid of Alicia, but she’d thrown out some weird magic power.
That was new, too. She’d never seen her use such a power, and that made her nervous. Lillia’s grip on her black magic was shaky at best—without proper tuition, she was really at risk of going mad.
If only there was someone who could teach her.
Lillia stopped outside a pub that’d seen better days. Ugh—she’d never frequented such a shabby place, not even when she’d lived in that stupid little town as a poor noble. Of course, that was before she’d saved her father’s business with the knowledge that she’d gained of the trade route in her past life.
Now, she couldn’t believe she had to go inside.
The door creaked when she pushed it open. It was busier inside than she thought, and she dipped her head, wrinkling her nose at the scent of stale beer and body odour that seemed to seep out of every crevice.
“Yep?” The barman looked at her like she was no better than an orphan from the street.
He would regret that when she was the Grand Duchess, that was for sure.
“Do you know where I can find the doctor?” she recited the words from the letter.
The barman stared at her for a moment, then pointed to the staircase on the opposite side of the bar. “Aye. He’s upstairs, third door on the right. Knock thrice if ye’ve got an appointment. If not, knock once and wait outside.”
“Thank you.” She nodded to him, barely containing her disgust. He couldn’t even speak properly. Why must she come to a place with such uncultured people?
Ugh. Maybe it was better for her to leave.
No. She couldn’t. Not if there was a chance that she could find out who was behind the wraithhusk. Whoever it was could certainly wield black magic like her. There was no other way to control such a beast.
Lillia reached the upstairs floor and counted the doors until she reached the third one, then knocked three times. She was here at the time in the note, after all.
The door creaked as it opened, and a figure dressed in similar garb to her appeared. “Come in.”
Her stomach rolled with nerves, but Lillia stepped into the dark and dingy room. It was fine. She could use magic if she needed to make an escape, and she had a dagger concealed in her cape. She wasn’t defenceless.
