Chapter 175: A foolish mistake to mistake the Emperor for the Duke

The Empress looked at Julian with pity. Though she had heard word of how enthusiastic her husband was being with the tutor, she knew it was not his fault.

He had simply been caught in a net without knowing.

Fishes don’t plan to get trapped by nets, after all.

"This might be the last time I get to invite you for tea," she finally spoke and though Julian did not know how to interpret it, he knew it was indeed the last. "And I will not be present in the Masquerade, so I pray you get what you are looking for, Master Astrea." She sipped her tea a bit and dropped it, since her hands were already trembling. "I pray we both get what we are looking for."

Julian stared at her, the weak smile on her lips and how it seemed like she was saying a final ’goodbye’.

"I thank you for your good grace, Your Majesty,"

The tea ended in a hollow, ringing silence.

As Julian stood to depart, the late-afternoon shadows stretched across the stone floor, distorting the world around him. His vision swam, the grey fog of his exhaustion thick and cloying.

Through the haze, he saw a tall figure standing at the entrance of the garden. The light was behind the man, casting his face into shadow, but the silhouette was broad, the posture commanding. For a second, the scent of the Palace’s jasmine was replaced by the sharp, stinging memory of a Northern pine.

Julian took a faltering step forward, his hand reaching out as if to touch a dream.

"Lucien?" he whispered, the name a broken, hopeful prayer.

The figure moved—not with the steady, grounding pace of the Duke, but with the sharp, predatory grace of a viper. In an instant, the illusion shattered. The hand that clamped onto Julian’s upper arm wasn’t warm or protective; it was that of cold fury.

It was Aurelian.

Aurelian’s hand tightened on Julian’s arm until the bone beneath the skin felt like it might snap.

The Emperor wasn’t just angry; he was livid. To have worked so meticulously to dismantle the scholar’s mind, only for Julian to look at him and see the image of the Duke, was an insult that burned very deep.

It meant that despite the letters, the jewels, and the isolation, the Duke still held the center of Julian’s shattered world.

"Julian Von Astrea," Aurelian hissed, the name coming out like a curse.

He yanked Julian forward, the motion so violent that Julian’s already fragile body threatened to snap.

"Are you trying to provoke me right now? After all I have done to show you the truth of your situation, you still dare to speak his name to my face?"

Julian’s clarity returned with a sharp, agonizing bite. The silhouette of the ’Duke’ completely dissolved, replaced by the golden, predatory eyes of the man who held his life in a tightening fist.

The Emperor’s face was contorted, his pride wounded in a way that made him ten times more dangerous than before.

"I... I am sorry," Julian choked out, his voice thin and brittle. "I didn’t... I didn’t see clearly." He tried to pull back, but the Emperor’s silk-gloved grip was an inescapable vice.

"You didn’t see?" Aurelian mocked, his voice dropping into a low, venomous snarl. "Or is this your last, pathetic attempt at a sting? To look at the Sun of the Empire and call it a shadow from the North?"

Aurelian leaned in until their foreheads almost touched, his breath hot against Julian’s cold, pale skin.

"You think by clinging to that name, you can keep yourself whole? You think your ’Lucien’ is coming to save a man who can no longer even recognize the difference between his lover and his captor?"

The Emperor let out a sharp, jagged laugh that held no humor. It was a sound of raw spite. He shoved Julian back toward the waiting guards with enough force that Julian stumbled into their armored chests.

"Get him out of my sight," Aurelian barked, his voice echoing off the garden walls. "Lock him in the Jade Wing. If he is so desperate for his brother’s presence, let him find it in the silence."

As the guards seized Julian’s arms, Aurelian stepped closer one last time, his eyes narrowing into slivers of cold gold.

"Tomorrow is the Masquerade, Master Astrea. I have spent a fortune to ensure your costume is perfect. You had better pray that when my brother looks at you, he sees the monster I’ve made, because by tomorrow night, ’Lucien’ will be the last word you ever have the strength to whisper."

The walk back to the Jade Wing was a blur of stone, shadows and dread. When the heavy door finally slammed shut and the bolt clicked, Julian collapsed on the rug, his fingers clawing at the fibers.

He had made a mistake. A terrible, instinctive mistake. He had ignited Aurelian’s hatred once again, and a reason to turn the Masquerade into a final execution of Julian’s soul.

The silence of the Jade Wing was different tonight. It was hungry and ready to rip Julian to pieces. It felt like the walls were leaning in, waiting for the final piece of Julian Von Astrea to snap.

His breath came in ragged, uneven hitches as he sobbed. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Aurelian’s face, inches from his own, twisted with that terrifying, possessive fury.

Julian Von Astrea.

The Emperor had used his name like a brand. It was a reminder that even his soul was just a thing Aurelian could pick up and break because he dared to be the one Alaric loved.

To Aurelian, Julian wasn’t a rival; he was a thief who had stolen the only person that mattered.

> [Mental Stability: 17% — Status: Critical Reality Fragmentation]

Julian closed his eyes and tried to think of the Duke but for some reason, it was all blurry shadows.

"No, no, no," he cried, thinking hard and even trying to recall the scent of pine from the North, but nothing worked. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

He sobbed even harder.

"I’m losing him," Julian whispered as the tears rolled down from his eyes and fell on the rug. "I’m losing... me."