<h4>Chapter 645: A DEATH SENTENCE</h4>


    The doors mmed behind Hildegard so hard the walls trembled.


    Rose and King Rnd both flinched.


    Rnd raised a brow, letting out a low whistle. "Well... someone must be very angry."


    Rose didn’t answer.


    She only let out a long, exhausted sigh and sank back into her seat. Her bones felt heavier than usual. Her heart felt heavier still.


    She reached for her quill with shaking fingers and resumed scribbling on the scrolls before her, pretending to focus.


    Rnd walked up to her desk. "Rose. What is wrong?"


    She didn’t look up. Not at first.


    The ink quivered at the end of her quill as she forced herself to continue writing.


    "Rose." He repeated in a much more gentle voice that made her calm down.


    Finally, she muttered with a slight irritation, "It’s about Jasmine," and dipped the quill again.


    Rnd scoffed lightly. "I truly don’t understand why Hildegard is making such a fuss about that girl. She is guilty."


    Rose froze.


    "Isn’t it convenient that you say she is guilty, that you are so sure of it regardless of the fact you weren’t there to witness it?" Rose said with a sharp twist of words.


    "I don’t need to be there to witness it for myself." He said. "The words of my Queen is enough."


    And Rose felt ufortable.


    He was right.


    She had carried the words about Jasmine’s crime.


    She had witnessed it and what she said became conviction.


    Slowly... very slowly... she lifted her gaze to him.


    "Isn’t it convenient?" she asked, voice dripping with annoyance.


    He blinked, confused. "What?"


    "That thest recorded theft in this pce was over a decade ago," she said, her eyes narrowing sharply, "and now suddenly Jasmine is a thief."


    Rnd nodded,pletely missing the point. "Exactly. My point too. We’ve not had a thief in years and suddenly Jasmine arrived and poof Auburn’s ne disappears."


    Rose stared at him in disbelief.


    "Rnd," she said slowly, "that is not what I meant."


    He frowned, clueless.


    Rose set her quill aside and leaned back, looking at him fully. "Why do you hate her? Truly? Tell me."


    Rnd crossed his arms and looked away. "Because she is an outsider. Mannerless. And a bringer of misfortune."


    Rose’s mouth dropped open slightly.


    He continued, unfazed.


    "She brought bad luck to the Moonlight pack. Then the Crescent pack. And now here? Everywhere she goes, chaos follows. Shouldn’t that be convenient too?."


    Rose massaged her temples with both hands, disbelief and disappointment crashing through her like waves.


    "How can you say such a thing?" she whispered.


    "Because it is true," Rnd said. "She must be tried. I’ve already sent people to investigate every angle. And guess what they discovered? She was the only one who entered Auburn’s room."


    Rose clenched her teeth.


    "And the servant who saw her with the ne what would she gain from lying?" Rnd added.


    Rose shot to her feet.


    Her nerves felt stretched thin, trembling under her skin. She began pacing the room, her gown swishing behind her like a storm cloud.


    "Something is wrong." She mumbles to herself.


    After a few minutes of pacing she looks up at him.


    "My intuition tells me this is a setup," she said fiercely. "Every bone in my body feels it."


    Rnd raised an eyebrow. "A setup? Come on Rose. For what? Who would even bother? Jasmine is a nobody."


    Rose spun to him, eyes zing. "I have no idea! Nothing makes sense to me anymore!"


    "I’ll tell you what makes sense." He chipped in. "That girl is a good for nothing and I’ve known her true behavior from the start."


    Silence crackled between them.


    She steadied her breath and walked back to her chair, resting her palm on the table as she looked at him seriously.


    "Rnd," she whispered. "I want to ask you something. And I’ve been meaning to ask it for a while."


    He tilted his head. "Go on."


    Her fingers trembled where they touched the wood.


    "How do you feel about Auburn?"


    His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"


    "I... don’t know," Rose admitted. "But something about her feels... off. I don’t feel like she is truly our grandchild."


    Rnd burst intoughter.


    Actualughter.


    He waved his hand dismissively. "Rose, that is insane."


    Her eyes hardened.


    "Auburn is the perfect example of a princess," Rnd continued confidently. "Behaved. Beautiful. Proper. Everything she should be. It’s in her DNA no matter where she was raised. A princess would always be a princess."


    Rose swallowed.


    "I don’t trust it," she whispered.


    Rnd shook his head. "You worry too much. Auburn is perfect. And thank the Goddess she is nothing like that Jasmine."


    Rose’s jaw clenched.


    "The way Jasmine was abandoned and left to suffer," she said quietly, "is the same fate Auburn could have faced."


    Rnd spat, horrified. "Goddess forbid! Jasmine is an abomination, Rose. She can never be of our bloodline even if the Goddess herself descended."


    Rose closed her eyes tightly.


    He stepped closer.


    "And I hope you know," Rnd said firmly, "the word has spread. Everyone knows. You cannot let your emotions interfere with your judgment. If you do, the people will be furious."


    He leaned over her chair.


    "Jasmine must be sentenced." He dered. "The sooner you realize that, the better for all of us."


    Rose felt her breath leave her chest.


    Rnd turned toward the door.


    "I’ll leave you to think," he said, and walked out casually, as if he hadn’t just condemned an innocent girl.


    The door clicked shut.


    Rose’s heart splintered.


    She pressed both hands to her face and trembled truly trembled under the weight of helplessness.


    Because for the first time since she had recovered from her illness, she felt helpless...


    Queen Rose felt powerless.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Once Hildegard heard his footsteps begin to approach, she lifted her ear from the door and rushed to hide by a pir whilst the guards stood on guard.


    He opened the door and walked away without sparing them a nce.


    Once she was sure he was gone, she very gently stepped out from where she had stood.


    So he did in fact have ever intention of sentencing Jasmine to death.


    That bastard.


    She looked at the guards.


    "We’re even now" They said for letting her overhear the gossip.


    She had threatened to have Otto turn them rabid after they had been nasty to her in the throne room.


    She nodded as she left.


    She had to do something.


    Fast!