We reached back to the Southern Kingdom earlier than expected due to good weather. Once the carriage came to a halt, the door was pulled open by an attendant and Augustus was quick to hop off. I was used to him doing this, since he was always the first to enter and the first to leave but what made me stunned was the fact that he was standing by the carriage door with his hand outstretched for me.

　　“Let’s go.” He called out, his voice snapped me out of my reverie. I reached out and placed my hand on his, allowing him to help me out of the carriage.

　　He held my hand even when I was out of the carriage. I looked up at him, catching his eyes. I wanted to thank him, that was my first thought and yet I found myself at a loss of words. Augustus being nice was still something I could not get used to. I opened my mouth, ready to speak but we were interrupted by footsteps approaching us. Our hands parted as we turned to the figures.

　　“I am glad you arrived back safely, Princess Cordelia, Prince Augustus.” Gideon greeted us, behind him was Cassian and Aiden. They gave me sympathetic smiles simultaneously.

　　“Tell us everything,” Augustus was quick to say to Gideon.

　　“Of course, but not here.” He then beckoned us to follow, and we did, walking up the stairs and entering the palace.

　　“Where is he? Isaiah?”

　　“In the dungeons,” Cassian replied.

　　“What? Why is he being treated like a mere criminal? Why isn’t he under house arrest instead?” I asked.

　　“Lady Marie and her two bratty daughters claimed that they would be too afraid to be under the same roof as Isaiah hence they demanded him to be locked up.”

　　My hands balled up into tight fists as I thought of how he must be mistreated in the dungeons. If my speculation was true, if Lady Marie really is behind this elaborate scheme, then she has gone too far now. “Where are they?” I asked through gritted teeth.

　　“If you mean Lady Marie and her children, they went to the Wright Manor.” Aiden chimed in. “Declan’s funeral was a few days ago and they have been going to visit the family ever since.”

　　“Word of your return to the palace must be reaching them already. We do not have much time as we need to hatch a plan on how we are going to clear Isaiah’s name.” Gideon said.

　　“So, it’s true then, that Isaiah is innocent?” Augustus asked.

　　We approached the study. “That is what we want to believe but the evidence goes against that right now due to the circumstances of Declan’s death.” He explained as we entered the room one by one. Aiden was the last to enter, as he quickly pushed the door shut.

　　“Where is mother?” I asked him.

　　“She went to Lady Angeline’s manor for a few days. I was afraid that other things would happen hence I told her to leave to live with a trusted friend.”

　　“Smart thinking, Aiden.” I said, giving him a reassuring squeeze of the arm.

　　“Well then, since all of us are here now, let us tell you what had occurred from the beginning.” Gideon started and we all turned our attention to him. “It happened a few days after the both of you had left for the Northern Kingdom. We gathered in the council room for a briefing of our duties, but Isaiah was late. At that moment, I had a feeling that something was wrong. Isaiah may be an impulsive young man, but he was never one to be tardy.”

　　“I volunteered to go look for him since I was getting restless waiting around and Aiden followed me. We went to his room, went to the dining room, the training hall and even the library but there were no signs of him nor his attendants. As we were heading back to inform Gideon about this, we were passing by the gardens when we noticed one of Isaiah’s attendant’s running from that direction.” Cassian added.

　　“His attendant? The one from his kingdom? The young boy?” I asked.

　　“Yes. Aiden then said he was going to chase after the boy whereas I went to the gardens to see if Isaiah was around. But just as I stepped foot into the gardens, I heard a loud shrieking scream. I went towards the source only to find a crowd of maids and Princess Lilian’s guests gathered around the spot. Someone yelled ‘murderer’ and then I could hear the guards approaching. When I finally got to see what the commotion was about, I saw them…Declan laid dead on the ground and Isaiah kneeling next to him, covered in blood.” Cassian explained.

　　I furrowed my brows, looking over to Gideon by instinct, he caught my gaze but before either of us could say anything, Aiden took a step forward.

　　“That’s not all of it. Remember the attendant? I managed to catch up with him only to find him covered in blood as well. When I asked what had happened, he started to cry and say that it was not his fault.”

　　“Not his fault…?” I echoed. “Where is the attendant now?”

　　“He was brought to the dungeons as well.” Gideon confirmed. “But ever since then, he refused to talk to anyone but Isaiah.”

　　“What happened next?” Augustus questioned.

　　“Everything happened so fast, before I could even approach Isaiah, Lady Marie, Princess Elina and Prince Frederick appeared, and they ordered Isaiah to be taken away. Everything went to chaos when Isaiah tried to fight back, and this led to him being thrown into the dungeons.” Cassian said.

　　“That’s the entire story?” Augustus asked.

　　“We talked to Isaiah, and according to him, he does not recall anything that happened that morning.” Gideon told us.

　　“Well, this is a predicament.” Augustus muttered.

　　“Indeed.”

　　“Tell me that you found something or another that would help this case, Gideon, Cassian?” I urged, knowing that they were two intelligent and resourceful men. They immediately averted their gaze from mine.

　　“It is complicated, Your Highness. Whatever evidence we found only led to Isaiah being the culprit.”

　　“Evidence such as?”

　　“Motive. Eyewitnesses claim that they saw Isaiah and Declan arguing about something and that they had a little fight.”

　　“Let me guess, these eyewitnesses are working under Lady Marie?”

　　“Yes. Their involvement in this case is uncanny due to how the witnesses and the arrangement of things lead back to them. Everything seemed to have been set up perfectly, from Isaiah being found in that state and to them sending him to the dungeons.” Gideon explained.

　　Cassian sighed, “Lord Gideon, Aiden and I have been working to find the truth but—”

　　“But we need to be prepared in case the truth reveals an undesirable outcome.” Augustus uttered under his breath.

　　I knew what he meant, he was saying that in the end, evidence speaks louder than words and if we failed to find a way to prove Isaiah’s innocence then he will be sentenced to death for the crime. I clicked my tongue and turned to the door.

　　“Sister?” Aiden called out.

　　“I’m going to see Isaiah.”

　　*

　　Along the way, I met up with Rodrick who got the entire story from his fellow guards. He said he would accompany me down to the dungeons since I have never been there before. The dungeons were incredibly dark, with minimal torches to light up the path. Rodrick led me to the one where Isaiah was in and left for us to have some alone time.

　　Isaiah’s face lightened up when he saw me, he stood up from his seated position and came towards the iron bars. He looked dishevelled and seemed to not have had a proper rest for the longest time. My heart throbbed at the idea of him being down here all alone.

　　“You’re here.” He sighed.

　　“I’m sorry for being late, Isaiah.” I said, enclosing my hand over his. He was taken aback as he stared at our hands for a moment before turning back to me.

　　“I didn’t do this, Cordelia…I wouldn’t kill some bratty nobleman for no reason.” He grumbled.

　　I let out a small chuckle at his honesty. “I know, I trust you.”

　　“…you do? Are you really the same Cordelia I married?” he blinked.

　　“Isaiah,” I warned, followed by a sigh. “I’m going to get you out of here, I’m going to do whatever I can to prove your innocence so please hang in there.” I urged him.

　　He raised an eyebrow at me. “This is nothing, I’ve lived in worse conditions.”

　　“You are very strong and adaptable.”

　　“The Cordelia I know would not have complimented me.” He frowned. “Are you real or a fragment of my imagination?”

　　I tightened my hands around his. “Surely you jest,” I frowned.

　　He shrugged. “I’m not used to this. To you being like this. Caring and all.”

　　“Would you rather I let you be sentenced to death?”

　　“Of course not.”

　　“So, stop talking about irrelevant things and tell me everything you remember from that morning. Everything.” I demanded.

　　Isaiah sighed. “I would love to, Princess, but I already said this to Gideon and Cassian, I have no recollection of that morning nor the previous night. Everything is blank.”