My heart twisted so painfully that I could barely breathe. All I could do was reach out and hold Mother's ice-cold fingers as tightly as my small hands could manage.

A flash of embarrassment crossed Cedric's face, but it was quickly swallowed by anger. "So what? Would you have me give up the woman I truly love for the sake of some arranged marriage? Even the Emperor himself defied every advisor in his court to keep his heart devoted solely to the Empress. How is it wrong for me to do the same?

"Emmeline Sinclair, I never loved you! Marrying you was nothing more than our parents' arrangement! Seraphina and I chose each other!

"As for the gossip, it's been years. Who even remembers any of it?"

Mother's gaze drifted across Seraphina's smug face, then back to Cedric. Her eyes looked hollow. "And when you left that newborn child with me, telling me that as the intended wife and that it was my duty to raise her... Was that also because of your great love for each other?"

"Emmeline!" Seraphina's voice turned shrill. "You raised Rosalind for five years. Don't tell me you feel nothing for her! You're only bringing up the past because you want to keep my daughter for yourself!"

She jabbed a finger in my direction. "Look at her! She's grown up so well, so clever. You clearly poured your heart into raising her! That's why you don't want to give her back! Give me back my daughter!"

She tried to lunge at me again, but Cedric held her back.

Cedric turned to Mother, his tone heavy with threat. "Emmeline, I don't want to make a scene. We're taking the child. As for you, you'll come back to the estate with me. Seraphina is the legal wife, and you will show her respect.

"This is the best you can hope for. Consider it repayment for the five years you spent raising Rosalind."

Repayment?

They had broken Mother's heart, turned her into a laughingstock, dumped a baby on her doorstep, and vanished for five years without a single word. Now, they had come back and expected Mother to be a concubine, to bow to the very woman who had ruined her life.

What kind of repayment was that?

I could not hold it in any longer. I threw myself out from behind Mother and screamed with everything I had, "You're lying! I'm not your Rosalind! My father is the Emperor! My mother is the Empress! You're horrible people! Both of you!"

The alley fell silent once more.

Cedric and Seraphina stared at me, looking at me the way one would look at a child spouting nonsense.

Then Seraphina burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she doubled over, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Emmeline, did you hear that? What have you been filling this child's head with? You must've lost your mind completely!"

Cedric shook his head, looking at Mother with a mixture of disappointment and pity.

"Emmeline, have you truly gone this far? Making up lies like this just to keep the child? Do you have any idea that impersonating royalty is a crime punishable by the execution of your entire family?"

He stopped hesitating. He strode forward and reached straight for Mother's wrist. "You need to come to your senses. You're coming with me!"

"Don't touch my mother!" I screamed and tried to shove him away, but he brushed me aside with barely any effort, and I fell to the ground.

Mother's expression changed instantly. She rushed to my side, pulling me up and checking me over for injuries.

Cedric stood there, thwarted. A flush of anger and humiliation crept across his face.

Seraphina saw her chance. She dropped the act entirely, moved in close to Mother, and lowered her voice. "Emmeline, did you really think I begged you to take in my daughter for the child's sake?"

Mother's hands tightened into fists.

"I did it on purpose." Seraphina smiled, wide and triumphant. "When Cedric and I eloped, I left the baby with you deliberately. I wanted to make sure you'd never be able to hold your head up again."

Seraphina stepped closer, pushing her face right up to Mother's. "The legitimate daughter, raising a child for me, the illegitimate one. Just thinking about it makes me feel wonderful!"

I was trembling with rage, but Mother gripped my hand tight and would not let me move.

Cedric frowned. "Seraphina, that's enough."

Then, he sighed and turned to Mother, his tone laced with reproach. "Emmeline, I can allow you to continue raising Rosalind. But Seraphina is the legal wife. Once you enter the household, you will serve her and pay her the proper respects."

Tears flooded my eyes all at once. I broke free and rushed forward, kicking Seraphina in the leg as hard as I could. "You're a horrible person! Don't you dare talk to my mother like that!"

Seraphina shrieked and swung her hand straight at my face.

Mother pulled me behind her. The slap landed across Mother's cheek with a sharp crack.

I froze.

Mother's head snapped to the side. A red handprint bloomed against her pale skin, but she held me tightly against her chest, refusing to let go.

Cedric frowned again. "Seraphina, don't hit her."

However, Seraphina was already crying.

She spun around to face the crowd that was beginning to gather, wailing at the top of her lungs. "Someone tell me if this is fair! She stole my daughter! My own child calls her 'Mother' and won't even look at me! So I slapped her once. Is that so wrong?"

The crowd stirred.

"Stealing someone's child is wrong."

"She looks so proper, too. Who'd have thought she'd do something like that?"

"No wonder the woman hit her. She deserved it."

Hearing those words felt like a weight pressing down on my chest. It felt so heavy that I could barely breathe. I wanted to scream that my mother was the Empress, that I was a princess, and that none of them had any right to say such things. However, not a single one of them would have believed me.

All I could do was cling to Mother's leg and sob. "Mother, let's go! Please, let's just go!"

Mother looked down at me and gently patted my back.

Cedric walked over. This time, he reached out to pull me straight from Mother's arms. His voice was strangely, almost unnervingly patient. "Rosalind, come home with your father. Your foster mother isn't fit to raise you. From now on, I'll buy you all the sweets you want. How does that sound?"

His hand closed around my arm, and he pulled hard. I wrapped my arms around Mother's neck and held on with everything I had.

Mother held on to me just as fiercely.

Cedric's voice went cold. "Emmeline, let go. Rosalind is an Ashworth by blood. What right do you have to keep her?"

Mother raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were rimmed red, but not a single tear fell. "Cedric, listen to me. The most foolish thing I have ever done in my life was to have once treated you with genuine kindness."

Cedric went still.

Seraphina sneered from the side. "Emmeline, what good does saying any of that do? We're taking Rosalind today. That's final."

She reached for me. I shrank back as far as I could, but Cedric was pulling my arm and Seraphina was gripping my collar. Together, their hands were like iron clamps, dragging me out of Mother's embrace.

"Mother!" I screamed.

Mother was shoved to the ground. I dangled in the air, legs kicking wildly, my voice so raw from crying it was barely a sound anymore.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Seraphina held me by the collar, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Don't be scared, Rosalind. Your real mother is taking you home! From now on, you'll be the young lady of a noble house. That's a hundred times better than living with some abandoned woman!"

I sank my teeth into her hand. She screamed and let go. I hit the ground hard, pain shooting through my knees, but I did not stop. I scrambled to my feet and ran straight back to Mother.

Mother was pulling herself up from the ground. Her hair had come loose, and her clothes were streaked with dust.

I threw myself into her arms, shaking all over. Mother held me and gently patted my back.

Cedric walked over, his brows so deeply furrowed that they looked carved into his face. "Emmeline, why put yourself through this? The child is suffering with you. She'd be better off back with the Ashworth family!"

Mother did not acknowledge him. She simply held me, pressed her lips close to my ear, and whispered in a voice so quiet only I could hear. "Don't be afraid, Liara. Your father must have already noticed we are gone. He will come for us soon."

I nodded hard and buried my face in the crook of her neck.

Seraphina came over, cradling her bitten hand, her eyes burning with hatred. "That little wretch is just as ungrateful as Emmeline!"

She turned to Cedric and snapped, "Cedric, what are you standing there for? Take the child!"

Cedric stepped forward and grabbed my arm, pulling with force this time. I locked my arms around Mother's neck and refused to let go.

Mother held me just as tightly.

"Let go!" Cedric snarled through gritted teeth.

"No!" Mother's voice came out through clenched teeth.

Seraphina rushed in too and began prying Mother's fingers apart. Her nails dug into the flesh, and beads of blood rose on the back of Mother's hands, but Mother would not release her grip.

"Someone, help! Please help!" Seraphina suddenly cried out to the crowd of onlookers. "This madwoman stole my daughter! Please, help me get my child back!"

The crowd stirred.

A few people edged closer.

"That's terrible. The real mother shows up and she still won't give the child back."

"Someone should help. Look at how hard that poor child is crying."

Several men exchanged glances, rolled up their sleeves, and walked over.

Mother's face went pale. "Don't you dare! I am..."

Before she could finish, a hand was already on her shoulder. "Hey, the child's real mother wants her back. Just hand her over."

"Exactly. Stealing a child and acting like she's in the right?"

Mother tried to dodge them, but she was holding me and could not free her hands. Those hands pulled and shoved at her from every direction. Some grabbed her arms, others tugged at her clothes.

"Let go of my mother!" I screamed as I tried to kick and hit them, but I was too small. My strength was nothing against theirs.

Mother's forehead struck the wall. Blood ran down the side of her face. Her clothes were torn, and her hair had fallen loose around her shoulders, but her arms stayed locked around me.

Cedric seized the moment and wrenched me free with one powerful pull.

"Mother!" I was ripped from her arms and thrown to the ground.

Mother lunged for me like she was possessed, but the men held her back. They pinned her shoulders, grinning among themselves.

"Well, she's a feisty one."

"Easy now, easy. The child's going back to her real family. It's not like they're going to mistreat her."

One hand reached toward Mother's face. Another slid toward her waist.

Then, from the mouth of the alley, came the sound of boots hitting the ground in perfect unison. The clash of armor rang through the air, and torchlight blazed across the walls.

"The Royal Guards! It's the Royal Guards!"

The crowd screamed and scattered in every direction.

The men who had been pinning Mother down barely had time to react before they were kicked clean off their feet and sent crashing into the walls with cries of pain. A golden banner unfurled in the firelight. A royal carriage came to a stop, and a figure draped in gold stepped out.

Seraphina's hand went rigid at her side. Cedric spun around, the color draining from his face.

I saw that familiar face.

"Father!"