The Golden Guards shifted, their overlapping shields forming a wall of gilded steel. They were the Emperor’s personal shield, men trained to die before yielding an inch, yet even they flinched as Alaric’s hand gripped the hilt of his sword.

The screech of the blade leaving its scabbard was a high, mourning wail that silenced the frantic shouting of the lesser guards.

On the balcony of the Jade Wing, Julian felt his [Mental Stability] spike and dip violently in his peripheral vision.

> [Stability: 36% — WARNING: High Stress Environment]

He leaned over the marble railing, his knuckles still white as bone as he clutched with a hard grip. He could see the Emperor now—Aurelian had stepped out onto the central balcony, draped in his shimmering robe, looking down at his brother with a smile that was nothing short of sociopathic.

He looked genuinely amused, as if he were watching a particularly entertaining play where he already knew the ending.

"Brother," Aurelian called down, his voice smooth and mocking, slicing through the tension like a hot knife. "You’ve always had such a... flair for the dramatic. Are you truly going to commit high treason over a mere tutor? I was simply ensuring his recovery. He looked so peaky after our little... encounter."

The word ’encounter’ was a deliberate needle, twisted into the wound in Alaric’s heart.

Alaric didn’t respond with words. He kicked his horse forward, the massive beast surging toward the line of Golden Guards. He didn’t care for the halberds leveled at his chest. His gaze was fixed on the Emperor, his blue eyes burning with the cold, absolute promise of a man who was ready to watch the world burn as long as he could hold Julian in the ashes.

Lucius immediately grabbed Julian’s sleeve, his small face pale with terror. He was looking at the guards below, who were preparing to charge with their halberds leveled to cause damage. Lucius was worried for his father, who was charging towards those pointy and dangerous weapons.

Julian looked from Alaric’s suicidal charge to the Emperor’s smug face. He knew the trap. The moment Alaric spilled Imperial blood in the heart of the Palace, Aurelian would have every legal right to detain him in a place where only he could see, execute the knights, and conclude that Julian was in on the scheme, executing him as well.

There was no way the Duke didn’t know this, but he was moving regardless, with a blind, protective rage that was about to turn the Jade Wing into a graveyard.

Aurelian had set the trap, and Alaric had walked right into it with his sword drawn.

This is bad. I... I cannot let this go on, He thought, but there was nothing he could do from this far away. Below them, there were guards stationed, so he couldn’t even go to stop him in person.

Just as the Duke was about a few strides from the chaos, two little feet made a bold move and stood in the middle of the crossfire.

Prince Cassian and Princess Liora sprinted forward and threw themselves directly into the path of the charging Duke. They stood small and trembling in the middle of the crossfire, their arms linked as they faced down the massive beast barrelling toward them.

Alaric’s reaction was instantly reflexive. He yanked the reins with a strength that nearly upended his horse, the animal’s front hooves pawing the air just inches from the children’s heads. The horse let out a shrill, protesting neigh as it skidded to a forced, violent halt.

"Move!" Alaric roared, his voice cracking with the strain of suppressed violence. "Liora, Cassian—get out of the way! Are you here to stop me on your father’s orders?"

Liora didn’t move. She looked up at her uncle, her eyes bright with a desperate, trembling intensity. Beside her, Cassian’s voice rang out, high and shrill, carrying up to the balconies where both Julian and the Emperor watched in stunned silence.

"Master Julian says for every drop of blood you spill, he shall bleed as well!" Cassian screamed, the words Rowan had whispered to him now acting as a silver shield. "He says it is better to talk things out! If you kill these men, it is no different from using your own hands to kill him, too!"

The effect was instantaneous. Alaric froze, his hand still clutching the hilt of his sword.

The logic of those words was cruel but effective: Aurelian would hold Julian accountable for every life Alaric took today. To save Julian, he had to stop.

From the central balcony, Aurelian’s smug expression crumbled. He stepped forward, his fingers gripping the stone railing so hard the rings on his hand bit into his skin. This wasn’t the script. The children were supposed to be in their rooms, not out here acting as human barricades for the North.

Who did this?

"Cassian! Liora!" Aurelian’s voice was no longer smooth; it was sharp with a growing irritation. "Return to your quarters at once! You are interfering!" he hissed.

Julian, watching from the Jade Wing, felt his breath return in a shaky, broken gasp. Though he knew those words had not been from him, he was more than relieved if it could help the Duke see clearly what he was getting himself into.

His [Stability] hovered at 37%, flickering as the immediate threat of a massacre receded, replaced by a tense, suffocating standoff. He looked at the children—the two students he had taught to be brave—and felt a surge of raw, protective pride.

But this was dangerous. Who told them getting in front of a charging horse was a good idea? If Alaric hadn’t stopped on time... it would’ve been worse since the blood he’d have spilled was that of two innocent children, and the heirs to the throne.

Alaric didn’t look at the Emperor and kept his gaze locked on the children, then slowly, painfully, he sheathed his sword. The metallic clink was the loudest sound in the courtyard after a long silence, and Aurelian gnashed his teeth in contempt.

Who had taught his children to be so meddlesome? He wondered, and then his eyes instinctively went to Julian’s balcony, his eyes locking with the man he wanted to ruin.

"Fine," Alaric said, his eyes shifting to the Emperor, but he noticed him looking in the direction of the Jade Wing, where Julian was standing. He frowned. "We shall talk. But if I do not see him standing beside me in five minutes, I don’t care who is in my way. I will burn this palace to the ground."