The Fake Wedding Was For Me, The Real One For Her Chapter 07

The Fake Wedding Was For Me, The Real One For Her Chapter 07

My first year in this world passed without any royal scheming or bloodshed. Peaceful, even-if I could still

use that word.

I spent my days reading, painting, keeping the King and Queen company. Playing the part of a good daughter.

The only ripple came during a hunt near Kingsbridge. I spotted a farmer struggling with a crop blight and-

without thinking-mentioned a modern method.

I’d majored in agriculture in college. Not exactly some farming genius, but I knew enough.

The technique spread-village to village, field to field-until it had protected hundreds of acres across the Kingsbridge countryside. People started calling me The People’s Princess. A royal with a true heart.

A popular princess made the crown look good. The King was pleased, and his favor toward me only grew.

That was when Nathaniel Reed-the Lord Chancellor’s son-came forward with a proposal of marriage.

It turned out there’d been a betrothal between us all along.

Years ago, the Queen and the Chancellor’s wife had been close-close enough to joke, while both pregnant, that if one had a boy and the other a girl, they’d arrange a match. An arrangement made in the cradle, sealed

with laughter.

A decade later, with the wars behind them, the court surveyed its eligible sons and Nathaniel stood above

the rest.

The queen wasn’t ready to let me go. But when she asked what I wanted, I said yes.

By this world’s standards, I was already considered past marrying age. And after Julian, I had no illusions left

about love.

If Nathaniel was the best option on the table, I had no reason to say no.

Before long, it was official. The decree was issued, the ceremony was held, and I moved into the princess’s

estate as Nathaniel’s wife-married to a man I barely knew.

I’d expected a polite, distant marriage. Two strangers coexisting under one roof. I would’ve been fine with

that.

But when the bridal veil came off, a face sharp-jawed, grinning, way too close – leaned into mine.

“Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell?”

I stared at him.

He was a time traveler. Just like me.

He’d suspected since the farming incident – no one from this era would’ve known that technique.

“That method won’t exist for centuries. There’s no way you’re from here.”

He’d been waiting for me, he said-for years. He couldn’t go home without me.

“There’s a rare meteor shower coming at the end of the season. If we combine our blood and let it fall on the

observatory’s astrolabe-we go home.”

Go back. The words hit me sideways.

But what about Chloe? Would she get dragged back here?

“No.” Nathaniel shook his head.

“She was never supposed to be in your body in the first place.”

“Before you arrived here, she’d already displaced someone else.”

“The bodies we’re in – they belong to two people who were always meant to be together. A love story. A

happy ending. That’s what’s supposed to happen here.”

“But that can’t happen until we both leave.”

“Only then does everything go back to the way it should be.”

“By the way-Nathaniel’s my real name. The one I had back home. What was yours?”

My mind drifted. I’d made peace with dying here – growing old inside someone else’s story, in someone

else’s body.

And now someone was telling me there was a door back.

“Seraphina.” I smiled. “Just Seraphina.”

“It’s not changing back.”

If I went back, I was going back as Seraphina Sterling. Clara was a name I’d already buried.

The Queen had given it to me-a name meant for a fiery angel. I loved the sound of it. I loved what it

promised: a complete rebirth.

“So-one last season of pretending to be married. Are you in?” Nathaniel was crouched beside me like a kid

begging for a favor, and despite everything, it almost made me laugh.

“You’ll help me, right?”

A real laugh slipped out of me – the first one in a long time. I nodded.

The following weeks were the quietest I’d known. Nathaniel and I played the part in public-the devoted

newlyweds-and behind closed doors, we talked for hours.

Whenever I told him about my old life, something soft and pained would cross his face. He never pushed.

He’d just say, quietly-

“It’s over. Once we’re back, you never have to see any of them again.”

I smiled and let it go. They were already strangers to me.

But I was wrong. I did see them again – the night before the meteor shower.

Mom. Dad. Arthur. Julian. And Chloe. All of them – materialized out of nowhere, standing right in front of

“Guards! Protect the princess!” The servants lunged forward, drawing weapons – they saw assassins. But

Chloe’s scream cut through the chaos first.

“You? A princess? How is that possible?”

“No – no, I’M the princess! You’re the fake! Get out – get out of my palace!”

“How dare you!”