Hera POV

"Princess Hera is hereby found guilty of the incident involving Princess Marigold Leonny Andromeda. Therefore, she would receive the punishment for harming a royal family member who is also the second successor to the throne of the Raven Kingdom.”

My body went limp. If it wasn't for the chair holding me up, I would have fallen to the floor.

"I'm very disappointed with you, Hera," Dad said quietly but piercingly. "I raised you to be my heiress, the first queen-to-be after two centuries without a queen in this kingdom. But you failed me badly. You did a heinous thing that a Princess and a leader should not do."

Dad clenched his hands at his sides, his knuckles turning white. "How could you have the heart to kill your sister?"

I shook my head quickly, "You've misunderstood, Dad. It really wasn't me. I was at Moonwood when Shawn came to see me. I did see Marry, but it was at dawn and the last time I saw her, she was still fine."

A slap landed on my cheek that made it feel numb. No one dared to stop him because he's the King.

"Your necklace is with Marry. Very strong evidence..." Dad didn't continue his words, he turned his face to the side and took a deep breath.

"Your Honor, I don't want Raven to be led by an unwise queen who is blinded by her greed. Therefore, I want Hera not to be the heiress of Raven Kingdom from today. And her status as princess... will be removed. Right now she is a normal civilian, not a member of the royal family anymore."

Everyone shouted, pointing the finger at me. They agreed with my dad's decision and urged the judge to pronounce the sentence immediately.

My breath caught. Those words were like an arrow aimed right at my heart.

I really had no idea why this was happening to me and why everyone believed that I was guilty.

Everyone agreed with the accusations against me and it happened in unison, as if I did it and I was the only one to blame.

In fact, I only met Marry for a short time. And about the necklace, we hadn't exchanged it yet so each of us was still carrying the wrong necklace that didn't belong to us.

"Dad." I tried to grab dad's hand with a trembling hand, but he brushed my hand away.

"Please resume the trial, Your Honor," he said.

My gaze went blank. I could even hear my own heartbeat as I was so confused by this situation.

"For the heinous actions, the suspect will be punished with the maximum punishment..."

"Wait!" Shawn ran through the dozens of guards surrounding me. He stood in front of me, protecting me.

"Princess Hera is innocent and I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."

I looked at him with teary eyes, he was the only one who defended me. He's the only one who didn't corner me and believed me.

"Shawn, enough, go back. I don't want you to be punished for defending me," I said in a raspy voice.

"No, Hera!" He just held my hand tightly. "Your Majesty, and all those present in this court, are you all not concerned about the fate of our kingdom? The two successors to the throne are in jeopardy, one is in danger of being convicted of a crime she did not commit, and the other is in danger of being in a coma."

"Stop your nonsense!" Dad rushed forward and threw Shawn's body.

I tried to help him but I was held back by many guards.

"Don't hurt him!" I snapped.

"What I said is true, Your Majesty." Shawn knelt in front of dad. "Please consider my words. How will you deal with the marriage between Princess Marry and Prince Alexander under these circumstances? Will the Traiton Kingdom keep quiet when the wedding is canceled?"

A war. That will happen. The worst possibility is if the marriage is canceled by our side.

And if the war starts, then the destruction of the Raven Kingdom has just begun.

"So choose your punishment, Hera. Replace Princess Marigold or watch your kingdom fall apart," dad said with anger.

I looked at mom for help, but she turned her face aside while wiping away her tears.

"Instead of our kingdom falling into their hands, it's better for you to marry Prince Alexander," she said in the end.

Everyone cheered in agreement. They even called me a sycophant and greedy.

And there were many more coercions demanding for me to accept my parents' decision.

"Your Majesty, I request permission to have a one-on-one talk with Princess Hera." Shawn, he looked at me with a tearful gaze. "I will convince her to accept your decision."

I rebelled as he led me through the crowd, to the balcony of the castle.

Shawn knelt in front of me and untied my hands.

"Hera, I know you're innocent and I trust you, but they don't. Right now the most important thing is to earn their trust. I don't want you to be expelled from the royal family either. So I beg you with all my heart, follow your father's decision. It's better than you losing your life."

"I'm innocent, Shawn. I didn't do it," I said in frustration.

"Yes, I believe you. But they don't."

I squeezed my hair. "I don't even know why everyone believes I'm the one that did it just because of one necklace without any other investigation. Isn't that too bizarre? I'm sure there's something wrong here."

Shawn sighed. His brow furrowed and he looked agitated. "Actually, I saw Marry and Alexander arguing this morning, just before I saw you with him. And seeing what he did and said this morning with you, makes me even more convinced that he’s maybe the one who intentionally poisoned Marry to stop the wedding."

I was gaping wide-eyed. Of all the people who can be the guilty ones, I didn't expect Alexander to be one of them.

I took Shawn's hand tightly. "Are you sure it was him? But he-"

"Yes, I'm sure. You also know that Alexander said he would do anything to stop the wedding, right?"

I nodded. It was true that Alexander had said that. But I still didn't think he would do something this big, poison Marry.

Shawn held both my shoulders tightly. "We also know the Traiton Kingdom is known for its dangerous territory. There are many poisonous plants and animals there. So it wasn't difficult for Alexander to find the poison that put Marry into a coma. Moreover, the doctor said the poison was rare and not found in the Raven Kingdom. So with that alone, everything is pointing more and more clearly towards him, Hera."

Shawn was right. From what we heard from the rumors at the academy, the Traiton Kingdom is indeed very dangerous. But if Alexander used that dangerous condition to harm Marry, then he was no different from the monsters there.

"Look into my eyes, Hera."

I looked intently into Shawn's eyes. They were luminous and I couldn't take my eyes in any other direction. "You're the only one I told about this, about Alexander's involvement. I hope you don't tell anyone else because it will only push you further into a corner. If you want to prove my words, you must marry Alexander. That way you will find out the truth."

"But what about you?" I held his hand tightly. "I can't hurt your feelings, you've always been good to me, Shawn. I couldn't betray you."

Shawn stroked my hair. "For your safety, for the sake of our kingdom, I'll let you marry another man."

My tears fell even harder. My vision blurred as the tears welled up. It hurt so much to think of the person I loved hurting my family.

"But you must promise to remember me, to keep in mind your purpose for marrying him. That way, we can think of this as a sacrifice and a fight together. I will wait for you here, Hera, until you return."

I wiped my tears roughly and came back to the hall with my hand held by Shawn tightly.

Two guards held my body after dad gave them orders.

"Dad, mom, please don't do this to me. Please listen to me, I begged you."

They didn't listen to my explanation. Instead, they prepared to leave.

I looked at Shawn's teary eyes from the side. Oh I'm sorry, Shawn, I have to at least tell everyone about the truth you told me about Alexander. Whether they believe me or not, at least I tried.

So I tightened my grip on Shawn, and looked at my parents earnestly. "Instead of blaming me just because my necklace was in Marry's hands, I suggest you also investigate Prince Alexander of Traiton. Prince Alexander met Marry and argued with her before Marry was found unconscious."

There was an uproar of whispers from everyone present in the court. Meanwhile, my mother and father both rounded their eyes.

The court became chaotic because I brought up Alexander's name. I knew this was the consequence but I regretted not telling them more.

Shawn looked at me while rubbing my hands. "Hera, why did you tell them? You promised you'd keep this to yourself.

I nodded quickly. "I'm sorry. I just wanted them to at least think about what I said when I was in Traiton."

"Enough! Everyone be quiet!"

I gasped in shock and instantly the noise disappeared because of Dad's booming voice. Dad got up from his chair and stood a few steps away from me.

"Accusing someone is not something a crown princess should do," he said coldly. One hand shot up whereupon several guards separated me from Shawn. "Prince Alexander is the honorable crown prince of the greatest kingdom, if your accusations get out of this court, it will only make us all perish."

"You must believe in us, dad.” I rebelled and so did Shawn. But that only got Shawn beaten up.

I screamed and begged them to stop hurting Shawn, but dad didn't listen to me and turned his face to the side.

"Dad, mom, please don't do this to me and Shawn. I told the truth. At least investigate Alexander too, don't just put this on me. Please listen to me, I begged you."

But they ignore me. They didn't listen to my explanation. Instead, they prepared to leave.

I finally took a deep breath. "I'm your child, right? If you don't believe me, then who will you believe?"

Dad stopped his steps and so did mom. Now he approached me with a grumble. "It's precisely because you're my oldest daughter and Marry's sister that you have to solve this problem. Just get married to Alexander and we will give you a second chance and not punish you here."

I shook my head violently. "That's not what I want, dad. I want you to believe me about Alexander. I don't want to marry him."

Dad pointed at Shawn who was already helpless with bruises everywhere. "I don't believe you if there is no proof. And if you still want to see him alive, then you only have one choice, marry Alexander."

I couldn't bear to look at Shawn. My chest was aching and tight.

I also really wanted to clear up this misunderstanding. I wanted everyone to know that I wasn't the culprit.

So I made the biggest decision of my life. But before I could say it, my father spoke first, which made me gape even more.

"60 days. I'm giving you 60 days to get Marry back on her feet. Whatever it takes, I don't want to know. If you fail, then I will bring you back here to get the punishment that applies in our kingdom."

My body immediately felt weak. I really had no choice but to agree to this marriage.

In the end, because I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of my stubbornness, I finally nodded. I took a deep breath and looked at everyone at the court with a broken heart. "Alright, I agree to marry Prince Alexander. I promise to save Marry and the kingdom within the specified time. I also promise to bring evidence within 60 days that shows my innocence."