"Yes. I believe you. So… you came back in time after your execution, and you chose not to be engaged to the Crown Prince?" Adger looked at Hailey, trust slowly growing in his eyes.
"Yes… I chose to run away from my house immediately after I was reborn," Hailey said, a bit of vulnerability slipping into her voice.
This was one of the biggest secrets of her life. She hadn't even shared this with Lia.
Adger looked at her quietly for a moment before asking,
"But don't you love Cedric? Now that you've come back, you could use your knowledge from your past life to keep Cynthia away from him… maybe make him love you this time."
Hailey let out a slow sigh.
"I don't like him… not anymore. I don't see any reason why I should waste my second chance on someone like Cedric."
Adger nodded. He understood. Cedric had never treated Hailey like a fiancée in the novel.
"So what did you do after running away?" he asked.
"I… I went to the Royal Academy," Hailey replied. "To graduate."
Adger blinked. The Royal Academy?
There was no mention of that in the novel.
But then again, he knew the story only focused on what mattered to the plot.
"To be honest… I don't know much about the Royal Academy," Adger admitted.
Hailey looked at him, a little surprised.
"How can you not know about the Royal Academy? Wait… you said you're from another world, right? So how do you even know the things you said earlier?"
Adger sighed. He knew it was time to tell her everything.
"Because… I read this."
Hailey narrowed her eyes. "Read? Where?"
"This world… it was just fiction. A novel I read back in my original world," he said, meeting her gaze. "And you were the villainess of that story, Hailey Sinclair."
Hailey stared at him, stunned.
Somehow… she believed him again, even if it sounded ridiculous.
"I'm the villainess? Why?" she whispered. "I was the victim… I was abused in my own home. My own fiancé ignored and neglected me. My brother was the one who had me executed… how am I the villain?"
She looked at him, her voice quiet but her eyes pleading for an explanation.
"Cedric and Cynthia were the leads. Their love story needed a villain. And you just happened to be the perfect scapegoat," Adger said softly. "You were Cedric's fiancée. You stood in the way of their 'fated love.'"
Hailey's hands tightened on her lap.
"How are they the leads in the first place? Cedric… he neglected me again and again. In the end, he abandoned me. I was his fiancée, and he acted like she was his everything. And Cynthia…? She knew Cedric was an engaged man. But she still got close to him with her fake kindness and gentleness… how are these people the leads?"
Adger sighed.
"You do know the story is written from their point of view, right? Of course you were the bad one. You were the obstacle in their perfect love story."
Hailey gave a bitter smile.
"No wonder… no matter how hard I worked to make him fall for me, he never liked me. Never even looked at me properly. But for Cynthia… he'd trust her with his life."
Tears welled up in her eyes before they finally slipped down her cheeks.
"So all the suffering from my past life… was just something for people to read and enjoy?"
Her voice broke slightly.
All the humiliation.
All the loneliness.
All for the sake of romanticizing Cedric and Cynthia's so-called love story.
She took a deep breath and wiped her tears.
She couldn't keep drowning in what was already over.
Her past life was gone.
She'd been given another chance, and she had already changed so many things.
Adger watched her in silence, a bit concerned, but she quickly wiped her tears and smiled through them.
"I don't care about my past anymore," Hailey said. "Right now… I'm not the villainess Hailey Sinclair. I'm just Hailey Sinclair. And this time… I want to become head of the Sinclair estate and live happily."
Adger could see it in her eyes.
She was determined.
Hailey looked at him gently.
"How about you? Were you able to change your fate?"
Adger's hands curled into fists. He shook his head slowly.
The memories came back in waves.
In the novel, not much was written about his past before entering the royal palace. Just two things.
One, he lost someone close to him before he entered the royal palace. Many readers speculated it was a lover.
But now he knew.
It was Theo.
Two, he was kicked out of the Knight Academy. No reason was ever mentioned. Today, he was kicked out of the Knight Academy because some baron falsely accused him.
He slammed the table suddenly, startling Hailey.
"If only I had known I was in the novel earlier… maybe I could've saved Theo…" he thought.
"I didn't. In fact… I might have just followed the exact path the original Adger did," he said through gritted teeth. "I only realized I was in the novel after seeing you."
Hailey looked at him sadly. She had also lost Lia in her past life, so she could understand the pain of losing someone close and worse, knowing you could have stopped it. She could feel his grief now.
"Adger… now you need to focus on your future," she said softly. "If you're taken back to the royal palace… your life will be miserable. You'll die."
Adger nodded quietly. He knew what his future in the novel looked like. He hadn't mattered to the story. He was just one of the broken ones.
"There's no way I'm going back to the royal family after knowing my fate," he said firmly.
Hailey took a slow breath, her expression thoughtful.
"Then… I have a proposition for you," she said.