Chapter 40 The Evidence

Chapter 40 The Evidence
The Evidence
Cael's POV

I saw the single piece of paper laying on the door inside my room. I stared at it, a cold knot tightening in my stomach. I bent slowly, picking it up and unfolding thorough sheet. The words were scattered because the person scrawled nonsense, but I forced myself to make sense of the words.

Be the one to carry out the execution order tomorrow.

My hands trembled. A wave of nausea hit me so hard I had to brace myself against the wall. I crushed the paper in my fist. Who sent this? My father? The Headmaster? It didn't matter. The message was clear.

They wanted me to kill her.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My face was pale, my eyes hollow. I practically looked like a ghost.

Lira’s face swam in my vision. Not as she was in the garden, full of fear and hope, but as I had last seen her in the cells. Even in chains, she had more strength in her than my father had in his entire body.

My wolf was continuously raging storm inside me. Mate. Protect. The instinct was as if I was being flogged because it pained me so much. It was a constant, screaming wrongness that I had betrayed her.

I had chosen duty. I had chosen my father’s cold, brutal world. And for what? To become the weapon that would end her?

No.

The trembling in my hands stopped, replaced by a cold, sharp clarity. I would not be their executioner. But saying this without a plan was a death sentence for us all.

I left my room, the crumpled note left behind me. The person had passed the message, and all I had to do was play my part. I didn't go to the whiskey bottle. I went to the one place I still had some authority which is the Academy’s security hub.

The guard on duty, a young beta named Kaelen, jumped to his feet. “Prince Cael! I wasn’t expecting—”

“The security logs for the West Wing,” I cut him off, my voice flat. “From the night of the break-in. All of it. Camera feeds, access key records, motion sensor logs. Now.”

He hesitated. “Sir, the Headmaster sealed those records. The investigation is closed.”

I took a step forward, letting the full force of my Alpha bloodline press down on him. He whimpered in pain, trembling and cowering. The air crackled. “Do I look like the Headmaster to you? Bring me the files.”

He paled and quickly turned to his console. For the next six hours, I stayed in that dimly lit room. I watched grainy footage of empty hallways. I cross-referenced key-card swipes with guard patrols. I saw the figure, a hooded shadow, move with unnerving silence through the corridors. They were good. Too good. They knew every blind spot, every camera angle.

But everyone makes a mistake.

It was on a camera pointed at a service corridor near the Headmaster's office, one that was supposed to be decommissioned. The footage was timestamped just minutes before the breach was discovered. The hooded figure paused, looking over their shoulder, and for a single, frozen frame, the hood fell back.

It wasn’t Lira. It wasn’t Riven.

The face was masculine. The person looked older, with a sharp, grin and a scar cutting through his eyebrow. It was a face I didn’t recognize, but it was one that was burned into my memory now. I would never forget it.

I had my proof.

Dawn was breaking when I finally left the security hub, and suddenly, that tiny drive just felt heavy in my pocket. I didn't feel tired even after staying up the whole night. Instead, I felt energized because I knew I would need my energy to win.

The Council chamber was packed. The air was thick with anticipation. This was the spectacle they had all been waiting for. My father sat at the head of the semicircle of elders, his expression one of grim satisfaction. The Headmaster stood before them, ready to deliver the verdict.

Lira and Riven were brought in and they were chained at the wrists and ankles. She held her head high, but I saw the rapid pulse beating in her throat. Riven’s eyes swept the room like a caged animal looking for a way to strike.

“The Council has reached its decision,” the Headmaster’s voice boomed, silencing the murmurs. “Lira. Riven, You are found guilty of treason and espionage. The sentence is death. Execution by beheading. To be carried out immediately.”

A collective gasp rippled through the room, followed by immediate silence. Everyone was afraid.

My father stood. “Prince Cael,” he said, his voice carrying an unspoken command. “You captured these traitors. You will now carry out the sentence. Prove your strength.”

All eyes turned to me. I saw the triumph in my father’s gaze, the cold expectation in the Headmaster’s. I saw the raw hatred in Riven’s. And I saw the final, quiet resignation in Lira’s storm-gray eyes.

I walked forward, my boots echoing on the stone floor. I stopped not at the executioner’s block, but in the center of the circle, facing the Council.

“I will not,” I said, my voice calm and clear.

The silence changed into confused whispers.

My father’s face darkened. “What did you say?”

“I said, I will not kill them.” I pulled the data crystal from my pocket. “Because they are innocent.”

The Headmaster scoffed. “This is not the time for misguided chivalry, Prince Cael. The evidence against them is simply literally evident!.”

“Is it?” I met his gaze, holding the crystal up. “I’ve reviewed the security footage from the night of the break-in. All of it. Including the feed from camera seven in the West service corridor. The one you forgot to delete.”

A flicker of something like surprise, then alarm crossed the Headmaster’s face. My father’s eyes narrowed to slits.

I turned and put the crystal into the projector on the wall. The grainy image flickered to life for all to see: the hooded figure moving with purpose. I let it play, the tension in the room winding tighter with every silent step. And then, I froze it. The frame where the hood fell back.

The face of the stranger, clear as day.

A wave of shock rolled through the chamber.

“This man,” I said, my voice cutting through the chaos, “is the one who breached the offices. Not Lira. Not Riven. Their only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, a coincidence.”

I turned back to the Council, my heart hammering against my ribs. “The real traitor is still out there. And you were about to murder two innocent students to cover up your own failure to catch him.”

The Council was in an uproar. My father was on his feet, his fists clenched, his face a mask of pure fury. The Headmaster was frantically whispering to an aide.

In the chaos, I dared a glance at Lira. The resignation in her eyes was gone, replaced by a stunned, fragile hope. It was all I needed. My chest warmed.

The Headmaster slammed his hand on the table, demanding order. He glared at me, his composure shattered, his voice a venomous hiss that silenced the room.

“You speak of evidence, boy? A single frame proves nothing! How do we know you didn’t fabricate this yourself to save your little whore?”