Please let me rest in peace

Chapter 2

"Rose!" Lily said with a tiny blush on her face. Her voice turned softer as her confidence wavered, like she was scared of me," Can I call you Roseie? I..... I hope it's not too forward of me. But I really want us to be close sisters, Roseie" She smiled docilely with her misty lavender eyes.

Before I could say anything, Father said," Of course you can, Lily. We're all family." He smiled dotingly at her and eyed me meaningfully.

I took a sip from my cup of tea and smiled, "Of course, Lily. We're all family."

The wedding yesterday went by peacefully. Lily became the talk of the capital with her stunning red dress, showing off her porcelain white complexion and deer-like lavender eyes. I chose a simple dark blue dress, no longer stupid enough to think I could put her down by wearing a similar dress like what I had done in my first life.

I decided to stay as an innocent by-stander for now. I would no longer run away, it's proven not effective. I would no longer throw away myself and my pride just to please Lily, all that led to was me being used as a shield when danger came.

Come to think of it, my time acting as an antagonist to Lily in my second life was the happiest of my four lifetimes. Maybe I should consider acting as a villain again? Best live happily than to suffer if I had to repeat this over and over again.

I knew it was not Lily's fault, she was just simply blessed by the gods. And I was the one in the wrong, even if in the end I received more punishment than I deserved. I admitted I was just not a good-natured girl. I liked comparing myself with people around me and became a bitter, unlikable monster when people turned out to have it better than me. I already have. Thanks to someone pointing that out in one of my past lives, I had become very familiar with my own fault.

I decided to just follow the flow of life for now.

"Rose, what are you doing today? Let's hang out together! If.......if you don't mind, of course," Lily smiled shyly. " I don't know anyone here."

" Rose, bring Lily with you. Go meet some friends," Father commanded.

" Hannah is having a tea party tomorrow. I'll bring Lily with me."

I remember Hannah's tea party. No matter what I changed, how I behaved, Hannah's tea party was an event that never changed. Lily would be humiliated there. No matter how hard I tried to stop the humiliation from taking place, it was like a fixed plot in a novel, it would always appear right along the track it was supposed to take place.

If I did not partake, the head of the group of people who humiliated Lily would become the heiress of another prominent family. If I took the side of Lily and tried to defend her, my well worded defense would be turned around so it seemed like I was subtly making sarcastic comments at Lily. Some rumors about how I hated my stepsister would spread the next day. I tried hiding once so that I would not be involved in the humiliation all together. When I returned, Lily would blink her watery deer-like eyes and stared at me with silent condemnation. Everyone with eyes would then start to think I was the one ordering my friends to do this.

There's no getting away from this. No matter what I did, two things would come out of this tea party. Rumors would spread about me hating Lily and Lily would be saved from humiliation by one of her suitors.

From my experience with my last life, I could still be friends with Lily after this incident, but whether she had been secretly hating on me, I had no idea.

What should I do this time? What if I didn't bring Lily to the tea party? In some lives, I was forced by Father to take her there and after a while, I conceded because I wanted to humiliate her in the party like the evil stepsister I was. In other lives, I thought without me instigating the farce, the humiliation would not have taken place.

Of course not. I know better now. There were some major events that had to happen no matter what. They were like cornerstones of a building. Like the tea party where Lily must be humiliated and thus meet one of her suitors.

Wait......suitors? Come to think of it, all those cornerstones involved Lily and her strings of suitors in some way or other.

Could I change that? What if Lily was not able to meet her suitor number one at the tea party? Suitor number one was Lord Henry, the son of a Duke. That duke was a powerful priest serving the god of thunder.

Our country had different temples serving different gods. Every noble family had a god they served. The nobles send their offspring to study in the temples. The offspring that were chosen would become the priests or priestesses of that temple. Usually, the process of choosing priests and priestesses involves them battling each other with their magic. People on our continent, unlike those living on the continent across the sea, could practice sorcery or magic, which become more specialized after learning in a temple.

Most of our country's power was divided and held among the priests and priestesses of different temples. That's why aristocrats always sent their children to the temples, in the hope that their children would become a priest or priestess. By coming to power, their family would also become more powerful. My family once had hope for me, but sadly, I was not particularly gifted at magic. That's why, in the end, they turned to the more talented Lily even if she was not family by blood.

Back to Lord Henry, he was actually betrothed to Lady Farah from a young age and words had it that they were getting along really well. But he fell in love at first sight with Lily. Lady Farah was one of the priestess candidates for her god. On the day the final choosing had taken place in my previous lives, a letter that Henry had written about breaking their betrothal reached her. This affected her badly. She had been injured in the process and had lost the match. She did become a priestess, second in command to her opponent, but her face was scarred after that match.

It's really a tragedy. What if Henry didn't meet Lily at the tea party? Then Farah would not be distracted in her choosing a few days later. Their betrothal would end one way or another. Henry would meet Lily sooner or later and fall in love. But what if I could delay their meeting until Farah's choosing was over? It's really not worth it losing your place and your face for some fickle guy.

But how could I stop this tea party from happening?