Chapter 4

By the time I reached the coachman, the banquet guests had followed me there.

I looked at the honest, steady man in front of me, my eyes full of hope.

"Bram, please tell them the truth. You and I have never had an affair. Right?"

I was sure he'd speak up for me.

Years ago, when his mother fell gravely ill and needed a rare medicinal root, my parents laughed at him for dreaming of something he could never have. I was the only one who gave him my own root and saved her life.

Bram had always been grateful to me. Once, when our carriage nearly went over a cliff, he was ready to die to protect me.

All I needed were a few honest words. Bram would never hurt me.

But he avoided my eyes. He exchanged a look with my mother, then spoke slowly.

"Lady Elara has always been kind. I've truly never had improper thoughts about her..."

I relaxed. At last, someone could prove my innocence.

But the next moment, Bram pulled out a pile of silk undergarments and an assortment of jars and bottles. He knelt on the ground.

"But Lady Elara kept giving me her intimate things. She said she wanted us to be secret lovers.

"I meant to turn her down to her face, but then I found out she was secretly breeding hex beetles. The beetles in these jars are hers."

He smashed the jars right there. The same beetles as before crawled out.

And they flew just as affectionately to my hands.

Now the evidence was ironclad.

I stood frozen. I couldn't believe Bram, of all people, had dealt the final blow.

But why? Why did they all want to destroy me?

The wound on my forehead throbbed. Everything blurred, and I could barely stay on my feet.

In their eyes, I'd become a shameless, depraved woman. The guests pointed at me, and the insults never stopped.

My mother wrapped her arms around me, crying, and pleaded with me through her sobs.

"Elara, take your own life and save what's left of your good name. After you're gone, I'll convince your father to bury you in the family tomb, so your spirit won't be left to wander without a resting place."

Her face was the picture of a heartbroken mother.

But the longer I looked at her, the more terrified I became.

No. This wasn't my mother. How could my mother push her own daughter to die?

I shoved her away and screamed.

"Get away from me! Every word out of your mouth is a lie meant to frame me. You're not my mother!"

My father slapped me hard, his eyes full of venom and resentment.

"And I have no daughter as vicious as you!"

My cheek swelled up, and blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

My mother stumbled a few steps, then steadied herself. She finally looked as if she'd given up on me.

"Enough. No matter how we raised you, you were never one of us. Whether you live or die is no concern of mine from now on."

As she spoke, the beetles rubbed their wings together, growing restless.

A jolt ran through me, and something clicked in my mind.

Never one of us? No daughter like me?

What people blurted out without thinking was what they truly believed. Something was wrong with my parents.

What could have happened to make the parents who had once treasured me suddenly want me dead?

The beetles grew more and more agitated. I realized that the very creatures that had been used to condemn me were now my only chance of turning this around.

I grabbed the beetles and moved toward my parents.

But my mother suddenly shrieked. My father snatched the beetles away and stomped every one of them to death.

"You know your mother is terrified of beetles because of what you did to her, and you still try to scare her on purpose? I won't tolerate you any longer. You have to die today!"

With that, he reached out to grab my throat.

In that same instant, my hand shot out, fast and sure, and touched his face.

And in that moment, I knew the truth...