Chapter 85: Caught
—SEBASTIAN—
"You three!"
The force behind Aria’s voice was impressive that it made all three of us imdiately stopped speaking.
In hindsight, that realization was deeply concerning.
Here we were: the powerful Duke Blackwood, the Royal Knight Commander, and the Empire’s youngest Archmage.
Three n feared throughout the empire.
Three n with enough influence to shake noble society if we so desired.
And sohow a single angry young woman had reduced us into guilty children caught sneaking desserts before dinner.
Aria folded her arms.
The movent alone sohow made the situation worse.
She looked from .
To Matthias.
Then to Ezekiel.
Very slowly, like an executioner deciding which prisoner to deal with first.
I briefly considered abandoning the other two and running.
Unfortunately, I was a duke.
Dukes were expected to maintain dignity.
"Explain."
The single word landed like a sentence handed down by the gods.
I smiled imdiately.
Because smiling had solved many problems throughout my life.
Unfortunately, it solved absolutely nothing this ti.
Aria’s expression did not change.
Not even slightly.
Interesting.
Terrifying.
But interesting.
"Now, sweetheart—"
"No. Don’t ’sweetheart’ , Sebastian."
I imdiately straightened.
The correction was swift, rciless, and delivered with authority usually reserved for military commanders disciplining unruly subordinates.
"Why are the three of you here in the middle of the night?" she demanded.
I laughed awkwardly.
Mostly because I had no good answer.
Well, no answer that wouldn’t make sound completely unreasonable.
Unfortunately, honesty had never stopped before.
"Well," I began, spreading my hands innocently, "you left us at the banquet. What were we supposed to do? Of course we followed you."
The silence that followed was extraordinary.
Aria stared at .
Matthias stared at .
Ezekiel stared at .
Even Ren looked mildly concerned.
Perhaps I had said sothing strange.
"What?"
Aria blinked.
"You followed ."
"Yes."
"From the banquet."
"Yes."
"All the way here."
"Yes."
She stared at a little longer.
Then slowly turned toward Matthias.
"Did you follow too?"
Matthias, unlike , at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.
"Yes."
Aria closed her eyes.
Then she turned toward Ezekiel.
"You too?"
Ezekiel crossed his arms.
"I sensed your mana."
"That wasn’t the question."
"No."
"That wasn’t the answer either."
Ezekiel sighed.
"Yes."
For several seconds, Aria simply stood there.
I could practically see the gears turning inside her head.
And then she laughed, not because she found the situation funny.
Oh no.
This was much worse.
It was the laugh of soone who had reached the point where reality had beco so ridiculous that the only remaining response was disbelief.
"You three followed from the banquet," Aria repeated slowly, narrowing her eyes at us with increasing suspicion.
The corridor had barely recovered from the chaos inside Ren’s room, yet sohow another argunt was already beginning.
"Why?" she asked.
The question should have been simple.
Unfortunately, none of us were particularly capable of giving simple answers whenever she was involved.
Before I could speak, Ezekiel stepped forward.
That alone was enough to make sigh internally.
Of course it would be him.
"Because you," he began, pointing at her with far more accusation than necessary, "have sohow managed to attract the attention of every troubleso man within a hundred-mile radius."
Aria imdiately rolled her eyes.
Ezekiel ignored her.
"Have you forgotten what happened tonight? The elven prince practically proposed to you in front of half the empire."
"So what?" Aria replied without hesitation.
The answer ca so quickly that even I was briefly impressed.
"He proposed." She shrugged. "I declined."
Then she spread her hands as though presenting the most obvious conclusion in the world.
"Problem solved."
The silence that followed lasted exactly three seconds before the vein on Ezekiel’s forehead visibly pulsed.
"Problem solved?" he repeated.
Aria nodded.
"Yes."
The look he gave her suggested he was reconsidering every life choice that had brought him to this mont.
"Lady Aria," he said through clenched teeth, "after you rejected Aelith, the man openly declared war."
She blinked.
Ezekiel took another step forward.
"The elven prince is not so heartbroken noble sulking in a garden because his feelings were rejected. He is a future ruler with an army behind him. The mont he failed to obtain your hand peacefully, he imdiately began discussing obtaining it through force."
Aria grimaced slightly.
Unfortunately, that was the first sign that she was taking any of this seriously.
"The empire is already discussing the possibility of conflict," Ezekiel continued. "The emperor has no direct heir. Several noble factions are already nervous. Foreign powers are watching carefully. One wrong move could destabilize the entire continent."
His finger pointed directly at her chest.
"And sohow you are standing there acting as though this is rely an inconvenience."
Aria looked down at his finger before looking back up at him.
"Technically speaking," she said carefully, "I didn’t ask him to declare war."
I closed my eyes.
Matthias looked toward the ceiling.
Ren appeared deeply concerned for everyone’s sanity.
Ezekiel looked ready to start a second war.
"That," he replied, "is your defense?"
"It seems like a valid point."
"It is not a valid point."
"I feel like it is."
For a brief mont, I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Then Aria did sothing far worse.
Without warning, she reached for Ren, deliberately wrapping both arms around one of his and leaned comfortably against him.
Her action made us freeze from where we stood.
anwhile, Aria smiled with all the innocence of a woman about to throw oil onto an already raging fire.
"Good news for all of you," she announced.
I imdiately disliked the direction this conversation was heading.
"I’m now exclusively only for Ren."
I stared at her.
Ezekiel stared at her.
Matthias stared at her.
Even Ren stared at her.
Aria continued smiling.
"I made it official about an hour ago."
The words struck with surprising force.
Perhaps because none of us had expected her to say them so openly.
Or perhaps because hearing them aloud made the situation painfully real.
She had chosen.
But not one of us.
Ren.
Just Ren.
I found myself looking at the servant in question.
The irritating part was that I couldn’t even argue against it.
The man clearly adored her.
Anyone with eyes could see it.
The problem was that I would have preferred if he adored her from a much greater distance.
Ezekiel recovered first.
Mostly because anger seed to function as fuel for his existence.
"No."
Aria blinked.
"No?"
"No."
"What do you an no?"
"I an no."
She frowned.
"I do whatever I want."
"Ha."
Aria’s eyes narrowed.
Ezekiel crossed his arms.
The two looked monts away from murdering each other.
But Matthias stepped forward before that could happen.
Unlike the rest of us, he remained calm.
Which sohow made him more dangerous.
"Lady Aria."
The formal address imdiately caught her attention.
"Yes?"
"With respect."
That phrase rarely ended well.
"Making a decision this significant imdiately after an emotional confession is generally considered unwise."
"Then why are you giving it?"
For the first ti, Matthias hesitated only briefly, but long enough for all of us to notice.
Then he sighed.
"Because I dislike this outco."
The honesty of the answer stunned everyone.
Including Aria.
Matthias Sinclair was not a man who spoke carelessly.
If he admitted sothing aloud, it was because he genuinely ant it.
Aria looked genuinely caught off guard.
And to my imnse amusent, Matthias looked slightly uncomfortable after saying it.
"What are you talking about?" Aria asked, genuine confusion flickering across her face.
For a mont, Matthias remained silent.
His eyes shifted toward the rest of us before returning to her. The hesitation lasted only a second, but it was enough to make everyone pay attention.
Matthias Sinclair was not a man who struggled for words.
If anything, he spoke too little.
Every sentence he uttered was deliberate.
asured.
Carefully chosen.
Which made what ca next far more dangerous.
"It was simply unfair," he finally said.
The corridor seed to grow quieter.
Matthias stepped forward slowly, his gaze never leaving Aria.
"To choose only Ren when the rest of us have been competing for your attention as well."
The honesty struck like a physical blow.
Aria visibly froze.
So did Ren.
Even I found myself blinking.
Not because the statent was untrue.
But because Matthias had actually said it aloud.
The Royal Knight Commander rarely acknowledged his emotions directly. He preferred actions over confessions and obligations over desires. Yet now, standing beneath the dim corridor lights, he looked almost irritated by his own honesty.
As though admitting it had physically pained him.
Aria stared at him for several seconds.
"You’re serious?"
"Yes."
Matthias reached toward her.
I imdiately stepped forward.
Unfortunately, Ezekiel caught my shoulder before I could interfere.
"Leave him," he muttered.
"Leave him?" I whispered incredulously.
"Yes."
"You are aware he’s touching my fiancée."
"She stopped being your fiancée for quite so ti now."
"That is a technicality."
"That is reality."
Before our argunt could escalate, Matthias had already taken Aria’s hand.
And that small gesture made sothing unpleasant twist inside my chest.
Apparently jealousy was a far uglier emotion than I previously believed.
"Aria," Matthias said quietly, "the Elven Kingdom’s declaration is not an insignificant matter."
Her expression imdiately sobered.
Unlike the rest of us, she actually cared about the consequences.
"That prince is insane," she muttered.
"Correct," Ezekiel said imdiately.
"At least we agree on sothing."
"Everyone agrees on that," I added.
"Even his own people agree on that."
Aria sighed heavily.
"Then what exactly are you trying to say?"
Ezekiel finally stepped forward.
Moonlight reflected faintly across his silver hair, making him appear almost ethereal.
Unfortunately, opening his mouth ruined the effect.
"What we are trying to say," he replied, "is that this war is nothing."
Aria blinked.
Ezekiel shrugged.
"We can win."
The confidence wasn’t arrogance. He genuinely believed it. And annoyingly enough, so did I.
So did Matthias.
We had the empire’s strongest military commander standing beside us.
The empire’s strongest mage standing in front of us.
The odds were hardly discouraging.
Aria folded her arms.
"Then win it."
"Gladly," Ezekiel answered. "But only under one condition."
Imdiately, suspicion appeared in her eyes.
"What condition?"
Ezekiel smiled.
"We will need a reward."
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