00:00Maya's eyes swept across the sea of faces below the palace balcony,
00:04heart pounding beneath her forced smile, the message still glowing faintly in her palm.
00:09Look up, he's closer than you think.
00:12She scanned the press pool, the rows of palace dignitaries,
00:16the photographers jostling for position, nothing out of place, nothing she could point to.
00:22And then her gaze drifted upward, past the crowd entirely,
00:26to the row of upper balconies overlooking the courtyard.
00:30A figure stood alone at the far end of the third-floor terrace,
00:35watching not the crowd, not the cameras, but her, directly,
00:39maintenance her of Maya's breath caught.
00:42Even at that distance, she recognized the familiar slouch of the shoulders,
00:46the way he shifted his weight from foot to foot when he was nervous.
00:50Tommy?
00:51Adrian felt her hand tighten around his and glance sideways,
00:55careful to keep his own expression neutral for the cameras.
00:59Maya, what is it?
01:00Third-floor terrace.
01:02Don't look directly.
01:04It's Tommy.
01:05Adrian's jaw tensed, but he kept his composure,
01:08lifting his free hand to wave at the crowd as though nothing had changed.
01:13He said quietly into the small earpiece hidden beneath his collar,
01:17Hello, Marcus, copy, move on, keep the announcement going, exactly as planned.
01:24Don't give anyone watching a reason to think anything's changed.
01:28Marcus moved through the palace's private corridors at a controlled run,
01:33two of his most trusted remaining contacts flanking him,
01:36weapons concealed beneath their formal jackets.
01:39They reached the third-floor terrace access door within minutes,
01:42only to find it locked from the inside,
01:45an unusual security measure for a floor that was supposed to be completely unoccupied
01:50during the public announcement.
01:52Cut the lock.
01:53One of his contacts worked quickly,
01:55and within 30 seconds,
01:58the door swung open onto an empty terrace.
02:00Hello.
02:01Tommy was gone,
02:03said into his earpiece,
02:05scanning the terrace urgently.
02:07He was just here.
02:08There's no way he moved that fast on his own.
02:11Below on the balcony,
02:13Maya's composure cracked slightly,
02:15panic flashing across her face for the first time all evening,
02:19quickly hidden beneath another practice smile,
02:22as the palace official continued reading the formal engagement statement to the press.
02:27Her phone buzzed again.
02:29So close.
02:30He was there exactly as promised.
02:32What you didn't ask was whether he was there willingly.
02:36Maya's stomach turned,
02:37she whispered.
02:39Once the announcement finally concluded,
02:41and they were able to retreat from the balcony,
02:45Maya,
02:45Adrian,
02:46Isabel,
02:46and Marcus regrouped in a private palace office.
02:49The terrace footage from palace security cameras pulled up on Marcus's laptop.
02:54Adrian.
02:55He's saying Tommy came here on his own,
02:58that he's not being held against his will,
03:01not physically anyway.
03:02The grainy footage showed Tommy walking calmly onto the terrace,
03:06roughly ten minutes before the announcement began,
03:09seemingly unescorted,
03:11checking his phone,
03:12glancing occasionally toward the balcony below.
03:15Shodora,
03:16said grimly,
03:18rewinding the footage further.
03:19A second figure entered the frame moments later,
03:23Edmund Hale himself,
03:25unmistakable even from a distance,
03:27speaking calmly with Tommy,
03:29for several minutes before both of them exited through a side door together.
03:32He doesn't look scared.
03:34He looks like he's waiting for something.
03:36Or someone,
03:38said slowly,
03:39said,
03:40though doubt was already creeping into her voice.
03:43He's not being kidnapped,
03:44in any traditional sense.
03:46Whatever Edmund told him,
03:48Tommy went with him voluntarily.
03:50That's impossible.
03:52Tommy wouldn't just walk off with a stranger.
03:55He's smarter than that.
03:56What if Edmund didn't present himself as a stranger?
04:00What if he told Tommy something
04:02that made cooperation feel like the safer choice,
04:05something about you,
04:06Maya,
04:07or about what would happen if Tommy didn't come along?
04:10said carefully.
04:12Maya's phone buzzed a third time.
04:14This time it wasn't a text.
04:16It was a video call request,
04:18from the same unknown number.
04:20The room went silent.
04:22Maya looked at Adrian,
04:24then at Marcus,
04:26both nodding slightly in encouragement.
04:28She answered,
04:29the screen filled with the calm,
04:31composed face of a man in his fifties,
04:34silver at the temples,
04:35dressed in an impeccably tailored suit,
04:38that looked entirely at home,
04:40inside a palace office.
04:41Behind him,
04:43slightly out of focus,
04:44Tommy sat at a small table,
04:46apparently unharmed,
04:48watching the screen with wary confusion.
04:50Miss Reyes,
04:52congratulations on your engagement.
04:54Truly,
04:55a beautifully executed announcement.
04:57The truth,
04:58mostly,
04:59that his sister has found herself
05:01in the middle of a very complicated situation,
05:03and that I could help keep him safe,
05:05while things sorted themselves out.
05:07He came willingly,
05:09because he trusts you enough to believe
05:10I was telling the truth.
05:12Where is he?
05:13What did you tell him to get him to go with you?
05:15Behind him,
05:17Tommy leaned toward the camera slightly.
05:19The call cut abruptly,
05:21replaced by a single text message.
05:24Maya stared at the black screen,
05:26hands trembling,
05:27as the new message appeared beneath it.
05:30Maya,
05:30what's going on?
05:32He said you were in trouble.
05:34He's safe,
05:35comfortable,
05:36and completely unaware of the real stakes here,
05:38and I intend to keep it that way,
05:41provided everyone in that room
05:43understands something clearly.
05:44This was never about money,
05:46or leverage,
05:47or even the throne itself.
05:49This is about a debt
05:51King Frederick has owed my family for 30 years,
05:54and a promise he broke
05:56the moment he chose to bury it,
05:58instead of honor it.
05:59Ask him about Marguerite.
06:01He'll know exactly what I mean.
06:03Every eye in the room
06:05turned slowly toward King Frederick,
06:07who had entered quietly moments before,
06:10unnoticed until now.
06:11Who is Marguerite?
06:13The king said nothing
06:14for a long, heavy moment.
06:16He finally said,
06:17voice barely above a whisper,
06:19someone I thought I'd buried
06:22far more carefully
06:23than Isabelle's marriage certificate.
06:25S's.
06:26Coming up in episode 14,
06:29Marguerite.
06:30King Frederick is forced to confront
06:32a 30-year-old secret of his own,
06:34one that reveals
06:35Edmund Hale's true motive
06:37was never about the crown's power at all.
06:40We'll see you soon.
06:40We'll see you soon.
