?Chapter 518:


    The hall fell into heavy silence. Only Molly’s despairing sobs echoed through the air.


    Molly stuttered, unable to present any defense in the face of irrefutable evidence.


    “You…” Leonardo sharply turned to me. “Exin this, Makenna!”


    “I was earlier weakened by a magic potion at the hospital, Your Majesty. Then…”


    Carefully, I recounted everything we had discovered, including Molly’s connection with the wizard. However, I left out certain details, telling Leonardo only that after the wizard escaped from Molly’s home, we captured him and he had been severely injured. I exined that under the princes’ threats, the wizard confessed the truth and died shortly afterward.


    “Everything I’ve said is the truth. The three princes can confirm it,” I told Leonardo calmly.


    He turned to the princes. “Did you witness this?” he asked.


    “Yes, Father. Everything she said is true,” yton answered.


    Molly’s eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth as though to speak, but Leonardo had already lost his patience with her.


    “Guards, take Molly away from here. I want no disturbance from her.”


    Several guards stepped forward, gagged Molly, and dragged her out of the hall.


    “The investiture ceremony is canceled. Anyone repeating what was heard here today to someone else will be executed!”


    With that, Leonardo turned and left the hall…


    Makenna’s POV:


    The ceremony ended abruptly, but the restlessness within me refused to settle. There was one person I had to see again—Molly.


    Bryan and Dominic were still scrambling to clean up the chaos left behind, even drafting a report for Leonardo about the wizard, a statement requiring consensus. In contrast, yton had little left to do. When he heard I intended to visit Molly in the dungeon, he insisted oning along, uneasy about my safety.


    The dungeon was damp and dark, with a lingering musty odor that seemed to sink into one’s bones. We descended the narrow stone staircase to the lowest floor, where a solitary cell held Molly captive.


    She sat slumped, a shell of her former self, lifeless on the cold, hard floor. Her hair was tangled, her face worn and gray—a stark shadow of the vibrant woman she once had been.


    “Molly,” I called out gently.


    My voice stirred her, rousing her as if from a daze. Her eyes, first empty, turned frantic, then dark with anger. Hatred red as they met mine.


    “Makenna! You wretched witch!”


    With that, she lunged at the metal bars, rage pouring from her in waves, cursing me with all the venom she could muster. But the bars held firm.


    I watched her, unflinching. The once-proud Molly was now reduced to this pitiful state, and I calmly said, “After all the harm you’ve done, did you ever imagine it woulde to this?”


    Her re was ice and venom, her voice burning with bitter fury. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here! You’re the one who deserves to die!”


    I held her gaze, my smile cold as steel. “You dug this grave yourself, didn’t you?”


    “Lies!” she shrieked, nearly frenzied, her voice echoing down the stone corridor. “Makenna, I’ll have my revenge, even from beyond the grave!”


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