The grand hall went silent when the queen stepped closer.
The young woman stood in front of her, already fighting back tears, but nothing could prepare her for the words that came next.
“She’s not your daughter.”
Her face broke instantly.
But even through the pain, she refused to let that sentence erase the only truth she had ever known.
“She is the only daughter I have ever known.”
It was not just an answer.
It was a daughter refusing to be taken away by blood, titles, or cruel secrets.