The boy who had once tried so hard to smile now rarely moved his lips at all.
Soren sat at the dinner table with his back straight, his eyes lowered, and his hands resting neatly on his lap.
He looked the way his mother had always told him to: proper, quiet and polite.
But there was no glow of eagerness in him anymore.
No spark of childish hope.
He did not flinch when Alice smirked at him.
He did not react when she whispered her venomous words into his ear.
"Dog," she called him once, just loud enough for him to hear.
Soren simply kept chewing his food, his face blank.
Her giggles filled the air, but he remained still.
Even when Sofia corrected him in her soft, cruel way, his expression did not change.
"Yes, Mother."
His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
He was eleven now.
And he knew.
He knew he would never be one of them.
It no longer hurt in the sharp way it once had.
The pain had dulled, buried deep inside where even he could not feel it most days.
Now it was like a cold stone sitting in his chest.
The servants had long since stopped pretending.
They did their work, bowed when they had to, and looked at him with no affection.
At one point, Soren had greeted them every morning.
He had practised carefully, saying "Good morning" just as Freya had shown him, but the servants rarely answered, and when they did, it was only with stiff nods.
So he stopped.
Now he passed them silently in the halls, his eyes fixed to the ground, and his footsteps quiet.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Alice's torment never ceased, but it no longer found results.
She tried new things: Hiding his shoes, tearing pages from the few books he read, whispering cruel things about Mother's disgust toward him.
But Soren only blinked, picking up the ruined items, and carried on.
"Why don't you say something?" Alice demanded one afternoon, frustrated by his silence. "Why don't you fight back?"
Soren only stared at her with his hollow red eyes, then turned and walked away.
His cowardice had become a habit.
The thought of conflict made his chest tighten, so he avoided it entirely.
It was easier this way.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
The only moments he felt alive were when Freya came.
She was taller now, her frame lean and strong from years of training.
Her long blonde hair shimmered even when tied back, and her hazel eyes still softened whenever they met his.
"Ren," she called him warmly, ruffling his long hair. "You're getting taller."
And only then did Soren's expression change.
His lips curved upward, his voice filled with faint warmth, and his hands clung to hers.
With Freya, he laughed, he asked questions, he smiled.
But when she left, the mask fell back into place.
The silence returned.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
By twelve, Soren had almost completely withdrawn from the world outside of Freya.
He no longer tried to impress his mother.
He no longer ate with the family; instead, he requested that servants bring his food to his room.
He no longer played in the gardens.
He sat in the corner of his room with books, staring at the pages more often than he read them.
He walked the halls like a shadow, his presence so faint that even Alice grew bored of taunting him.
Only Freya's visits kept him tethered.
Only her arms, wrapping around his small frame, reminded him he was still human.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
It was on a cloudy afternoon that he learned the truth.
He had wandered the halls and overheard two knights speaking outside the training grounds.
"Did you hear? Lady Freya will be leaving for Stellaris Academy tomorrow."
"Yes. The Countess must be proud. She'll do well there."
Soren froze.
The words burrowed into his mind like claws.
'Leaving?'
He stumbled backwards, his heart racing in his chest as the world tilted around him.
Without thinking, he ran.
His small legs carried him as fast as they could through the vast corridors, his breath coming in short, gasping breaths.
He reached Freya's room and pushed the door open.
Inside, she was packing.
Her long hair fell over her shoulder as she carefully folded clothes into a travel chest.
"S-Sister…?" His voice cracked.
She turned, startled.
"Ren?"
He stood there in the doorway, trembling.
The blank expression he had worn for years shattered in an instant.
His lips quivered, and his eyes filled with tears he hadn't shed since that night when he was ten.
"You… you're leaving?"
Freya's face softened with guilt.
She set down the dress in her hand and knelt before him.
"It's just the academy, Ren. I'll come back on holidays. I promise."
But the words broke him.
He rushed forward and threw his arms around her, clinging to her waist with all the strength in his weak body.
His tears spilt freely, soaking her dress.
"Don't go! Please don't go!" His cries tore from his throat, raw and desperate. "You're the only one–! You're the only one who—!"
His words collapsed into sobs; he couldn't finish them.
Freya held him tightly, her own arms trembling.
She stroked his hair, whispering soothing words.
"Shh… It's alright. It's alright, Ren. I'll come back. I'll be stronger then. I'll be able to help you."
But Soren shook his head furiously, burying his face in her ample chest.
"I don't want you to be stronger! I just… I just want you here!"
Freya's hazel eyes wavered.
She pressed her lips against his hair, her heart aching.
"I don't have a choice, Ren. This is what it means to be the heir, but listen to me," She pulled his face up, wiping his tears with her thumb. "No matter how far I go, you'll always be my precious little brother, and I'll always come back to you."
Soren hiccupped, his chest heaving.
He wanted to believe her; he wanted to cling to that promise like a lifeline.
And so he did.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
That night, he lay in her bed, curled against her warmth.
His small hands gripped tightly at her sleeve, as if afraid she would vanish if he let go.
"Don't let go…" he whispered, his voice muffled, buried against the fabric of her nightgown.
"I won't," Freya whispered back, brushing her fingers through his hair.
Her touch was patient and soft, careful not to startle him, as though she understood just how fragile he had become.
"Sleep, Ren. I'm here."
But sleep did not come so easily.
His tears still dampened her sleeve, and his breathing remained unsteady.
"You'll leave… tomorrow you'll leave…" His voice cracked, and he squeezed his eyes shut. "You'll forget about me. Nobody wants me…"
Freya's chest tightened.
She shifted, turning onto her side so that she was facing him.
Her arms circled around his small frame, pulling him gently into her embrace.
"No, Ren," she said firmly, though her voice remained tender. "I could never forget you. You're my little brother. My only little brother."
He looked up at her with wide, reddened eyes.
"But… you're always busy now. And… when you go, I'll be alone. Mother doesn't… Father doesn't…" His voice trailed off, choked with fear. "...and Alice laughs."
Freya hushed him softly, pressing her forehead against his.
"I know. I know it feels like that, but listen to me, Ren." She tilted his chin up so he couldn't look away. "This isn't forever. The academy is only for a few years. And when I graduate, I'll be stronger. I'll come back, and when I do, I'll make things better."
Her words were like a distant promise, one he could not yet picture.
His small hands clung more desperately to her, as if clinging would keep her from slipping away.
"Better…? How?"
She smiled faintly, brushing a thumb over his damp cheek.
"When I'm stronger, we can leave this house together. Maybe we'll travel. You've never left the estate, so you don't know, but the world is a beautiful place. You could see it with your own eyes."
"Together?"
"Of course," she said without hesitation, stroking his hair softly. "Always together."
He blinked, uncertain.
The world had always felt so small; his entire world was confined to the estate's cold halls and sharp voices, to imagine anything beyond it felt impossible.
Yet, when she spoke about the world beyond the walls, for a fleeting moment, he believed.
"But… what if you change?" he asked quietly, his worry gnawing at him again. "What if… you don't want me anymore?"
Freya let out a soft laugh, not mocking, but warm.
She booped his nose gently with a finger, making him flinch before parting her lips.
"Ren, I could never not want you. You're my adorable little brother. Even if you grow up to be grumpy and serious, I'll still fawn over you."
She leaned in close, brushing her nose against his in a playful gesture.
"Even if you grow taller than me one day, I'll still pinch your cheeks, and even if you become the quietest boy in the world, I'll still sit by your side and talk until you smile."
He blinked at her, dazed by her bright words.
"...You promise?"
"I promise," she said firmly. "On my honour as an Arden, and on my heart as your big sister."
Her certainty carried weight, and for the first time that night, some of the tension in his shoulders eased.
His small body, always hunched and defensive, seemed to soften as he nestled closer to her.
She felt him bury his face against her chest, his breath warm against her skin.
"...I wish you didn't have to go," he murmured. "I… I'm scared."
Freya's arms tightened around him as she pressed a kiss to his hair and spoke softly.
"It's alright to be scared. But remember, Ren… you're never truly alone. Not while I'm around. I'll come back for you, and when I do, we'll go wherever you want. Even if it was to the ends of the continent."
"The end of the continent…?" His voice was muffled against her, almost disbelieving.
"Yes," she said, a faint smile touching her lips. "If you want to, I'll find a way to take you there."
For a moment, silence lingered,
A small wave of relief washed over Soren.
His arms circled around her waist clumsily, hugging her back.
She held him there, stroking his hair slowly, humming an old lullaby she used to sing when he was younger on the nights that she would sneak into his bedroom.
His eyelids drooped, heavy from the exhaustion and storm of emotions.
Still, he whispered one last plea.
"Don't… don't let me go."
"I won't," Freya whispered again, pulling him tighter against her chest. "I'll hold you all night. Sleep, Ren. When you wake, I'll still be here."
Her warmth, her scent, her voice, all of it wrapped around him with comforting warmth.
His breathing finally began to slow, the tension bleeding from his small frame.
For the first time in years, Soren fell asleep without any fear.
As he drifted into dreams, Freya pressed a gentle kiss against his snow-white hair, holding him as if she could protect him from the entire world.
She whispered one final vow into the darkness, so soft it barely reached his ears.
"I'll never leave you, Ren, I'll always be there to protect you. Forever."
His grip loosened at last, surrendering to slumber, but hers never did.
She held him until the first light of dawn, guarding his fragile peace with all the love her heart could give.
————「❤︎」————