"It was so sad too. It was like witnessing everything from a third perspective, you know? I could only see myself begging Luca not to kill you... and then your head- it- it was chopped off." The memory made her all choked up.
"And I just- I ran to the stage, and I- I don't even- I held your head, hoping that you'd open your eyes again, hoping that you'd wake up somehow, and save me from this, this fucking nightmare!"

As I struggled to breathe, my hand reached slowly toward my throat, rubbing.

"And then, afterward, everything was like a blur. It was like I experienced entire years of my life in minutes. Getting married to that monster of a prince, having so many children.... and then dying of some disease that no one even knew." I hadn't even realized that she started crying, tears streaming down her face.

I didn't think twice before I hugged her, letting her sob into my shoulder.

"Madeleine... it's alright. I'm here, aren't I?" I mumbled the words as soothingly as possible, realizing that my wide eyes probably put a damper on the comfort.

"And- and the worst part was- it was my fault!" She choked out a sob that rocked her small body.

"Wh- what are you saying?" My brows furrowed.

"I was the one who poisoned him! But he blamed you, even after I confessed!" Her cries grew louder as she held onto me tighter.

Oh.

I suppose that did explain how the poison ended up in Luca's wine.

"But- it wasn't a dream, was it? It happened, didn't it?!" She detangled herself from me, peering into my eyes.

"Tell me the truth, please. It wasn't just a dream, was it?"

I debated if I should lie to her. Having her as a confidant would be nice, but was I really willing to put this amount of heartache on her shoulders?

"It- it wasn't. It wasn't a dream. And I know because- those were our prior lives." At my words, Madeleine's hands clenched even tighter on my skirt as she looked at me.

"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you." She tried to wipe her tears away, although her hands couldn't do much.

I quickly pulled out my handkerchief, drying her tears as much as I could. "There was nothing you could have done to save me. Luca was going to find some way to get rid of me, poison or not. It's not your fault."

I said those words, but even so, tears started to spill from my eyes as well.

She took my palm into her hand, nuzzling her cheek into it. "That horrid man... The things he must have done to you..."

"He hurt both of us." I looked into her red eyes. Her tears were starting to dry up.

"And he'll hurt many more. Is there no way to- to-", she swallowed. "-rid ourselves of him?"

I almost jumped out of my skin. "Madeleine! You cannot say that! You would be committing treason against the royal family!"

"And so what?! To hell with them! They've never made a decision that didn't harm the people! There is suffering in the kingdom, and the only way to stop it is by changing things!"

She was right.

But how was this- this supposed to go?

We were just two girls who happened to remember an alternate version of events where everything went to shit.

I averted my eyes from her, to which she grabbed my face with both hands and turned my head to look back at her. "Antoinette. You cannot ignore the circumstances. We have to do something. Or else we'll both- we'll both-" She started getting choked up again.

Nervously biting my lip, I mulled the situation over in my head.

We had five years until we both reached adult age, making us the official duchesses of our respective estates. But that was also around the time that I lost my head last time.

If we wanted to do something to change things, we had to start now. The gears in my head started turning as I tried to come up with something resembling a plan.

"I-I'll join you." My throat felt dry as I spoke the words.

She looked at me, her eyes big, as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." I smiled, before being pulled into a crushing hug by her, almost pushing all the air out of my lungs.

"We'll stop him. No matter what."

And with that promise hanging in the air, the rebellion against the royal family had unofficially begun.