"What exactly do you expect us to find in the imperial library anyway?" Marielle asked, her voice low as she hurried to keep pace with the Duke’s long, sweeping strides. "If their high-grade artifacts found nothing, what makes you think some dusty, centuries-old manuscript will have the answer?"
Cherion let out a quiet huff, a smile creeping back onto his face. He then took a step closer to Zarius, entirely unfazed by the heavy, serious atmosphere.
"You’d be surprised by how much you can get from there, Marielle," Cherion replied. He tilted his head toward the towering man beside him. "Right, Your Grace?"
Zarius didn’t stop walking, but the tension in his shoulders subtly gave way. He looked down at the silver-haired man at his side, the memory passing between them with total clarity. It wasn’t long ago that they had spent countless, quiet hours buried under a mountain of forgotten texts, desperately hunting for the single thread that would break the Duke’s curse. The library had given them their answers back then. it was only natural they would look to the parchment again.
The corner of Zarius’s mouth twitched upward, a rare, incredibly faint smile softening the strict lines of his face just for Cherion.
Marielle caught the look and simply rolled her eyes so hard it looked physically painful, letting out a long, dramatic sigh. "Right. Of course. Forgive me for interrupting a trip down memory lane. But we will still need a formal audience to get in," she interjected, pulling the conversation back to reality before the atmosphere could grow any warmer.
Before Zarius could map out a path through the secondary royal wing, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the intersecting corridor. Two figures emerged from the shadows of the arched columns, Flio and Elios.
Flio looked as immaculate as ever, though the slight tension in his shoulders betrayed his usual calm demeanor. Elios followed closely behind, a slightly amused smirk playing on his lips that immediately set a strange contrast against the gravity of the situation.
"Report," Zarius commanded, his entire posture shifting instantly back into that of the ruthless leader.
Flio bowed his head slightly, keeping his voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry down the long hallway. "We’ve just completed a full sweep of our quarters, Your Grace. Every floor, every structural seam, and every corner has been checked. No evidence has been planted there. No strange herbs, no unlabelled alchemical vials, nothing."
Zarius nodded once, a brief flash of relief crossing his features. "Good. Our chamber is clear as well. Whoever did this isn’t trying a lazy framing attempt by dumping the physical poison in our immediate space."
"At least, not yet," Cherion added thoughtfully, tapping a finger against his chin. "They’re smarter than that. What about Reiner and Ezek? Have either of you crossed paths with them since the lockdown began?"
Flio shook his head. "We’re looking for them, too."
"Well, while you’re looking, the entire capital investigation is currently running around like headless chickens. According to a little bird we spoke with on the way up, they haven’t found anything yet. It’s a total dead end."
Elios paused, his eyes glinting with a mischievous sort of malice. "Oh, and by little bird, I mean Karson. Flio’s ex-lover seemed very eager to share palace gossip with us. Or me. Or maybe only you."
Flio’s expression didn’t crumble, but his eyes narrowed into two freezing slits. He turned his head slowly, throwing a glare at Elios that could have curdled milk.
"Let me make this perfectly clear to you, Elios. This is your first warning: do not run your mouth so carelessly during an imperial crisis. He is not my ex-lover, he is not my ex-anything, and his past relevance to me has absolutely zero bearing on the current security threat."
Elios blinked, the sharp smirk on his face faltering for a fraction of a second. Sensing he had pushed a bit too far past the boundary of their usual banter, he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, though his tone carried a rare hint of a genuine apology. "Alright, alright. Message received. My apologies, Flio. I was just passing along the chatter."
Flio didn’t relax his shoulders, his icy glare lingering on Elios for a beat longer before he turned his attention back to Zarius. He cleared his throat, his demeanor shifting back into that of a calculated tactician.
"More importantly, we shouldn’t take everything Karson says at face value anyway. He might very well be lying to us," Flio pointed out, his brow furrowing as he analyzed the situation. "Think about it logically. The imperial court is actively looking for a scapegoat, and the North is the easiest target. Why would the Crown Prince’s own aide so willingly share the confidential progress, or a lack thereof, with a Northern representative? It doesn’t make sense. It could easily be a trap to make us lower our guard, or a deliberate attempt to feed us false information to see how we react."
"I don’t know, he seemed pretty certain," Elios answered, entirely unfazed by the icy look. "And he certainly seemed to miss you."
"Enough," Zarius growled. The sheer weight of the Duke’s voice put an immediate end to the petty bickering. Elios wiped the smirk off his face, dropping his arms back to his sides, while Flio took a slow, steadying breath, his gaze returning to the floor.
Zarius looked across the small assembly, his mind already splitting the board into tactical pieces. "We don’t have the luxury of time to debate what they do or don’t know. Cherion, Marielle."
Cherion straightened up, his playful demeanor vanishing, replaced by a sharp, attentive focus. "Yes?"
"Go directly to King Alderon’s private study. Secure the permission from him." Zarius turned his gaze toward Elios. "Elios, stop wasting time poking at Flio. Find Reiner and Ezek, and ensure they stay within our sight. If anyone tries to isolate them for an unmonitored interrogation, step in."
"Understood, Your Grace," Elios replied, his tone finally turning serious as he gave a concise military salute before turning on his heel and disappearing down the stairwell.
Cherion glanced at Zarius, noting that the Duke hadn’t given Flio an assignment. "And what about you?"
Zarius didn’t answer immediately. His dark eyes shifted toward the grand windows overlooking the palace courtyard, where the torches of the imperial guard were moving in chaotic, disorganized patterns.
"Flio," Zarius called calmly. "Come with me."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Cherion opened his mouth to ask more, but Zarius was already moving with Flio trailing half a step behind.