The dog was still panting, its tail brushing chaotic patterns into the dry leaves beneath it. Its brown eyes, vivid and startlingly alert, blinked as it gazed up at Charles and Diana. The air around them shimmered faintly with residual Gana, as if the world itself was still catching up with what had just happened.
Charles was beaming, his eyes wide with wonder. "We did it," he whispered, reverently. "We really did it."
Diana knelt beside the creature, her fingers trembling as she brushed its fur. "One thousand points," she murmured. "One thousand… from one being. Charles, this isn't just a breakthrough. This could change everything."
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of sharp eyes were watching from the treeline. Isaac had been tracking Charles since early morning, having noticed him quiet withdrawal from training. He hadn't expected to find him here—much less with Diana, and certainly not standing over a freshly carnated creature.
And not just any creature. A perfect carnation.
He parted the leaves and stepped forward with the casual elegance of someone used to walking into conversations uninvited. "That's a nice.... Aahh! ," he said smoothly,
Charles flinched and spun around. "Isaac? What are you doing here?"
Isaac shrugged. "Could ask the same of you. Though I think I've already got my answer."
Diana stood protectively between him and the creature. "Were you spying?"
"Spying's such a crude word," Isaac replied, smirking. "Let's say I was observing—quietly. Didn't expect to stumble into history."
Charles raised his hands slightly, nervous. "It's not what it looks like. I didn't do the carnation. Diana did."
Isaac cocked his head. "Really? Then what were you doing out here?"
"she is my sister so.. " Charles replied. "It's a dog by the way" Charles smirked. " it's not something that exists here. It came from… my imagination."
Isaac's eyes narrowed for the briefest moment, something unreadable flashing through them.
"So you imagined a completely new being," he said, "and just gave it away?"
Charles looked genuinely puzzled. "I didn't give it away. Diana's my sister. We were working together."
"Still," Isaac said, walking around the dog, "she now has one Gana point from your creation. Do you know how rare that is? That kind of power—people would kill for it. Or worse, use you for it."
Charles turned to Diana. She hadn't said a word.
Isaac's voice dropped, almost tender. "You've got no Gana, no magic, no protection. But this... this is your strength. You need someone watching your back."
Diana's expression hardened. "You mean you."
Isaac didn't flinch. "I mean someone who won't let you be swallowed up by everything ."
Charles hesitated. There was sincerity in Isaac's tone—or enough of it to believe. And the truth was undeniable: Charles didn't belong. He was a boy with no Gana, no lineage, no claim. Just strange ideas that seemed to draw impossible things into being.
"You'd help me?" Charles asked.
Isaac nodded, stepping closer. "We could work together. You create. Diana brings it to life. I make sure no one dares take it from us ."
Charles looked between them, his mind already spinning with possibilities. "Okay. Just… don't tell anyone. Please."
"I promise," Isaac said, a solemn smile stretching across his lips.
But Diana wasn't convinced. She had seen that smile before—on men who smiled before asking for too much.
---
Isaac stood beneath the shadow of a twisted pine, the scent of bark and earth heavy in the air. His eyes lingered on the spot where Charles and Diana had vanished into the trees, their new carnation following. He ran a hand through his hair, a small, satisfied smile creeping across his face.
He remembered the conversation with his father like it had happened moments ago.
"Get close to him," his father had urged, voice low and sharp. "Robert is the key. Whether he knows it or not, power surrounds him. We need it back."
At the time, Isaac had rolled his eyes. He thought it was nonsense—pointless to trail after a boy who had barely survived his fall from the family's grace. Charles, or Robert, or whatever name he clung to now, had seemed like a ghost. Weak. Confused. Not worth the effort.
But now… now things were different.
That drawing—no, that carnation—was unlike anything Isaac had ever seen. A creature summoned from ink and thought, born not through force but through precision and will. It was new. Raw. Unstable. Powerful.
And it came from Charles.
Isaac's smile widened.
"It's all worth it," he whispered to the trees. His father had been right.
Charles trusted him. Even Diana, sharp-eyed and skeptical, hadn't pushed him away. They saw him as a friend. That gave him a front-row seat to everything—every drawing, every secret, every moment of vulnerability.
All he had to do was play the part a little longer.
Soon, he'd know how to control those carnations. And when the time came, he wouldn't hesitate.
Because if Charles was the key to restoring what the Rous family lost…
Then Isaac would be the one to turn it.