STALLING FATE
Sebastian’s POV
I hadn’t slept.
Not really.
I laid in bed beside Evelyn all night, but my eyes stayed open. My thoughts wouldn’t let me rest. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face—tight with worry, too quiet. Like she was holding her breath in a room full of fire.
And I couldn’t put the fire out.
Not yet.
I had ordered everything. Camera logs. Servant shifts. Interviews with guards. Double security around the queen’s quarters. But nothing pointed away from Evelyn. No evidence. No clear answer. Just… silence.
And silence could be used against her.
That was what scared me.
The sun wasn’t even up when I got out of bed. I looked back once before leaving the room.
Evelyn was curled on her side, her back to me, like she was trying to shrink herself smaller than the pain.
I clenched my jaw and left.
Downstairs, my enforcers were waiting.
Dante stood tall near the window, arms crossed. Soren had papers spread across the long table. Maid list, duty shifts, a list of people who entered the east wing during the week.
“Nothing?” I asked.
Soren looked up. “Nothing solid. Some shifts were swapped at the last minute, but nothing that proves tampering.”
“And the cameras?”
“Footage corrupted,” Dante said. “Only in Evelyn’s hallway. Same day the necklace was found.”
I closed my eyes for a second.
Then I said the thing I didn’t want to say.
“She’s losing patience.”
Soren frowned. “The queen?”
“She’s already asked twice if I’ll allow Evelyn to be ‘escorted’ for questioning.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed. “Escorted, or arrested?”
“She’s not saying the word yet. But that’s what she means.”
“Do you think she’ll act without your say?”
I shook my head. “No. But she’s trying to force my hand.”
Soren stepped forward. “Then stall.”
“I’ve been stalling,” I muttered. “She’s not stupid. She will only wait until the end of the week.”
“And it remains how many days?”
“Three.”
A long silence followed.
Three days.
That was all I had to prove Evelyn wasn’t a thief.
Or they’d put her in chains like one.
I felt the pressure in my chest like a slow knife. I slammed my palm down on the table once—hard—then looked at the papers again.
“I don’t care how many people you question. I don’t care how long it takes. Find me one lie. One camera glitch. One thing that doesn’t line up.”
Soren nodded. “Understood.”
Dante was already moving, grabbing files. “We’ll tear the schedule apart. Someone made a mistake.”
“They always do,” I muttered.
By noon, I stood in the hallway outside the throne room.
I didn’t want to be here. But I needed to keep her calm. For Evelyn’s sake.
Two guards opened the door for me.
My mother sat at the far end. Cold, tall-backed chair. Hands clasped like a statue. Her expression didn’t change when I entered.
“Sebastian,” she said, like I was a guest.
I walked forward. “Mother.”
“Have you made progress?” she asked.
“Some,” I said. “We’re questioning all the staff.”
She raised one brow. “There are over seventy workers in this house and yet,” she said lightly, “the only person the necklace pointed to was your mate.”
I held my ground. “She didn’t take it.”
“Prove it,” she said.
I didn’t blink. “I will.”
She leaned back slowly. “Time is not your friend, Sebastian.
“This is not a joke,” she said sharply now.
“She’s not a thief.” I said firm.
“She’s not innocent either,” she said. “Not yet.”
I stepped closer.
“I need three more days.”
She looked up at me.
“I mean it now.”
She stared at me long and hard. Then slowly, she stood.
“You have three days,” she said. “But if there is no proof—if no other suspect is found—I will act. With or without your approval.”
“Are you threatening me?” I asked quietly.
“No,” she said. “I’m protecting the crown. And unlike you, I don’t let love cloud my judgment.”
I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes.
“That’s why you’re alone.”
I turned and walked out.
Her silence behind me was loud.
By evening, Evelyn still hadn’t left her room.
Rowan had stopped by earlier, told me she was “working on something.” I didn’t ask what. I trusted her enough to know she wouldn’t bring me half-truths.
But I didn’t like waiting.
And neither did Evelyn.
I knocked once before entering our room.
She sat at the edge of the bed, staring out the window.
She didn’t turn when she heard me.
“They’re going to arrest me, aren’t they?”
My heart twisted.
“No.”
She finally turned. “They already think I’m guilty.”
“I don’t care what they think.”
“You care what the queen thinks,” she said. “And she wants me gone.”
I crossed the room and sat beside her.
“She gave me three more days.”
She let out a breath. “That’s not a lot.”
“It’s enough.”
She looked down at her hands.
“They’ll call me a thief forever, won’t they?” she asked quietly. “Even if we prove it wasn’t me.”
“Let them talk.”
“I don’t want to be the Luna they whisper about in the halls. The one who came from nothing and tried to take something that wasn’t hers.”
I gently took her hand. “You didn’t take anything.”
She looked up at me.
Her eyes were tired. But strong.
“You believe me.”
“I believe in you.”
She leaned into my side.
And for the first time all day, I let myself breathe.
That night, I stood at the highest building rooftop.
It was the highest part of the house.
You could see everything from here—the outer walls, the torch-lit paths, the training grounds.
And the woods beyond.
I stood there in silence until Rowan arrived.
She walked up with a black coat over her shoulders, no sound to her steps.
“I found the one who planted the necklace,” she said.
I turned to her fast. “Who?”
“A maid named Lina. She confessed.”
I stiffened. “Who told her to do it?”
Rowan’s mouth tightened.
Then she said it.
“Layla.”
It hit like a strike to the chest.
“Layla?” I asked. “Evelyn’s old friend?”
“She said Layla gave her the necklace. Told her exactly where to hide it. Promised her protection if she got caught.”
“She’s not even in this house anymore.”
“She’s been sneaking in. Wearing a cloak. Meeting maids behind the gardens.”
“Why?”
“Because she wants Evelyn ruined,” Rowan said. “Not just humiliated. Removed. She’s not working alone either.”
My fists curled. “Lucas.”
Rowan nodded once. “It’s possible.”
I turned back.
The wind was picking up now. Cold. Sharp.
“She’s already lost everything once,” I said quietly. “I won’t let her lose again.”
“Then we move now,” Rowan said. “Before the queen acts first.”
“I want hard proof,” I said. “Something that ties Layla’s hand to that necklace. Something I can show the council.”
“I’m working on it.”
“You have two days.”
Rowan smiled a little.
“That’s one more than I need.”
She turned and walked away.
And I stayed…
Waiting for the dawn.
Because in two days,
Hell was either going to break loose…
Or I was going to break it myself.