Chapter 2

I knelt in the center of the great hall.

Father sat in the main seat with an annoyed expression. Zara held Ophelia's hand as they sat to one side.

Father asked, "Why did you wake the entire household in the middle of the night? What do you want?"

I straightened my back and raised my head. "Father, I didn't steal Zara's brooch. I was falsely accused."

Zara pointed at me and spoke first. "How could you, Jemima? You admitted it just now. Now, you're claiming you were framed? Are you deliberately doing this to rob Father and Mother of their precious rest time?"

Ophelia tugged gently at her hand and stared at me. "You claim you were falsely accused, but Zara's brooch has indeed disappeared. A maid saw you enter her room with her own eyes. How do you explain that?"

I remained silent.

The bronze mirror I was holding in my arms quietly spoke. "Zara hid the brooch herself. It's in the jewelry box on her dressing table. Send someone to search her room, and they'll find it."

When Ophelia saw that I said nothing, she let out a cold snort. "I knew you were rotten to the core. You've been holding a grudge, so you deliberately dragged your father and me out of bed just to cause trouble."

Father shook his head as well. "You stole, and you came up with a lie to cover it up. Aileen was gentle and proper. How did she end up giving birth to a daughter like you?"

The Aileen he spoke of was my mother, Aileen Stuart.

The phrase "gentle and proper" was nothing more than an excuse to force me into submission. How could he possibly remember what Mother had been like?

Ophelia glared at me even more resentfully after hearing his words.

I bowed my head to the floor and spoke without holding anything back. "Zara's brooch is in her room. All you have to do is search it, and you'll know that I wasn't lying."

Zara's face went pale with shock. "How dare you, Jemima? You want to search my room?"

Father's face darkened, and his voice turned harsh. "Zara is an unmarried young woman. How can you ask for the maids to search her room?"

But when Zara had accused me of stealing the brooch, Father had immediately ordered our maids to search my room. My bedding and drawers had all been turned upside down.

But when it came to Zara, he was suddenly against it.

I crawled forward a couple of steps and grabbed Father's robe. "Father, you're an official of the court. When someone claims to have been falsely accused, you always insist on investigating the matter thoroughly. Now that such an injustice has happened under your own roof, you can't ignore it."

Zara stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face. "Have you lost your mind? How dare you disrespect Father and accuse me? I'll beat you to death, you little wretch."

Her blows came down on me like a torrential storm. I curled into a ball, desperately holding the bronze mirror in my arms.

"Enough!" Father raised his hand and cut her off.

Then, he said impatiently, "Fine. Have a few maids search the room. I want to see exactly what kind of injustice you're talking about."

The maids scattered in all directions.

I remained kneeling on the floor, and my knees throbbed painfully.

Before long, a maid returned carrying the brooch. She reported, "My lord, we found the brooch inside Ms. Zara's jewelry box."

Zara's face turned ashen.

Father shot her a sharp glance, and she hurriedly fell to her knees.

She screeched, "Father, I don't know anything! That little wretch must have framed me! She must have found someone to sneak it into my room!"

Ophelia turned toward her, her voice calm. "I think there must have been some misunderstanding. Didn't a maid see Jemima enter Zara's room earlier? Bring that maid here. We can ask her."

The bronze mirror in my arms gave a cold snort. "She has bought off that maid she's summoning now long ago. The maid has some gold coins on her. Of course, she'll say whatever she's told to say."

The maid soon arrived and knelt beside me. "My lord, my lady, I wouldn't dare lie. I saw Ms. Jemima enter Ms. Zara's room."

Father looked at me and asked coldly, "What else do you have to say, Jemima?"

I shook my head. "I have nothing to say, Father. Except that this maid is carrying some gold coins on her. Either she stole it herself, or she was acting on someone else's orders. Father, perhaps you should ask her if she has anything to say about that."