00:00It's Sophia, the woman said urgently.
00:03Something's happened at the facility, and your mother's already there.
00:07Edmund was on his feet, instantly, the succession papers forgotten on the desk.
00:12Who are you?
00:13She said breathlessly.
00:15Anna Belkin, I've been Sophia's primary caregiver for the last 18 months,
00:21since your mother brought her home.
00:23She's had a medical episode, a serious one.
00:26The private staff called an ambulance, but your mother refused to let them transport her to a public hospital.
00:32She's terrified of exposure.
00:35That's insane.
00:36If Sophia needs a hospital, said.
00:39Marcus, waiting outside, pulled the car around within seconds,
00:44Adrian and Edmund climbing in as Anna directed them toward a private estate 40 minutes outside the capital.
00:52I know. That's exactly why I came looking for you instead.
00:56Tell us everything about her condition.
00:59Instead, already dialing the palace to arrange emergency medical support,
01:05Sophia has a rare neurological condition.
01:08She requires constant monitoring, specialized medication,
01:11and occasional acute intervention when episodes escalate.
01:15She's nonverbal, but she communicates beautifully in her own way,
01:20writing, drawing, expressions.
01:22She's 24 years old, and she's one of the kindest people I've ever known.
01:27She said.
01:28Edmund listened in silence, absorbing every word about a sister he'd last seen as an infant 24 years ago.
01:36Anna glanced back at him with something like sympathy.
01:39He finally asked quietly,
01:41Does she know about me?
01:43She's asked about you every single week since your mother brought her home.
01:47Edmund turned toward the window, jaw tight.
01:50I spent 24 years believing she'd been given away to strangers,
01:55and I never once looked for her.
01:57Not once.
01:58I was so consumed with my own grievance against this family,
02:02that I never even considered she might still be findable.
02:05You were six years old when she left.
02:07Adrian said,
02:09That's an excuse.
02:10I've been an adult for decades.
02:12I had every resource necessary to search for her.
02:16I simply chose to build a revenge plan instead,
02:19then start making a different choice tonight.
02:22That's genuinely all any of us can do at this point.
02:25Adrian was quiet for a moment before answering.
02:29The private estate was modest but well-maintained,
02:32converted clearly into a residential care environment,
02:35wide hallways,
02:37medical equipment visible through windows,
02:39an ambulance idling in the driveway with its crew,
02:42arguing tensely with a woman blocking the front entrance.
02:46Marguerite.
02:47She was saying as they approached,
02:50Absolutely not.
02:51She stays here.
02:53We have the equipment.
02:54We have the staff.
02:56And we have privacy.
02:57This family has spent 24 years protecting.
03:00Ma'am,
03:01her vitals are unstable.
03:04We can stabilize her here temporarily,
03:06but if she deteriorates further,
03:08she needs a full hospital.
03:11Mother.
03:11Edmund called out,
03:13stepping from the car.
03:16Marguerite turned,
03:17and for the first time since any of them had encountered her,
03:20her composed exterior collapsed entirely.
03:23She breathed 20 years of careful distance crumbling instantly
03:27at the sight of him standing in front of her.
03:29Edmund,
03:31I should have been here 24 years ago.
03:33Let them take her to the hospital,
03:36closing the distance between them.
03:38If I do,
03:39everything becomes public within hours.
03:43Every reporter in this country will find her,
03:46photograph her,
03:47turn her into a headline about royal scandal instead of a person.
03:51I have spent my entire life protecting her from exactly that.
03:55And I have spent my entire life being protected from truths that only ever made things worse.
04:02Please,
04:03mother,
04:03let her go to the hospital.
04:05Let her be safe instead of hidden.
04:08Voice breaking.
04:09Marguerite stared at her son for a long,
04:12agonizing moment,
04:1330 years of control warring,
04:16visibly against the simple,
04:18terrifying vulnerability of the request.
04:21Slowly,
04:22she stepped aside.
04:23The paramedics moved quickly,
04:25and within minutes,
04:27Sophia was stabilized on a stretcher,
04:29prepared for transport.
04:31Edmund was allowed one brief moment beside her,
04:34before they moved.
04:35She was small,
04:36pale,
04:37dark hair spilling across the pillow.
04:40Eyes fluttering open,
04:41weakly,
04:42as she registered someone new beside her.
04:45Sophia?
04:46My name is Edmund.
04:48I'm your brother.
04:49Edmund said softly,
04:51his voice barely holding together.
04:53Sophia's eyes widened slightly.
04:56Her hand moved,
04:57slowly,
04:58deliberately,
04:59until it found his.
05:01She squeezed once,
05:02weakly,
05:03and something in her expression shifted into a recognition so immediate and complete
05:08that Edmund broke down entirely,
05:10the depressing her hand to his forehead.
05:12I'm sorry.
05:13I'm so sorry it took me this long.
05:16Adrian,
05:17watching from several feet away,
05:19felt the weight of everything that had happened over the past several days,
05:23settle into something clearer than it had ever been.
05:26As the ambulance pulled away,
05:29Edmund riding alongside his sister,
05:31Adrian turned to Marguerite,
05:33who stood alone in the driveway,
05:35watching it go.
05:36I'm going to make sure she's protected.
05:38Not as a political concession,
05:41not as a bargaining chip in some council negotiation,
05:44as family.
05:46Marguerite looked at him with an expression of exhausted disbelief.
05:50You have every reason to hate me.
05:52I nearly destroyed your entire life this week.
05:56You did.
05:57And you also spent 24 years fighting for a daughter.
06:01The world decided didn't deserve a place in it.
06:04Both of those things are true at once.
06:06I'm choosing to act on the second one.
06:09Marguerite's composure finally completely broke.
06:13The 72 hours.
06:14Can you stop it now?
06:16The documents.
06:17The contingencies.
06:19All of it.
06:20Adrian said gently.
06:21I told you earlier that I built it specifically so I couldn't.
06:25That was true.
06:26But there is one override.
06:28A single phrase,
06:30known only to me and the contacts holding the documents,
06:33meant to be used if circumstances changed enough
06:36to warrant mercy.
06:38Marguerite wiped her eyes,
06:40gathering herself with visible effort.
06:43Then use it.
06:44Marguerite said.
06:46Not yet.
06:47Not until the council formally acknowledges Edmund
06:49and establishes protections for Sophia.
06:52I've given you 72 hours, Adrian,
06:55and I intend to honor exactly that.
06:57No more, no less.
06:59Prove to me the crown can finally choose honesty
07:02without being forced into it,
07:04and I'll end this myself.
07:06Marguerite's phone buzzed sharply
07:08as they prepared to leave for the hospital.
07:11He answered,
07:12listened for only seconds,
07:14and his expression turned to alarm.
07:16He turned his screen toward Adrian.
07:20Exclusive.
07:21Tokens.
07:22Name,
07:22Palace Insider claims.
07:24Prince Adrian is not the Queen's biological son.
07:28Succession in question.
07:29That was Maya.
07:31The press just broke a story.
07:33Not from Marguerite's contacts.
07:35From somewhere else entirely.
07:37That's not possible.
07:39Only six people in the world
07:41knew about that document tonight.
07:43Marguerite,
07:44reading over his shoulder,
07:46went absolutely still.
07:48Seven.
07:48I never told you
07:50who my original contacts were
07:5120 years ago
07:52when I distributed those copies.
07:55Who?
07:56Marguerite looked up,
07:58genuine fear crossing her face
07:59for the very first time.
08:01Coming up in episode 27,
08:03the Chancellor,
08:04with a surrogate secret now public
08:06and the Council's own
08:07presiding officer revealed as the leak,
08:09Adrian must confront a betrayal
08:10at the very heart of the crown itself.
08:12Lord Chancellor Bertrand Vos,
08:15your father's closest advisor,
08:17the man currently presiding
08:19over your entire council.
08:20Who?
08:21Who?
08:21Who?
08:21Who?
08:21Who?
Comments