Four years. Four years had passed in the desolate isolation of the Northern Hunting Lodge. Aiden was no longer a silent infant; he was a sturdy, fiercely intelligent boy of four years old, mirroring his father's features and carrying the unmistakable energy of a young alpha. Arion, lean and hardened by years of rigorous mountain training, was finally ready. The disgraced omega was gone; in his place stood the resilient, patient weapon Kyon had inadvertently forged.
During those years, the world had shifted dramatically, information filtering to Arion through Maeva's guarded missives. The King, now frail and increasingly absent from his duties, had essentially handed the reins of power over to Kyon.
The first major tremor was the quiet, almost bloodless collapse of the Western Alliance. Kyon had never intended to fulfill the terms of the contract with Prince Valerius. The contract, which Kyon had allowed his father to believe was iron-clad, was in fact fake. Months before leaving for the Western Capital, Kyon had meticulously replaced the genuine marriage contract with a beautifully forged document containing legal loopholes that rendered it non-binding upon his father's death or abdication. Valerius, believing he was playing a long game, only realized the deception when Kyon, backed by the political power of the Jade Heart, unilaterally dissolved the alliance.
Kyon had used Arion's supposed "treason" to gain Valerius's immediate trust, secured the Jade Heart, and then discarded both the warrior and the alliance. Now, he stood at the apex of his power, the undisputed mastermind behind the throne.
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With the West neutralized and the King's health failing, Kyon had made his final move: he openly declared his intention to seize the throne, not just as regent, but as the next sovereign.
This declaration ignited a bitter, internal conflict that had been simmering for years: the Brother's War. Prince Cassian, always the favored military commander and the eldest, traditional alpha heir, saw Kyon's ambition as the ultimate political betrayal. Cassian controlled the majority of the old guard and the Royal Army, fueled by his desperate desire to protect his birthright and his deep, festering hatred for the man who had stolen his most prized possession ,Arion.
The court was split. The powerful Eastern Dominion, still paralyzed by the Duke's silent rage and Arion's secret exile, remained ostensibly neutral but quietly sympathetic to Cassian. The majority of the common nobility and merchants, however, flocked to Kyon, lured by his pragmatic competence and the mystical influence of the Jade Heart.
Kyon and Cassian were now locked in a deadly game of political and military maneuvering. Skirmishes between their loyalist forces were becoming more frequent, threatening to plunge the kingdom into open civil war.
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Arion watched this development not with dread, but with cold, clinical satisfaction. This was the crack he had been waiting for. Kyon, powerful as he was, was now distracted, forced to fight a conventional war against his brother.
Aiden, meanwhile, was the heart of Arion's renewed purpose. The boy had inherited his mother's discipline and his father's terrifying intelligence.
"Again, Aiden," Arion instructed one frosty afternoon in the yard, watching the four-year-old attempt to lift a small, hand carved wooden sword.
"But Papa, it's heavy!" Aiden complained, his lower lip trembling, an echo of his baby tears.
"Heavy is truth," Arion replied, his voice firm. "We do not complain about truth. We use it. Feel the weight, Aiden. That is the weight of the crown your father fights for. And we, my son, must be stronger than that weight."
Aiden, seeing the unwavering resolve in Arion's eyes, would try again. He learned fast, adapting quickly to the harsh environment. Arion taught him tracking, silence, and observation, lessons disguised as games. He never once spoke ill of Kyon; he simply referred to him as "The Serpent."
"The Serpent knows only power," Arion would tell his son. "Never show him your weakness."
Now, with Kyon consumed by the Brother's War, the moment for Arion's final, decisive move had arrived. He had secured the Eastern House's secret support through his mother and sibling funds and a political conduit. He had a cover story (that he had been held captive in the West), and he had his most potent weapon, the secret heir.
Arion looked at his son, then at the distant, snow-capped peaks. He was ready to leave the exile. He wouldn't pick a side in the Brother's War; he would obliterate both of them, exposing the lies that had fractured the kingdom and seizing back his own name and peace.
" papa! Please , it too heavy I won't make it" Aiden doesn't complain this time , his tiny arm giving out already.
Arion sigh " we'll go slowly from now on" .
Aiden nod and immediately let go of the sword on the yard ground.
" phew! Thanks papa!" Aiden run towards a bottle water and start drinking messily.
" careful love you'll shock on it!" Arion says quietly looking his son , and then Aiden start coughing and he put a thumbs up at his dad and grins . " hehe, IM FINE!, don't worry papa" his blue amber eye shine with tears in the corner, his throat had hurt slightly from it .
Arion sigh heavily and shake head softly, he grab a tissue and walk towards Aiden and lower at Aiden height. " little black tiger should have listened to what papa told him!" Arion say wiping Aiden mouth and face . " look you made a mess if your clothes…" Arion sigh and Aiden smiled ( a guilty smile , a silent apologies) .
" you are now four years old Aiden, not a suckler baby anymore so how do you keep shocking on anything who is liquid?" Arion whispers a tiny smile on his lips.
" I don't know, papa, I just want to drink as fast as possible" he shake his legs hitting a small stone .
" well it time to pack and get on the plan" arion get up .
" papa, grandpa had said that we can't" Aiden follow closely.
" just between us it out little secret" Arion start packing up Aiden watching closely.
" well then we will start other training more hard then the previous ones,okay!"arion says cheerfully and Aiden look him with puppy eye pleading for it to be a nightmare.