The Marquis looked at his helpless son and then the little thing in his way. He felt a surge of intoxicating triumph.

With the Emperor’s unspoken blessing warming his back, the heavy, oppressive atmosphere of the Duke’s estate no longer felt like a threat—it felt like a stage for his grand return to relevance.

Finally, he thought, his eyes scanning the Northern knights with a sneer. Let Alaric howl. Let him return to a house empty of his precious tutor. By the time he realizes the boy is gone, the Emperor’s decree will be a wall he cannot climb. And Julian... Julian will finally learn that a son’s only purpose is to serve his father’s rise.

He adjusted his cuffs, his gaze flickering toward the pale, trembling figure of Julian clutching the bedposts. He raised his chin, his voice dripping with a cruel, paternal silkiness.

"Well, shall I take what is mine now? It’s time to come home, Julian. You don’t want me to shed any blood on your head, right?"

It wasn’t a question; it was a lethal threat.

Julian’s breath hitched, and he bit his bottom lip so hard he could taste the metallic tang of blood.

Pathetic, he thought, his knuckles turning white due to his grip on the wood. After all the lessons, after all the standing tall... I’m still just a ’thing’ to be claimed.

The Marquis signaled, and his knights took a heavy, synchronized step forward, their boots thumping against the floor like a heartbeat.

Then, just as they were about to enter, Lucius bit the Marquis’s hand.

He hissed, taking his hand back, and dared to raise his hand on the child.

"If your father did not teach you properly while he neglected you, then allow me to educate you!"

"No!" Julian yelled, his eyes dilated as he looked at his father’s raised hand.

But as he was about to lay a hand on Lucius, and the Northern knights were about to strike him for laying a hand on the heir of the North, two high, clear voices rang out from the far end of the hallway, cutting through the tension with the precision of a guillotine.

"Not so fast!"

The Marquis froze. The Northern guards, who had been seconds away from a bloodbath, hesitated.

Inside the room, Julian’s head snapped up. His heart hammered against his ribs—not with the dull thud of fear, but with a sharp, jolting spark of recognition. He knew those voices. He knew that specific brand of demanding, youthful energy.

"Who dares—" The Marquis began to bark, spinning around with his hand still in the air, only for the words to die in his throat.

Emerging from the shadows of the arched corridor were two small figures dressed in Imperial gold and white.

Prince Cassian walked with his chest out, his face set in a look of ’scowling dignity’ that he had clearly been practicing. Beside him, Princess Liora held her chin ’level with the clouds,’ her eyes sparkling with the thrill of a secret mission.

Behind them, four members of the Golden Guard Order stood like gilded towers, their presence effectively turning the Marquis’s ’Royal Orders’ into a joke.

"The Sun doesn’t like it when people make too much noise in the morning," Cassian announced, stopping a few feet from the Marquis.

He looked at the drawn swords of the Marquis’ knights with a flat, unimpressed expression. "And you, Marquis... you’re making a lot of noise."

Liora peered past the Marquis, her golden eyes finding Lucius, who was still standing his ground in the doorway. She gave the ’Little Wolf’ a small, encouraging nod before turning her gaze to the Marquis.

"You’re being very clumsy," she said, her voice carrying that sharp, observant edge Julian had taught her. "Is this the ’unsightly behavior’ people talk about? It’s not very pretty to look at."

The Marquis’s face went from triumph to a sickly, mottled grey. He looked at the children, then at the Golden Guard Order, then back inside the room where Julian was hiding.

"Your... Your Highnesses," he stuttered, dropping into a frantic bow that nearly sent him toppling over.

The rest bowed too, showing their respect to the little suns of the Empire.

"What are you... Why are you here?" He asked.

"We’re here to see our friend," Cassian said, his eyes flicking toward the room. "And to see if our gift-giver is ready for his new students."

Inside the room, Julian felt a wave of dizzying disbelief.

He knew right away that it was the prince and princess. But what he didn’t know was why they were here.

The last time they met, he had hurt the poor boy’s feelings, and he had run off. He didn’t plan to meet them after that. Not at the hunt and definitely not ever, seeing as it had landed him in trouble.

But here they were.

They came here... For him.

The Marquis’s brain felt like it was misfiring. His frantic thoughts scrambled to make sense of the scene: Julian was supposed to be his disgraced son who ran away to the North.

Yes, he had given permission, but he never expected him to make it this far and even make such an intimate connection with the Duke.

But how was it that he knew the Imperial twins as well?

According to the whispers, he had foolishly declined the Emperor’s ’invitation’ to the Palace. So how did he make connections with the prince and princess?

His head began to work the gears.

How do they know him? The Marquis looked at his son, then at the Prince, his eyes darting back and forth in a state of confusion.

If Julian had already met the Imperial heirs, then the narrative the Emperor had fed the Marquis was full of holes. Was he being used as a pawn? Or had Julian been playing a much deeper game than anyone suspected?

"Your Highness," the Marquis stammered, his knees beginning to ache from the low bow. "I... I was under the impression that my son was... unacquainted with the Royal Household. He has been in the North for a while now, and..."

"Then you were under the wrong impression," Cassian snapped. He stepped forward, entering that ’territory’ he loved to claim. He looked at Lucius, then back at the Marquis. "We met him in the field. He gave us... things. Important things."

Liora nodded solemnly, her chin still held high. "He taught us the Secret Mirror. And how to stand like ostriches. It was very educational."