Third person's POV

One day, two days, three days then one week, the investigation is going nowhere because the Head of royal investigation Bureau isn't actually investigating. He just goes around in circles, makes things up to look like he is diligently investigating, but all leads head to dead ends,

The royal physician is still trying to develop the antidote, but it's a lot harder than he thought. Because it's the Queen who is going to take this antidote that he is making, that's why he has to be very careful not to harm her health any further,

People in the palace are starting to lose patience. Everyone is worried sick for their Queen's health. The more they're worried, the more they are gossiping,

'Consort Tzuyu is being very biased towards Consort Mina. Why doesn't she let Deputy Ma investigate the Consort?'

'How can Consort Mina hide from all the responsibility after Her Majesty got poisoned right inside her palace?'

'Consort Tzuyu isn't being fair.'

'Her Majesty is smart her whole life, but it looks like she made mistakes by giving all her love to one person who might be the culprit to kill her.'

'Doesn't Consort Mina love Her Majesty? She knows Her Majesty needs the antidote, but she refuses to cooperate with the investigation to look for the antidote.'

Mina heard and saw them all. These gossip are like oil just keep pouring into the fire, which is burning inside of her. Actually the amount of people who are criticising is very minor, the majority is still supporting Consort Tzuyu and Consort Mina. But when you are the centre of the gossiping topic, even only a few people criticising you, are way too many, and a gentle person like Mina, has let that get to her. The Consort is now like a living corpse, she misses the Queen so much, but she's not allowed to see her. She wants to catch the culprit to find the antidote, but there's no way she can help with the investigation. Momo and Consort Tzuyu told Mina many times that she needs to turn a blind eye to everything that is happening around the palace, but it's killing her day by day. Mina's heart is hurting because the famously kind Consort Tzuyu is also being criticised because of her, her heart hurts because people doubt her love for Chaeyoung, but what Mina can not tolerate is that people are questioning the great Queen's intelligence and her choices.

On the eighth day of the Queen's unconsciousness, Mina doesn't want to sit still and wait any longer, she decides to go to the royal investigation Bureau herself and accepts to be investigated. She wants to be proven innocent, and from there, helping to catch the real culprit and get the antidote for Chaeyoung,

'Your Highness, Her Highness is gone. She left a letter.' JiHyo runs out from Mina's bedroom with the letter in her hands. She tells Momo while trying to hold back her tears,

Momo immediately opens the letter to read, 'Momo unnie, I'm sorry but I can't just keep hiding forever. I can be criticised, but I respect Her Majesty and Consort Tzuyu too much to just turn a blind eye when people are criticising them. The more I'm avoiding to be investigated, the more people are going to doubt me, and even my love for Her Majesty, and I can't stand that. We need to find the antidote for Her Majesty, and I just can't make her wait any longer. It's getting more and more dangerous for Her Majesty's health by the day, I can't stand still and watch her life slip away like this. Please don't be worried about me, I believe the justice system under Her Majesty's ruling is a fair and straightforward one, so i have high hope to be cleared of any suspicion towards me. When you are reading this letter, I probably have arrived at the royal investigation Bureau already, so please just let me do this, just this time.'

'No no Mina, you are so naive. Every light has its shadow, you can't trust anyone just because that person works for your great Queen. This is way too dangerous!' Momo throws the letter aside, and immediately heads straight to the royal investigation Bureau, hoping to stop her little sister in time,

JiHyo also runs after Momo, she just can't stand still and watch Mina faces danger alone.

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On the other hand, Deputy Ma and his guards are all standing at the front entrance of the Bureau to greet Consort Mina. After all, Consort Mina is the Queen's famously beloved wife, so eventhough she's the prime suspect right now, but before she steps inside the Bureau, she's still a high and mighty Consort,

'Your Highness, are you sure of your decision of willing to be investigated? Have you heard about the royal investigation Bureau? It's a place where even royalty who commits a crime, would still be treated as a criminal just like everyone else.' He warns her,

Mina gulped nervously, the Princess simply has never gone through anything like this before. But she quickly composed herself because she believed that she did not do anything wrong. Therefore, there's nothing for her to be scared of, 'I know. I'm here to prove my own innocence.' She replied before stepping in,

'No... Mina. Don't!' Momo and JiHyo arrived just a few seconds later. They tried to get to Mina but the guards are stopping them,

'Momo unnie and JiHyo, I will be alright. Don't you worry about me.' Mina tells them,

Deputy Ma of course wouldn't let Consort Mina slip away now, 'Her Highness has agreed to be cooperative with the investigation. She has stepped inside the Bureau, so if you two try to get her away from here, it means that you two are against the justice system of Castlemaine.'

Momo understands how powerful the royal investigation Bureau is, it's an independent part of a Kingdom's justice system which even the government members aren't even allowed to interfere. The only person who has more power than this Bureau is the Queen herself, but she's in an unconscious state at the moment, 'I won't fight you. Just... just let me stay by Consort Mina's side.' Because she can't get Mina out of danger now, Momo decided to jump into danger together with her,

'Me too.' JiHyo also doesn't want to be apart from Mina,

Deputy Ma smirks to himself, 'As you wish.' He then got the guards to take away Momo's sword, then he uses the rule of the Bureau to put both Momo and JiHyo in chains. Consort Mina demands for him to remove the chains but Deputy Ma insists that it's just a rule he has to follow. After that, all three are brought into a waiting room.

What Mina and everyone has hoped, is that the royal investigation Bureau normally would be fair and very sharp in any investigation, that's why she decided to turn herself in. But little did she knows, the current Head, Deputy Ma has been working for Consort Sana ever since the Consort has this evil plan in her mind.

As soon as he got Consort Mina to agree with the investigation, he ordered a thorough search inside Mina's palace, and of course his guards found the Hollow flower extract in a form of body lotion inside the storage room,

The guards immediately bring the evidence back to the royal investigation Bureau and show it to Deputy Ma. He then orders for Consort Mina, Momo and JiHyo to be brought to an interrogation room,

The room is dark and cold, with many different types of torture equipment displayed on all corners. Momo and JiHyo are made to kneel down in the middle of the room, while Consort Mina is still standing because no one is dared enough to touch her just yet,

Deputy Ma walks in with the Hollow flower extract body lotion in his hand, 'Consort Mina, we found this body lotion in your palace's storage room, and it happens to content a high amount of Hollow flower extract, the exact poison which made Her Majesty unconscious.'

Mina creases her brows while looking at the body lotion, 'That is not mine, I have never seen it before.'

Deputy Ma scoffed, 'Consort Mina, it was found inside your palace, if it isn't belong to you, then what was it doing there?' He forced it on her, 'So this is what I think happened. We all know that Her Majesty has basically stayed at your palace most of the time. Using this opportunity plus the knowledge of how Her Majesty likes her honey tea, you use this Hollow flower extract body lotion on yourself, knowing Her Majesty would definitely ingest it during an intimacy with you, then you gave her honey tea, making the Hollow flower extract turned into poison without being obvious that you poisoned her. You plan to let Her Majesty stay unconscious until her body gets weak and dies, but Consort Mina, what you didn't think of, is our royal physician would be able to trace out the actual poison.' He wrote a whole novel to accuse Consort Mina,

Mina looks at him with piercing eyes, no matter how gentle and kind hearted she is, but being accused of trying to kill the one she loves deeply, got Consort Mina very angry, 'Stop with your nonsense!' She yells, 'I don't know where that body lotion comes from, and most importantly, what you said are all made up because what you don't know is... I'm severely allergic to any man-made fragrance or body lotion. I would die first if I use that lotion, so how could I use it on my body to poison Her Majesty?'

Deputy Ma's eyes widen in shock at this new information. If anyone else knows about it, the evil plan he and Consort Sana made will definitely backfire on them. He quickly turned visibly nervous while working his mind with full capacity to find a solution. He then calls a guard over and whispers something to him,

The guard immediately heads to Consort Sana's palace and reports everything to her. Consort Sana is also in shock at the sudden turn of event, one small mistake right now and she will be the one who will suffer in her own plan, not Consort Mina. Sana thinks deeply for a while, she's very worried about this step, but her personality is the type to persue things until the very end, 'Tell Deputy Ma to force her to sign the indictment, use.... whatever method he needs to use. I need her to be charged guilty for poisoning Her Majesty... today.' She ordered the guard.

The guard then heads straight back to the investigation Bureau and relays the message Consort Sana sent by whispering into Deputy Ma's ear,

On the other hand, Consort Mina has been watching everything with eyes full of disappointment. She had great hope for a fair and straightforward investigation, but this shady reality has her questioning her own initial judgement, 'Deputy Ma, there is no such thing as a fair investigation, is there? I kinda know there's someone who is trying to frame me, but... I have no idea that person is behind you.' Mina is starting to understand the situation that she's in,

Deputy Ma clears his throat to brazen himself up before answering, 'Consort Mina, please don't misunderstand. I was just checking if there are such things as an allergy to man-made fragrance and body lotion, and apparently, there are not.'

'So according to you, what I said is all made up?' The Consort argued back at his statement, 'Here, give me the lotion and I will prove it to you.'

Deputy Ma holds onto the lotion so tight as if he's holding on for his dear life, 'Consort Mina, you are trying to drag this out longer and longer, aren't you? We now have all the evidence that we need, and all the evidence is pointing right at you. Why don't you just admit to your crime the easy way?' Of course he refused Mina's request,

'How dare you try to force the crime on Consort Mina? Give her the lotion and let her prove her allergy to it.' Momo angrily yells at the Deputy as she can not keep quiet anymore after witnessing the unfairness her little sister is facing,

But at this moment, it's do or die for Deputy Ma, so he chooses to save himself by using any means, 'Shut up!' He yells back at Momo, 'The royal investigation Bureau has its own rules. Base on these rules, I will have to use torture if the suspect continues to deny the crime.'

'Don't you dare touch Her Highness! Her Majesty will have your head hanging by the palace gate.' Momo and JiHyo shout at him,

Deputy Ma smirks at the two, 'Of course I don't dare to hurt Her Majesty's beloved wife, but... you two, I can hurt.' He then orders his guards, 'Hang these two up and whip them until Consort Mina sign the indictment.'

Mina widened her eyes in disbelief at how Deputy Ma just outright using violence to force her into the crime which she didn't commit, 'Stop right there! Don't touch them!' She tries to block the guards but there are so many of them. One of the guards holds the Consort back, while the others proceed with the order,

As soon as the guards touch her, Momo starts to fight back. Even with her wrists are chained, she still can kick those guards to the ground. But then another wave of guards are running over, and Momo just can not fight them all with her wrists are bound,

Momo and JiHyo are hung up by their arms, then the guards are starting to whip them mercilessly,

'No... Stop... Stop right now!' Mina is in tears seeing her sister and her best friend are hurting. She fights hard to get to them but the guards are holding her back,

Screams of pain are filling this dark room, but despite all the bloods are oozing out with every stroke of the whip, Momo is still trying to comfort Mina, 'Mina... I'm alright... Do not... sign...'

JiHyo is also trying to talk through her tears and her screams, 'Your... Highness, please... don't... sign...'

Mina cries even harder seeing how much Momo and JiHyo are trying to protect her despite the immense pain they are taking. At this moment, the Consort feels so guilty that her closest people are suffering because she made the wrong decision to step in here. If it's her who is being torture, she would rather die than signing the indictment as Deputy Ma wants, but it's Momo and JiHyo, the people she loves, are suffering instead of her, and she just can't stand still and watch. Wiping her own tears away, Mina doesn't care what is going to happen to herself anymore, all she wants right now is to save her sister and her best friend from the merciless whipping, 'Deputy Ma, stop the torture right now! I... will sign the indictment.'

'Noooo... Mina... don't!' Momo and JiHyo shout at once,

Deputy Ma gestures for the guards to stop whipping. He did not waste any time and get the indictment for the Consort to sign right away,

Tears are pouring out as Mina reads through this unjustifiable indictment, which she has no choice but to sign it and ultimately become the culprit of poisoning the Queen, the one who she loves with all her heart, 'Your Majesty, please.... please forgive me!' She uttered to herself while signing her own death sentence.

◇◇◇◇

After waiting for a few hours but still haven't seen Momo and JiHyo coming back with Consort Mina, the maids at Mina's palace decided to inform Head Court Lady about it. Head Court Lady Nayeon then immediately heads to Consort Tzuyu's palace, 'Your Highness, the maids at Consort Mina's palace just informed me that Consort Mina has gone to the royal investigation Bureau by herself.' She reported in a great state of worries,

Consort Tzuyu shots up from her seat, 'No no no, this is not good.'

Right away, Consort Tzuyu and some of her maids and guards, together with Head Court Lady Nayeon hurriedly head straight to the royal investigation Bureau,

At the entrance, Deputy Ma and his guards bow their heads to greet the Noble Consort, 'Consort Tzuyu, what brings you here?' He asks as if he doesn't know the reason why she's here,

'Let Consort Mina go! Now!' Tzuyu goes straight to the point,

'I'm afraid I can't do that, Consort Tzuyu.' The Deputy replied,

'How dare you to imprison a Pure Consort of Castlemaine? Don't you need your head anymore, Deputy Ma?' Consort Tzuyu warns,

Deputy Ma smirks to himself, 'At the royal investigation Bureau, a royalty who commits a crime would still be treated as a criminal. I'm just following the law, Consort Tzuyu.' He defends himself, 'On top of that, Consort Mina has admitted to her crime.' He then revealed,

Tzuyu and Nayeon widen their eyes in great shock, 'You are lying!' Consort Tzuyu yells at him,

Deputy Ma gestures for a guard to bring the indictment over and show it to Consort Tzuyu,

Tzuyu's hope of rescuing Mina is crushed into pieces after she reads through the indictment with Mina's signature on it together with a short line, 'I did it all by myself' which Mina wrote to take all the blame to herself, and to make sure no one else has to face an unjust death,

On the other hand, Deputy Ma is watching in amusement the sight of Consort Tzuyu and Head Court Lady Nayeon standing there frozen in disbelief, 'If there is nothing else I can help you with, please excuse me.' He turned around and walked back inside the Bureau,

'Your Highness, what... do we do now?' Head Court Lady Nayeon asks in a dispirited tone,

Tzuyu takes a deep breath to keep herself calm in this losing situation, 'Let's hope... the royal physician is able to develop an antidote soon, and that Her Majesty wakes up before... it's too late.'

◇◇◇◇

Early morning the next day, Deputy Ma makes a secret visit to Consort Sana's palace, 'Your Highness, now that we have the indictment with Consort Mina's signature on it. I think we have to act on it quickly before... Her Majesty wakes up.'

Sana nods her head, agreeing with him, 'Once Her Majesty wakes up, she will definitely order to reinvestigate the case, then... if anyone found out that Consort Mina is actually allergic to the body lotion, then everything we have done will go to waste.'

'What should we do, Your Highness?' He asks,

'What do you do to a criminal who has admitted to her serious crime?' Consort Sana asks him right back with the idea already hidden in her question,

'... Execution...' Deputy Ma is quite nervous at the idea as even himself is very well aware of how much the Queen loves Consort Mina, 'But... but Your Highness, once Her Majesty wakes up, how... how do I face her wrath?'

Sana hands the indictment back to him while saying, 'This indictment right here will save you. You are just following the law and executing a criminal who tried to harm the Queen, no one can say anything or criticise you at all, even Her Majesty can't. She will be angry, yes, but she won't be able to do anything to you if there's no evidence left. Therefore, destroy all evidence.'

'That means... I'm going to have to get rid of Consort Mina's older sister Momo and her personal maid JiHyo too.' Deputy Ma analyses what he has to do,

Consort Sana hesitates a little, she in fact didn't expect the situation to get this bad. She hates Consort Mina and simply wants her to disappear, but she doesn't plan to have to kill other people, too. 'If you must.' She replied after thinking for a while.