In his past life, Alistair Pembroke was the ninth prince of the kingdom. He had always been drawn to well-read, poised, scholarly noble ladies, but the king issued a mandatory royal betrothal order forcing him to marry Rowena Fairmont, the firstborn heir of a border knight family. After they tied the knot, he looked down on his rough-and-tumble, sword-swinging wife from the bottom of his heart, and never once treated her with even a scrap of kindness. It was only when Rowena died in battle at the kingdom's border fortress that he finally realized just how deeply he had fallen for her. He'd been too stubborn to admit it all that time. When the kingdom fell, enemy knights loosed a hail of arrows that thunked through his body, and his corpse was tossed carelessly into a desolate mass grave on the city outskirts. The next time he blinked awake, Alistair realized with a jolt that he had been reborn, sent back to exactly six months into his arranged betrothal to Rowena. This time around, he had only one goal: to do everything in his power to make sure she lives the rest of her life safe, peaceful, and free of worry. But as the days went by, he slowly realized something... Every bit of patience and forbearance Rowena had given him in his past life was never out of affection, not even a tiny bit. She had just been fulfilling the proper duties of a noble wife. Deep in her heart, she had always loved someone else. The second Alistair made up his mind to step aside and let her be with the man she loved, Rowena completely fell apart. She screamed and sobbed until her throat was raw, so consumed by ragged, all-consuming regret she was practically feral with it.