Veloria broke down, her soft sobs echoing the gloom in the air as she buried her face in her husband's chest.
"He's not our son, Nefarion…He can never be our son! Yet he always tries to breach that space. How can he be so shameless!?"
Veloria glared at Zerath akin to a thousand knives piercing at once. "Don't be so happy, Zerath. Don't ever forget that you're here in this palace, you could become the Crown Prince only because I…lost my child…only because I could never be-become a mother again…What do you understand about my pain!" She trembled, tears staining her cheeks like a never-ending vicious flow of grief.
Nefarion pressed his lips, "There's no need to bring up the past, Veloria…"
"I'll always bring the past, Nefarion! You might be able to forget our child and move on but I cannot! I won't…I-I'll never forget how my son should've been Rudaheim's real King and not an…imposter," her jaw clenched.
This entire time, not a single word escaped through Zerath. His gaze remained fixed on the floor, the heat of her bitter slap coursing through his cheek. Though her wails reached his ears, he was at a loss to ease her grief. There wasn't a single step he could take to vanquish his mother's sorrow that had been plaguing her heart for years.
His lashes softly closed as he dropped a silent, light bow.
"Apologies, Your Majesty. I was way out of line. It won't happen again."
The bow of his head made it impossible to see the mistiness in her eyes, but he only hoped that his apology, even if a little, provided her with some comfort.
After a long pause, Nefarion's voice snapped the quiet. "Go back to your chamber and rest Zerath. It has been a long day. Veloria, come. I'll take you back."
Their footsteps gradually faded away in the distance, yet Zerath remained still where he was, his head lowered and unmoving. When silence returned, he allowed himself a fleeting moment to tremble. His lips threatened to quiver with an unspoken emotion that he forcibly stuffed back into his chest with every ounce of his strength. A vulnerability that the outside world must never witness.
But his head jerked at once, and awareness flickered back into his soulless eyes as he looked down to see Eurus - whose entire existence had come crashing into his legs.
"...Eurus," he muttered in a daze.
Eurus looked up, his arms tightly wrapped around his thighs. "Zerath, no cry."
Zerath froze. It didn't even take a second for his lips to curl into a smile, almost instinctively, drawing a curtain over his feelings as if the previous moments were just a myth.
"Where do you see me crying? Look, my eyes are all dry."
A sudden chill seeped into the air, gripping Zerath's feet with a frost. Looking into Eurus's eyes, his beautiful ice-silver irises were now reddened with indignation.
Do you take me as a fool? was Eurus's unspoken accusation.
Zerath stared at him for a long time in silence - his smile gradually fading away like the clearing of a fog. A murky glaze of loneliness and defeat settled in his golden eyes, and he dropped to his knees, resting his forehead upon Eurus's little shoulder.
"Forgive me for trying to fool you. Perhaps I'm indeed a little tired…Can I rest on your shoulder for a bit?"
The dull pain across Zerath's temples eased just a little, like a sliver of rest finally took form before him. He exhaled a long breath as if it was stuck in his throat for this entire time. Soon, a pair of little arms wrapped around his back and a soft melody hummed the invisible chords of the air. He blinked rapidly, stunned.
Is he singing a lullaby for me?
Despite his attempts, a hearty chuckle sneaked out from his lips. The merry sound of that laughter lifted the pessimistic atmosphere, and he shook his head.
"I didn't know you could sing so well."
Seeing the light return in his once dismal eyes, Eurus's own ice-silver irises quietly shimmered like stars. Though he was overjoyed upon seeing Zerath's spirits lifted, the slight redness on his cheek washed the memories of Veloria's bitterness all over again. Pursing his lips, he placed his palm over it, which soon emitted a faint silvery glow. But instead of a soothing coolness, the entire left half of Zerath's body got frozen rock-solid.
"..."
Zerath's teeth chattered with the biting chilliness, nevertheless, calm never left him. Studying the confusion in his eyes as he studied his bracelet, he said,
"Sir Draconis's bracelet won't do everything for you. You've to work on your magic control like I talked to you, remember?"
With that, their last conversation flowed back into Eurus's mind, just prior to Vivia's departure.
'I know you like Vivia and want to go with her or want her to live here with you. But there're many things you don't know about our races. To keep it simple, humans and demons don't mingle that easily. We've a long history of bloodshed and hatred.'
Zerath read the disinterest in his eyes. Clearly, Eurus was in no mood to learn history.
'A disinterest in the political matters won't help you because it won't change anything for you. You'll only get resistance in return and right now, you're in position to fight it.'
The disinterest in his expression culminated into apprehension.
'You cannot fight the situation now but…you can become stronger. The only way to make people at higher positions bow down to you is to stand at an even higher position than them. You've to become an exceptional demon to achieve that. A demon who can control his magic, fight to protect and has every knowledge at his disposal to succeed. Are you such a demon now?'
Eurus couldn't respond.
'So you understand that now. That's why you've to let Vivia go. Stubbornness is not your answer, training is, and I'll personally see to it that it happens.'
Zerath ruffled his head with a smile. 'I'm not saying that you won't be able to meet Vivia at all. You just have to keep patience for now and eventually, you'll be able to manipulate the situation to your favor - but only when you become strong and smart enough.'
Eurus undid his magic at present, making Zerath sigh in relief. Holding his hand, they walked down the hallway and to Eurus's chamber - the same room where Vivia stayed as a guest. But seeing his protest, he asked,
"Where do you want to sleep then?"
"Zerath."
"...Are you sure you want to sleep with me?"
He nodded.
Zerath didn't see any issues with it, so their next destination was his own room whereupon Eurus jumped on his fluffy bed, hogging the softness all to himself. Changing into his night clothes, Zerath quietly climbed behind him, certainly with a lackluster vigor compared to Eurus's. His lips lifted with a smile at the child playing around with the pillows.
"I cannot sing any lullaby though."
"Story."
He gave it a thought. "Maybe? I'm not sure if I'm a good story teller though. What story do you want to hear about?"
Eurus scooted closer to him and stared at him. "Why Queen hit you? My mother never hit me."
Zerath peered into his aggrieved yet sincere, inquisitive eyes. He turned on his side to face him and smiled. For a long time, he couldn't decide where to start.
"I'm not her real son. The King and Queen adopted me."
He then proceeded to explain what exactly adoption meant.
"Her Majesty…" his solemn voice dropped low, "lost her unborn child years ago. It was the biggest setback for her and Father. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to become a mother after that accident again."
He allowed for a moment of silence to be still in the quiet air.
"Years later, I was adopted. The King and Queen needed an heir to continue their legacy and become Rudaheim's future King. Father gradually accepted me but Mot-" he stiffened. "I mean Her Majesty couldn't."
Eurus pursed his lips, dissatisfied. "Zerath is good."
Zerath's smile grew fainter. "It's not about being good or bad. You too, wouldn't be able to see someone else taking your mother's place, would you?"
His eyes stretched wide, lacking the words to respond.
"Some people in our life are impossible to replace. I eventually came to learn that."
Eurus blinked. "But it still hurt."
Zerath stiffened again.
"You know but it hurt. Else you will not look sad."
A tremor unknowingly passed through his fingers under the blanket, his words hitting the nail on the head. Zerath had long accepted that Veloria's love would always be a distant dream for him, yet it didn't mean that her hatred didn't ache him. Amidst the inevitable acceptance of her disapproval, a flicker of hope still remained torched in a tiny corner of his heart.
An awkward, helpless smile came. "Sometimes?"
Eurus scooted even closer until no gap existed between them, earning a chuckle from Zerath.
"I see your plan to smother me. Anyway, about your training - I've spoken to Sir Draconis who'll help you with gaining control over your ice magic. He's very eager to help, considering the mysterious nature of your ice."
He nodded once.
"As for your strength and physical training, I'll speak to Sir Gressil who'll create a training regimen suited for you."
Eurus's expression changed at that.
"What is it? You don't want to train with Sir Gressil?"
"No."
"He's an outstanding soldier and commander who leads the Royal Army. You'll be in good hands."
Eurus disapproval only made Zerath more puzzled. "It's fine if you don't want Sir Gressil, but do you have someone else in your mind then?"
Seeing his eager nod, he curiously asked, "Who?"
—
The next day at Casca.
"You have quite some audacity to demand that, don't you, brat?" Silas's cold expression wasn't any less chilling and biting than Eurus's ice.
Unfazed, Eurus's gaze returned to Zerath, pointing at Silas as if saying,
'I want him to train me.'