Feint (Royal Society #3) COMPLETED

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Consequences

Nakatitig lang ako sa kawalan habang nakapalibot sa akin ang mga officials mula sa Upper Clan. They were here to escort me towards the custody.

I can't feel anything. My mind is blank and my heart is numb after seeing Vini walk away from me like that. Pakiramdam ko kanina ay unti-unting winawasak ang puso ko. It's heartbreaking to see him disappearing from my view.

But I know I had to do that.

There's no other choice. No, I refuse to see other choices especially if I know the result of it. At least in my decision, only I get to face the consequences.

I am no hero, I admit that. But I love my family so bad that I am willing to risk everything that I have. And I love him so much that I don't want him to get involved in this mess.

"Miss Amara?" I looked at the interrogator in front of me. "The photos that you sent, did you personally captured it?"

"Yes."

She nodded and wrote in the paper in front of her. "Where and when did this event occurred?"

I tried to ransack my mind the exact time and place to erase their doubts. "It happened a week ago, around four in the afternoon."

My answer is vague but at least I managed to come up with an answer. I hope that would suffice.

"I don't want to ask but for the sake of this interrogation, how did you know those people in the picture?"

I chuckled. It was indeed a dumb question. "Izaac Archirale is my nephew, the son of my older sister, Queen Athena. Elizabeth Serene is my nephew's wife, Zachary Archer, the current crown prince of the East Clan."

"And for the last, why did you send it to us, Miss Amara? Knowing they are your kin."

I took a deep breath and repeated what I instilled in my mind when I was talking to Vini. "Because I wanted to protect my sister's clan. And I wanted Elise to learn the importance of her role in society. She isn't just an accessory partnered with the Crown Prince. Her title has a corresponding obligation and responsibility that she has to fulfill. One of it is to stay faithful and loyal as the future King's woman. She shouldn't engage herself with another male. I hope my message is clear to her."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Amara. I was notified of the Queen's arrival. Would you like to talk to her?"

"Please escort her home. She should not be in this place," I said calmly. She nodded and left.

Ate Hena would surely ask me why I did such a thing and I can't lie to her. More like, I don't want to lie to her.

I was then lead to my temporary room as I wait for my execution. It's just a simple room designed for one person. It has white walls and a single bed. There's no cabinet since staying here for more than a day is such a rare case.

But there's a window beside the bed. Lumapit ako doon at tinanaw ang paligid. It looks peaceful from here. I wonder what will happen to me now.

Considering the factors, I might be thrown out of the capital. Not bad. But that means I won't be able to enter the capital on my will since technically, I am banished.

But if things go awry, then I have to say that this is my fate. Wala naman akong magagawa doon. At least I was able to be with Vini in this lifetime and I was able to protect my family. I'm good with that.

I heard a knock which made me move away from the window. It opened and revealed one of the officers of the Custody. I'm done with the interrogation, so what now? They already decided.

The person must have sensed my confusion. "You were asked to follow, Miss Amara. There is some... conflict."

I nodded and went to the room I was told to go. And as soon as I opened the door, Carrine welcomed my sight.

"What..."

"Have a seat, Miss Amara." I followed the instruction and sat in front of Carrine.

"This is kind of upsetting, Miss Amara," she said and I looked at her. "You got the facts right and we almost believed you, almost. Then Carrine showed up admitting her fault. Now, I wonder, between the two of you, who is the telling the truth?"

Hindi ako nagsalita at tumingin kay Carrine. I don't understand. Why is she doing this?

"I am," Carrine said. "I have proof that I was the one who took pictures of them... because I saved another copy of it. I also have the receipt of purchase of the phone used to store the pictures."

"Amara? What can you say?" When I didn't answer her, she changed her question. "Let me rephrase the question then. Why did you admit that it was you when clearly it wasn't?"

"I threatened her," Carrine answered again. "I used her weakness against her. I made her pity me so she would take the blame for me but I got guilty and here I am now."

I was speechless. The way she sorted out her story seems really believable. She knew what my decision will be, she already predicted it and prepared a solution right away. But why?

"We will take Carrine's statement into consideration before finalizing the order. Would you like to talk to each other? You seem like you have a lot to talk about."

Finally, I found my voice. "Yes, I would like to have a minute with her."

"Well, I'll leave you two alone."

I was left with Carrine. "Why..."

I thought she would taunt and smirk at me like earlier but she didn't. "I don't want anyone taking the blame for me."

"Carrine."

"I hated you. I despise you. I loathe you. But you've been so good to me that I can't get it off my mind. I wanted to be harsh with you, you know? But you are my sister," she said.

"I wanted to act strong in front of you. To show you of what I've become after you left me. But how could I? When you took the blame for my crime. I can't let you do that. Because if I wanted to have revenge, I would prefer you to be guilty of leaving me behind. If you didn't, none of these would have happened. I won't discover the truth and I won't be a mess."

She wiped her tears away and faced me with a brave expression. "But my presence doesn't completely erase your crime, Amara. You were seen there, at the scene."

Alam ko iyon. There's a huge possibility that I will be acquitted as an accessory and I won't be denying it.

I nodded at her. "I've seen it coming, Carrine. If I didn't admit your mistake, I would still be here for hiding what I saw."

I stood up from my seat and readied to leave the room when she spoke. "In the future, I hope we could bond with Ate Danae and Ate Hena. I may not be able to forgive you now, but I know I would. It wasn't your fault, to begin with, and I'm just looking for someone to blame."

"Danae would surely love to meet you," I said with a smile.

"I don't want us to part ways with lie still harboring between us. I don't know what you know about Ate Danae's life but... she's now married."

I stiffened and looked at her. She isn't lying, that's for sure. "What? What did you just say?"

She bit her lip and answered. "Ate Danae is now married. I don't know the story behind but it seems like she got married when she left."

***
Edited.