00:00Marcus said grimly, someone told the council everything, and it wasn't us.
00:06If the council knows about Edmund's claim, about Isabel's marriage, about all of it,
00:12this isn't a family crisis anymore.
00:15This is a constitutional one.
00:17Who else knew enough to leak this?
00:20Adrian demanded.
00:21We've kept this contained to five people in this room, Reverend Cain, and Edmund himself.
00:27Marcus's jaw tightened.
00:30Marcus looked up slowly, which means either someone in this room isn't as contained as we think,
00:35or Edmund leaked it himself, to board Lorthwee, because Tommy said Edmund looks scared.
00:42Whatever's happening right now, I don't think Edmund is the one in control of it anymore.
00:47Why would he expose his own plan before it's finished?
00:51Isabel asked.
00:52Your Majesty, we have received credible documentation suggesting three matters of grave constitutional concern.
00:58First, that Princess Isabel's marriage to Prince Adrian was never legally finalized.
01:03Second, that an illegitimate son of your majesties exists and has not been acknowledged.
01:08And third, that Prince Adrian's newly announced engagement to Miss Reyes was made under circumstances
01:12involving coercion.
01:14Any one of these, if proven, calls the entire line of succession into serious question.
01:19Where did this documentation come from?
01:22King Frederick asked evenly.
01:25Lord Bertrand's slid a folder across the table, anonymously submitted, but thorough, disturbingly thorough.
01:33The call cut off near the Eastern District, Marcus said, zooming in on a rough map overlay.
01:40There's a private residence registered to one of Edmund's consulting firms, holding companies.
01:46If Tommy's still with him, that's the most likely location.
01:50Then let's go.
01:51Meyer said immediately.
01:53Not without backup, Marcus said.
01:56And not while everything happening in that chamber determines whether Edmund still has any protection left once we find him.
02:04Meyer's hands clenched at her sides.
02:06My brother doesn't have time for palace politics, Marcus.
02:10I know, Marcus said quietly.
02:13Give me twenty minutes to pull together people I trust completely.
02:17Then we move, whatever the council decides.
02:19Everything in that folder is true, he said plainly.
02:24Isabel's marriage was never legally completed due to an administrative failure I personally authorized, believing it to be temporary.
02:32Edmund Hale is my biological son, born before my marriage to the late queen, a fact I only learned three
02:39years ago and failed to properly address.
02:42And Miss Reyes' engagement to my son was in fact arranged under duress, orchestrated by Edmund himself as leverage in
02:50a personal grievance against this family.
02:52You're confirming constitutional grounds for challenging the succession.
02:57Your Majesty, he said carefully.
03:00Adrian stepped forward before the council could respond further.
03:03If I may address the chamber directly.
03:06Lord Bertrand nodded permission.
03:08I've told the truth, King Frederick said.
03:11For the first time in thirty years, I've simply told the truth.
03:15What this council decides to do with it is now entirely in your hands.
03:20Everything my father just confirmed is accurate.
03:23Adrian said.
03:24But I want this council to understand something clearly.
03:28None of it changes who I intend to build my life with,
03:31or how I intend to lead this family moving forward,
03:34regardless of what titles or technicalities this room decides matter most today.
03:40Prince Adrian, one of the older council members, interjected.
03:44Surely you understand the legal implications of an improperly finalized marriage.
03:49Followed immediately by a coerced engagement.
03:53Raise serious questions about your judgment as a future monarch.
03:57They raise serious questions about how this family has handled truth for thirty years.
04:03Adrian shot back.
04:04Not about my judgment.
04:06I didn't create this mess.
04:08I inherited it.
04:09The same way I'll inherit this crown one day.
04:12Imperfect, complicated, and worth fixing rather than abandoning.
04:17There is precedent for resolving matters exactly like this, Your Majesty.
04:22A formal legitimization proceeding.
04:24For both the marriage and for Mr. Hale's claim, conducted transparently,
04:30with full council oversight rather than palace secrecy.
04:33Lord Bertrand studied Adrian for a long moment before turning back to the king.
04:39You're proposing we make all of this public?
04:42King Frederick said.
04:44I'm proposing, Lord Bertrand said,
04:47that this family has spent thirty years choosing secrecy over honesty,
04:52and every single choice has metastasized into a larger crisis than the one before it.
04:57Perhaps it's time to try something different.
05:00Isabel, silent until now, finally spoke.
05:03I agree with the Chancellor.
05:06Formalize everything.
05:07My marriage Edmunds claim.
05:10All of it.
05:11Openly.
05:11No more sealed archives.
05:13No more disappearing paperwork.
05:15Then let's begin, he said quietly.
05:19My contact just reached the Eastern District residence, he said.
05:24It's empty, but there's something you need to see.
05:27No prompt.
05:28Received.
05:29What is he talking about?
05:31Unwanted.
05:33Maya, how much do you actually know about your own father?
05:36The question landed like a physical blow.
05:39What does my father have to do with any of this?
05:42Marcus.
05:43Maya whispered.
05:45Voice shaking.
05:46That's not possible.
05:48Coming up in episode 16.
05:50Her father's name.
05:51Maya discovers a hidden connection between her own family and Edmund Hale
05:56that threatens to unravel everything she thought she knew
05:58about who orchestrated the crash that started it all.
06:01Well, I'll see you next time.
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