The chamber fell silent again. Allegra could feel the walls closing in—not metaphorically, but in the way the oxygen itself seemed to thin around her. She stood in the center of the room like a centerpiece in a macabre museum, her wrists still marked from the smooth iron cuffs they had briefly bound her in. A woman reduced from heiress to pawn.
On the elevated dais ahead, cloaked figures observed her from behind ornate masks—porcelain white, with inky black detailing that spiraled out like vines. No two were the same, and yet they all shared the same expressionless, judging void.
Caspian Rhys stood behind her, his posture razor-straight, arms crossed over his chest. He hadn't said a word since the last bell had rung—an ominous chime that marked the shift between silent accusation and active judgment. She had to speak. She had to fight back.
But first, she had to know the rules.
"Why am I here?" she demanded. Not whispered, not wept. Demanded. Her voice cut through the cold chamber like glass.
One of the masked judges—tall, with a birdlike beak mask—spoke at last. "You are here to stand trial for the premeditated murder of Leonardo Ashcroft. Your fiancé."
The words hit her like a physical strike. She had known it—feared it—but hearing it said aloud turned her blood to ice.
"I didn't kill Leo."
"We shall see."
Caspian finally stepped forward, his voice dry but forceful. "The defendant denies the accusation. As her legal representative, I demand full disclosure of the evidence under Tribunal Protocol Six."
The masked judge tilted his head, considering. "Granted. Proceed."
From the shadows emerged a young assistant in black robes, carrying a silver tray. He placed a sealed black folder onto a pedestal between Allegra and the judges.
The dossier. The beginning of the game.
---
Within the next thirty minutes, Allegra's life unraveled in slow motion. Photographs. Surveillance footage. Transcripts of arguments. A damning email she didn't remember writing. And worst of all—her name on the lease to a rented storage unit filled with traces of potassium chloride, the substance used in Leo's poisoning.
"This is insane," she whispered, barely able to stand.
"Then prove your innocence," Caspian replied coolly.
She turned on him. "You don't believe me?"
"I don't believe anyone. I believe in leverage. And right now, you have none."
His words burned. He wasn't here to hold her hand. He was here to win—or survive, whichever came first.
"I want to testify," Allegra said. "I want to speak. To tell them what happened that night."
"You have no memory of it," Caspian reminded her. "You woke up two hours later in a hotel across town with nothing but a blood-smeared shoe and an unsigned note that said, 'Run.'"
"But I didn't run. I came back."
"That may be the first thing in your favor."
The masked judge leaned forward. "You may speak, Ms. Virelli. But know this: Falsehoods under oath are punishable by Oblivion."
Allegra blinked. "What is Oblivion?"
Caspian answered before the judge could. "Erasure. They'll erase your name from all records, public and private. You'll become a nonentity. No bank accounts. No home. No future."
Allegra steadied herself. "Then I'll tell the truth."
And so she began.
---
It wasn't the truth she wanted to tell. Not the kind she used to speak in front of glossy magazine reporters or fashion gala hosts. This was the ugly truth. The one with blood and betrayal and her father's cold eyes the day she announced her engagement.
Leo hadn't been who he claimed to be.
"I met him at a charity gala. He was charming. Too charming. But he had access. His company had data on every major player in this city's elite. And somehow, he knew things about my family that even I didn't."
"And you still said yes to the engagement?" asked a different judge.
"I didn't say yes. He never asked."
That made them murmur. Even Caspian twitched slightly at her side.
"I was told by my father to play along. That Leo was… protection. That he had leverage over people who wanted to destroy us. My father thought a fake engagement was a small price to pay."
"But you fell in love with him anyway?"
Allegra hesitated. "No. I admired him. I feared him. And I pitied him."
A long silence. Then the beak-masked judge raised his hand.
"Enough. You may step down. We will deliberate."
---
Outside the courtroom, Allegra finally collapsed onto a bench. Caspian didn't sit. He stood near the double doors, checking a slim device that looked more like a weapon than a phone.
"Why did you really take my case?" she asked him.
He looked up, not answering for a long time. Then:
"Because someone very powerful doesn't want you alive. And I hate losing to them."
"Who?"
He locked eyes with her. "Someone wearing a mask in that room."
Allegra's stomach turned.
"So the trial is a lie?"
"No," Caspian said. "The trial is real. But justice? That's the illusion."
---