There wasn’t any way Rosalind could deny what she was seeing.

A young girl was also sitting on the Queen’s lap with a tiger cub in her arms while the Queen’s arm was wrapped around both of them as they smiled for the portrait.

Although Rosalind had been chubbier in the picture, she could still recognize herself, and more importantly, she could recognize the mark on her neck.

Slowly, she lifted her hand and touched her own neck, feeling that same mark beneath her fingers while her breathing grew uneven.

This wasn’t her jumping to conclusions or forcing herself to see something that wasn’t there. This wasn’t based on feelings, wishes, or assumptions.

This was evidence.

Real evidence.

And as the realization settled over her, Rosalind felt her head begin to spin because somehow, in a way she still couldn’t fully understand how she was connected to the royal family of Merovia. All her life she had lived in Eryndor, completely unaware of it, and now the truth was staring right back at her from the tiny portrait in her hands.

A sharp ache formed in her head and suddenly flashes of memories began surfacing.

She heard a soft, familiar voice. "Sophia... come here."

The voice was gentle, warm, and filled with affection.

The Queen.

The Queen had stretched out her hand toward her. "Can Rama come too?" a younger version of herself had asked eagerly while clutching the tiger cub.

The memory felt so real that it made her chest tighten.

The tiger cub had been given to her as a birthday gift and it had grown attached to her almost immediately. Wherever she went, the little creature wanted to follow.

"Of course, sweet child," the Queen had replied.

The little girl giggled before running toward her mother and climbing onto her lap while holding the tiger cub in her arms. The Queen wrapped her arms around both of them and pressed a kiss to her hair.

The memory vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Rosalind sucked in a sharp breath. Where had these memories been all this time?

And why hadn’t she remembered any of it before now?

The Queen had called her Sophia.

Was that her real name?

The ache in her head intensified and more memories came flooding back before she could stop them.

This time there was no warmth... There was only chaos.

People were screaming.

Men were shouting.

Swords were clashing.

The air was filled with panic and terror.

"Sophia!"

She heard someone shouting her name.

"Sophia! Where are you?"

The voice sounded distant, desperate, and frightened.

But she couldn’t answer because in the middle of the chaos she had fallen and struck her head against a rock.

Everything after that became a blur.

Rama had been beside her at the time and when the tiger cub saw her collapse, it had immediately run off looking for help. But before it could get far, rough boots slammed into its side.

The tiny creature was kicked away. Again.

And again.

It tried to return to her but the men wouldn’t let it. They tossed it around while fighting and eventually it was separated from her completely, never getting the chance to return to the Queen and reveal where Sophia had fallen.

"Oh God..." Rosalind clutched her head.

The pendant slipped from her hand and landed on the floor as she crouched down, her entire body trembling while the pain intensified.

The memories continued anyway. The chaos eventually ended. Merovia suffered.

People were taken, families were torn apart.

And among those taken away was the princess.

She was dragged away with the others and later sold.

Rama suffered a similar fate.

The tiger was captured and transported elsewhere before being sold as well. Some people had initially wanted to keep it but once they realized there was a wealthy buyer willing to pay generously for an exotic beast, they quickly sold it.

Its new owners were nothing like Rosalind.

They starved it. Beat it. Displayed it. Used it.

And over the years it passed through countless hands until it eventually found its way to Vaelor. Through endless training, punishment, and cruelty, the once playful cub transformed into the terrifying beast it had become today, a creature powerful enough to kill and whose roar alone could shake those around it.

Yet despite everything that had happened, it never forgot Sophia.

It never forgot her scent.

"It sees you as a friend" Rowan’s words echoed in her mind.

And suddenly everything made sense. The tiger hadn’t attacked her because it knew her. Long before it became a beast. Long before she forgot her past and long before either of them were torn away from Merovia.

She had been its friend. Although her own memories had remained buried for years, the tiger had remembered her all along which was why everytime it saw her in the throne hall, it had been restless.

Rosalind closed her eyes and forced herself to take slow breaths until the throbbing in her head began to ease. She still couldn’t remember everything. There were many missing pieces, many gaps, but she knew enough now.

Her name had been Sophia.

And she was related to the Queen.

She thought about the woman she had met in Merovia and remembered how kind she had been. Even then, the Queen had looked at her strangely, almost as though she felt something familiar but couldn’t understand why.

Rosalind understood now.

That explained why she had felt so comfortable around her.

Why the Queen’s presence had felt warm and familiar.

Because they had known each other and loved each other. And even after all these years, some part of them had recognized it.

Rosalind slowly picked up the pendant again and stared at the portrait.

There wasn’t any time to waste.

If they had been searching for her, then surely they deserved to know she was alive. Royal families didn’t simply stop looking for a missing child, especially not one who had disappeared under such circumstances.

Yet so many years had passed.

Or had time erased her from their lives the same way it had erased them from hers?

The thought settled heavily in her chest as she stared at the portrait once more, her fingers tightening around the pendant while uncertainty and hope battled within her heart.

****

As Rosalind processed everything, she came to the conclusion that she had to let them know that she was right here. A letter alone wouldn’t be enough because there was a chance it wouldn’t be taken seriously, but if she sent the pendant along with it as evidence, then surely they would do something.

At least, Rosalind hoped they would.

If they truly were her family, then they wouldn’t simply ignore it. They would want to know what had happened to her and where she had been all these years, just as much as she wanted answers herself.

But the problem was how?

Rosalind tightened her grip around the pendant and let out a frustrated sigh. She was locked inside this chamber with no freedom whatsoever, and every path she could think of seemed blocked.

Rowan was trapped in the dungeon and she couldn’t risk climbing through the ceiling again because Alaric had already become suspicious after the last two times.

If she attempted it a third time, there was a very high chance she would be caught.

Verity and Thalia had been prevented from seeing her, which meant she couldn’t ask either of them for help, and she herself couldn’t get past the two guards stationed outside her door.

It was as though every possible escape route had been sealed off one after another until she was left trapped in a cage she couldn’t break free from.

...The truth was right there in her hands, but it felt completely useless if she couldn’t get it to the people who needed to see it.

"There has to be a way," she murmured under her breath.

There simply had to be.

She refused to believe that fate would reveal something this important to her only to leave her powerless to act on it. Somewhere within this palace, there had to be someone she could trust, someone who could help her get a message out before it was too late.

And with only a few days remaining before the wedding, time was becoming the one thing she no longer had.