**24 HOURS LATER:**

  **"SHOCKING INCEST SCANDAL AT ROYAL CASTLE!"**

  **"PEASANT MOTHER, SON CAUGHT ON MAGIC MIRROR!"**

  **"GUARDS INVESTIGATE DEPRAVITY IN SERVANTS' QUARTERS"**

  The **photo of the Duke** was **forgotten**. The **questions about Beauty** **disappeared**. The **public was outraged**—not at a **Duke preying on a child**, but at **two poor people daring to have sex in their upstanding kingdom**.

  - The **son** was **arrested**. **10 years in the dungeon**. **Branded as a deviant**.

  - The **mother** was **banished** before sunrise. **"Moral corruption,"** the magistrate said.

  - **Duke Richard?** **"No charges. Lack of evidence."**

  - **Beauty?** She watched the news from her bedroom, **pying with the bracelet her tutor gave her for her birthday**. **"They're disgusting,"** her mother said over the broadcast.

  The air in the tutor's chamber was thick with the scent of old books and vender. Beauty y on the plush velvet sofa, her dress discarded on a nearby chair. The tutor sat up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked down at Beauty, sprawled on the sofa, her chest rising and falling with a deep, sated rhythm.

  "You're so beautiful," the older woman whispered.

  Beauty pushed herself up on her elbows, a zy, satisfied smile on her face. She leaned forward, and they kissed. It was a slow, deep kiss. When they finally parted, Beauty swung her legs off the sofa and began calmly putting on her dress.

  The next day, Beauty walked down the corridor of the all-girls exclusive school wing, the chatter of other noble daughters echoing off the marble walls. She felt the cool weight of the new silver chain on her wrist, her fingers idly toying with the single, tiny sapphire charm.

  "Ooh, that's new," a cssmate said, falling into step beside her and gncing at the bracelet. "It's so pretty. Where'd you get it?"

  Beauty gave a small, enigmatic smile and kept walking.

  "It's from a friend."

  Beauty **didn't say anything more**. But that night, she **searched the royal library for books on statutory ws.** And for the first time, she **really understood how the game was pyed**.

  A week ter, **Duke Richard** gave a press conference.

  **"This has been a difficult time for the royal family,"** he said, his voice **grave**. **"But we must protect our children from predators."**

  A reporter raised her hand. **"What about the allegations involving you and Beauty?"**

  Richard **smiled**. **"Those are baseless. The real criminals have already been dealt with."**

  The reporters **nodded**. No one asked about **what their leaders didn't want them to**. No one asked about **why what the servants did was so bad, but what the nobles did was different**. No one asked why a **12-year-old** was **flirting with adults** while her parents **looked the other way**.

  Because the **real scandal** wasn't about **inappropriate behavior**. It was about **who had the power to do it**.