Chapter 1: The Truth Beneath the Blood
Chapter 1: The Truth Beneath the Blood
The grand ballroom remained frozen.
No one moved.
No one even dared to breathe.
Princess Eleanor knelt on the polished marble floor, holding the trembling boy against her chest as if letting go would make him disappear again.
His body shook violently.
His small fingers clung to the fabric of her emerald gown.
"I thought you were gone..." she whispered, tears streaming silently down her face.
Eight years earlier, the palace had announced that Prince Adrian had died after a carriage plunged into a flooded river during a violent storm.
The tiny body had never been recovered.
The kingdom mourned.
A funeral was held.
A marble monument was built in the royal gardens.
Everyone believed the tragedy was real.
Everyone...
Except one person.
Queen Dowager Helena.
Standing near the ballroom staircase, the elderly queen stared at the child with eyes full of disbelief.
There was no mistake.
The birthmark beneath his left ear.
The silver pendant engraved with the royal crest.
The same hazel eyes that belonged to Eleanor's late husband.
"This is my grandson..." she whispered.
Across the room, Vivian slowly backed away.
"She's lying!" she shouted.
"I rescued him years ago! He's my son!"
Before anyone answered, Adrian reached into his torn jacket and pulled out a weathered notebook wrapped in cloth.
"My real mom told me to hide this if I ever escaped."
The notebook landed on the marble floor.
Inside were photographs.
Medical reports.
Birth certificates.
Old newspaper clippings.
And dozens of handwritten diary pages.
Each page described how Vivian had kidnapped the young prince during the chaos of the storm with the help of someone inside the palace.
The ballroom erupted into horrified whispers.
But Adrian wasn't finished.
"There was another person..."
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"He still lives in this palace."
Silence fell once again.
