The Girl He Sold Returned As The King’s Mate Chapter 02
The news of the suspended appointment hit the capital, and the media channels erupted in debate.
Adrian had been born to a respectable but struggling family in Riverbend Pack, and most of his tuition had been paid for by relatives, community donations, and scholarships.
From his local school to the Royal Academy, he’d always been at the top of his class. His essays were practically scripture on student forums, and many saw him as the poster child for upward mobility.
Now, on the verge of entering the Royal Records Office, he’d been derailed by the King’s chosen mate.
The public’s anger quickly found its target.
The next day, the gates of the Royal Academy were plastered with petitions.
“If he’s guilty, show us the evidence.”
“If an appointment can be torpedoed by a grudge inside the Royal Castle, then what’s the point of the exams?”
“If they can stop Adrian today, who’s next tomorrow?”
Soon, hundreds of protesters gathered in the public square outside the Royal Castle.
Adrian was there.
He wore a dark blue jacket, washed so many times it was pale at the seams. He didn’t make any accusations. He just stood before the livestream cameras, his back straight.
“I will cooperate with any lawful investigation.”
“I only ask that the Crown not allow one case to shatter the faith that ordinary students have in our appointment system.”
It was a masterful performance.
He had transformed his personal crisis into a fight for the dignity of every common student.
To doubt him was to stand against anyone who’d ever had to pull themselves up from nothing.
Then Isla Hawthorne stepped to his side.
In thirteen years, she had become a darling of the capital’s charity circuit. She wore a simple white coat, and before she even spoke to the cameras, tears were already tracing paths down her cheeks.
The onlookers filled in the blanks for her.
“Isla and Adrian have been engaged since they were kids.”
“They’ve waited all these years, and just when they were about to start their life together, some woman with the King’s ear comes along and destroys everything.”
“If Adrian loses his future, Isla loses her marriage.”
My assistant, Maeve, was so furious she looked ready to march out there and set them all straight.
I stopped her.
“Let them talk.”
“But they’re saying you’re using the King to settle an old score.”
“The louder they scream now, the harder the truth will hit in seven days.”
Maeve was still fuming.
I was cleaning a tarnished brass tag.
One side was engraved with *Starlight Carnival*. The other bore the number *17*.
After I was sold to the carnival, my name was Seventeen.
The manager used to say that children bought with cash didn’t need names. We just had to remember our numbers.
That tag was once locked to the shackle on my ankle.
If I slowed down, the metal would clang against the chain. The guards would hear it and jab me with a stun baton.
My wolf hadn’t even had her first shift. The inhibitor laced with wolfsbane made my bones ache constantly and kept me from sending a mind-link back to Riverbend Pack.
I placed the brass tag into an evidence box.
“I’ve waited thirteen years. A few more days won’t kill me.”
That evening, Daniel Hawthorne requested entry to the Royal Castle.
He was a regional liaison officer on the Royal Council.
He was also my biological father.
I met him in a small reception room.
He looked much older than I remembered. His hair was threaded with gray, but he didn’t recognize the woman sitting across from him.
Thirteen years ago, he’d lifted me onto his shoulders so I could watch the festival boat races.
And six months after I disappeared, he took down all the missing person notices and gave my mother’s rooms—and her property—to Isla.
When he sat down, he spoke quietly. “Naomi, I’m asking you to drop this.”
“Adrian has no history with you. I don’t know how you think he wronged you.”
I asked, “And what makes you so sure he’s innocent?”
“He’s a boy I watched grow up.”
“Thirteen years ago, my eldest daughter, Evelyn, vanished at the river festival. Adrian jumped into the water to save her and was sick for two weeks afterward.”
“Every year since, he’s gone to the dock during the festival to set flowers on the water for her.”
“A boy that devoted could never be a monster.”
I lowered my eyes.
That set of wet clothes had fooled everyone.
Daniel had only seen him climb out of the river. He never asked why Adrian had a change of clean, dry clothes stashed in the parking lot beforehand.
“What if the Royal Justice Office finds evidence?”
Daniel shook his head immediately.
“They won’t.”
He hadn’t seen a single file, yet he was already certain.
So I asked, “How long did you look for Evelyn after she disappeared?”
His expression tightened.
“We searched the river for half a year. Riverbend patrols covered every road out of the territory.”
“And after half a year?”
“Someone found one of her shoes downstream. The current was too strong. Continuing the search would have just put more lives at risk.”
“Who found the shoe?”
Daniel’s lips moved.
“Adrian.”
I almost smiled.
From pretending to dive in after me, to returning the single shoe, to his public performance of grief every year—he had built himself a story more compelling than the truth.
“Please make sure you attend the public hearing in seven days.”
“You can vouch for him then. It won’t be too late.”
Daniel still wanted to plead his case.
I had Maeve show him out.
As the automatic door slid shut, I realized I hadn’t called him Father once.
Thirteen years ago, I had screamed that name too many times—on the dock, in the back of the carnival truck, in six different workplaces filled with strangers.
No one ever answered.