The corridor outside the Duke's chambers still echoed faintly with the fading footsteps of Cael and the twin princes. Reilan had passed them only moments ago.
He hadn't missed the odd contrast—the infamous devil twins walking beside Cael with obedient silence, eyes down, steps soft. It was a sharp contradiction to the near-murderous rage he had witnessed in their eyes only minutes earlier. Twelve years old, yes—but those boys radiated something inhuman. Something unholy.
Still, it was not his concern now. The true storm was behind the doors he now faced.
He stepped in.
And felt the temperature of the room drop like plunging into a frozen lake.
Silence. Heavy. Viscous.
Rowan sat on the edge of the bed, bandaged leg propped, shirt half-unbuttoned, skin smeared with drying blood. His purple eyes were empty—flat, predatory. A thin, nearly invisible tremor ran through his fingers where they rested on the mattress. Not from pain. From restraint.
Reilan's gut turned to ice. He knew this phase. The quiet before Rowan decided who bled.
"My lord—"
Rowan didn't look up. "Who," he asked softly, "allowed those two bastards to walk into my room?"
Not a rise in tone. Not a ripple of emotion. Just death, spoken politely.
A knight behind Reilan staggered forward,shaking. "Y-Your Grace—I tried to stop them but—the window, they—"
A whisper of metal. A flick of Rowan's wrist.
The dagger punched through the knight's eye with a wet crack, burying itself to the hilt. His skull hit the marble with a hollow thud. Blood fountained across the floor—hot, arterial—spraying Reilan's cheek and collar. The knight twitched once. Twice. Then nothing.
Rowan hadn't even bothered to sit up.
The room didn't scream. It contracted. Every other knight locked in place, throats bobbing, hands frozen half to their hilts. No one moved to help.
His purple eyes narrowed. "Pathetic.Useless..."
He tilted his head, voice soft but cutting.
Several heads bobbed. A few didn't, too afraid to move at all.
Rowan dragged his hand back across the sheets, and sighed through his teeth.
"Get. Out."with low and dangerous voice.
They fled, slipping in their comrade's blood as they bolted.
Only Reilan remained, crimson dripping from his jawline to his collar. He didn't wipe it.
Rowan's gaze slid past him to the corpse, then back to the open window where the curtains still snapped in the storm's breath. He clicked his tongue.
"Clean the body before Cael returns," he said. "And burn the carpet. I don't want him to smell it."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"And Reilan," Rowan added, voice colder still, "if anyone—anyone—lets those whelps cross a threshold I occupy again... cut their head off and hang them at the gate. Make it warning."
Reilan bowed, blood dripping from his chin to the floor. "Understood."
He turned to leave.
Behind him, Rowan raked both hands through his black hair and let out a low, raw exhale, half snarl, half prayer.
"Leeches," he muttered. "Fucking leeches."
His eyes narrowed, remembering Cael's arms shielding the twins—the softness in his voice for them. The heat in Rowan's blood curdled.
They had to go.
Both of them.
For good.
Rowan glanced at the dagger still lodged in the dead knight's skull, then at the pillow where another blade lay hidden—originally meant for Viel or Eryx, had Cael not burst in.
Next time, he wouldn't miss.
__________
Cael barely had time to close the door behind him before he turned on the twins, eyes flaring with a mix of panic and frustration.
"What were you thinking?" he scolded, voice pitched in worry. "Sneaking into Rowan's room? With a knife? Are you out of your minds?"
His chest heaved as he stared at the two boys before him, his hands trembling slightly at his sides. "Do you know what could've happened? You could've been hurt... or worse. You could've hurt someone. That isn't something you can just take back."
"You were never like this before," he continued. "You were wild—but not reckless. So why?"
Cael paused, breath caught halfway in his throat.
"...What are you two even up to—?"
Then he saw it.
Tears.
Silvery streaks trailing down their cheeks, glistening in the lantern light.
His heart dropped.
The anger vanished.
"Oh—oh no..." Cael's voice softened into a whisper, and he stepped closer. "Viel? Eryx?"
The younger twin sniffled. "We... we missed you..."
The elder's voice cracked. "Why did you disappear? We thought you left us."
Cael froze, guilt crashing down on him like a wave. He had left—without warning, without goodbye. He didnt has a chance.He was forcefully taken.But to these two, it must've felt like abandonment.
His eyes stung.
"No, I would never" he whispered, pulling them into his arms, his tone drenched in affection and remorse.
The twins didn't hesitate. They buried their faces into his chest, gripping his tunic with trembling fingers like lost children finally reunited with home.
Cael wrapped his arms around both of them tightly, pressing kisses into their soft hair. "I'm so sorry," he murmured, rocking them gently. "I didn't mean to leave you behind. I just... I ...I'm sorry"
Viel let out a quiet sob. Eryx clung harder.
"I'm here now," Cael said softly, brushing their tear-streaked cheeks with his thumbs. "You're safe. I won't disappear again."
For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of breathing and muffled sniffles—three hearts finding comfort in each other, wounds mending in the quiet warmth of a long-awaited embrace.
It didn't matter what they'd done.
Right now, they were just two broken boys and the one person who made them feel whole.
"I'm here now," Cael murmured, his voice deep and soothing.
He felt bad for these pitiful children.
A few quiet moments passed.
The storm in their eyes began to settle, and their breathing slowed. Viel was the first to speak, his voice lower now—calmer, but still sharp with suspicion.
"...What exactly happened, Cael?" he asked, watching him intently. "Why are you here? With him?"
Cael exhaled, knowing this moment would come. He shifted back slightly, letting the boys sit upright again while he remained kneeling before them—like a parent trying to soften a hard truth.
"He's my brother," Cael said quietly. "Rowan.he raised me. Protected me. Gave me everything."
Eryx narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
Viel tilted his head. "We knew you were a noble," he admitted. "We always knew you were running from something. We could feel it."
Cael nodded with ashame.
"But you still ended up here," Eryx said flatly. "With him.""Did he do somethings to make you run away?"
Cael didn't answer. His silence was telling.So Eryx didnot ask more knowing Cael's not comfortable to answer that question.
"Come back with us," Viel said, his voice deceptively soft, like a thread before it snaps. "Let's leave this place. You don't belong with him."
"I can't," Cael replied, gaze dropping. "It's... complicated."
Eryx's voice turned cold. "Then we'll take you back. If we have to, we'll drag you away from him. He's no good for you."
Cael's heart squeezed.
Their words weren't empty. They meant it. And it was terrifying—how willing they were to act.
"Don't," Cael said firmly, his voice quiet but serious. "Don't touch him."
The twins looked at him—surprised by the steel in his tone.
"Rowan is my brother," Cael continued, eyes meeting theirs. "He's... precious to me. I won't let anyone hurt him."
Viel frowned. "Even us?"
"Yes," Cael said without hesitation. "Even you."
The twins didn't answer right away. Their silence was darker this time—cold calculation in their eyes.
"We're going to kill him one day," Eryx murmured, too softly.
"Don't," Cael said again, his voice sharper now. "If you do... I won't forgive you."
That made them freeze.
The thought of Cael hating them visibly shook the twins. For all their strength, their madness, and their cruelty—they were still children who yearned for Cael's approval.
After a long moment, Viel looked away.
"...Fine," he said bitterly. "We won't touch him."
"Yet," Eryx muttered under his breath, but even he gave a reluctant nod.
Cael sighed in quiet relief.
"I promise I'll come back," he said gently. "But I need more time. Just... wait for me."
They didn't like that. Not one bit.
But they didn't fight it, either.
"Don't make us wait too long," Viel muttered. "Or we'll come for you."
They mean it.
And as he looked at them—these strange, terrifying, devoted boys—he realized something bitter in his chest.
They still need me. Their eyes, their silence, their fear of losing him... it said more than words ever could.
I'll stay a bit longer with them, Cael thought. Just a little more.
Just as the silence settled into something gentler, Cael remembered.
He leaned back slightly, tilting his head. "Wait... how did you find me?"
Viel blinked, then smiled with disarming innocence.
"Oh, we just followed some clues," he said sweetly. "We found the gardenr brothers"
Cael tensed,eyes narrowing slightly. "They're the ones who..."
"Yes,"Eryx cut in smoothly, voice almost cheerful. "We just have a talk with them. They were quite... helpful."
Viel nodded along with a saint-like smile. "Very cooperative. We let them go, of course. Kindness is contagious, Cael."
Cael stared at them for a long moment, trying to read between the lines. But their eyes were wide, untroubled, guileless.
No flicker of guilt. Innocently smiling like an angel.
"...I see," Cael said softly. "That's... good. I'm glad you didn't hurt them."
The twins beamed at him like praised puppies.
Unbeknownst to Cael.at the front gates of the twin's estate, two mutilated, rotting corpses still hung grotesquely—crimson warnings dripping in the sun.
Cael gave a soft sigh of relief.
"They've matured," he thought with quiet comfort. "They've grown up."
And behind him, the twins only exchanged a quick glance—mischief and malice dancing in their red eyes like wildfire beneath glass.