The Accused Princess
647 Words
Veyra barely slept.
The stone floor beneath her was freezing, but the cold was nothing compared to the emptiness inside her chest.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her father's face.
You are no longer my daughter.
She pressed her palms against her ears.
“Stop…”
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Veyra immediately stood.
The prison door opened.
A royal investigator entered with two guards behind him.
He carried a thick black folder.
Veyra's eyes narrowed.
“Why are you here?”
The investigator placed the folder on the table.
“Princess Veyra Lunareth, you are formally accused of practicing forbidden magic and conspiring against the kingdom.”
Veyra stared at him.
“What?”
He opened the folder.
The first page contained several letters.
Veyra recognized the handwriting.
Her handwriting.
Her blood ran cold.
“These are not mine.”
The investigator looked at her.
“They bear your seal.”
“I said they're not mine!”
He placed another document on the table.
A magical record.
According to it, Veyra had supposedly entered a forbidden chamber beneath the palace three nights before the coronation.
“I have never been there.”
“Then explain this.”
He showed her a witness statement.
A palace servant claimed to have seen Veyra performing forbidden magic.
Veyra's fingers trembled.
“That person is lying.”
The investigator continued.
“There is more.”
He produced a small crystal.
Inside it was a faint recording of magical energy.
“The magical signature matches the Black Moon.”
Veyra stared at it.
“But the mark appeared today.”
The investigator's expression didn't change.
“Exactly.”
Veyra suddenly understood.
Someone had prepared all of this.
The letters.
The witness.
The magical records.
Everything had been waiting for the right moment.
Her coronation.
Her downfall.
Someone had planned this.
“Who did this?”
The investigator closed the folder.
“That is what we intend to discover.”
“No.”
Veyra stepped forward.
“You don't understand.”
She pointed at the documents.
“Someone is framing me.”
The investigator remained silent.
“I would never betray Lunareth.”
“You were the heir to the throne.”
“I still am!”
The investigator's eyes hardened.
“Not anymore.”
Veyra froze.
He turned toward the door.
“Tomorrow, the council will decide your punishment.”
“Wait!”
He stopped.
Veyra's voice became desperate.
“Please. Let me speak to my father.”
“No.”
“My sister, then.”
“No.”
“Cassian?”
The investigator looked at her for a moment.
“He has already given his statement.”
Veyra's heart sank.
“What did he say?”
The investigator opened the door.
“He claims you tried to use dark magic to control him.”
Veyra couldn't breathe.
“That's a lie.”
The door closed.
Veyra stood completely still.
Cassian.
Even he had joined them.
She slowly sat on the edge of the bed.
Her hands trembled.
Then she noticed something.
One of the documents the investigator had left behind was slightly folded.
Veyra reached through the bars and pulled it closer.
There was a seal at the bottom.
A royal seal.
But it wasn't hers.
Her eyes narrowed.
It belonged to someone inside the royal family.
Someone who had access to the palace.
Someone who knew exactly how to destroy her.
Veyra's expression changed.
For the first time since her arrest, her tears stopped.
“If you want me to become your enemy…”
She clenched the document.
“…then you should have made sure I had nothing left to lose.”
Outside the prison, footsteps suddenly stopped.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Then a familiar voice whispered,
“Careful, Sister.”
Veyra's blood turned cold.
Celestia.
The lock slowly clicked open.
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