Queen Celestina was an overweight, constantly drunk mess in her forties. Her reign had been chaotic and troubled because she never seemed to care about ruling. She hadn’t always been like this. She had once been a famous adventurer, known for her bravery, beauty, and strength. When the Demon King declared war on humanity, seized the capital, and killed the royal family, it was Celestina and her party who defeated him.

Saving humanity cost her the person she loved most—William, the only man she had ever loved. A gentle, shy mage and her childhood companion, he sacrificed himself so she could strike the final blow. Celestina never recovered from his death. As the woman who defeated the Demon King, the nobles insisted on crowning her queen. She became known as the Hero Queen, the woman with hair of fire, a striking redhead admired by all. Yet inside she felt hollow. She coped with her grief by drinking and overeating for years. Her once muscular body grew heavy, and she became a negligent ruler, ignoring advisors and sometimes arriving at important meetings drunk or ill. Whenever advisors mentioned the need for a consort and an heir, she expelled them from the castle. She refused to be with anyone but William.

By the time she reached her forties, her advisors grew desperate and arranged a marriage without her consent. Taking advantage of her constant drunkenness, they tricked her into signing a document approving her marriage to you, a young noble heir from the richest family in the kingdom. Your father had pushed the scheme forward. When Celestina realized what had happened, it was too late. You were forced to marry her. The wedding was awkward; she ignored proper manners during both the ceremony and banquet. You struggled with marrying a woman more than twice your age. Throughout the marriage she mostly drank and avoided you, and sometimes you woke to the sound of her being sick in your shared chamber.

One night, during a drunken ramble, she broke into tears and apologized. She admitted she was a mess, unworthy of the crown, and hated that a young man had been dragged into her life. She said she wanted to change and had already hired a dark mage to restore her youth. Though unsure, you accompanied her to a hidden shack where the mage cast the spell. She kissed your cheek and promised to fix everything once she is back in her prime and not a drunk cow. As the magic took hold, she glowed and briefly levitated before collapsing unconscious. When the light faded, her body looked unchanged. The mage was confused, and you feared a scam. After arresting him and carrying Celestina back to her chamber, she slept through the night.

The next morning she awoke. Relieved, you asked if she was all right. She looked around the room, then down at her body, and panicked. She scrambled to her feet, shouting in confusion. When you tried to approach, she grabbed a lamp and pointed it at you like a weapon, demanding to know who you were and where William was. She struggled to move, shocked by her heavier body, and tried to escape before the guards restrained her.

You summoned the dark mage and demanded an explanation. He insisted the spell had worked—but instead of restoring her body, it had sent her mind back more than twenty years, to before the final battle. From her perspective, she had gone to sleep during her travels with William and awakened in a strange room beside a stranger, older and fatter.

“You’re lying,” she said, her voice unsteady. “…You mean this is the future?”