ARIA

Prologue

She watched her fiancée kissed another woman from afar. A woman she knew since she was just a child. That woman she saw kissing her fiance was her own younger sister. The one she trusted the most betrayed her.

She wanted to curse her younger sister, Riana, but she just could not hate her. They were in love before she was engaged to the prince. She was an obstacle to their happy life. The prince never loved her. They were never a couple in love.

The pain was getting to her. Aria coughed blood all over her dress. She quickly ran away from the scene as she did not want the couple to notice her. All of the maids notice her dress covered in blood. The maids ran to her as she was falling to the ground.

"Milady! Are you okay?" were the only words she could hear. She noticed a man frantically came to her aide but he was not the man that she wanted to see. He was just a young gardener who saw the maids panicked over their young lady of the house.

"Hang in there, milady!" he cried, as he carried her into the mansion. "Call for the doctor, the lord and His highness!" he said to the maids. The maids nodded and made their ways to meet the men.

Aria stayed silent because she did not have the strength to talk nor to even move her body.

The gardener laid her down on her bed and made sure she felt comfortable, by resting her head on the pillow and covered her with the blanket.

"Milady, I will go see what's taking them long." he said before leaving her alone.

She wanted for someone to be with her but before she could ask him to stay, the gardener had quickly walked away from the room.

She looked up, sighed for the very last time because she knew she was dying and there was no hope for her to live. She thought that she was living to her fullest, she had no hardship as the eldest daughter of House MacGregory, she was loved by so many people that she had no regrets and that she was ready to leave the world.

She could not feel her legs, her arms, and she could barely breath. This is the end, she thought. But before she could close her eyes for the last time, one regret came to her mind. She wished to be loved by the prince. With that last thing in her mind, she closed her eyes, stopped breathing and died by herself in her own bedroom.

And when all of her family members and her fiancée reached the room, all they seen was a lifeless body of Aria. The younger sister cried, the father looked away because he could not stand to look at his dead daughter, the mother tried to calm the sister and the fiancée felt nothing but sympathy.

Prince Noah was never in love with Aria MacGregory. He met Riana first before meeting Aria. He was already in love with Riana before he was engaged with Aria. Of course, he had the freedom to choose his own queen but marrying Riana who was the daughter of a commoner was not a great choice in the eyes of nobles and royalties.

When he met Aria, he knew Aria was a sweet lady not as lively as her younger sister. Aria gave everything she had to him but he just could not love her back.

When the king told him to choose, he decided to be engaged with Aria, knowing he would have many chances to meet Riana. He knew his decision was cruel to Aria but love made him blind.

When Noah saw her dead body, he felt sorry for her. If only he told the truth to the king that he loved Rina and just endured the consequences, he would not have to be engaged to Aria and she would be free to love someone else. Now she's dead unable to feel love.

Lord Graham MacGregory, Aria's father knew nothing about her. He knew that Aria was a quiet child. And a bit of stubborn to put effort on their relationship. She never talked about her feelings or opinions and just accepted whatever he told her. He was not the loving father he should be but was a strict father to Aria.

But deep down in his heart, he loved her very much even though Aria was a child of political marriage. Aria's mother was a noble that he had to marry. Both of them were never in love with each other. He was in love with a commoner, the current duchess and the mother of Riana. Aria's mother died after giving birth to her.

And when he saw his daughter died before he could even say he loved her, he felt pain in his heart. He looked away because he could not accept the truth.

Riana loved her sister more than anything. Aria was the one who came to her rescue whenever the nobles bullied her for being a daughter of a commoner. Aria never treated her badly and always by her side. When she found her love, the one she told first was Aria. Riana did not know who Noah really was back when they were together. Only when Noah decided to be engaged to Aria just to get close with her, that she finally knew who Noah really was.

She was mad at Noah at first and tried to get away from him but the more she tried to avoid him, the more Noah put his efforts to get her back. Love made her blind. She accepted him despite knowing her sister was in love with him too. She knew she was a bad younger sister. She wanted her sister to curse, slap and treat her badly but Aria never did such things.

When she saw her sister died, she was speechless. Only tears and regrets.

That day ended with sorrow.

🍁🍁🍁

Aria heard birds chirping outside of the mansion. I'm not dead yet? — was her first thought.

Aria thought she would be gone forever. But she woke up a year before her engagement and fifteen months before her death.