When Callista had confirmed Zion's identity, she had also taken the time to investigate his past thoroughly.
Only then had she learned just how miserable his life in the General's Residence had been.
The neglected eldest son. The former heir who had been treated as though he were worthless. The young man whose own family had watched him suffer while openly favoring his younger brother. Even his engagement to Vanessa had been taken from him while he was still regarded as nothing more than a useless, blind young master.
The more Callista learned, the harder it became to reconcile that past with the man sitting beside her now.
Zion was calm. Confident. Unhurried.
There was no trace of the helpless young man he had once been.
'If it had been me...'
Callista's eyes narrowed slightly.
She suspected she would have been far less restrained.
For perhaps the first time that evening, Zion caught a glimpse of genuine seriousness beneath Callista's usual playful demeanor.
It was subtle, lasting only for a moment, but it made something stir quietly inside him.
He did not know what to make of it, so he said nothing.
Instead, he turned his attention back toward the stage, where another noble youth was performing before the imperial family.
The silence between them lasted only a short while.
Then Callista's familiar, lazy voice drifted over.
"Darling, are those grapes really that good?"
Zion paused.
He lowered his gaze.
At some point during the performances, he had apparently eaten nearly half the fruit on his plate without even noticing.
He looked at the remaining grapes for a moment before calmly answering, "They're not bad."
A faint smile appeared on Callista's lips.
Without hesitation, she pushed the entire plate toward him.
"Then eat more."
Zion glanced at her.
There was a suspicious amount of amusement in her eyes.
He knew better than to ask what she was thinking.
Still, he did not refuse.
The grapes really were excellent.
He picked up another one just as a sharp voice suddenly cut across the nearby conversations.
"Zion! What are you doing here?"
Zion looked up.
Icarus was striding toward them.
The fourteen-year-old's expression was twisted with anger, and the hostility in his eyes was impossible to miss.
When Icarus had first seen Zion earlier that night, he had been stunned. The blind and sickly elder brother he remembered had appeared before everyone with an entirely different face and bearing.
But the initial shock had quickly been replaced by resentment.
Over the past few days, his family had suffered one humiliation after another.
Kaelan had been publicly rejected by Vanessa.
His scars had been exposed before the entire Origin Medical Hall.
The affair between Kaelan and Vanessa had been revealed to everyone.
And in Icarus's mind, all of it ultimately led back to one person.
Zion.
'If he hadn't appeared again, none of this would have happened.'
The thought only deepened the anger burning inside him.
To Icarus, Zion was no longer merely an embarrassing elder brother.
He was the person responsible for everything that had gone wrong.
Zion studied him for a moment before asking coldly, "What exactly do you think I'm doing?"
Icarus's face tightened.
Since childhood, he had never once taken Zion's side.
Whenever Zion and Kaelan had quarreled, Icarus had instinctively believed Kaelan. Even when the truth had been obvious, he had treated his eldest brother as the problem. On more than one occasion, he had even joined in when Kaelan tormented him.
Kaelan had been cruel.
Icarus had been blindly foolish enough to enable him.
Now that same foolishness had brought him straight to Zion.
"You made my brother suffer like this!" Icarus spat. "I will never forgive you!"
His hand shot toward the wine cup on the table.
Before anyone could react, he seized it and hurled the contents directly at Zion's face.
The movement was fast and aggressive.
There was no mistaking the hostility behind it.
Zion's eyes turned cold.
He was already preparing to move when a soft sound came from beside him.
Whoosh!
Callista's folding fan snapped open.
With a single flick of her wrist, the fan swept across the incoming wine.
The liquid scattered harmlessly to the side.
Not a single drop touched Zion.
Icarus froze.
His eyes widened as he stared at Callista.
He had expected Zion to defend himself, but he had not expected Callista to intervene so casually and so decisively.
'What exactly is their relationship?'
The question flashed through his mind.
Why would the crown prince's younger sister protect Zion in front of everyone?
Before Icarus could find an answer, a cold sensation suddenly spread across his scalp.
Splash!
Zion had picked up the entire wine jug.
He poured it over Icarus's head without hesitation.
The wine cascaded down his hair and face, soaked through his clothes, and dripped onto the polished marble beneath his feet.
For a moment, the entire exchange seemed to stop.
Icarus stood there drenched from head to toe, completely unable to process what had just happened.
Zion calmly set the empty jug back on the table.
A faint smile touched his lips.
He leaned slightly closer to Icarus.
"Back then, I let you do whatever you wanted to me."
His voice remained quiet enough that only Icarus could clearly hear it.
"But things are different now."
Zion straightened.
"I won't let you walk over me anymore."
A chill ran down Icarus's spine.
He remembered the elder brother he had known all his life. The weak, sickly boy who never fought back. The blind young master who could be insulted without consequence.
That person was standing in front of him.
But he was no longer that person.
Fear flickered through Icarus's heart, but pride quickly buried it.
"I won't let you go either!" he shouted, forcing his voice to remain steady. "So what if you can see now? You're still trash! You're still useless!"
Zion looked at him without any visible anger.
He simply smiled.
"I'll be waiting."
The words were quiet, but their meaning was unmistakable.
Icarus clenched his fists.
He had no intention of continuing the confrontation here. Not with the imperial family and hundreds of nobles watching.
Instead, he turned around and stormed away.
As he left, his mind was already filled with plans.
'Once the banquet is over...'
He would make Zion pay.
Callista watched Icarus's retreating figure before letting out a quiet chuckle.
"You've offended the entire General's Residence tonight."
She turned toward Zion.
"If you go back there, I'm afraid you'll be walking straight into trouble."
Zion's expression did not change.
"Since I left that place, I never intended to return."
He had already seen enough of General Helius.
Even if he displayed his current strength, even if he became famous throughout the continent, that man would never truly become the father Zion had once needed.
That relationship had ended long ago.
The only thing remaining was blood.
Callista studied his expression for a moment before the playful curve returned to her lips.
"If you really have nowhere else to go, my residence is always open to you."
Zion glanced sideways at her.
There it was again.
The shameless flirting.
He simply rolled his eyes and said nothing.
At that moment, the final performance came to an end.
The performers withdrew from the center of the garden, and the conversations gradually quieted.
The Empress smiled and turned toward Vanessa.
"So, my daughter, have you seen anyone you favor tonight?"
The question immediately drew the attention of the young nobles.
Tonight's banquet had been arranged primarily for Vanessa to choose her future male consort. However, as the Crown Princess, she was also permitted to select additional male companions from among the noble families if she wished.
Vanessa smiled with practiced ease.
"If there is someone I favor, I'll name him directly."
She raised one hand.
The royal garden fell silent.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward Vanessa at once.
The young noblemen sitting throughout the garden unconsciously straightened their backs. Some adjusted their robes. Others lowered their gazes in an attempt to appear composed, while a few exchanged subtle glances with their families.
For them, this was more than a romantic selection.
Becoming one of the Crown Princess's men meant status, influence, wealth, and a place within the future royal court.
Every young man present understood what was at stake.
Even Kaelan could not stop himself from holding his breath.
Despite everything that had happened, despite Vanessa's rejection and the humiliation he had suffered, a small and desperate fragment of hope still remained inside him.
Vanessa had once loved him.
She had once chosen him.
Perhaps those feelings had not completely disappeared.
Perhaps, in the end, she would still remember what they had shared.
His fingers tightened beneath his sleeves.
'If she still remembers me... even a little.'
He did not dare finish the thought.
Vanessa slowly raised her arm.
Her gaze moved across the garden.
One face after another passed through her field of vision.
She looked at the young men who had dressed carefully for this very moment, at the sons of powerful ministers and generals who were waiting anxiously for her decision.
Yet none of them caught her attention.
Her gaze continued forward.
Then it stopped.
There was no hesitation.
No uncertainty.
Her eyes settled firmly on one person.
Zion.
The former fiancé she had once discarded.
The young Physician who had saved her life.
The man she had pursued after realizing what she had lost.
And the same man who had rejected her in front of everyone.
Vanessa's lips parted.
"I choose him..."
Her voice carried clearly across the silent royal garden.
She lifted her hand.
Her finger pointed directly toward him.
"Zion."