Javier shut the door behind him. Then, he glanced at Rowan.
"What do you think, Sir Rowan?" He muttered in a hushed voice. Rowan, taking position to stand guard outside the room, thought for a moment. Then his lips parted.
"I'm not sure." He answered honestly. "I believe it is too early to tell, Vice Captain." He added. Javier nodded. As usual, Sir Rowan had a calm judgment.
"Right. Continue to keep an eye on her. Report everything."
Rowan bowed his head as Javier made his leave. He was heading back to the prince's quarters not far from where he was, collecting and organising his thoughts.
The princess consort who had now arrived in the castle.
It was too early to tell - whether she was a spy for Mellow and the Imperial Family or not.
A dark shade of green overtook Javier's eyes. Lady Lunaria wasn't the first wife of his master. To be precise, she was now the third lady of the castle.
What had happened to the other two?
Rumours had it the prince's first wife died from illness. Sure enough, the lady had fallen sick, to the point she bled from her nose and coughed up blood often. A while after she had laid on her sickbed, it suddenly became her deathbed.
Only known to a select few, it was revealed the first princess consort had been poisoned.
From that moment, Lucien decided he couldn't trust anyone. The poisoning wasn't something he had arranged. More than that, it was a poison that wasn't even procurable in the north. Only the central and southern regions of the empire could see the making of that poison. As if to top it all, one of the maids his first wife had brought with her from the capital had conveniently disappeared in the chaos.
Lucien was reminded that there was no one he could truly trust. Right. It had been like that ever since he was a child.
So when he received word of another arrangement, he burned the letter with his very hands. Unfortunately, it didn't stop the marriage from going forward.
Once more, it was the daughter of a low-ranking noble. She practically had no name, and nothing to inherit. Lucien understood the king's intention then.
To keep him busy taking care of his wife and harsh north, so that he never threatens the imperial succession.
Perhaps it was more accurate to say, these machinations belonged to his brother. After all, a king on his sickbed wouldn't be able to do this much.
His second wife, yet another anchor preventing him from trying to take his place as the rightful heir. Whether she was mad from the beginning, or she truly lost her wits, was unclear.
"I can't do this anymore. I'm going to die anyway..."
Lucien had run to grab her legs as the chair clattered beneath her feet. She thrashed and kicked at him; he grit his teeth, scared he might crush her legs just trying to keep her still. Though even after he managed to get her down, a blade replaced the rope on her neck. A red he was all too familiar with spattered on his still face.
In the dark room, only his golden eyes flared with a smouldering rage.
He was tied down to the north. Lucien became known as a man cursed to leave a trail of death wherever he went. A demon belonged in a land of demons.
Tok.
Lucien's steps halted to a stop. He had been lost in thought, only just realising his approaching aide. Perhaps Javier was the only person he could fully trust.
"Oh, Your Highness. I was heading to see you now." Javier bowed briefly and spoke. He surveyed his master's attire. He hadn't changed out of the same outfit he donned in the morning. That was, a plain white shirt with undone lace, and black trousers. He didn't seem to be feeling cold at all. No one would have thought he was the prince, if not for his golden eyes as evidence.
Javier ignored Lucien's lack of decorum. "Where were you headed?"
Lucien cocked his head, stretching his neck with a hand.
"To see the Princess."
"I see, wait- What??" Javier put out his hands to stop Lucien who hadn't started walking yet. "You're going to see the princess without a preliminary report?" He spoke in hushed tones, slightly more irritated than he was panicked.
Lucien simply shrugged. "Does it matter? Report or no report, I'll see for myself anyway."
Javier glowered at Lucien.
"Haa... fine. So tell me." Lucien sighed, scratching the back of his head tiredly. Javier's thin brows furrowed anxiously. Was it alright to speak in the open like that? Lucien didn't seem to care. With a mental sigh, he opened his mouth carefully.
"I can't be sure. She seems innocent, but it may very well be an act." After a beat, he added, "This is Mellow we're talking about, after all."
Mellow. The name aggravated Lucien to no end. They were a close friend and backer of his brother, the Crown Prince, despite being a small county. They managed to hit a jackpot, literally striking gold in a mine on their lands. After cosying up to the Crown Prince, they managed to steal the crown from Lucien's hands.
And now they had sent their one and only daughter straight to his territory.
A smirk stretched Lucien's lips, revealing white teeth. Javier paled slightly at the sight.
"Right. Mellow. If it's them, I'm sure my charming brother is plotting something big. Maybe the old man is finally kicking the bucket."
If that's true, I'm running out of time. Though he was starting to find his little brother's games amusing, there was still that concern in the back of his mind.
If he gets on the throne, things will be difficult.
Javier watched the smiling Lucien uneasily. His master was someone who didn't trust anyone, who couldn't afford to do that. After being betrayed again and again, he seemed to have lost some of his sanity. Perhaps it was an effect of the North, a land originally ravaged by demonic beasts until a few years ago.
Lucien let out a hum. "Well, I guess I'll go and see for myself. What kind of gift my brother has sent me this time."
He resumed his steps, dismissing Javier with a wave as he walked ahead towards the Princess Consort's room.
***
Crackle.
Lunaria watched the fire blaze in the fireplace. A red hue took over her face as she sat in front of the hearth, her pink diamonds of irises glinting.
Click.
She whipped her head around towards the sound of the door opening. There, her gaze fell upon a new kind of flame.
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