“Let go of me! Don’t you know who I am? You insolent wretches! Do you think you’ll live after laying your hands on me?”

Cassandra’s shrill screams echoed through the corridors of Reycan Palace, reverberating all the way to the far end of the hall.

Even as the royal guards dragged her away, she did not falter in her defiance.

However, the moment she was forced into the king’s bedchamber and saw that King Alfonso was awake, she froze.

“F… Father… w-when…?”

Cassandra trembled like prey caught in a trap. King Alfonso scoffed, amused by her terror.

“Why? Did you think I would never awaken and simply die?”

Her eyes darted to the side.

When she saw Viscount Schreier prostrated on the floor, all color drained from her face.

“T-that is not so…! I am glad—truly glad—you have awakened… Father…”

The king turned away, as though her words were beneath his notice.

“Force the crown princess to her knees.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the captain of the guard pushed Cassandra onto her knees.

Her gaze whipped toward Ophelia, who stood off to one side. Her eyes begged desperately—What is happening? How did this happen?

Ophelia slowly lowered her head, looking bewildered. She bit her lip and took a step back, unable to grasp the situation.

This was to ensure that no one would suspect that she had orchestrated this moment. She wanted Cassandra to cling to a shred of false hope until the very end.

“They say you ordered Viscount Schreier to poison me with belladonna flowers.”

Cassandra shook her head frantically, words stumbling out.

“N-no! Father, how could I ever commit such a crime?”

King Alfonso didn’t even pretend to listen. He signaled to Viscount Schreier with a flick of his eyes.

The Viscount, who had been crouched low, slowly lifted his head.

“…Her Highness the Crown Princess has been giving me belladonna flowers all this time.”

“I have no grudge against you, why would I utter such outrageous lies! I have never done such a thing!”

Cassandra immediately turned her look onto Viscount Schreier.

“I am Your Majesty’s eldest daughter! Why would I ever do something so monstrous…! Do not be deceived by that man’s wicked schemes, he seeks only to drive a wedge between us!”

Bang!

Everyone looked down at the sudden crash. Viscount Schreier had hit his head on the floor and was crying.

“His Majesty was searching for Lady Johanna’s child… and so Her Highness the Crown Princess sought to poison him!”

“Silence!”

But instead of cowering at the king’s roar, Viscount Schreier raised his voice even further.

“Belladonna grows in the conservatory garden that connects to the annex of the Loren estate!”

“H… ha, ha, ha!”

King Alfonso’s loud, thunderous laughter filled the room.

“Then all we must do is search the Loren estate.”

At those words, Cassandra’s face turned deathly pale.

“Father…! My grandmother, she lives alone there in her frail state…! You know she is the legitimate princess of Zenith I’s line…”

Cassandra spoke as though the Dowager Duchess were still alive.

King Alfonso seized her chin harshly.

“Cassandra.”

“…”

“Did you truly think I would not know your grandmother has already drawn her last breath?”

The strength drained from Cassandra’s body, her posture collapsing as though she had only now realized she had nowhere left to flee.

“Father… I am your daughter… am I not…?”

Her voice broke as she lifted her face, crawling forward to cling to his leg.

“Please… just once… please…”

But the king’s gaze was icy when he looked at her. As though she were filthy, he merely looked down at her hands, which were clutching his thigh. He showed no trace of paternal mercy.

Ophelia recognized that look well. It was the same expression he had worn the day she had clung to him, sobbing.

She knew better than anyone that King Alfonso would never accept responsibility for Cassandra’s downfall.

“I hereby depose the queen. Deliver my command: she shall never again leave the Rosheford Tower.”

Those words meant that Queen Agnes would lose her title immediately and Cassandra would, in that moment, become an official bastard.

“N… no… no, please… Father, how can you be so cruel to me…!”

As she watched Cassandra tear at her hair in despair, Ophelia silently mocked her. Cassandra seemed far more upset about losing her legitimacy than about her mother’s downfall.

She had lived her whole life with pride as the rightful heir. What did Queen Agnes’s fall matter in comparison?

But King Alfonso was not content merely to depose someone.

“Father, I was wrong! Please grant me mercy…!”

“You dared attempt to poison me and plot treason. Thus, you are struck from the royal genealogy, and all titles granted to you as crown princess are revoked.”

Cassandra’s desperate sobs abruptly stopped.

“Furthermore, bearing not the royal surname but that of your mother’s line, Cassandra Loren—”

“…”

“Three days from now, you shall be executed in the Eponia Square.”

Of course.

He wouldn’t even let her die with her dignity intact.

He wouldn’t be satisfied until he had stripped her of her name, her bloodline, her past — everything.

“Confine her in Lysimée Palace. And imprison Viscount Schreier in the underground cells.”

Lysimée Palace: A residence reserved for the illegitimate children of the royal family.

Being sent there was a fate far worse than dying under the Loren name. It meant erasing her former status and publicly branding her a bastard.

“Father, please—!”

Cassandra screamed as the guards dragged her away.

Viscount Schreier followed without offering any resistance, his head bowed. He did not seem afraid; in fact, he almost appeared relieved.

‘He will be executed alongside Cassandra as an example. I’ll have to ask Ligeia to intervene before that happens.’

Viscount Schreier had to survive. Once Frederick ascended the throne, he would need someone reliable at his side.

King Alfonso’s gaze shifted toward Ophelia.

“Ophelia.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do you also resent me?”

His eyes swept over her, searching, measuring.

“You have always followed Cassandra closely. If you… were to ask me to spare Cassandra, I might consider it.”

His mouth twisted into a mocking smile.

‘If I beg for her life, he’ll spare her—so he claims.’

If he had intended to spare Cassandra, he would never have announced her public execution in front of so many witnesses.

Ophelia recognized immediately that this was a test.

If she pleaded for Cassandra’s life, he would undoubtedly brand her a traitor, too.

She pressed both hands to her face, letting her shoulders tremble as she forced out a choked breath, as though she could not comprehend the atrocity before her.

“…How… how could such a thing… be possible…? That Your Majesty’s collapse was all a deception….”

King Alfonso’s eyes narrowed, still gauging the sincerity of her words.

So she spoke the exact words he wanted to hear.

“…O sun of Quilche.”

She bowed deeply.

“To me… she is now nothing more than a bastard who does not share my blood.”

“Is that so? Unexpected. You and Cassandra were rather close.”

Still wary that she had not defended Cassandra, Ophelia answered with a faint, bitter tone.

“She is the daughter of Agnes Loren, who burned every memento left by my mother, Princess Violetta Xavi.”

“…”

“And I have lived my entire life under Your Majesty’s grace. How could I ask mercy for a criminal who sought to poison you?”

Thus, she revealed her long-hidden resentment towards Queen Agnes, showing that it was only natural that she felt no sympathy for Cassandra.

“Clever child.”

King Alfonso looked down at her with satisfied approval.

“I knew you would be this way. While I lay ill, I heard how deeply you worried for me. Good. At least I have one proper child.”

“…I am truly relieved that you have awakened, Your Majesty.”

His expression brightened with pride.

“Of course… you are my daughter.”

“…”

“You suffered harsh *buse under Agnes since you were young. You have endured much, Ophelia. May this finally ease your grievances.”

He lifted a hand and patted her shoulder twice, pleased with himself.

“Thank you for Your Majesty’s thoughtful care.”

As always, Ophelia hid her resentment behind a clear, serene smile.