The next day, Eldwin arrived at my family’s estate to ask Rosalie and me for our hands in marriage. He brought two sets of gifts, one for each of us.

Rosalie’s consisted of forty-eight chests full of jewelry and charters for lands.

Mine, on the other, was a palm-sized jewelry box with a handful of gold nuggets in it.

My mother burst with rage on the spot and wanted to throw that box out of the house.

Rosalie immediately kneeled down in front of my mother nervously. “Please forgive me, Mrs. Shaw. I am willing to hand over my gifts to Lina.”

Eldwin immediately put himself between Rosalie and my mother. “You are as heartless as your daughter, Mrs. Shaw. I can’t imagine how difficult it has been for Rosie to grow up in the Shaw family’s estate and how badly you both must have mistreated her.”

Rosalie hid behind Eldwin with a pitiful, aggrieved look on her face.

I reached out to grab my mother’s arm. “Just hand the gift back to him, mother. There is no need to argue with them.”

My mother could not stand the accusation and immediately snapped, “This little rat always pretends to be helpless. I have never mistreated her in all these years!”

Eldwin’s expression darkened. “Since Rosie has married me, she is now Lady Gennings. How dare you insult her in front of so many people?! I will teach you a lesson.”

Eldwin’s father was a marquess, while my mother was only the wife of a government official. If he held her accountable, it would bring us a lot of trouble.

I bowed to Eldwin.

“It was a slip of the tongue. Please forgive my mother, Lord Gennings.”

Eldwin lifted his chin and said cockily, “That is all? A slip of the tongue? No, I want you both to apologize to Rosie.”

My mother screamed with rage, “How ridiculous! How outrageous! A mistress of a household should not have to apologize to the child of her husband’s concubine!”

I quickly whispered in my mother’s ear. She backed down and stormed back into the house.

Then, I looked over at Eldwin and Rosalie. “If my mother apologizes, everyone in the city will say that my sister is disrespectful. I will apologize on my mother’s behalf.”

Eldwin could not let Rosalie bear the blame of being disrespectful to her elderly, so he did not insist on making my mother apologize.

He took Rosalie’s hand and led her to where he had placed her gifts as if he was showing off his wealth. Every item in her chests was priceless.

In contrast, the gold nuggets he gave me looked like a joke.

I picked up the box and handed it back to Eldwin. “Here, take it back.”

Eldwin was rather angry. “I only brought you a gift out of formality. When the queen’s order arrives, you will have to marry me even if I don’t give you a penny.”

I did not bother to explain anything to him and simply returned the gold nuggets before turning around and walking away.

While I was preparing medicine for the queen, Eldwin stormed in with Rosalie in tow. “There was a huge pearl in one of the chests I gave Rosie. Did you take it?”

I frowned and answered, “No.”

“As if I would believe you. We shall find out once I search your place.”

Rosalie immediately rummaged through my study. All my herbs and medicines were scattered on the floor.

“If you can’t find the pearl, I will demand an apology,” I said in anger.

Just then, Rosalie picked up a pearl from a corner behind the door. She looked very pleased. “I found it, Eld.”

Eldwin took the pearl from Rosalie and turned to me. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

I looked at the pearl that appeared out of nowhere. “Rosalie brought it into my study to frame me. I did not steal from her!”

“The evidence is against you, yet you still dare to deny your wrongdoings! I will report to the queen and cancel our engagement!”

Eldwin took Rosalie’s hand and stalked out angrily.

I had not done anything wrong, so I was not afraid of him reporting this incident to the queen.

After they left, I tidied the scattered herbs and medicine in the study. Later on, the queen’s handmaidens came over to collect Her Majesty’s medicine.

Unexpectedly, after the queen took the medicine that night, she fainted.

The next morning, royal guards stormed into my family’s estate and accused me of attempting to murder the queen. They arrested me and took me to the royal palace to face judgement.

Coincidentally, Eldwin had also come to meet the queen. When he saw me, he snorted coldly and said, “Don’t think that I will let the theft slide just because you intercepted me at the palace.

“Only if you promise to never bully Rosie again will I forgive you and not expose your deed in front of the queen.”

I stared at him and said frantically, “Her Majesty fainted after taking the medicine I made last night!”

Eldwin was shocked. “What? Aren’t you an expert physician? How could you make such a mistake? Don’t you know that harming the queen is punishable by death?”

I glared at him with bloodshot eyes and barked angrily, “There was nothing wrong with the medicine I made! Rosalie went through my stuff yesterday and messed it up!”

Eldwin was startled again. After a moment, he said, “It must have been a mistake. Rosie wouldn’t do that. I will go to her and ask her about it.”

He then rushed out of the palace.

The royal guards brought me to the grand hall to meet the king.

He stared at me grimly. “My queen praised your skills repeatedly and even agreed to arrange your marriage. Yet, you tried to murder her. Do you plead guilty?”

I immediately got on my knees and defended myself. I told the king everything that had happened the day before.

Soon enough, Rosalie and Eldwin were brought over by the guards.

Rosalie fell on her knees and loudly proclaimed that she was falsely accused. “I’m innocent, Your Majesty. I was just looking for the pearl that Lord Gennings gave me. I did not touch my sister’s medicine.”

I glared at her with bloodshot eyes. “You are lying. You touched the herbs and medicine in my study yesterday, even though I told you not to.”

Rosalie looked over at Eldwin with tears in her eyes. “You were there the whole time, Eld. You saw that I didn’t touch her medicine, right?”

I also looked up at him. “I don’t expect you to defend me, Eldwin, but you should do the right thing instead of twisting the truth.”

Eldwin furrowed his brows tightly, as if he was making a very hard decision.

The king immediately exploded with anger. “You are sisters! It does not matter which of you harmed the queen. You will both face punishment. Take them to the prison now!”

Rosalie quickly grabbed Eldwin’s sleeve. “Save me, Eld…”

In a panic, Eldwin fell on his knees instantly and said, “Rosalie did not touch the medicine, Your Majesty. The queen fainted because Catalina’s medical skills are subpar.

“Moreover, I have asked for Rosalie’s hand in marriage. She is now Lady Gennings. I implore Your Majesty to spare her.”

I kneeled on the floor and watched Eldwin twist the truth for Rosalie and beg the king to let her go. I had gotten so used to his actions in my past life that my heart had become numb.

In the end, the king spared Rosalie’s life for the Gennings’s sake and ordered that I was to be imprisoned and guillotined the next day.

The guards took me to the prison and locked me up. Eldwin stood outside my cell and looked at me with guilt as he said, “The queen has fainted. It’s an irreversible fact. As a physician, you are to blame. There is no need to drag Rosalie into this.

“Once you die, I will bury your body in my family’s crypt. That way, I can fulfill your wish to wed me.”

I leaned against the wall of the gloomy, damp prison cell and sneered.

“That won’t be necessary. I would rather be buried in a mass grave than in your family’s crypt.”

“You don’t have to turn me down out of resentment, Catalina.”

I turned around and ignored him.

I stayed in the prison the whole night. The next morning, royal guards brought me to the execution site. Eldwin was already waiting there so that he could take my corpse home.

When the time came, the executioner put me in the guillotine and readied the blade to drop on my neck.

I smiled to myself in mockery. I had managed to return to the past, but even though I chose to marry someone else, I did not manage to escape my fate of dying a gruesome death.

Just then, a guard raced into the execution site on a horse and shouted, “Stop! The queen has ordered her to be spared!”

Once I was saved from the guillotine, the guard looked at me and said, “The queen’s edict regarding your marriage has been sent out. It is being delivered to the Shaw family’s estate. Please go home to receive it.”

I immediately rushed home. Eldwin followed me the whole way. He tried to speak to me several times, but I ignored him.

As soon as I reached home, the queen’s edict arrived.

The messenger read it aloud in a shrill voice, “Here is the edict from Her Majesty the Queen: Catalina Shaw, the daughter of Herman Shaw, is praised for her grace, kindness, and gentle temperament. I hereby order that she is to be married to Javien Quinn, the son of the Vice Minister of Defense. You will marry whenever you wish.”

I got on my knees to accept the order. Meanwhile, Eldwin was flabbergasted. He said frantically, “How could it be?”