Chapter 3

In the end, Arthur took the physician away with him to treat Mabel.

Blood continued to gush from the wound on Bertha's temple, refusing to stop. I tore a strip from my clothes and pressed it against the wound through the iron bars, trying to hold back my emotions.

She hissed in pain, yet still tried to comfort me.

"I'm fine, my lady. You bled far more than this when you fell from that tree when you were younger."

I was seven then, and Mother was still alive.

Bertha had carried me in her arms as she rushed through three city streets to bring me home, even losing one of her own shoes in the process.

But now, she lay collapsed before me, while I remained trapped, unable to even step past the prison bars to help her.

A jailer eventually couldn't bear the sight and secretly brought in a healer to see to Bertha. Just as the healer was bandaging her, Arthur returned to the prison once more.

He had changed back into his official robes from the Court of Judicial Review, and he wore his official signet seal on a ring on his finger.

Fixated on that seal, I lunged toward the bars, trying to grab it from him.

Before an execution, the Court of Judicial Review had to verify the prisoner's identity. If he refused to affix his seal to the verification documents, the imperial envoy could not proceed with the execution immediately.

This was my final chance.

Arthur ordered the cell door to be opened.

"I have already secured your marriage certificate and other registration papers away. Don't cause any more trouble for me," he warned me sternly.

I grabbed his arm and pointed at the official seal. He understood my intent, but offered no response.

An official standing behind him held out a document. He said, "Lord Pemberton, the imperial envoy is growing impatient. All that remains is for you to verify the condemned's identity. Kindly do it immediately."

Mabel had followed him there as well. She was now wearing a hairpin in her head that was adorned with a huge pearl, and I recognized it instantly. It had come from my own jewelry chest.

And it wasn't just the hairpin either. The fine silks she wore, the gold bangle on her wrist, even the shoes on her feet—everything belonged to me.

I looked at Arthur.

He shifted, looking visibly uncomfortable. "Mabel has no family of her own to fall back on. But since she's getting married today, she can't very well have nothing to wear for such a big occasion.

"Let her borrow some of your clothes for now. It will be returned to you later."

I pointed to the gold bangle on her wrist. It was a keepsake left to me by my late father. However, Mabel immediately tucked her hand into her sleeve and said, "I'll take it off at once if Victoria hates it!"

However, she simply protected the bangle and refused to take it off. Arthur stopped her and said, "Keep it on. Victoria is not the petty type to hold grudges against you."

A sudden, profound weariness washed over me.

Seven years ago, I sold everything I could, all to save the Pemberton family. But now, seven years later, the few remaining heirlooms I possessed were being used by him to adorn someone else during their wedding.

The official urged him once more.

"Lord Pemberton, if you don't verify these documents now, the Inner Court will hold the Court of Judicial Review accountable for the delay."

Arthur took the papers.

I gripped his sleeve tightly, shaking my head fervently at him. He couldn't affix his seal onto the documents! Once that official seal hit the paper, he would have personally certified that I was Mabel Sinclair, and that would be the end of me.

Arthur looked down at me.

"I cannot reveal the prisoner swap at a time like this, Victoria. Otherwise, Mabel will be taken away. But I promise this seal is only to stall Prince Ezra. I will find a way to save you once the wedding is over."

I opened my mouth, forcing the words out with every ounce of strength I had.

"I… will… die…"

My words were so fractured they were barely audible.

His hand faltered for a moment. Next to us, Mabel's eyes reddened.

"Forget it, Arthur," she said. "I don't want Victoria to hate you because of me."

However, Arthur seemed to have made his final decision. He pressed his seal against the ink pad before pressing it onto the document.

The bright red official seal landed on the parchment paper. In other words, Arthur Pemberton, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, had verified the contents and found no errors.

My grip on him loosened, bit by bit.

Arthur reached out to steady me.

"Don't worry. I won't let you die."

I turned away, avoiding his touch. Then, I drew a worn, creased sheet of paper from my robes.

It was a petition I had written seven years ago before submitting evidence on behalf of the Pemberton family. Stains of my own blood from the time I was subjected to the bastinado still clung to its corners.

The document detailed how I had sold my family estate and worked to clear the Pemberton family's name. At the very least, it would have been enough to prove my true identity—had it reached the Censorate.

However, Arthur grasped my intent at once. He snatched the petition away and tore it in two right before my eyes.

Then, he tore it again into four pieces, warning me, "Don't you dare escalate this any further, Victoria. Do you know that every time you stir up trouble, you will just place Mabel in greater danger?"

The scraps of paper slipped from his fingers and fluttered to the floor. I kneeled down, gathering them up one by one.

Then, I held them to the torches and burned them to ashes myself.

With the last of my strength, I called out to him in my hoarse voice, barely above a whisper.

"Arthur. I'll forget the 30 blows I took for you. I'll also forget the fact that the Montgomery family once saved the Pemberton family. Let that also be as if it never happened."

Flames licked at my fingertips as the paper burned to nothing. Arthur quickly reached out to stop me, but the ashes had already scattered.

Outside, the final drum beats rang out.

"Dawn has arrived. Bring forth the condemned. Verify their identity."