It was Lethrindor poison, a rare but potent poison. They never did find the culprit who poisoned his father. At least, not in Carlyle’s opinion, because they chose a scapegoat to take the fall.

And who did they pick to be the scapegoat? It was none other than Carlyle at first. Their main evidence was that Carlyle disguised himself during the masquerade ball. Why would he do that if he didn’t have any ill intention? It didn’t matter to them that the purpose of a masquerade was to avoid being identified in the first place.

It was so very predictable. Carlyle wasn’t even surprised at this turn of event. Of course they would do that. It was the perfect opportunity for the nobles to get rid of their biggest eyesore.

Theodore vehemently denied this. Carlyle was thankful that he still had his brother’s trust. However, if Theodore isn’t able to convince the nobles of Carlyle’s innocence, Carlyle already has a backup plan already.

He would fake his death by setting his palace on fire, and then he would escape to the Tower of Mages, a place for mages. A hidden place that nurtures mages’ talents. While everyone has heard of it, most people don’t know where it is located because the mages masked the location with magic.

His mother was quite familiar with the Tower as well, for it was the place where she had studied to become one of the greatest mages of her generation. 

But luckily, that didn’t come to pass, because one unexpected person defended his innocence in addition to Theodore’s testimony.

Lorelai Ashburn testified that she was with Carlyle during the entire ball. That he didn’t leave her side for one second since the start of the celebration.

That’s how the fraudulent charges against Carlyle finally dropped, because no one dared to go against the Ashburn Dukedom, and Lorelai was its representative. Of course, it also sets off rumors about the relationship between Carlyle and Lorelai. Why was she dancing with him? Why were they together for the duration of the entire ball?

“We’re just friends.” Lorelai clarified. 

Carlyle wished to be more than that to her.

To Carlyle’s horror, the next scapegoat they used was his mother. Empress Matilda wanted more power, they said. She wanted to become Empress Dowager, so she poisoned her husband. Maybe she intended to poison her stepson as well so her own son can inherit the throne.

Was there any proof of this? Of course not. At least, not at first. Later, a maid found a bottle in her room, with traces of Lethrindor poison still in it.

Empress Matilda denied the crimes and insisted that she was framed, but the nobles wouldn’t hear any of it. As far as they knew, she was guilty.

“Why aren’t you helping our mother?” Carlyle demanded when he stormed into his father’s— no, Theodore’s office.

Theodore is now acting emperor, even if he hadn’t had his coronation yet.

“Your mother.” Theodore corrected, his voice uncharacteristically cold.

Carlyle blinked. “But surely you care for her too.”

“Are you so sure that she's innocent?” Theodore asked.

Anger flared in Carlyle’s heart. “What do you mean by that?”

“They did find evidence in her room, Carlyle.”

“But she was framed!”

“I don’t know that for certain.”

“Then please spare her, for me.” Carlyle was begging now. He didn’t care about his dignity or anything. He wanted his mother to live.

Theodore leaned back in his seat—the seat that once belonged to their father. Carlyle wondered why he didn’t switch out the furniture to suit his own taste instead of keeping the emperor’s belongings in place. Was it because his brother missed their father too? Or was it because his brother is trying to emulate their father, knowing how hard it was to live up to their father’s shadow?

Because both of them know that Theodore struggles when it comes to administrative work, something that comprised  a major part of an emperor’s duties.

“I’ll try to think of something.” Theodore relented.

“Thank you.” Carlyle whispers, a thread of hope flaring in his chest.

“I have something to ask you, though.” Theodore continued. 

“What?”

“What’s your relationship with Lorelai Ashburn?”

Carlyle was stupefied by that question. Was that important?

“Two of her knights slighted me some time ago and she is trying to make it up to me.”

Theodore raised an eyebrow. “Make it up to you?”

“The dance. There’s nothing between us. I asked her for a dance to earn my forgiveness.”

Something flickered in Theodore’s eyes. “You shouldn’t force a lady to dance with you.”

Carlyle’s face burned with shame. “I won’t do that again.”

Theodore nodded, appeased, until Carlyle added, “Hopefully, she will dance with me of her own volition next time.”

Theodore paused. “What do you mean by that?”

“I think she is warming up to me.” Carlyle explained excitedly. “At least, she doesn’t hate me as much as she used to.”

Theodore put on a strained smile. “I do hope so, Carlyle. I would hate to see your heart crushed.”

True to his word, he managed to talk Empress Matilda’s punishment down to an exile instead of execution. Although Carlyle wasn’t too pleased, he was grateful that she was allowed to live and he made sure she reached the Tower of Mages safely after being evicted from the palace. 

As for Lorelai, Theodore’s ominous words did not come to pass. For over the next several months, Carlyle and Lorelai met up often and the two learned more about each other. 

Lorelai was very close to her brother Lorenzo, something he found out when Lorenzo showed up one day after hearing about the rumors between Carlyle and Lorelai. Carlyle thought it was funny that Lorenzo was so quick to jump at protecting his sister when his sister was stronger than him in every aspect. Also, he found that Lorenzo didn’t seem to mind living in his sister’s shadow. Lorenzo preferred a more carefree life where he could travel as he pleased.

Carlyle learned that Lorelai loves eating sweets and reading books before bed. She was ambitious and wanted to excel at everything she does. Right now, her biggest goal is to keep the second imperial knight squad in top shape and make it the strongest squad among the other imperial knight squads. Her long-term goal after that was to inherit the Ashburn Duchy and raise its glory to new heights.

Lorelai taught Carlyle how to fence. “You need to know, just in case. What if you lose your mana one day?”

She taught him the current politics and how to read the current social movements. “The nobles are trying to convince your brother that you still pose a threat to his succession. You’ll need to avoid…” and so on.

Most serious of all was when she spoke of the current state of the empire.

“The empire is falling apart. The current nobles in power are more interested in their own gains than finding a way to fix the problem. The economy is a mess, there is a famine in some part of the empire, and now, the neighboring lands are thinking about invading. And your brother is blind to all this. There are rumors that the people are planning to rise up against Emperor Theodore, Carlyle.”

Carlyle couldn’t deny that. But there was nothing he could do but offer words of wisdom to his brother. 

“Put Lorelai on your council,” he told Theodore. “She’s smart and perceptive. She will help you a lot.”

However, Theodore waved him off. “I’ll be fine.”

But he wasn’t fine. Every day, the empire’s condition seemed to worsen.

One day, when she was almost twenty, she told Carlyle of her impending resignation as the knight captain of the second imperial squad. 

“My father plans to name me heir on my twentieth birthday.” She informed him. “I will have to resign soon so I can return to Ashburn. Maybe I can finally do something about the current state of this empire.”

Carlyle was slightly disheartened at the thought that he wouldn’t see her again, until she added with a wink, “If you are interested in becoming the husband of the future Duchess Ashburn, come and court me officially after that.”

Carlyle blinked in surprise. That was practically a proposal.

He grinned. “Of course.” He felt a little nervous at the thought of meeting her father, who Lorelai had described to be a stern but affectionate man. Would such a person let him marry his beloved daughter?

However, Carlyle never found out because Lorelai’s prediction came to pass. There was a small rebellion among the commoners, who tried to attack Emperor Theodore. And Lorelai was killed while protecting the emperor.

Theodore himself told Carlyle this terrible news.

“It’s all your fault!” Carlyle raged at his brother when he heard it. “She died because of you!”

Theodore hung his head, unable to meet Carlyle’s eyes.

Carlyle didn’t know what to do. His mana was becoming unstable due to his raging emotions.

“Get out!” Carlyle shouted. He might be angry at Theodore for being partially responsible for Lorelai’s death, but he didn’t want his brother to get killed from his mana outburst.

Empress Matilda had been effective at calming his mana outbursts in the past by absorbing his mana before they could become destructive. But his mother wasn’t here this time. 

As soon as Carlyle figured his brother was a safe distance away, he couldn’t hold back anymore. His mana came out of him like a raging storm.

Carlyle didn’t expect to live. How nice would it be if he could join Lorelai in the afterlife. Would she be happy to see him? Or mad that he died too?

His thoughts were full of Lorelai when he lost consciousness in the wake of his mana storm.