Chapter 641

[ 1,059 words ]

[Third Person].

Mabel’s lips parted, but no denial came quickly enough. The silence betrayed her. “I—I only—” she stammered, but her words tangled uselessly.

Gabriel’s disappointment was heavy and quiet. “Mabel… what have you done?”

Just then, Oscar nodded to the guards, and the two stepped forward.

Mabel recoiled. “No! You can’t— I did nothing wrong! She deceived everyone! She’s not even a full—”

Her words dissolved into a shriek as the guards seized her arms. Heavy iron shackles were snapped around her wrists. Another pair around her ankles. The sound of metal locking echoed brutally in the hall.

She began screaming hysterically. “This is unfair! She is dangerous! You are all blind! Let me go!”

One of the guards tightened his grip and barked sharply, “Silence!”

When she continued thrashing, another struck the floor hard with the butt of his spear, the crack reverberating through the room. The message was clear.

Mabel’s screams finally dwindled into choked sobs.

Oscar spoke one final time. “By royal order, the prisoner will be confined in the palace dungeon until further notice.”

Margaret covered her mouth, trembling. Gary looked stunned—furious, but powerless, while Monique stood rigid, her earlier arrogance gone.

Mabel was dragged forward despite her resistance, chains clanking loudly against the polished floor. Her sobs echoed long after she was hauled through the doorway.

The Carter estate fell into suffocating silence.

Gabriel stood unmoving as he realized how dangerously close his household had come to ruin.

“Gabriel, are you going to stand there and watch them take my daughter away?” Margaret’s panicking voice filtered through his ears.

He snapped back to the present, his heart in complete turmoil.

—

Gabriel wasted no time. Before nightfall, he was kneeling in the grand hall before the throne.

Draven sat tall, composed, and untouchable. Meredith sat beside him, looking serene and distant.

Gabriel bowed deeply. “Your Majesty. Your Majesty. I beg an audience regarding my daughter.”

Draven’s expression did not soften. “You have it.”

Gabriel swallowed. “Mabel acted foolishly. She is young. I plead for leniency.”

Draven’s gaze sharpened. He didn’t even want to pursue his claim that Mabel was young. Because if she was young, then what was Meredith? Meredith was the youngest of the Carter siblings, yet seemed the wisest and most mature.

So, keeping his rage under control, Draven said coldly, “What your daughter committed is a capital offense.”

The words fell heavily in the hall. Gabriel’s breath hitched.

“Spreading treasonous propaganda against the Crown during a time of unrest,” Draven continued evenly, “carries the punishment of one hundred strokes of the cane—publicly administered.”

Gabriel’s face drained of blood.

“But,” Draven added, his voice turning dangerously calm, “because she is the Queen’s sister, I have chosen imprisonment instead.”

Silence thundered in the hall, then he finished, “You should be grateful.”

Gabriel bowed lower. “I… I am grateful for Your Majesty’s mercy.”

Draven leaned slightly forward. “Understand this clearly. Your family’s honour remains intact because your daughter sits beside me as Queen. Her dignity must be preserved.”

Then, his eyes darkened. “Had this offense come from any other household, the entire family would have perished for conspiracy.”

Gabriel’s hands trembled against the floor as the weight of Mabel’s actions suddenly fell upon him.

Meredith finally spoke, though her voice was calm and detached. “When you find the time, Father,” she said, “raise your children well.”

There was no anger in her tone. No pain. Only cold truth.

Gabriel did not dare look at her. How could he?

Draven’s voice came again softer, but infinitely more threatening. “One last thing.”

Gabriel froze, wondering what else the King had to say. He could only hope it wasn’t more punishment.

“If news of this arrest slips beyond your estate walls… if whispers reach the people before I choose to address it…” His gaze turned lethal. “I will personally bundle every member of the Carter household and send them to join Miss Mabel in the dungeon.”

The threat hung like a blade, then he quickly said, “Of course, my Queen doesn’t count.” Saying this, he gently squeezed Meredith’s hand to reassure her that she wasn’t involved in this.

Finally, he concluded, “You will return home and ensure that every tongue in that estate remains sealed.”

Gabriel bowed so low his forehead nearly touched the marble floor. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty, Queen Meredith, for your benevolence and grace.”

The words tasted like ash in his tongue. But even if it tasted worse than this, he would still repeat those words.

“Dismissed,” Draven said.

Gabriel left the hall a smaller man than when he entered.

—

Night had already swallowed the Carter estate by the time Gabriel returned.

The gates creaked open. The torches along the courtyard walls flickered in the wind, casting long, uneasy shadows.

Margaret was waiting at the entrance hall. The moment she saw his face, her heart sank.

Monique and Gary rushed forward behind her.

“Father” Monique demanded, her voice thin with nerves. “What did the King say?”

“Is Mabel coming back?” Gary asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

Gabriel removed his cloak slowly. “No,” he said.

Margaret covered her mouth. Then he walked past them into the sitting room before continuing. His voice was flat and drained of warmth.

“She has been imprisoned in the palace dungeon.”

Margaret staggered back into a chair while Gary cursed under his breath.

Monique’s eyes widened. “For how long? Don’t tell me it is just like the Advisor stated earlier?”

“That depends on the King’s mercy,” Gabriel replied. “Which, as of this moment, is the only reason she is alive.”

A moment of silence followed as their heads snapped toward him.

Gabriel’s gaze hardened. “What your sister committed is a capital offense. She spread treasonous rumours against the Crown during a time of instability. The punishment for such a crime is one hundred public strokes.”

Margaret gasped. Gary’s face paled.

“But because the Queen is her sister,” Gabriel continued, “His Majesty chose imprisonment instead.”

The weight of what that meant pressed down on them all.

“And if,” Gabriel added slowly, “any whisper of her arrest leaves this estate… if the people hear of it before the King chooses to address it himself… then every one of us will be dragged to the dungeon to join her.”

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