00:00She's requesting the harshest possible sentence available under Belmore law,
00:05Marcus had said, and she's asked that no one from this family attend to advocate on her behalf.
00:11Adrian stared at him in disbelief.
00:14That makes no sense.
00:16She spent this entire crisis fighting for recognition, for protection,
00:20for a place in this family for her children.
00:22Why would she throw away any chance of leniency now,
00:26right when the council might actually be inclined to show her mercy?
00:30I don't know, Marcus admitted, but her attorney wouldn't discuss it further over the phone.
00:35If you want answers, you'll have to go to her directly.
00:39She said no one should attend the hearing, Isabel pointed out.
00:43The hearing, yes, Adrian said, already moving.
00:47She didn't say I couldn't visit her tonight.
00:50Marguerite looked up as Adrian entered the holding facility's visiting room,
00:55surprise flickering briefly across her composed features.
00:58I told them not to send anyone.
01:01You told them the family shouldn't attend the hearing, Adrian said, sitting across from her.
01:06This isn't the hearing.
01:08Why the harshest sentence?
01:10Marguerite.
01:12After everything.
01:13After telling me the truth about the surrogacy.
01:15After asking to build some kind of relationship once this was all over.
01:20Marguerite was quiet for a long moment,
01:22her composure cracking just slightly at the edges.
01:25Because Bertrand's referendum campaign nearly succeeded tonight.
01:29Adrian, not because people didn't trust the monarchy's potential to change.
01:34Because they didn't trust that anyone,
01:37including the people orchestrating that change,
01:39would actually be held accountable for what they'd done to get there.
01:42I've spent 20 years manipulating this family,
01:46this kingdom's trade infrastructure,
01:48and eventually your own brother's grief,
01:51all to force a recognition and protection.
01:53I genuinely believe Edmund and Sophia deserved,
01:57Marguerite continued.
01:58That doesn't make my methods excusable.
02:01If this council extends me leniency now,
02:04simply because my goals turned out to be sympathetic,
02:07it sends exactly the wrong message to the next person,
02:11who decides that manipulation and blackmail are acceptable tools,
02:15provided the cause feels righteous enough.
02:17So you want to be punished harshly,
02:20Adrian said slowly,
02:22to prove that good intentions don't excuse the harm you caused.
02:26I want Edmund's recognition,
02:28and Sophia's protection,
02:29to stand on the council's own conviction,
02:32Marguerite said,
02:33not on sympathy for a criminal who forced their hand.
02:36If I accept a lenient sentence now,
02:39Bertrand's supporters,
02:40and anyone like him in the future,
02:43will always be able to argue that everything this week accomplished
02:47was simply the result of successful extortion,
02:50not genuine institutional change.
02:53That's not fair to you,
02:55Adrian said.
02:56You spent this entire crisis
02:58trying to build something better,
03:00even through terrible methods.
03:02You deserve a chance at an actual life,
03:05Marguerite,
03:06not just punishment for its own sake.
03:09I've had 20 years of hiding,
03:11Adrian,
03:12Marguerite said,
03:13something almost peaceful,
03:15settling into her expression.
03:16I've made my peace with paying a real price
03:19for the choices I made to get here.
03:21What I haven't made peace with
03:23is the possibility that Edmund and Sophia's futures
03:26remain permanently tied to a public
03:28perception that their recognition
03:30was purchased through crime
03:32rather than earned through truth.
03:34Let me carry the consequence.
03:36Let them carry only the outcome.
03:39Adrian sat with this for a long moment,
03:42understanding slowly settling over him.
03:44You're trying to give them a clean start,
03:47even if it costs you everything.
03:49Some debts,
03:50Marguerite said quietly,
03:52are only repaid by refusing the easy way out.
03:56Adrian relayed the conversation to Edmund
03:58later that evening,
04:00watching carefully
04:01as his newly recognized brother
04:03absorbed the weight of their mother's decision.
04:06She's doing this for me,
04:07Edmund said,
04:09voiced tight with a complicated mixture of grief
04:11and frustration.
04:13Again,
04:14making a unilateral decision
04:16about what's best for my future
04:17without asking what I actually want.
04:20Do you disagree with her reasoning?
04:22Adrian asked.
04:24Edmund was quiet for a long moment.
04:26I don't know.
04:28Part of me wants to march
04:29into that hearing tomorrow
04:30and demand mercy for her
04:32regardless of what she's requested.
04:34Another part of me understands exactly
04:36why she believes this matters
04:38more than her own comfort.
04:40I've spent my entire adult life
04:42wanting this family to actually mean
04:44the things it says publicly.
04:46instead of just performing accountability
04:48when convenient.
04:49Maybe this is what actually meaning
04:51it looks like.
04:53I'm probably with fun people.
04:55Edmund visited Sophia that night,
04:58finding her awake and alert
04:59in her new private quarters,
05:01her health steadily improving
05:03under careful medical supervision.
05:06He explained slowly and gently,
05:08using the communication methods
05:10her caregivers had taught him
05:11over the past few days,
05:13exactly what their mother had decided.
05:15Sophia listened carefully,
05:17then reached for a small notepad
05:19she used to communicate,
05:21writing something slowly and deliberately
05:23before handing it to Edmund.
05:25He read it aloud to himself,
05:27his voice breaking by the final word.
05:30Tell her I forgive her for hiding me.
05:32Tell her I don't need her punished
05:34to know she loves me.
05:35Edmund returned to the holding facility
05:37that same night,
05:38requesting an emergency visit
05:40despite the late hour,
05:42security ultimately relenting,
05:44given everything the family
05:46had endured together
05:47over the past several days.
05:49He showed Marguerite
05:50the notepad message,
05:52watching as decades of careful composure
05:54finally, completely dissolved.
05:56She forgives me,
05:58Marguerite whispered,
05:59tears falling freely
06:01for the first time
06:02since anyone had known her.
06:04She doesn't need you punished
06:05to know she's loved,
06:07Edmund said quietly.
06:08But mother,
06:09I understand why you still believe
06:11the council needs to see accountability,
06:13regardless of what Sophia
06:15or I personally need from you.
06:16I'm not asking you
06:18to change your request tomorrow.
06:19I'm asking you to know,
06:21going into that hearing,
06:23that whatever sentence
06:24they hand down,
06:25your children have already forgiven you
06:27for everything that led us here.
06:29Marcus,
06:30reviewing security logs
06:32late that night,
06:33in preparation
06:33for the following morning's hearing,
06:36noticed something unusual flagged
06:38in the holding facility's
06:39routine perimeter check,
06:41a brief, unexplained gap
06:42in camera coverage,
06:44roughly 20 minutes earlier,
06:46quickly restored,
06:47easily dismissed
06:48as a minor technical glitch
06:49by the facility's overnight staff.
06:52He almost let it go.
06:53Then something nagged at him,
06:55and he pulled
06:56the full facility roster instead,
06:58cross-referencing
06:59every staff member
07:00scheduled for overnight duty
07:02against known
07:03palace personnel records.
07:05One name didn't match
07:06any official record at all.
07:08That's strange,
07:09he murmured,
07:10pulling up the facility's
07:11employment file
07:12for the unidentified guard.
07:14The file was empty.
07:16No background check.
07:17No employment history.
07:19No photograph on record
07:21beyond the generic placeholder
07:23used for newly onboarded staff,
07:25awaiting formal processing.
07:28Marcus immediately called
07:29the holding facility's
07:30night supervisor.
07:31Urgency.
07:33Sharpening his voice.
07:34I need you to confirm
07:36the identity of a guard
07:37currently listed
07:38on your overnight roster.
07:39Badge number 4,471.
07:43There was a long pause
07:45on the other end,
07:46followed by confused shuffling.
07:48Sir, I'm looking at
07:49our current roster right now.
07:51There's no badge 4,471
07:54assigned to tonight's shift.
07:56Then who's currently posted
07:58outside Marguerite Hale's cell?
08:00Marcus demanded.
08:02Another pause,
08:03longer this time,
08:04followed by the sound
08:05of the supervisor's footsteps
08:07moving quickly
08:07across a hard floor.
08:09Sir, the supervisor said,
08:12voice suddenly tight with alarm.
08:14There's no one posted
08:15outside her cell right now.
08:16The post is empty,
08:17and the cell door,
08:19the line cut a break.
08:21Replaced by a burst of static,
08:23Marcus was already
08:24grabbing his keys,
08:25dialing Adrian with his other hand
08:27as he splintered
08:28toward the exit.
08:29Adrian, he said
08:30the moment the call connected,
08:32get to the holding facility
08:34right now.
08:35Something's happened
08:36to Marguerite.
08:37Coming up in episode 36,
08:39Empty Post,
08:40with Marguerite's guard missing,
08:42and her cell unaccounted for
08:44hours before her sentencing hearing,
08:46the family races to determine
08:48whether she's been taken
08:50or whether she's finally chosen
08:52to disappear on her own terms.
