1 Prologue

Sunshine Valley Kingdom 1880

I was born Salmira Rene St. Rose. The 6th daughter of The Earl of Lork. I have never married and have lived my life in seclusion.

In the end, i died alone.

As I lay dying, I stared at the ceiling of this old and dusty cottage. When I was young, my eyes would usually wake up to the canopy of my four-poster bed, those days were gone. My once young skin is now covered with wrinkles and my raven black hair is now white.

I knew I wouldn't live long, my only remaining maid left as soon as Cousin Arthur, who inherited the Earldom upon my father's death, stop sending his support. To ask for help from my three still living hateful sisters would also have been pointless.

I was left to die.

I feel empty. I am filled with regrets. I have lived my life as a coward, basking in a life of privilege and when it was gone, I did not fight for it and just accepted my fate. I have let life lead me, I was given a million chances but I have just let them all pass by.

As the dying embers in the fireplace slowly allowed the darkness to seep into the room, I realized, ...I have never really lived.

Suddenly I felt the tears in my eyes. I can't die like this I just can't. In the dead of the night, I heard my deep sobs and my loud grasping breaths.

I am alone. I am dying alone. I don't want to die. I haven't even lived.

If only I could be given another chance, I swear I would do things differently. It is funny how in my last moments I was desperate to live when I have wasted the best years of my life by just existing.

I felt my life drain away as I took my last breath, that was when the clock struck midnight. I smiled and look at the used and battered grandfather clock. That clock was like me. Unwanted. It was why it was left in this shabby place to rot even though it is still in perfect condition. For years she has taken good care of it, for having it has reminded her of a much better time in her life.

I guess this is goodbye old friend.

Somehow she didn't feel quite so alone anymore. Her vision already blurred, and as the grandfather clock took its last stroke, the darkness finally took her.