00:00He's calling for a full public referendum on whether Belmore should abolish the monarchy
00:04entirely, Marcus had said. The palace erupted into motion within the hour. King Frederick
00:10called an emergency meeting of remaining council members. Palace communications staff scrambled to
00:16draft a response, and across the country, Bertrand's statement was already dominating every news cycle.
00:23Isabel asked, pacing the private study where the family had gathered,
00:27can he actually force a referendum? Not alone. Lord Chancellor's replacement, a measured woman
00:35named Lady Halvers, explained, but Belmore's constitution does allow a referendum to be
00:41triggered by public petition if enough signatures are gathered within 30 days. Given the scandal,
00:48given public sentiment already inflamed by everything that's broken this week, it's not impossible he
00:54gathers enough support. Then we need to understand what people are actually angry about. Adrian said,
01:01not assume it's simply the scandal itself. Maya, who had spent the last several days largely on the
01:08periphery of the succession crisis, finally spoke up from where she sat quietly in the corner.
01:14I've been reading the public reaction since this started. It's not actually about wanting the monarchy
01:20gone. Most people are angry about the secrecy, the hidden marriage, the hidden daughter, the hidden birth story.
01:29Bertrand isn't offering a solution to that anger. He's just pointing it at the whole institution,
01:35because it's easier than admitting he tried to exploit the same secrecy for his own gain.
01:40You think people would actually prefer reform over abolition? King Frederick said slowly.
01:47I think, Maya said, most people don't actually want to tear down every institution their country
01:53has ever known. They want proof that the people running it can be trusted not to lie to them
01:59anymore. That's a very different question than the one Bertrand's asking.
02:03Then that's exactly what we give them, Isabel said. Not a defensive statement. Not palace spin.
02:11The truth laid out completely, on our own terms, before Bertrand gets to define it for us.
02:17All of it? Adrian asked. The surrogacy. Alaric's original crime. Everything?
02:24All of it, Isabel said firmly. We've spent this entire week discovering that every terrible thing
02:30that happened in this family grew out of a secret someone decided the public, or even the family
02:36itself, couldn't be trusted with. I'm done believing that logic. King Frederick studied
02:42his daughter-in-law for a long moment. You want me to stand in front of the entire country and
02:47confess that my own father attempted to induce a miscarriage, rather than risk an imperfect air?
02:53I want you to prove, Isabel said, that this family has actually learned something this week,
02:59instead of simply managing another crisis well enough to survive it. Palace communications staff
03:05worked through the night, though Isabel insisted on writing the core of the address herself,
03:11rejecting draft after draft that softened the truth into something more palatable.
03:16This isn't a press release, she told the exhausted communications director near midnight.
03:21This is an apology. Write it like one. Adrian found her still working at dawn, coffee cold beside her,
03:30dark circles beneath her eyes. You should sleep, he said gently. I will, she said, once this says
03:38exactly what it needs to say. Adrian, if we're going to ask this country to trust us again,
03:43we can't do it with careful phrasing, designed to minimize damage. We have to actually mean it.
03:49Meanwhile, Bertrand's petition gathered momentum faster than anyone anticipated,
03:56fueled by his own carefully cultivated media relationships and genuine public anger over
04:01the week's revelations. He's framing it brilliantly, Marcus said, monitoring the campaign's progress,
04:08not as revenge, not as a power grab. He's positioning himself as a reluctant reformer,
04:14someone who discovered corruption at the highest levels and is simply giving the people a voice in
04:20response. Does anyone actually believe that? Maya asked. Enough people do, Marcus said grimly.
04:28He's gathered nearly 60,000 signatures in 18 hours. He only needs 200,000 within 30 days to force the
04:37referendum. Then we don't have 30 days to fix this slowly. Adrian said, we have days, maybe hours,
04:45to change the direction this is heading. Edmund arrived at the palace that morning, having finally
04:50brought Sophia home from the hospital to a quiet private wing, prepared specially for her care. The
04:57first tangible proof, however small, of the Sophia provision's protections already in motion.
05:03I want to be part of the address, Edmund told Adrian and Isabel publicly. As the newly recognized sun,
05:11this whole crisis revolved around. Are you certain? Adrian asked. You'd be putting yourself directly in
05:19front of every camera in the country, right when public anger is at its highest. That's exactly why I
05:25need to be there, Edmund said. Bertrand is using my recognition and Sophia's protection as proof this
05:32family only ever does the right thing when forced into it. Let me stand there and prove otherwise that
05:39this isn't just Frederick's redemption story. It's mine too, and it's Sophia's, and I want the country to
05:46see all three of us standing together instead of hidden apart. From her holding facility, Marguerite
05:52requested one final message be relayed to the family before the address. A short, handwritten note
05:59delivered by her attorney. Adrian read it aloud to the gathered family. Whatever comes of the
06:04referendum, whatever comes of my own legal proceedings, I want you to know that watching
06:08this family choose transparency over Bertrand's manipulation, even now, even under this much
06:13pressure, is more than I ever genuinely expected from any of you. Tell the truth exactly as you've
06:18planned. Don't let his cynicism convince you honesty is a weakness. It was always Belmore's greatest
06:24asset. This family simply forgot that for 30 years, she's rooting for us, Isabel said, surprised,
06:32after everything. She spent 20 years believing this family was incapable of choosing honesty
06:38voluntarily, Adrian said quietly. I think some part of her actually wants to be wrong about that.
06:45That evening, King Frederick, Adrian, Isabel, Edmund, and after careful consideration,
06:51Meyer stood together on the palace's main balcony, the same place where Adrian and Meyer's engagement
06:58had been announced weeks earlier, now facing a country waiting to hear whether its monarchy
07:03had actually learned anything from its own unravelling. King Frederick stepped to the podium first.
07:10Three decades ago, he began,
07:11my own father made a decision so cruel, so afraid of imperfection, that he nearly killed my wife,
07:19rather than risk raising a grandchild he judged unworthy before birth. I have spent this week learning
07:26that his fear did not end with him. It shaped how this family treated Edmund. It shaped how this family
07:33hid Sophia. And I am ashamed to admit, it shaped choices I made myself, believing secrecy was protection,
07:41rather than what it actually was, cowardice dressed up as duty. As the king continued his address,
07:48laying out every hidden truth of the past 30 years in full public view, Marcus, standing at the edge of
07:56the balcony, monitoring security feeds, suddenly went rigid. He leaned toward Adrian, voice low and urgent
08:04beneath the king's continuing speech. Adrian, we have a problem, he whispered. A vehicle just breached the
08:10outer checkpoint at high speed. It's not stopping for security.
08:14Redecked it, Adrian whispered back, careful not to disrupt his father's address.
08:19We tried, Marcus said, his expression turning to genuine alarm as he stared at his phone.
08:26It's already through the second perimeter. Whoever's driving knows this palace's security gaps better than
08:32almost anyone alive. Adrian felt a cold understanding settle over him as the pieces clicked into place.
08:40Only one person we know fits that description, he said quietly, and she's supposed to be in a holding cell
08:47right now.
08:48Coming up in episode 34, breach as an unidentified vehicle races toward the palace during the king's live address.
08:56The family must determine who has escaped custody and what they intend to do with the entire country watching.
