Darien turns around a second before Seren slams the door closed. He lets out a heavy sigh and rubs his forehead with his scarred hand. His shoulders are stiff and tense, before he steps inside their sleeping chambers.

The diamond chandelier hangs high over their bed area, whose maroon canopy reaches to cover the whole podium’s ceiling on which the bed stands on. It reflects the sunlight all over their chamber’s intricately carved walls and their snow rug covered marble floors.

Darien’s heavy footsteps lead him to the couch just a few feet away from the open balcony, he sits down and grabs ‘Vanished, even for the stars’ from the small wooden table which held his and Seren’s recent books and a vase with the flowers that pleased them.

The sun now casts orange light on the diamonds, and they cast reflections onto the objects who make the looming and dark shadows across the room.

Darien turns the book to look at the blurb, he hadn’t expected his fiancé to pick up yet another gruesome tale. But it was different from Ferocious. This time, this was a tale of a royal romance.

Darien snorts at the pompous words to describe the mere idea of the book. He had seen literature getting flowery as the time goes on. Even so, he had stuck to the old histories and non-fiction. They were simple to read.

His eyes travel to the book in his hands before turning it back so he could face the cover. It had a background of an inky sky that was splattered with white dots and a purple stroke to, quite apparently, replicate the beauty of an endless object.

He opens the book and is met with an annotation on the margin of the book title.

One might pick this book for its artistic cover, thinking of a farlands in the skies but be horrified after reading the contents. While Cecilia is a poet, her descriptions of blood and torture are truly worthy of praise.

Darien raises a brow at the elegant handwriting, “He used an ink pen”

He flips a page, then another, and another before he finds the same handwriting… on the introduction of the love interest.

Oh how I love them! A swirly line is scribbled underneath the text and at the end is a small heart. They are soooo charismatic~ I love the way Cecilia writes characters!

Darien, despite being the noble etiquette being carved in his mind, rolls his eyes.

“How dramatic.” He clenches the fresh spine before abruptly turning the page. His eyes once again skimmed the pages to find the handwriting.

Time passes by in the smell of parchment and silence. Before Darien realizes, it is nearly sunset, and he has missed their garden walk.

Darien sighs and picks up a lily. He presses its stem between the pages, the flower sticking out. He had seen Seren do this. Then he places the indigo book on the small table before he makes his way to the exit. 

He opens the door, a hand tying his black robes more securely as he looks around. Then he sees a butler, tending to white flowers in the dark corridor.

“You.” The man freezes before he hurries towards Darien, his fallen pitcher’s harsh clank loud in the deafening area. “Y-yes, Your Excellency…?” The man speaks in a timid voice, bowing low with a hand on his chest.

“Where is Seren?”

The servant does not dare to meet Darien’s eyes and his head remains bowed even as he straightens. “Lord Emerson and Lady Louise’s chambers, Your Excellency..”

Darien nods with a hum, looking away for a few moments before flicking a hand. The servant rushes away from both his sight and path.

He then starts to walk, his footsteps making a soft thump on the way to the children’s bedroom. The only color in their corridors were the white flowers. The ones that Joseph loved.

Darien’s eyes lingers on them this time, his gaze softening before he looks away. Joseph.. Ophelia will pay. Even more than before.

He knows Joseph wouldn’t like that, he was always trying to win her heart even when she wasn’t interested, even when her heart bel—

A sudden shatter jolts Darien out of his daze. On the floor lies more than a thousand pieces of colored glass. One of the bigger shards had a large eye, black in color and a small red dress had cushioned the torso from the fall, keeping it intact while it's limbs and head's pieces remain of the floor. 

Darien freezes when the air is sliced through from a metallic sword. It remains in the air for a second before it clashes down, barely missing a flinching servant who had rushed to sweep the broken out of sight.

Deafening shouts ring out of the twin’s room, the voices echoing with the shatters and clanks. 

“How DARE she?! How could SHE give us gifts?!”

“Louise! That is enough! And apologize to Emerson!”

Darien’s expression hardens as he looks at the broken toys before his feet, as if with a mind, guides him towards the open doors.

The sight of Louise’s red tear–streaked face greets him as she stands almost in front of the door with Seren. Emerson is standing beside her, his eyes down while holding one of his bleeding hands. Louise is muttering something that is unreachable to his ears.

Darien’s gaze narrows down onto it and he strides into the room, past Seren and Louise and grabs his nephew’s wrist.

“What is this?”

Silence, Louise stares at Darien for a long moment before her cheeks reddened in anger even brighter as she steps forward.

“That Witch did it!” Emerson casts her a disapproving look and Seren sighs.

"Don't lie.."

Louise wiping her face with her collar, glaring off to the side. Yet Seren's words seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

“Where?”

Louise whips her head around, glaring at one of the servants who now stands frozen.

“A-ah.. L-lady Ophelia..?” They glance at the other servants, one of them, a maid whispers 'Music Hall', “O-oh! M-Music Hall, my lady..” they breathe out then immediately look down.

Darien lets go of Emerson’s hand who immediately steps in front of him and vigorously shakes his head.

“Step aside, boy.” Darien clenches his hands in fists but doesn’t lay a hand on Emerson to move him who shakes his head again.

Seren however was gazing at the broken pieces. Louise would've surely thrown them to Ophelia's personal maid, Joselyn, had Seren not been there.

Emerson rolled his eyes at his uncle who stood a foot taller than him, he had to crane his neck as he gestured with his hands.

"She is lying"

Darien snarls and moves past the boy. Seren reaches out to grab his wrist but Darien was already out the door.

He follows him to the door as he fixes his caramel wide-legged pants. There was no point of wearing the earlier garments, his Duke had made it clear. But he was visiting the twins as well, who were what, 13-14? Regardless of age, it would be immensely inappropriate to dress in such way before them.

Seren watches as Darien disappears in the shadows of the seemingly endless corridor. He steps forward, as if to follow him but a voice stops him.

"Uncle Seren! I found the salve!"

Seren turns around and walks inside, closing the doors behind him.

Darien walks off towards the east wing, a place where all the studies of the children happen.

A dull throb blooms in his head as he walks forward. Yet it is hardly noticeable.

That boy, Emerson... he didn't know why but the thought of someone hurting him, him specifically, made him see red. Even if he mirrored Ophelia with her ginger hair, he was just like Joseph. He had his smile, his eyes and even his unimpressive height.

He clenches his hands, the sun now mixes with a light shade of red.

Ophelia sits on a couch in the middle of the hall, her eyes looking down at Matilda's Violin before at the red couch. It mimicked the toys she sent for them. She wondered if it still was their preferable color. She hopes it was and that they like the gifts.

A ghostly smile tugs at lips and her eyes travel along the maroon curtains. The decorations were very consistent, she thought for the 20th time. Perhaps she doesn't realize it.

Her thick fingers gazes the Violin strings and she frowns.

"How long has it been?" She muses to no one, or maybe herself, or to the Violin.

"She played you so well, and now she just stays in her room. That GODFORSAKEN room...!" She hisses to the imamate object before freezing.

"You. Why is your horrid smell here?" Her voice echoes and the door bursts open yet Ophelia continues glaring at the disgusting and unattractive man before her.

Darien, her fucking brother-in-law.

"My Nephew's hand is bleeding and my niece is crying." He steps inside the room and his ugly scars are reveled. That poor boy, the one marrying h-

Wait.. what has he said? Her eyes widened and she stood up, her height even with their distance matched his.

"What?"

"Why do you care? Didn't you want to leave them?"

Bastard..

"Answer my question."

Darien smirks, it was cold and humorless.

"Your gifts. They are broken."

Ophelia's expression shatters before hardening yet Darien had already seen it.

"You are like Joseph, never getting to the point. But at least he was endearing, not like you."

Darien's smirk vanishes at the name coming out of her mouth but he steels himself.

"If you had been there, you would've known what happened."

Ophelia clenches her jaw and steps closer. Despite her stiff stance and balled fists, Darian remains rooted to the spot.

"Whose fault is that?! They don't even want to SEE my face...!"

Darien's lips twitches and Ophelia throws the nearest thing at him.

A Harmonica.

Darien misses it barely, yet his smirk remains.

"They never wanted to see it before."

The words were muffled by the loud crash of the instrument.

"YOU.. You ruined MY life!"

"YOU STOLE JOSEPH'S LIFE!"

Silence.

Darien never had to raise his voice. He never shouted, just stared. But the only exception was Ophelia. He remembers when Genevieve, after years came to the funeral. Joseph's funeral. She screamed at everyone, especially mother and father.

"Because of YOU BOTH!" Genevieve shouted, handing her newborn to a trembling maid "I couldn't spend time with my brother!"

The kids, they were young and Orlando, who had just met Callisto, couldn't take it and ran off to the boy' Villa.

"Cristine.. I'm going."

Cristine, she stayed with the kids, sitting with them, distracting them.

"Don't listen to them.."

But Darien and Ophelia? They were screaming over Joseph's grave who no doubt was disappointed with them. But a petty part of Darien hoped that his disappointment was more directed at his wife.

"YOU WIT-"

"SHUT YOUR M-"

"Cristine," Darien blinks and Ophelia's glare flickers, "Which town has she run off to?"

Ophelia goes quiet, her hands loosening "She never tells anyone. Let alone me..."

"Serves you right..." He mumbles and that crazy woman throws a flute at him which strikes his hand.

"HA! Pus-"

Darien also throws the flute at her but she dodges it gracefully.

He clicks his tongue, glaring at the smug looking woman.

"That child," Ophelia suddenly remembers. Callisto spoke of him once and today she had seen him. Seren, was it? He looked... fine, not nearly as good-looking as Joseph, "I pity him. For marrying you."

Darien stiffens, hands clenching before he sharply looks away.

"Do you wish to see the twins or not?"

Ophelia hums as she steps forward.

"I do."

Darien turns without another word, exiting through the open doors and Ophelia following him.

They walk in silence. Ophelia's gaze moves towards the white lilies and her lips tug upward. When Cedric was just born, they had gone to the lake together, just the three of them. Her hair had always been unruly and Joseph always fussed on it, trying different hairstyles and even styling it with flowers.

Pink ones. He said they looked the best on her.

"Don't look at them." Darien hisses and Ophelia glares at him.

"I'll look where I want."

Darien grinds his teeth and stops, making Ophelia stop too.

"You don't deserve it. Looking at something he liked and then smiling at it."

"And you?" Ophelia spats back, stepping closer to him and looks down at him, "You were late as well. You could've s-"

"At least I saved my comrades. You even lost that honor."

"The girl was a child. I had to get her away!"

"And leave your OWN kind and husband alone?!"

Ophelia bites her cheek, her long nails digging into her pale palms.

"Joseph understood."

"My nieces and nephews lost their father. Me and my siblings lost their brother and the nation lost the Duke of Wystan!" Darien takes a deep breathe, his eyes gaze at the flowers before they turn to glare at Ophelia, "He managed the whole province alone, kept the bellies of our people fed and warm yet you HAD to be heroic."

Darien looks down, the only thing keeping Wystan alive is it's money and the people itself. Had there been a civil war... the thought has kept Darien insomniac for months. There had been revolts, to find out what had happened to their Duke but luckily his soldiers wiped them all out. Men, women, children. He didn't care and never did.

If they disrupt peace. They must be gone. Not everyone is like Archon Asael.

"He loved you, beared your children and supported your every tantrum to have you betray him."

"He understood!"

"I am not him. I don't understand your 'heroic' deed of leaving a life to save another."

Ophelia grits her teeth together and storms off to the direction of the twins' room.

Darien follows her, trying to match her pace.