Ren stood by his window, his long silver hair was being directed by the wind. He held a scroll that in return held his attention.
At this moment his eyes didn't have to pretend that it was weak, his eyes portrayed the danger he could cause.
A knock sounded on his door, before a mede stepped in. The servant bowed low. "My lord, someone seeks an audience with you. It's Lord New."
Ren's brows lifted slightly. "Theo's betrothed?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Send him in."
The servant bowed again and slipped away.
Moments later, New stepped in, looking like every other omega, though everything about the young man seemed made of glass, his eyes too gentle, his voice too careful, as though he'd spent his whole life trying not to take up space.
"We meet again." Ren said going sit down and also inviting New along. They sat opposite of each other. One calm and observing, while the other nervous and careful.
"Lord Ren" New greeted, bowing slightly. "Forgive the intrusion. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"Not at all," Ren replied, gesturing toward the small table by the window. "Please have some tea".
New hesitated before taking the offered tea, his hands trembled slightly as he poured tea for them both, the soft clinking of porcelain filling the silence.
For a moment, neither spoke. As Ren was observing New while New fidgeted.
Then Ren said quietly, "You've been crying."
New blinked, startled. "I...no, I just haven't slept."
Ren gave a faint smile, not unkind. "Lies don't suit you, Lord New. You wear your emotions too openly."
New's shoulders sagged. "I suppose I do."
Ren smiled, "what's the matter?" He asked picking his tea cup.
New seemed hesitant to speak and Ren didn't push him, he just continued sipping his tea.
"I want to be confident like you." New finally mustard the courage to speak looking derictly at Ren.
Ren raised an eyebrow, "Oh, and why the sudden need to be confident?"
New's fingers twisted in his lap. "It's Theo. He's… distant. I know he's loyal to the King, but lately he barely looks at me. I thought… perhaps… I'd done something wrong."
"I thought it has always been like this?" Ren asked.
"No his different, he become more distant as of late." New said.
Ren smiled slightly, "Let me guess... Because of me?"
New stared at Ren for a while before speaking.
"Before only the king had his attention, but lately his hatred too has been taken up by you"
Ren sat with poise that could rival any royal, a faint smile resting on his lips as the tea between them cooled.
New, on the other hand, looked as though he might shatter if he breathed too hard.
Silence lingered between them, the kind of silence that said too much.
Ren watched him quietly, the flicker of candlelight reflecting in his silver eyes. "So, it seems I've stolen more than just the King's attention," he murmured, his tone light, teasing, yet sharp enough to draw blood.
New's gaze fell to his hands. "It's not your fault," he said after a moment. "Theo was… never really mine to begin with."
Ren tilted his head, studying him. "And yet you're still fighting for him."
A pause. Then New smiled, small and brittle. "If I don't, what else do I have? Omegas like us aren't given much choice, Lord Ren. We're taught to wait, to be chosen, not to choose."
Ren set his cup down, the faint clink against the porcelain cut through the air like a blade. "And you wish to change that?"
New hesitated, his hands tightening. "I don't know if I can."
Ren leaned forward slightly, his expression unreadable. "You can. The question is whether you're willing to pay for it."
The wind shifted and the curtains swayed softly.
New lifted his eyes, and for a fleeting second, Ren saw a spark. The kind that lived beneath meekness and grief. The kind that could turn into something dangerous, if nurtured.
"I heard stories about you," New said softly. "They say you're clever. That you smile as you ruin people."
Ren's lips curved. "Do they also say why I do it?"
New shook his head.
Ren's gaze drifted toward the window. The moonlight painted his features in silver and shadow. "Because no one else will protect us," he said simply. "The court sees omegas as soft ornaments, meant to be admired and owned. But ornaments can cut, if polished right."
New stared at him. The fragility in his posture shifted, not gone, but trembling toward something new.
Ren looked back at him. "Tell me, Lord New… what do you want?"
The question was so sudden, so direct, that New blinked as if struck. "I...I want Theo to love me again," he said instinctively.
Ren's eyes softened, but his smile didn't reach them. "No. That's what you think you're allowed to want. I asked what you truly want."
The quiet stretched thin. Outside, thunder rolled somewhere far away.
When New finally spoke, his voice trembled, but his words didn't. "I want to be seen."
Ren's fingers tapped the table once, twice, before stilling. "Then perhaps, Lord New, you've come to the right person."
**************************
They sat there for a long while, their tea untouched, words turning into truths too delicate to say aloud.
Ren poured himself another cup. "You know," he said softly, "power is a strange thing. People believe it belongs only to Alphas, to strength and command. But in truth, power lies with those who can see what others overlook."
"Like you," New said, watching him.
"Like anyone willing to look deeper," Ren corrected gently. "Even you."
New shook his head faintly. "You make it sound easy."
Ren smiled, eyes half-lidded. "It isn't. But it starts small. It starts with knowing when to speak and when to be silent. It starts with realizing that fragility," he gestured slightly toward New, "is sometimes the sharpest disguise."
The words lingered in the air like perfume.
New looked down, voice low. "Theo said once that I was too emotional for politics. That my heart would be my ruin."
"Then let it be your weapon instead," Ren murmured.
New's head lifted at that. Their eyes met, one steady, the other uncertain. But in that gaze, something began to shift.
"Tell me," Ren said softly, "what would you do if Theo finally saw you? If he valued you?"
"I'd forgive him," New whispered. "I always do."
Ren tilted his head, studying him as though the answer disappointed him. "Then he will never change."
The words stung. New's lips parted, but no sound came.
Ren stood, moving to the balcony. The wind played with the silk of his robe as he looked out at the moonlight drenched gardens below. "Theo does not need forgiveness, Lord New. He needs consequence."
New followed with his eyes, uncertain whether he was listening to wisdom or temptation.
Ren turned slightly, his expression unreadable in the pale light. "Help me, and I'll help you. Not to destroy Theo, but to make him see you. To make everyone see us."
New hesitated. "Help you with what?"
Ren smiled faintly, as though amused by his innocence. "Observation, mostly. Listening. The palace whispers when it thinks no one's watching. And omegas, dear New, are the perfect ghosts."
For a long time, New said nothing. His heart pounded painfully in his chest, fear, hope, confusion all tangled together.
"You want me to spy," he said finally, voice barely above a whisper.
Ren turned fully to face him. "I want you to learn."
Their eyes met again. Something fragile cracked quietly in New's chest.
Ren walked closer until the space between them was small enough for the scent of Ren's pheromones, calm, clean, faintly floral, to brush against New's senses. It wasn't overwhelming like an Alpha's. It was subtle, coaxing, deliberate.
"Do you trust me?" Ren asked.
New's breath hitched. "I don't know."
"That's a start," Ren said, voice soft. "Trust should never come easily. But understanding, that, we can build."
**************************
The candles burned lower. Time slipped by unnoticed.
They spoke again, quieter now, about small things, how the palace gardens bloomed differently under moonlight, how silence could be more dangerous than words.
And slowly, New's shoulders loosened.
For the first time that night, he met Ren's eyes without looking away.
"You really believe we can change things?" he asked quietly.
Ren's smile was soft, but the look in his eyes was fierce. "Change never begins with belief. It begins with dissatisfaction."
New looked down at his tea, then back at Ren. "Then I suppose I'm already halfway there."
Ren's laughter was quiet, warm, and fleeting, like sunlight through clouds. "Good. Then we'll begin tomorrow."
"Begin what?"
"The first step," Ren said simply. "Making them notice us, on our terms."
By the time New finally left, the moon had slipped low into the horizon.
Ren stood by the balcony again, eyes fixed on the fading silver of dawn. His reflection shimmered faintly on the window, sharp, knowing.
Behind his calm gaze, his mind was already spinning threads, weaving New, Theo, and Kael into a web that only he could see the pattern
of.
He lifted the empty cup of tea to his lips, tasting nothing, smiling faintly.
"So fragile," he whispered, thinking of New. "And yet, glass can cut deepest when it breaks."