Lilith stopped briefly before him. He looked at her in confusion. For a moment neither spoke, then she adjusted the collar of his coat calmly.

"You should sleep later."

"You might be right on that. My poor body hasn’t gotten one beauty sleep in almost a week."

She chuckled softly. Atheline enjoyed that sound. He leaned in and took her lips in a small kiss before separating.

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

She shook her head.

"Not yet, I might ask for you after a while."

Atheline studied her silently for a second longer.

"...Don’t kill any council members."

"No promises."

"Don’t dirty your beautiful hands, I’m right here."

She ignored him completely before turning and walking toward the council wing. Atheline watched her disappear down the corridor before finally exhaling softly.

Then another voice spoke behind him.

"So."

He closed his eyes briefly.

"...Ah."

Helther, his older brother, stood leaning against a nearby pillar with folded arms.

Unlike him at the moment, the older man carried the unmistakable elegance of high elf nobility openly. Brown hair rested neatly behind pointed ears adorned with silver jewelry while ceremonial white-and-green robes marked him clearly as a representative of the high elven territories.

"Have been here the entire time," Atheline said, glaring at him. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Helther laughed.

"Not even a good morning to your favorite brother. "

"Not when you’re spying on my wife and me."

Atheline wondered if Lilith had sensed his approach, which was why she didn’t want him to go with her.

Helther raised his hands in surrender the elegance he had a few seconds ago gone as he became more relaxed.

"I just arrived and saw your darling wife leaving, you don’t have to bite," he defended himself.

Atheline sighed and walked towards him. He came to a stop a few steps from him.

Helther stared at him for several long seconds.

"...What exactly happened when I decided to go for a little morning training?"

Atheline considered carefully.

"That depends on how much time you have."

"That bad?"

"Probably worse."

Helther rubbed slowly at his forehead.

"This was one of the few opportunities to train with dark elven soldiers," he pointed accusingly," I came back and suddenly Humanity thinks the dark elves are prepared to erase them."

He was breathing harder now. Atheline had the gall to look a little guilty. This had probably been a surprise to him and Prince Solaris.

"When you summarise it like that, it sounds dramatic."

"It is dramatic. A dramatic turn of events. Weren’t we just preaching about peace among species a few days ago?"

Atheline avoided his gaze and continued down the corridor. Helther pushed away from the pillar before walking beside him down the corridor.

Servants immediately bowed lower seeing them together.

"... The delegates are panicking."

"That’s to be expected."

"You married the dark elf queen and now there’s potentially going to be a continental war." His brother sighed heavily. "I don’t think the marriage brought the peace it was supposed to."

"It did or you wouldn’t be standing here."

"Yes. It was good and all until now, this, another war," Helther looked at him flatly," although it’s not an immediate threat to the Kingdom now, it still worries me."

That was also fair.

They entered one of the palace’s quieter garden halls where sunlight spilled through the glassed windows, onto the different exotic plants and trees.

For a while neither spoke. Then Helther finally sighed.

"...Is the assassination accusation real?"

Atheline’s expression dimmed slightly.

"I don’t know," he lied.

Although he trusted his brother. This matter was only known between her and Lilith. They had yet to explicitly say that Igrad was the one who had personally attacked him.

They had left it to the masses to interpret however they liked.

That answer surprised the older man immediately.

"You genuinely don’t know?"

No."

His brother’s brows furrowed thoughtfully.

"That’s dangerous."

"Yes."

As of now, those who understood part of the situation, had come to a small conclusion. If Gladia’s royal family truly orchestrated the assassination attempt, then Lilith’s ultimatum became justified but if someone manipulated events intentionally...

Then the continent was walking directly into a trap and there was nothing they could do. Lilith wanted to catch the mastermind in these seven days if not, she would still go on with the threat she had made.

Helther sat slowly near one of the garden fountains.

"The high elves will still get dragged into this."

Atheline leaned quietly against a nearby pillar.

"I know."

That was the unpleasant truth nobody had openly discussed publicly yet. His marriage tied the dark elves and high elves together politically now whether the continent liked it or not.

Before, the high elves maintained careful neutrality whenever possible and only chose the side that provided the highest benefits.

Now?

Atheline himself was a high elf by blood and the husband of the dark elf queen. The pact the two kingdoms had made during the marriage had basically tied the two kingdoms together. If war broke out, neutrality would become nearly impossible.

Helther looked deeply tired suddenly.

"I got message from father," he quietly said, "The council back home has already started discussing military positioning."

"That quickly?"

"The moment Her Majesty threatened annihilation publicly, every kingdom in all the continents started preparing for the worst."

Atheline exhaled quietly.

’It hasn’t been half a day since the announcement. Were these kingdoms just waiting for an excuse to mobilize or what?’

Helther leaned back slightly against the fountain edge.

"Do you understand how absurd your life became?"

He chuckled dryly. He never seemed to get any rest since he got married but those were nothing but trials, his married life had been a breeze.

"Painfully."

"You used to avoid social gatherings because they were annoying."

"I still do," he looked around, " I avoided them because I had to handle all of Solaris betroths."

Helther chuckled a little.

"Look at that, you’ve really grown and now you’re potentially about to become the central figure in the largest continental conflict in centuries."

"...Unfortunately."

He laughed weakly despite himself.

Then his expression softened slightly.

"You look tired."

"I am but you know, this is for the best. The treaty was bound to be broken sooner or later, I just hurried the process."

Silence settled comfortably between them for a moment.

Then Helther spoke more quietly.

"...Do you love her?"

Atheline blinked once.

That question came unexpectedly. No one had really ever asked him that, even Lilith herself.

The garden fountains continued flowing softly nearby while distant palace bells echoed faintly through the capital beyond the windows.

Eventually, Atheline met his brothers gaze.

"Yes."

He said without any hesitation. Helther studied him carefully as though trying to find any sign that he was lying.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Huh."

That reaction almost offended him.

"You sound surprised."