I frowned. “How is that possible…?” I asked him.

　　He shook his head lightly. “I don’t know but I can’t remember anything. No matter how hard I try, everything is a blur.”

　　“Do you have any recollection of meeting Declan?”

　　“That’s the nobleman who died?” I nodded. Isaiah furrowed his brows, deep in thought as he tried to remember. “I met him before, during your debutante party and even our wedding. Only briefly,”

　　“And as of late?”

　　“The day after you left, there was a gathering happening at the grand hall. I didn’t really stop to check it out but according to my attendant, Frederick and Lilian had invited their friends over. I think I saw that Declan fellow around because he was invited as well.”

　　“I see,” I muttered, thinking that I should ask the rest about this gathering. “And what of your attendant? Have you spoken to him since?”

　　“He’s in the cell next to mine but he is as clueless as I am. Although I heard from Cassian that he was covered in blood as well?”

　　“Was your attendant not with you that morning?”

　　“No…when I came too, I was at the gardens and there were a lot of people, and the guards approached me but I didn’t know what was happening—so I naturally fought back.” He explained. “If only I was calmer then I wouldn’t be stuck in here.” He mumbled.

　　“It sounds as though you truly do not recall anything prior to the events of finding Declan’s body.” I uttered to myself. I then turned to look at the cell next to him, where a young boy sat in the dark corner. He looked as tired as Isaiah was, as though deprived of sleep for the longest time.

　　“Cordelia.” Isaiah called out, making me look back at him. He leaned closer to the bar, gesturing to me to come closer to him. I particularly had my head through the gaps of the iron bars. “I think he knows more than he is telling me. But it’s hard to talk to him and see his face when we are separated like this.” Isaiah whispered.

　　“You think you can make him talk if you were in the same cell?”

　　“In more ways than one.” He smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

　　“Isaiah.” I warned him.

　　“I won’t hurt him,” he sighed. “But I know he is keeping something from me and it’s annoying that he would lie to me like this. I need to teach him a lesson.”

　　“There must be a reason…” I said softly. “I’ll try to get the both of you in the same cell, even if it’s a little while, but you have to promise me you won’t hurt him.”

　　Isaiah stayed silent, pulling his face away and averting my gaze. Before I could call him and make him promise, footsteps approached us.

　　“Princess. We need to head back.” Rodrick called out.

　　“Alright.” I nodded. Rodrick went back to the entrance as I turned back to Isaiah. “Wait for me, Isaiah. I’ll promise to get you out of here.”

　　He gave me a half-smile. “And what if you cannot keep that promise, princess? What then?” he asked in a teasing voice.

　　“Do you doubt the future empress?” I teased back.

　　He laughed and shook his head. “Just don’t do anything reckless. I won’t be there to protect you after all.”

　　“Since when have I ever needed your protection, Isaiah?” I raised my eyebrow questioningly.

　　“Shut it and let me be romantic.”

　　“That’s your idea of romance?” I giggled but even then, the nerves were building up. We did not have much time to clear Isaiah’s name and if he is found guilty then what would I do? What would I say to Yara and the others? “Isaiah…”

　　“What?”

　　“I have to go now.”

　　“I know.”

　　“I’ll come back to visit.”

　　“Don’t. Just focus on getting to the bottom of this. If anyone can do it, I know you can.”

　　“It’s rare to see you this nice.”

　　He frowned. “I could say the same to you.”

　　I smiled and slowly pulled my hand away from his. I gave him a small wave and watched him playfully gesture me to leave. I walked away from his cell, noticing Rodrick by the entrance waiting for me. I paused, turned around and went back to Isaiah. He was still at the same spot, looking at me with a confused expression.

　　He opened his mouth, ready to question why I came back but I reached out for his hand, moving it from the bar and pulling it out through the gaps of the iron bars. I kissed his knuckles, feeling his hand tense under my touch.

　　“Wait for me.” I whispered into his skin.

　　Isaiah reached out to caress my cheek with his other hand simultaneously pulling my face up to look at him. “Are you afraid?”

　　“Terribly so.”

　　“You really care for me, huh? What happened to no affection and all that nonsense you often spew?”

　　I knew that my words would always be brought back whenever I talked to these husbands of mine, but this was getting repetitive. Were they going to hold this on me forever, I wonder. But would this mean that I have grown an attachment towards them? Did I truly care for them or was I just against the idea of Lady Marie getting her way, especially since she was involving other people around me.

　　“You said the same thing and look at you now, touching me like this.” I reminded him.

　　“I know…” he muttered, pulling my face through the iron bar and pressing his lips on mine. It was such a soft and gentle kiss that I barely felt it before he pulled away. “I believe in you, and I’ll be waiting.” he whispered, and I had to try my hardest to make sure I did not tear up in front of him as fear and anxiety was piling up in the pits of my stomach. Could I really save him?

　　*

　　“Lady Marie and her children have returned to the main palace.” Rodrick told me as we headed back to the study where the others were gathered.

　　“They would probably want to see me to talk about the situation in hand.” I said to myself. I then turned to Rodrick. “Do you think you could get Isaiah and his attendant to be in the same cell? Isaiah thinks the boy is hiding something from him and he wants to talk it out.”

　　“That sounds rather ominous.”?

　　“Stay with them in case Isaiah tries to be forceful.” I said, remembering the look in his eyes from earlier. He gave me a firm nod in understanding. “Tell me what you know, Rodrick. What did the guards see and everything that happened after.”

　　“According to those who were present, the guards had a scream and ran towards the source. Princess Lilian was having an early gathering with her friends, and they were planning on taking a stroll in the gardens but that was when they saw Lord Declan’s body and Lord Isaiah kneeling next to the body, covered with blood. The guards went to Lord Isaiah when someone said he was the culprit but then Lady Marie and the others came just at the moment Isaiah tried to fight back with the guards. Lady Marie ordered them to take Lord Isaiah to the dungeons.”

　　“And what caused Declan’s death?”

　　“The royal doctor said that Declan was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen.”

　　“What of the weapon?”

　　Rodrick shook his head. “None was found, but from the size of the wound, the weapon had to be a dagger of sorts.”

　　“Abdomen…” I repeated. “Something does not sound right.” I muttered.

　　“Princess?”

　　“Isaiah is much taller than Declan, correct?”

　　“Yes,”

　　“If Isaiah wanted to kill someone, he would do it in the swiftest method. He is a trained warrior after all, I doubt that he would stab someone in the abdomen, where you would have to do it multiple times and wait for them to bleed out.” I spoke my mind. Rodrick remained silent and I quickly turned to him. “T-There’s a lot of crime fiction books that are very popular nowadays.” I quickly defended myself, but Rodrick just remained silent., a small smile on his lips.

　　The moment we arrived at the study, the door was pulled open with such force that I jolted back, and Rodrick reacted by quickly reaching for his weapon. Cassian nearly bumped into me as he tried to leave but stopped in his tracks.

　　“There you are!” he announced before grabbing my arm and tugging me inside. Rodrick followed us in, closing the door behind him. “I was about to go look for you.”

　　“What happened?” I asked him.

　　“I might have forgot to mention earlier that I had sought for information after Lady Marie and her followers from my informants and earlier I received the documents.” He said quickly, making it hard for me to keep up. I then looked over at the desk where there were piles of documents stacked up high. Aiden and Augustus were already looking through them. “And we found something,”

　　“Is it evidence that could clear Isaiah’s name?” I quickly asked, silently wondering where Gideon had gone.

　　“It’s better.” Augustus chimed in; nose buried on the documents in his hands.

　　“What do you mean?” I frowned.

　　“How much do you know about the late Emperor Byron’s first wife?”