"Pardon?" Kaelis hears Helios whisper in rage.

The word barely leaves Helios’ lips, but the way he says it makes the air feel heavier, like something just snapped beneath the surface.

Kaelis’ gaze shifts between them, caught in the middle of something that was quickly spiraling out of control.

Helios’ face was red, not just from anger, but from something deeper, something that had been building long before this moment.

Aurien, on the other hand—

Aurien looked...cold.

"I said...shut your mouth," Aurien repeats, his voice steadier now, standing tall despite everything, his gaze locked onto Helios’ without flinching.

"Aurien..." Kaelis warns, his voice lower this time, more careful. Not because he didn’t agree, not because he didn’t understand, but because Helios had just returned.

And Helios likes this—

Was unpredictable.

’He’s not thinking straight right now,’ Kaelis thought, tension building in his chest. ’This is going to get worse.’

But Helios doesn’t even give him a chance.

He turns sharply, his glare snapping toward Kaelis.

"Stay out of this."

The words come like a strike.

Kaelis flinches.

It was small, subtle even.

But it’s there.

Maybe because he was scared.

Maybe because a part of him...didn’t want to be involved anymore.

’This isn’t mine to fix,’ Kaelis thought, his jaw tightening slightly as he took a step back.

He doesn’t move forward again.

Doesn’t try to interfere.

He just watches.

Watches as Helios turns back to Aurien and grabs him by the collar again, harsher this time, pulling him forward.

Kaelis notices it immediately.

Helios’ hand was shaking.

"Are you actually talking back to me right now?"

"Do you really need an answer?" Aurien asks, his voice quiet but firm as he grabs Helios’ arm, the very arm holding him.

There was no hesitation.

Helios falters.

Just for a moment.

His expression shifts, something flickering in his eyes that Kaelis couldn’t quite name.

"It seems you got your mother’s impudence."

"And YOU got your mother’s bitterness."

Aurien pushes Helios away again.

This time harder.

More...aggressive.

"That’s right. I disrespected the queen, but only because she deserved it!"

The words land heavily.

There was no fear left in them.

Aurien moves forward now.

He’s the one closing the distance.

His hand grips Helios’ clothing, shoving him back even further, his smaller frame somehow holding its ground against Helios’ strength.

"My mother only wanted to give her a gift, and she decided to slap my mother and call her a bitch so I called her what she truly was."

’What did he say?’ Kaelis wondered, blinking once, caught off guard by how far this had gone.

"The king’s waste. The one that father doesn’t want. You consider me a bastard?" Aurien asks, and then—

He laughs.

It doesn’t sound right.

Not coming from him.

Not with that face.

That expression that had always been soft, always been gentle.

"...this isn’t him," Kaelis thought, something twisting in his chest. ’He’s just angry.’

He convinces himself that.

Tried, at least.

"Our father didn’t even like you or the queen enough to grant you the crown prince title, or her to become the queen mother—"

SLAP.

The sound cracks through the room.

It was loud.

Loud enough to echo.

"A-Aurien!" Kaelis gasps, stepping forward instinctively this time.

Helios had slapped him.

Aurien’s head snaps to the side with the force of it, his body going still for a second, like even he hadn’t expected it.

But Helios wasn’t done.

"You think because your mother is father’s current favorite plaything, and it just so happens that your weak innocence melts his heart, means nothing," Helios says, his voice uneven now, breath slipping through his words. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"You were only given the chance to be king for show, to please you and that bitch of a mother of yours that ruined MY mother’s life and drove her to insanity."

Kaelis’ chest tightens.

Helios steps closer again.

Closing whatever distance was left.

Aurien doesn’t move.

He just stands there, stunned, the red mark already forming on his cheek.

"She never cared that my mother cried every day. She never cared that your existence broke my mother; she taunted my mother every day, bringing you to her room when you were born, showing you off."

’...Auntie Aurelia did all that?’ Kaelis thought, his brows pulling together, doubt and confusion mixing in a way he couldn’t untangle.

"Why does she even visit my mother every day?" Helios continues, his voice rising again. "Knowing my mother’s poor mental health, knowing she WOULD get hurt. Why? It’s obvious, right?"

Helios laughs.

It sounded unnerving. Almost psychotic.

"Because just like YOU, she’s faking her innocence. Making my mother crazier, then acting like the victim after."

"That’s not true! My mother...my mother truly cares about the queen, about all the concubines—"

"THEN WHERE WAS SHE WHEN KAELIS’ MOTHER WAS SICK AND DIED?!"

Helios shouts it.

Loud enough to make the walls feel smaller.

The words hit harder than anything else.

Kaelis freezes.

Completely.

His breath catches.

His thoughts stop.

’...what?’

"She doesn’t care about others; she only cares about my mother? Only visited my mother, knowing full well my mother hated her?"

The room feels different now.

"M-My...mother... she means well," Aurien explains, but the words come slower now, less certain, like he was reaching for something that was slipping through his fingers the more Helios spoke.

Even as he said it, there was hesitation.

A crack.

This was the first time Aurien and Helios had heard this side of things spoken out loud, this version of the queen, this version of Aurelia.

Helios didn’t hesitate.

"Mean well?" he repeats, his voice sharp, almost disbelieving. "Even Lyra got the hint not to come close to my mother, knowing she had been struggling with her mental state, and her hatred for all of father’s mistresses."

That was true.

Kaelis knew it was.

’Mother never went near her...’ Kaelis thought, his chest tightening as the memory surfaced without warning.

His mother had stayed away.

Away from the queen.

Away from the other concubines.

She kept to herself.

Her stars. She’s quiet.

She didn’t visit the king.

The king visited her.

She never forced her presence where it wasn’t wanted.

It was only Aurelia—

Only Aurelia, who always seemed to try.

Always seemed to reach out.

"Let’s face the reality, Aurien." Helios steps closer again, his hand lifting as he pokes Aurien’s chest, each touch deliberate. "I tried not to tell you because I thought you were just simply clueless."

The words hit harder than the slap.

"Your mother knows she’s her father’s favorite and loves to show it off. She psychologically tortures my father and then acts like the victim."

Aurien’s eyes widen.

Not in understanding.

In refusal.

He didn’t want to believe it.

No—

He couldn’t believe it.

Aurien loved his mother too much to ever let those words settle into something real.

Kaelis could see it clearly.

And he couldn’t blame him.

’Auntie Aurelia...’ Kaelis thought, his jaw tightening slightly. ’She took care of me too...’

After his mother died—

Aurelia was there.

She wasn’t just Aurien’s mother.

She had been something close to that for him, too.

"Your mother is a vixen, a liar, and a—"

"AGH!"

Aurien’s voice cuts him off, loud and raw as he shoves Helios again.

Harder.

This time,e there was no restraint.

Helios loses his balance completely, his back hitting the ground with a heavy thud that echoes through the library.

Kaelis moves immediately.

Not to interfere—

But because of what he sees next.

Aurien was on top of him.

Pinning him down.

"You are a master manipulator just like the queen," Aurien says, his voice shaking, not with fear, but with emotion that had nowhere else to go. "You make everyone the villain because you can’t accept that our father loves MY mother."

’I’ve never seen him like this...’ Kaelis thought, frozen in place despite himself.

"I am not AN IDIOT." Aurien continues, his hands trembling slightly where they pressed against Helios. "I may be afraid of you, and every single thing, but I know my mother."

His voice breaks.

"My mother would risk her fingers just to be able to embroider the queen’s favorite flowers and gift them to her in secret."

Aurien was crying now.

Not holding back.

The tears fell freely, his face twisted with something deeper than anger.

"My mother knows her favorite snacks, and would ask the chefs to bring them to her after an argument, even when she got slapped, kicked, and insulted."

Each word came faster.

Like he needed to say it before someone took it away from him.

"She would always have the queen’s servants prepare everything to make sure the queen became calm."

Aurien’s fist tightens.

Then—

He punches Helios in the chest.

Not once.

But hard enough to make the impact felt.

Helios doesn’t react the way Kaelis expected.

He doesn’t push him off.

He doesn’t fight back immediately.

He just...stares.

Shocked.

"I never understood why she would care so much for a woman who despised her, but that’s just how my mother is!" Aurien shouts, his voice cracking again. "Her heart is too big!"

"You actually believe that?"

Helios’ voice was quieter now.

But colder.

"Wouldn’t you believe your mother above everyone else?"

Aurien doesn’t hesitate.

He throws the question right back at him.

Helios doesn’t answer.

Not out loud.

But Kaelis already knew.

’We all would,’ Kaelis thought, something heavy settling in his chest.

Helios believed his mother.

Aurien believed his.

And if his own mother were still here—

Kaelis knew he would’ve done the same.

They were all the same in that way.

All were raised by their mothers.

Without a father who stayed.

Without someone to balance what they were taught.

"Once I become king, I’ll swear to Aurethys, I will make sure to banish all the concubines, starting with your wretched mother," Helios says.

The words were steady.

Not shouted.

Not rushed.

That made them worse.

"IF...you become king," Aurien whispers, his voice hoarse but unyielding. "Once I become king, I’ll make sure your mother goes back to her kingdom, and you go with her."

Silence follows.

It wasn’t just anger anymore.

It wasn’t just a fight.

It was something else.

A line drawn.

A future decided.

A challenge.

Both of their words were challenges.

And for some reason—

Kaelis couldn’t shake the feeling that they didn’t just say it out of anger.