Riel had no need for confirmation.
Elaris's words had only sharpened into focus what he already knew.
The bruises Riley tried to hide. The limp she thought she masked. The shadows beneath her eyes, born not from sleepless nights alone but from the steady drip of cruelty.
He had seen it all.
And he had allowed it to play out longer than he should have.
Not anymore.
Because he remembered too well what came of waiting.
The first timeline had been filled with silences just like this. Bruises hidden beneath long sleeves, whispers in corridors he was too far away to stop. Riley had borne them then too—small cruelties that grew into chains, until even her laughter had faded into something brittle and brief.
He remembered the sound of it, faint and fragile, like porcelain struck too hard. He remembered the way her eyes had stopped meeting his when she passed, as if she had learned to fold herself smaller just to survive. He remembered the day he realized he had waited too long, and she had slipped so far into the shadows that even his power could not pull her free.
He had sworn to himself, back then, that if he had the chance again, he would not hesitate.
Now the chance was here.
---
The letter was simple.
A crisp envelope sealed in black wax, the Desillix crest stamped deep. Its surface gleamed faintly beneath the academy's lantern light as it was delivered by hand, directly to Selanne's desk, while her classmates were still present. The weight of the eyes upon her was immediate, the hush that fell over the room like a curtain drawn.
She stared at it for a long moment before daring to break the seal, as if the crest itself carried heat. Her two companions leaned close, breathless with anticipation, their perfume mingling with the faint dry scent of parchment.
When the fold came loose and the elegant, cold script appeared, Selanne's heart nearly stopped.
Selanne Elowen,
You are requested for tea tomorrow afternoon in the North Garden.
—Riellischus Desillix
Her hands trembled as she read it a second time, then a third.
The North Garden was not for ordinary use. Its white-arched gates were unlocked only for those who had secured the right, and appointments were meticulously recorded. It was a place where no uniforms were required—where noble and comun alike could step beyond rank. Macht itself was forbidden there.
A sanctuary of words, nothing more.
But the meaning... the meaning was undeniable.
Riellischus Desillix had never invited anyone but Elaris Kleiv, his fiancée, into that garden. Not once.
Her companions clutched her arms, whispering furiously.
"You see? He noticed! He must have noticed all along."
"Do you think now that the violet-haired girl is quiet, he finally noticed your presence?"
Selanne could not answer. Her throat was too tight. She pressed the letter to her chest, the heat of the paper burning into her skin. Tomorrow would not just be tea. Tomorrow, the balance would change.
She spent the evening in fevered preparation. Her gowns were pressed until every crease lay flat. She sat before the mirror as the sun fell and rose again, braiding and rebraiding her hair until her scalp ached. Powder dusted her lips, a faint blush touched her cheeks. She practiced her smile until it curved perfectly.
When she closed her eyes, she imagined his.
Tomorrow, she thought, would be the beginning.
---
The North Garden opened only for her, its gates sighing as the guards let her through.
The air inside was heavy with jasmine and early summer warmth, the fragrance so thick it clung to her tongue. White stone paths wound between hedges trimmed to symmetry, every corner too neat to be wild. Beyond, dappled light filtered through canopies of green, gilding the edges of leaves as though painted by hand.
At the heart stood a small pond, the water clear as glass, koi flickering red and gold beneath the surface in slow, lazy arcs. Marble benches curved around the edges, polished smooth from centuries of use.
A table waited beneath the arbor, its trellis strung with flowering vines that breathed out faint sweetness. Porcelain cups gleamed against the white cloth, the faint scent of steam already curling upward from a teapot, a thin wisp dissolving into the stillness.
Selanne's pulse thundered in her ears. She smoothed her skirts with trembling hands, lowered herself onto one of the benches, and folded her posture into something graceful, as she had rehearsed countless times before.
The air was still. Even the birds seemed to hush.
And then he came.
Riel entered without sound, as if the world had anticipated his steps. The faint crunch of gravel beneath his boots was the only mark of his approach. Light shifted around him, bending as though reluctant to touch his shoulders. His presence filled the garden with a gravity that made even the marble seem to bow.
He did not greet her. He did not smile. He simply crossed to the table and sat opposite, movements clean and precise, every gesture stripped of ornament.
Selanne swallowed, pulse leaping at the sight. He poured the tea himself, his hand steady, not a drop spilled. Steam rose between them, faint curls twisting like ghosts in the still air.
She folded her hands tighter, her best-practiced smile trembling onto her face. "Lord Desillix. I am honored—"
He did not let her finish.
His eyes lifted.
"You shall leave Vyrilleya Vreisz alone."
The words struck like a blade.
Selanne blinked. "...What?"
Riel did not repeat himself. His gaze held hers, cold and merciless.
And the world fell away.
Blue.
Endless, glacial blue, sharp as glass. It seized her in an instant and pulled her down—down through a river choked with ice, into a depth where no light reached. Darkness pressed from all sides, vast and unyielding, crushing the air from her lungs.
She gasped, but no air came.
Her chest burned. Her fingers clawed uselessly at her skirts.
This was not a command she could twist or ignore.
It was a warning. A verdict.
And it swallowed her whole.
The porcelain cup before her blurred through the haze, fragile as her own composure. She tried to laugh, the sound breaking sharp in her throat.
"This is about her? That insignificant viscount daughter? Surely, someone like you could not possibly—"
His silence answered.
And it was worse than words.
The blue of his eyes did not waver. The darkness did not release her. It drowned her, inch by inch, dragging her into a blackness so absolute she thought she would never surface again.
Her lungs convulsed. Panic clawed up her throat, clawed at the edges of her mind.
"Leave her alone," Riel said again, softer. Final.
The cold sealed around her like a tomb.
She broke.
Her chair scraped against the stone as she lurched to her feet, skirts catching on the table's edge. Tea sloshed in its cups, rattling porcelain. Selanne bent into a bow so fast it nearly toppled her, breath gasping in shallow bursts.
She fled.
By the doorway to the garden, her companions scrambled after her, skirts rustling, voices frantic.
But Selanne heard nothing. The echo of his voice hollowed her chest, the drowning terror still coiled around her ribs.
By the time she reached her rooms, her hands would not stop shaking. When she closed her eyes, she felt the ice and the dark rising to claim her again. She knew instinctively—even one accidental moment with that violet-haired girl meant the end for her. Literally.
She did not attend class the next day.
Nor the day after.
Within the week, her name was struck from the academy's rolls.
Selanne Elowen had left.
---
Riel sat a while longer in the garden.
The steam rose faintly from the cups, undisturbed. He lifted one, let the warmth brush his face, and drank.
He did not smile. He did not sigh.
When he was finished, he set the cup down and rose. His steps carried him from the arbor into the fading light, the silence of the garden settling in his wake.
---
The news reached Ace in fragments, scattered whispers carried through the corridors.
"Selanne Elowen quit."
"They say Desillix broke her."
"She never came back after that tea."
The words struck harder than a blow.
Quit.
He had thought Riel's intervention would be no more than a warning. A noble heir putting a bully in her place. But this—this was annihilation. Clean. Absolute. A single strike that ended her.
And Ace?
He had done nothing. Again.
It felt like a game he had never chosen to play, and yet he had already lost. Selanne had been erased from the academy while he was still standing idle, watching Riley limp into class with a smile that cut more than it convinced.
Riel had acted.
Ace had not even spoken.
The weight of it pressed down, heavy as chains. He thought of his brother, Luciell, who had carried Sweinz blood like an unbreakable shield. He thought of Riley, who should have had that same protection.
His fists curled at his sides. Shame burned through him, hot and raw.
Not again, he swore. Never again.
---
Far above, in the observatory, Nave heard the rumor as it passed among senior lips.
"Selanne Elowen withdrew."
"After a tea with Desillix, of all things."
His steps slowed.
"They said it was because of one comun girl. Freshman."
His eyes narrowed faintly, unreadable. The faintest tilt of his head suggested thought, calculation.
He did not speak.
Nave left that room with a subtle smirk, as if finally finding something worth his time.