“Danell,” Casrian spoke slowly as he sat on his throne, “is that a dead body you’re holding?”

Danell had walked right past the guards at the throne room’s entrance before they could say anything, pushing the doors open with little regard.

Time came to a standstill at the first prince’s arrival. There were a few court officials who were also in the throne room. The poor things trembled at the sight of Danell dragging what looked to be a servant by his collar.

In any other time, Casrian would have thought Danell to look like a cat bringing dead prey to its owner. However, this was truly bad timing. Not that he really cared though, as he was getting bored out of his mind anyways.

“I didn’t know you were busy.”

“Pft.” Casrian grinned. Like him, his two brothers’ had attitude problems. Yet, in a way, he still found them extremely adorable. “It’s alright, my meeting’s going to finish soon anyways. Now, show me what you’ve got.”

Taking that as a signal, one of the court officials stepped up and bowed towards the dais where the throne was. “Your Majesty, all of the most important issues for today have been settled already. I will just take my leave now, if you will allow.”

“Fine, fine,” Casrian responded with disinterest. At his dismissal, the rest of the court officials scurried out of the throne room like ants whose nest was disturbed.

Once the throne room was empty except for the two of them, Danell flung the servant’s body towards the dais. There was a thump as the servant’s head hit the base of the dais, which resulted in a loud groan from him.

“It seems like you’re alive, after all,” Danell deadpanned. If Casrian didn’t know any better, he could have sworn there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Casrian stood up from his throne and stepped down the dais. With his foot, he flipped the servant onto his back. He looked sickly pale, but there were no wounds.

“I believe Rhylis tried to poison me,” said Danell before Casrian could ask about it.

He looked up, eyes slightly widened in surprise. “Adonis? Why would that kid do this?”

Danell became displeased. Did Casrian still think that Rhylis was an innocent child? He was aware that Rhylis was raised by Casrian when his mother died, but those times were long gone. What happened eight years ago was the catalyst that led to all the events up until now.

But instead of pointing that out, Danell only shrugged and said, “Don’t know. Maybe he’s throwing a temper tantrum.”

Casrian crossed his arms. “Keres, I’m being serious here.” He looked down and kicked the servant on the side, making him groan again. “Hey, did Adonis tell you to poison Keres?” When the servant didn’t answer, he frowned.

It wasn’t that Casrian doubted Danell. He knew there was a reason for the suspicion on Rhylis.

However, Rhylis had also never killed anyone to his knowledge.

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‘Zerin… I need to call Zerin here immediately.’

While Casrian was lost in thought, Danell wondered if he should just leave. As much as this concerned his own life, he still found it too much of a hassle. If he left the servant there, then Casrian could just continue to deal with it for him.

Just as he was close to a decision, there was the sound of doors creaking open behind him.

A pair of dark blue eyes peaked into the throne room from the side of the door. When Odetta saw that only Danell was with Casrian, she showed her face fully and beamed at them.

“Your Reverent Majesty, my dear brother Casrian, the King of Calamity…” Odetta spoke in a sing-song tone of voice. She skipped into the throne room, stopping to twirl on the tip of her toes and raise her arms to reveal the flower crown she held in her hands. “Look what I made for you under the bright, bright sun!”

Odetta continued twirling, letting her nightgown billow around her until she reached Casrian. Her face being so close to his, she bit her tongue to keep her expression neutral. She reached over and promptly placed the crown of blue cornflowers she’d made on his head. After feigning studying him for a moment, she clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Casrian! You look so pretty! It’s sad that you almost never wear your crown…”

Casrian chuckled softly. In one swift movement, he removed his cape and wrapped it around Odetta. “Were you picking flowers from the garden barefoot in that nightgown? You have to be careful of people who may see you.” His hand moved to her face, and it took everything within Odetta to not jerk back from the graze of his fingertips on her cheek. “But then again, I can just kill them.”

Not wanting Casrian to see her trembling, Odetta turned away and switched her attention to Danell. ‘Great. He doesn’t care about me, so I’ll go to him.’

“Lovely Danell⁠—” She started spreading her arms, planning to embrace him whether he liked it or not.

However, she jumped when the doors to the throne room flew open fully. In came Rhylis who stomped in, his appearance positively ruffled.

“You! I told you I was busy! I⁠—wait,” Rhylis paused as he took in the sight before him, “Is that a dead body at your feet?”

Odetta’s head snapped towards Casrian, this time looking down.

EEK! She was mere centimeters from that body just now! Was her vision really so narrowed on Casrian? Fear was a more powerful force than she thought.

“The servant isn’t dead, just poisoned,” Danell corrected Rhylis, as if that helped with anything.

Odetta decided to switch gears and hide behind Danell, which earned her an annoyed tsk from him.

Casrian had sent a maid to summon Odetta with a message to come to the throne room during the evening. He must have called her two other brothers like that as well, which is why they were all here.

Little did she know, Casrian had already set up a meeting with Danell days ago which he would reluctantly attend no matter the situation, and since Odetta so happened to be mysteriously poisoned, Casrian also decided to set up a meeting with his other siblings at the same time. Casrian also anticipated Rhylis to ignore him, so instead of a message, he sent the palace guards to snatch up his stubborn baby brother, which is probably why he currently looked like a mess.

Rhylis seemed to understand the situation faster than Odetta. He sighed, running a hand back through his deep red hair⁠—a trait said to have derived from the Conquerer Queen Evangelista herself⁠—and said, “It seems you have something you want to speak about, Your Majesty. Care to indulge us?”

At that, Casrian smiled his beautiful smile. The cornflower crown on his head didn’t match his grand attire of red and gold, but with him, he always looked like a king no matter what.

“I’m glad you asked, Adonis,” Casrian spread his arms wide, “I’ve gathered you all here to decide on a punishment for the rats in this palace who committed treason.”

Treason?

Casrian nodded at the entrance. “Bring in the one who dared poison Galene.”