Six months later,
The sun spilled gold across the marble halls, but inside the twin princes' chambers, the warmth never quite reached.
Eryx stood by the window, watching Cael in the garden below. He was laughing again—shoulders relaxed, head tilted back, eyes crinkled as he spoke with a young maid about the herbs they were planting.
His laughter carried faintly through the breeze.
Eryx's fingers twitched.
That sound didn't belong to them.
It belonged to him.
To them.
Not to strangers. Not to servants. Not to anyone else.
⸻
"I want to kill them," Eryx muttered, not even bothering to disguise the venom in his tone.
Viel, sitting on the couch with his sketchbook in hand, didn't even look up. "Mm."
"I want to stab out the eyes that look at him. Cut out the tongues that call his name. Snap every finger that dares brush against his sleeves."
His voice was sweet. Light. Delicate.
Like sugar before it burns.
"I want to rip the throats of anyone who makes him laugh like that.I hate it..."
He turned to Viel, red eyes glowing faintly.
"Well? Should I?"
⸻
Viel didn't stop drawing. But his voice came soft and cold:
"No."
Eryx blinked. "Why not?"
Viel finally looked up, expression unreadable.
"Because it's not the smart thing to do."
Eryx tilted his head. Waiting.
Viel closed his sketchbook gently. "If he becomes close to those peasants... he'll care about them. And if he cares about them, we can use them."
Eryx said nothing, but his smile curled at the edges.
Viel stood, walking to the window, staring down at Cael as he smiled at the gardener now. His tone was calm, but his eyes were filled with quiet cruelty.
"You can feel it too, can't you?" he whispered. "He's going to run. One day."
"He'll try."
"He's not like a bird, brother. Birds fly. He... flees."
"But if we tie him down..." Viel turned to Eryx, voice colder than ice, "not with chains, not with force—but with love... he won't have the strength to leave."
"He won't be able to."
⸻
Eryx laughed—bright and sharp, like the edge of a jeweled blade.
"Well then," he said cheerfully, "I don't mind him getting close to those little insects."
"They'll be useful."
"Like a leash."
"Like a cage."
Their voices were low. Calm.
Like demons whispering behind glass.
Outside, Cael leaned down and tucked a flower into a little girl's braid, smiling warmly.
Upstairs, his fate was already being sealed.
⸻
The twins turned back toward the room.
Viel glanced out once more, watching a butterfly land in the corner of the window.
It fluttered against the pane, delicate wings tapping helplessly.
He smiled softly.
"Look," he whispered. "It got caught."
The butterfly twisted and thrashed—stuck in a nearly invisible thread of spider silk across the frame.
Beautiful. Helpless.
And completely unaware.
Eryx leaned closer to his brother and whispered like a secret:
"So did he."
Cael was kneeling in the grass, sleeves rolled up, hands smudged with dirt as he carefully replanted a row of crushed marigolds.
"They must've been stepped on," he murmured, frowning at the little bent stems. "Poor things..."
A servant had accidentally trampled the bed during the night patrol. No one cared, of course—except Cael.
Because Cael cared about everything.
⸻
Viel and Eryx watched from the shadows of the balcony above, eyes glowing faintly behind the carved railing.
"He's talking to the flowers again," Eryx whispered.
Viel nodded. "It's not like they can talk back to him.Silly Cael"
Eryx snorted softly. "He's so stupid."
"He's so kind." Viel said
"Same thing."
⸻
Below, Cael gently tied a tiny green ribbon around one of the weaker stems to help it stand.
"Don't worry," he said quietly. "You'll get better. I promise. The sun's nice today, right?"
He smiled at the plant.
A smile with no audience. No mask. Just pure-hearted affection for a flower that couldn't love him back.
⸻
Later, when he walked past the training grounds, one of the knights called out playfully.
"Cael! Would you like to try your hand at a match?"
Cael blinked. "Oh, no, I couldn't. I'll hurt someone."
The knights laughed, assuming it was a joke.
It wasn't.
Cael looked genuinely worried.
"But if you ever need tea or a bandage, I'm very good at that!" he offered instead.
Cael was one of the best swords masters in the capital.