Chapter 3
The next morning, royal guards stormed into my family’s estate and accused me of attempting to murder the queen. They arrested me and took me to the royal palace to face judgement.
Coincidentally, Eldwin had also come to meet the queen. When he saw me, he snorted coldly and said, “Don’t think that I will let the theft slide just because you intercepted me at the palace.
“Only if you promise to never bully Rosie again will I forgive you and not expose your deed in front of the queen.”
I stared at him and said frantically, “Her Majesty fainted after taking the medicine I made last night!”
Eldwin was shocked. “What? Aren’t you an expert physician? How could you make such a mistake? Don’t you know that harming the queen is punishable by death?”
I glared at him with bloodshot eyes and barked angrily, “There was nothing wrong with the medicine I made! Rosalie went through my stuff yesterday and messed it up!”
Eldwin was startled again. After a moment, he said, “It must have been a mistake. Rosie wouldn’t do that. I will go to her and ask her about it.”
He then rushed out of the palace.
The royal guards brought me to the grand hall to meet the king.
He stared at me grimly. “My queen praised your skills repeatedly and even agreed to arrange your marriage. Yet, you tried to murder her. Do you plead guilty?”
I immediately got on my knees and defended myself. I told the king everything that had happened the day before.
Soon enough, Rosalie and Eldwin were brought over by the guards.
Rosalie fell on her knees and loudly proclaimed that she was falsely accused. “I’m innocent, Your Majesty. I was just looking for the pearl that Lord Gennings gave me. I did not touch my sister’s medicine.”
I glared at her with bloodshot eyes. “You are lying. You touched the herbs and medicine in my study yesterday, even though I told you not to.”
Rosalie looked over at Eldwin with tears in her eyes. “You were there the whole time, Eld. You saw that I didn’t touch her medicine, right?”
I also looked up at him. “I don’t expect you to defend me, Eldwin, but you should do the right thing instead of twisting the truth.”
Eldwin furrowed his brows tightly, as if he was making a very hard decision.
The king immediately exploded with anger. “You are sisters! It does not matter which of you harmed the queen. You will both face punishment. Take them to the prison now!”
Rosalie quickly grabbed Eldwin’s sleeve. “Save me, Eld…”
In a panic, Eldwin fell on his knees instantly and said, “Rosalie did not touch the medicine, Your Majesty. The queen fainted because Catalina’s medical skills are subpar.
“Moreover, I have asked for Rosalie’s hand in marriage. She is now Lady Gennings. I implore Your Majesty to spare her.”
I kneeled on the floor and watched Eldwin twist the truth for Rosalie and beg the king to let her go. I had gotten so used to his actions in my past life that my heart had become numb.
In the end, the king spared Rosalie’s life for the Gennings’s sake and ordered that I was to be imprisoned and guillotined the next day.
The guards took me to the prison and locked me up. Eldwin stood outside my cell and looked at me with guilt as he said, “The queen has fainted. It’s an irreversible fact. As a physician, you are to blame. There is no need to drag Rosalie into this.
“Once you die, I will bury your body in my family’s crypt. That way, I can fulfill your wish to wed me.”
I leaned against the wall of the gloomy, damp prison cell and sneered.
“That won’t be necessary. I would rather be buried in a mass grave than in your family’s crypt.”
“You don’t have to turn me down out of resentment, Catalina.”
I turned around and ignored him.
I stayed in the prison the whole night. The next morning, royal guards brought me to the execution site. Eldwin was already waiting there so that he could take my corpse home.
When the time came, the executioner put me in the guillotine and readied the blade to drop on my neck.
I smiled to myself in mockery. I had managed to return to the past, but even though I chose to marry someone else, I did not manage to escape my fate of dying a gruesome death.
Just then, a guard raced into the execution site on a horse and shouted, “Stop! The queen has ordered her to be spared!”
Once I was saved from the guillotine, the guard looked at me and said, “The queen’s edict regarding your marriage has been sent out. It is being delivered to the Shaw family’s estate. Please go home to receive it.”
I immediately rushed home. Eldwin followed me the whole way. He tried to speak to me several times, but I ignored him.
As soon as I reached home, the queen’s edict arrived.
The messenger read it aloud in a shrill voice, “Here is the edict from Her Majesty the Queen: Catalina Shaw, the daughter of Herman Shaw, is praised for her grace, kindness, and gentle temperament. I hereby order that she is to be married to Javien Quinn, the son of the Vice Minister of Defense. You will marry whenever you wish.”
I got on my knees to accept the order. Meanwhile, Eldwin was flabbergasted. He said frantically, “How could it be?”
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