Elian’s POV
*****
His eyes fluttered open, making him realise he’d slept off after that intense session with Kyren.
But the second he woke up, he also realised sothing else.
Kyren wasn’t in bed anymore.
He shifted, biting his bottom lip as he tried sitting up.
"Good, you’re awake." Kyren’s voice chid in the dimly lit room just then, calm and soothing.
Elian squinted at a corner of the room close to a window and spotted the rogue king sitting there, donned in a crimson robe and a glass of wine in his right hand.
His eyes glinted in the darkness, soft but yet piercing as he tilted his head at Elian. "I didn’t want to disturb you. But I couldn’t sleep."
Elian shook his head, brushing his right hand through his hair. "How long was I out?"
Kyren paused, tapping his fingers on the glass a bit before shrugging. "About an hour. And before you ask, no... Neither Axel nor Lucian reached out to you."
Ouch.
Elian smiled wryly, raising his knees and drawing them closer to himself. He placed his arms on them before remarking casually.
"I thought your only fashion choice would be your trusty black armour."
Kyren chuckled softly. "A king must always be ready for conflict. Especially one like ."
He took one last gulp from the glass, emptying it with a satisfied sigh. When he set it aside, he clasped his fingers in front of his chest.
"Shall we address the main issue now?"
Elian’s heart skipped a beat, his fingers shaking slightly.
He didn’t need a seer to know what the rogue king was talking about.
[Goddess bear witness—I told you not to tell him shit about .]
Elian gritted his teeth. ’At least he hasn’t tried doing anything to .’
[Oh, I wouldn’t look past that possibility. You know, as much as I’m a fan of all of them to so level, it never ceases to astonish how you place so much trust in these n.]
’How can you say that when you’re the one constantly putting in awkward positions with them?’
[Speaking of positions...]
Elian’s face flushed but before he could respond, Kyren cleared his throat, causing him to stiffen.
"There it is," Kyren muttered, his lips curling slowly. "Soone talks to you and you space out like you’re having another conversation. I always knew sothing was up with that..."
He paused, making Elian more tense.
"You’re talking to your system, aren’t you?"
Shit.
[I an, the cat’s already out of the bag. Might as well let him in on our heart-warming convo.]
Elian gulped but managed to keep a smile. "I am, yes. But don’t worry... We’re not judging you or anything."
That only made Kyren frown while the system let out a chanical groan.
"So this system is... Sentient?" Kyren asked with an arch of his brows.
Elian nodded. "Unfortunately, it is. And it never ceases to insult or run down any chance it gets."
[Hey, don’t paint black in front of daddy Kyren.]
Kyren’s eyes flickered with curiosity. He leaned back in the chair, one ankle resting lazily over the other knee.
"Insult you, huh?" His mouth curved into a slow smirk. "Then it’s got a personality. Which ans... It’s more than a tool."
Elian pulled the blanket a little tighter around his waist. "It’s... complicated."
[Complicated is my middle na, thank you very much.]
Elian pressed his lips together, fighting a smile. Kyren noticed anyway, his crimson eyes glinting in the low light.
"You’ve been chased, nearly killed, and baited like a rabbit since the mate bond activated," Kyren went on quietly. "The Umbra beast. That witch in Lunaria who almost killed you. We thought it was Estella and Magnet’s left behind influence from the Dark hand at work."
Elian’s heart gave a small jump but he muttered. "It’s... It’s ’Magnus’. But anyway, you think it wasn’t just that?"
Kyren tilted his head, still calm, but his voice was lower now. "What if it wasn’t? What if it wasn’t Magnus at all? What if soone—soone who already knew what you were—has been testing you from the start?"
[Okay... now I’m uncomfortable.]
Elian’s brows knit, and for a second the blanket slipped off his shoulder. "You’re saying... the Dark Hand might know about the system?"
Kyren’s fingers drumd against the empty glass.
"It makes more sense than the alternative. Estella and Magnus wanted you, sure. But those attacks weren’t clean. They were... experintal." His eyes narrowed slightly. "As if they were trying to see how much you could survive."
Elian’s stomach tightened.
"I always thought it was because of my status as Lucian’s mate," he murmured.
[Welp. Plot twist, babe.]
He ignored the system’s remark, his throat dry. "If they know about the system—"
"Then they might know more about you than even you do," Kyren finished softly.
The room went quiet at that mont.
Elian hugged his knees tighter, staring at the marble floor.
Kyren rose from the chair without a sound and crossed the room until he was standing over him. The crimson robe shifted around his ankles, flowing on the floor.
"Breathe," Kyren said gently. "You’re still here. They can’t touch you."
Elian looked up at him. "Yet?"
Kyren gave a wry smile. "You’re stronger now. And you have ." He reached out and brushed a thumb against Elian’s cheekbone, more reassurance than anything else. "But it ans we need to be ahead of them."
[Daddy Kyren is so hot when he’s in strategist mode.]
Elian rolled his eyes faintly. "You’re terrifying when you go all thoughtful like this."
"That’s rich," Kyren murmured, his thumb still lingering. "Coming from the boy who’s hiding a sentient system in his head."
Elian snorted despite himself. "Fair."
The banter, brief as it was, eased the pressure in his chest.
But before he could think of a quip to toss back, Kyren’s expression shifted. His eyes unfocused for a second as if he were listening to sothing distant.
Then his jaw clenched.
Elian sat up straighter. "What is it?"
Kyren’s voice was flat when he spoke. "Farrell."
The na sent a chill down Elian’s spine for so reason. "What about him?"
Kyren didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he turned his back to Elian, pulling a small comm-stone from the pocket of his robe. It glowed faintly in his palm, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"This is Kyren," he said curtly. "Report."
Elian couldn’t make out Farrell’s voice, but he could hear enough—the low, strained tone, the clipped words. Kyren’s shoulders stiffened halfway through the ssage.
He shut the stone off and turned back around. His crimson eyes had gone cold.
"What happened?" Elian asked.
Kyren dropped the stone onto the bedside table. "The maid."
Elian blinked. "The one who tried to poison you?"
"Yes. I ordered them to keep her body just in case we find sothing," Kyren said simply. "And apparently, they just did."
[And this is where the episode ends...]
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