100

100
Author's note: this is the last chapter.


The morning after the French president and his family depart, we gather in the royal living room. The atmosphere feels different, lighter than it has in days, though the air still carries the weight of revelations that have reshaped everything we thought we knew.
At last, the pieces have aligned:
The abdication was never about honor alone. King Antonio placed the crown upon Rex's head to prevent Diego from securing marriage to the French president's daughter.
The supposed "affair with a political enemy" — a rumor that shadowed the king's reputation — had been misread. France was not an adversary, but an ally.
And the truth of the "foreign alliance in blood" emerged: a clandestine agreement in which King Antonio had pledged Rex's future to the daughter of the French president, binding two nations not merely in diplomacy, but through family.
The king lifts his gaze to me, his expression uncharacteristically soft. "I was wrong about you," he admits, his voice weighted with humility. "I am sorry."
A faint smile tugs at my lips. "It's all right, Your Majesty."
"I have been unkind to you," he continues, his tone roughened by remorse. "Harsher than you deserved. That was not the man I wish to be."
"Please," I say gently, shaking my head, "there is no need for apology. I understand now — politics is not merely duty, it is entanglement, sacrifice, and compromise. It is not meant for the faint of heart."
His eyes narrow, thoughtful, before he nods slowly. "And yet yesterday, you proved that you are not only capable of enduring it — you are worthy of standing within it. I am proud to welcome you fully into this family."
"Thank you," I answer, warmth rising in my voice as I glance toward Rex, whose steady presence anchors me.
The king turns to his son. His words come quieter, almost reverent. "Rex, my son. God is my witness, I never intended harm to you."
"Dad, it's—" Rex begins, but his father raises a hand.
"No," King Antonio interrupts firmly, shaking his head. "It is not 'okay.' You deserve to hear the truth from me. I chose you as king not to shield myself, nor to appease another sovereign, but because I believe in you. I trust you to guard this nation, to lift it higher than I could, and now I know with certainty — for you have the perfect partner at your side. From this day forward, all shall be written in your name. The authority will rest with you alone."
Rex inclines his head, his voice steady. "I appreciate that."
"If you wish, we can hold the coronation once more," the king suggests. "This time with Violet present, as it should have been."
Rex only shrugs lightly, though a faint smile betrays his amusement. "That won't be necessary. We already have a wedding to plan."
The queen, who has been silent until now, leans forward, curiosity etched across her face. "Tell me — how did you discover all of this? These secrets buried for so long?"
My gaze flickers to Rex before I return it to her. "Was it not you who left the folder in the chamber beside the war room?"
Her brows knit together. She shakes her head. "No. That was not me."
A cold realization creeps through me, the name slipping from my lips almost in a whisper. "Diego. It was him. He planted it there."
The queen straightens, her eyes widening. "But why would he?"
The question lingers heavy in the room, unanswered — yet its implications loom larger than the silence that follows.

Diego enters almost the moment his mother calls for him, his steps light yet deliberate, and he drops lazily into the chair opposite us. "I hope I'm not missing a date for this," he says, the words rolling off his tongue with a smirk, though the flicker in his eyes betrays unease.
They begin speaking to him rapidly in Spanish—tones clipped, sharp, and filled with unspoken weight. I sit in silence, catching fragments, wishing for the hundredth time that I already understood more than I do. One day soon, I promise myself.
But Diego's gaze finds mine suddenly, bewildered, almost defensive. "I didn't put it there."
My chest tightens. "Then who did?" I ask, before Rex's voice cuts over mine.
"No," I counter, leaning forward, unwilling to let the question escape so easily. "The real question is—who else knew about this? Only then can we trace who would have gone to the trouble of placing that folder where it was found."
Rex's jaw clenches. "Well, you and Mom knew about it."
"I didn't even know there was a folder," Diego insists hotly. His hand presses against the table, restless. "Uncle Alvin was the one who told me about all this."
The Queen gasps, her hand flying to her chest. "My foolish little brother?"
Diego sighs. "He was drunk, and he thought I was too."
The King leans forward, his voice low and stern. "Did you tell anyone else, Diego?"
Diego hesitates, then admits, "Nate." His eyes slide toward me, unreadable.
I can't stop my reaction—my eyes widen, a sharp sting rising in my throat. "You told Nate? Really? But wait—Nate tells Ben everything."
Diego shrugs, careless on the surface, though I sense the calculation beneath. "Maybe that's why he didn't want Ben to know of our friendship. Maybe he wanted to keep it from him."
My thoughts spiral, words tumbling out before I can control them. "But it still doesn't explain the folder in the room. Do you think Nate told Ben? And maybe Ben—being protective over me—he put it there?"
Diego shakes his head almost instantly, his tone dismissive but his eyes sharp. "No. How would Ben know you'd be the one to stumble across it? That doesn't add up. What if..." He pauses, the silence deliberate. "...What if the person who put it there wanted Rex to be the one to find it?"
I turn to him, my voice rising with frustration. "Then why were you acting strange during dinner? Why did you treat me like a nuisance, like you were deliberately pushing me away, if you already knew all this—"
Diego cuts me off, his eyes snapping to Rex. "You didn't tell her?"
Rex's face tightens. "I thought her sister should be the one to tell her," he says quietly, yet the words strike like a blow. "A couple of days before your family's departure—before everything unraveled—we caught your sister sneaking into one of the offices. We confronted her. She swore she'd explain it to you herself."
My gasp feels torn out of me. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Rex's eyes soften, though his voice remains steady. "Because I didn't want her to resent me for it. She already looks at me with suspicion at times. And..." He hesitates, almost embarrassed. "...she likes me, you know."
The confession burns like acid, but Diego's laugh—short, sharp, bitter—cuts through it. "Oh, she likes you, alright. But she also found my number, called me, and tried to—well—get close to me." His eyes dart between us, enjoying the reaction. "Not that it matters. Because that's not the heart of what happened."
My voice trembles with impatience. "Then what did she do?"
"She photographed me while I was swimming!" Diego exclaims, his voice sharp with outrage, though a trace of unease flickers in his eyes. His hands tighten against the arms of the chair as he leans forward. "Do you understand how violating that felt? I was not simply embarrassed—I was unsettled. It made me feel watched, exposed, as though I had no privacy within these walls."
I shake my head, my patience snapping. "For God's sake, Diego! I thought you were about to confess something far graver—something beyond sneaking into the rooms. And instead, you bring me this?" My voice rises, sharpened by both anger and disbelief. Yet even as I scold him, unease twists inside me, refusing to let go.
My thoughts circle back to Gracie, unwilling but inevitable. I swallow hard before daring to voice it aloud. "Could it be possible," I say slowly, carefully, "that she was the one who placed the folder there? That she wanted us to find it?"
The silence that follows is heavy. Rex's steady voice finally breaks through, calm but resolute. "We cannot know until you confront her, Violet. Speculation will only feed the fire. You must hear the truth from her own lips."
My breath hitches, my chest tightening under the weight of it. Confront Gracie. My sister. The girl who grew up at my side, who laughed with me, who should have been my closest ally. The same sister who, in so many quiet ways, has kept me at a distance—envying, competing, sometimes even undermining. To accuse her now, as Rex's fiancée, feels like betraying blood. And yet, to remain silent would be betraying myself, and betraying him.
I press my hands together to still their trembling. "Then that is what I must do," I whisper, though my voice gains strength with every word. "I will speak to her myself."
My eyes lift, first to Rex, then to Diego, and finally to the queen and king who watch in silence. The truth might cut deep—through family ties, through loyalty, through the fragile bond I still try to protect between myself and Gracie. But there is no turning back now.