The heavy wooden doors of the study remained closed for hours at a time, sealing off the rest of the estate.
Ruby stood at the far end of the long gallery, her fingers tightening around the cold silver tray she carried.
For three straight days, the quiet routine of the Arden estate had completely dissolved.
Lucien—the man who usually maintained absolute, rigid discipline over every inch of his domain—had barely stepped out into the main halls.
And when he did appear, his focus was absolute, total, and entirely directed elsewhere. To his children and Sora Curzon.
"He is still inside?" Ruby asked, her voice tight, trying to sound casual as she stopped near the head housekeeper in the hallway.
"Sir Arden has been personally overseeing Master Sora's recovery," the housekeeper replied softly, adjusting her apron.
"The elf was near death when he arrived, poor thing. Sir Arden barely left his side all through the first night."
Ruby's jaw clenched. She looked toward the heavy oak doors, a bitter ache twisting in her chest.
She had spent years at the estate, carefully building her presence, offering quiet support, waiting for a single warm look or a moment of genuine closeness from the stoic knight. Yet Lucien had always kept a polite, unyielding distance between them—a wall of iron that felt impossible to even breach.
And now, this fragile, pale elf had arrived, and Lucien had torn down every boundary in a single night. First it was Cassian and now Sora?
"What kind of a dynamic did those three form with each other?, it is repulsive."
From down the hallway, small, rhythmic footsteps echoed against the stone floor. Four-year-old Aurelian walked past, his small hands stuffed in his coat pockets and the young green wyvern trotting quietly at his heels.
Ruby watched the boy, her jealousy flaring into a sharp, ugly heat. The boy carried the royal bloodline and an uncanny resemblance to the man he detested the most and the one who had flipped her life upside down.
Cassian Valemont.
"Miss Ruby?" a young maid called out, noticing her standing motionless in the corridor.
"Is that tea for his grace and the guest?"
Ruby snapped back to reality, pulling the tray closer to her chest.
"Yes," she said coldly, her eyes fixed on the study door.
"I will deliver it to them myself."
She walked down the hall, her heart hammering against her ribs. But as she tried to open the door, the Elven guard Lyra and the aide Eryndor stopped her promptly.
Both their expressions anxious as they exchanged glances every now and then.
Stopping the Duchess from entering her own house's private study was no different from disrespect but they had no choice. If she were to walk into that study now their Saint would be humiliated.
'Just what was the Saint thinking doing all this here and with the Duchess around?, even this kind of recklessness is beyond saving.'
"Are you two aware of what you are doing right now?"
"I'm sorry my Lady but his excellency sternly ordered us to not let anyone inside. Including you."
"This kind of disrespect from mere Elves!...guards!"
Ruby called out for the guards outside to remove the elves from her sight and just when Lyra were occupied with fending off the approaching guards, Ruby took the moment to slide past them and she didn't bother knocking; she immediately pushed the door open just enough to step inside, needing to see it with her own eyes.
And after stepping inside, the sight made her breath catch in her throat.
Sora was sitting on the edge of the plush velvet sofa, wrapped in a thick wool blanket. The deathly pallor on his skin was gone, replaced by a healthy, vibrant flush.
And standing right beside him, leaning down to adjust the heavy cloak over the elf's shoulders, was Lucien.
Lucien's broad hand rested gently near Sora's neck—a posture so intimate, so inherently protective, that it felt like a sharp physical blow to Ruby's chest. In all the time she had known him, Lucien had never touched anyone with such careful, deliberate softness.
Except for Cassian.
Lucien turned his head slightly as the door opened, his sharp eyes locking onto Ruby. The warmth in his expression vanished instantly, replaced by his usual cold, impenetrable mask.
"Ruby,"
Lucien said, his voice deep and emotionless.
"What is it?, I am very busy right now."
Ruby swallowed hard, struggling to keep her face composed as the heavy scent of dark mana lingering in the room practically choked her.
It was pretty evident that they had just done something lewd before she came in.
Sora's hair was hurriedly pushed back from being a mess. Lucien's tunic slightly open on the top few buttons and the flush on Sora's face gave them away as his seductive eyes still lingered on his expression.
Seemingly the commotion she causes with the Elves outside alerted them of her arrival.
"I... I brought herbal tea for you and Sora. You have been working really hard you should take a break."
"Set it on the side table," Lucien ordered quietly, not stepping away from Sora's side.
"And while at it playing the maid, do inform the kitchen that Sora will be taking his meal here in the study today."
Sora looked up at Ruby, offering a polite, soft smile.
"Thank you, My Lady. You've been very kind. The Duke and the Duchess have been really taking care of me."
Sora's voice purred as his narrow, aroused eyes lingered on Lucien a little longer with the bite of his lower lip.
Ruby couldn't even muster a reply. She placed the tray on the table with stiff, trembling hands, her eyes dropping to the faint, dark violet energy still pulsing faintly around Sora's figure—
And the swell well imprinted at the crotch of his pants.
Ruby swallowed hard attempting to lash out when Lucien's gaze glared down at her.
"For Tristan's sake, you better walk away."
Ruby looked at him for a moment, remembering the threat he made before. Swallowing back her emotions she turned around and walked out of the room without another word, slamming the heavy doors completely shut behind her.
And standing in the cold corridor once more, Ruby leaned against the stone wall, her breath coming in ragged hitches as she fought back the stinging heat behind her eyes.
Truly that man would rather look at anyone else except for her.
*****
The moon hung high over the Western forest, casting long, stark shadows across the silent stone corridors of the guest wing.
Ruby had decided to pay Sora a visit, so that they could talk...alone.
But the moment she raised her hand to knock on the door, she froze.
From inside the room came a low, broken gasp—a sound thick with intense, helpless surrender.
"Lucien... please..." Sora's voice was a feverish whisper, muffled and trembling through the thick wood.
Ruby's breath hitched in her throat. She shrank back into the shadows of the corridor, unable to move a muscle as the sounds from within the room drifted through the door.
Seemingly they were still at it even now. And at this point she wondered if that would that still be considered a form of healing for Sora.
There was no harshness in the quiet, rhythmic murmurs that followed—only the deep, steady resonance of Lucien's voice, low and commanding, woven with the heavy, breath laced beneath his deep groans.
"Stay still, Sora,"
Lucien's voice came through, raspy and strained with intensity.
"Let the mana settle... drink it in, all of it."
"I am trying to, but you are just so absurdly too much to handle."
A sharp, breathless whimper escaped Sora's lips, followed by the soft rustle of heavy silk sheets and the unmistakable, slow rhythm of intimate, deliberate creaking of the bed.
The subtle mana in the hallway grew so dense that it made Ruby's skin prickle with cold sweat. She realized with a sickening twist in her stomach that this wasn't just a cold, distant magic ritual. It was a thorough, suffocating union of souls—a scene where Lucien was holding, guiding, and slowly filling the pale elf's fading core with everything his body craved.
Tears sprang to Ruby's eyes, hot and bitter as she fled down the dark corridor, the muffled sounds of their quiet, desperate intimacy echoing in her ears all night.
And by noon the following day, the estate was bathed in clear, bright sunlight. Looking at the three of them gathered in the courtyard, no one would have ever guessed what had transpired behind those closed doors just hours before.
The atmosphere was crisp, formal, and entirely controlled.
Sora stood near the grand carriage, wearing a heavy travelling cloak lined with white fur. His pale skin was fully flushed with vibrant life and his eyes finally sharp and clear like the old Sora they knew before Cassian left.
The hollow, dying look that had plagued him upon arrival was completely gone.
Lucien stood beside him, clad in his formal black uniform and high leather boots, his hair pulled back neatly. His face was an unreadable, stoic mask—completely devoid of the intense, strained passion that had filled the guestroom the night and days before.
"The mana will keep your core stable for at least four months," Lucien said calmly, his voice smooth and professional as he checked the leather straps on the carriage horses.
"When the resonance begins to weaken again, send word and I will come to the border."
"Thank you, Sir Arden," Sora replied with a polite, elegant bow of his head, his tone light and gracious, as if they were merely two lords parting after a successful business meeting.
"You have been a most gracious host."
Ruby stood near the stone archway, her hands folded tightly in front of her daytime dress. She watched them with a hollow ache in her chest, stunned by how effortlessly they both wore their masks. Neither of them offered a single lingering glance, a flushed cheek, or a slip of the tongue. To the world, nothing had happened. But Ruby and the servants knew better and in her case it was humiliating.
Aurelian hopped into the carriage first, pulling his young wyvern up onto the seat beside him.
Sora paused at the carriage door, turning back to look at Ruby then he offered her a gentle, warm smile.
"Thank you for taking such good care of us during our stay, Duchess. May the West remain peaceful under your care."
Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat, dipping into a stiff, formal curtsey.
'How shameless.'
"Safe travels back to Elfeheimer, Sora."
The brief silence between them caused ripple of tension amongst the servants.
"The saint is truly cruel. Does he not realize that he has just ruined a union between the Duke and the Duchess and even humiliated her in her own household?"
Lyra whispered to Eryndor and Eryndor just shrugged back nonchalantly.
"He just wanted to heal his body and as you can see it all worked out perfectly fine."
"How can you say that when the state of their house is like this?"
"Well, it was suggested by the Duke himself wasn't it?...why blame the poor Saint who didn't know any better?"
Lyra looked at Eryndor in disbelief.
And just then Sora climbed inside the Carriage, and with a crack of Eryndor's whip, the heavy carriage rolled out of the courtyard, its iron wheels clattering against the cobblestones as it began the long journey back to the elven lands.
Lucien stood motionless, watching the carriage disappear past the heavy iron gates. Then only when it was completely out of sight did he let out a long, slow breath, turning his eyes toward the residents of his household.
"Now then, everyone back to your rightful duties and continue our daily lives like we normally do."
As the maids bowed to hurriedly walk away, almost all of them first glanced at Ruby before disappearing inside the castle.
'Truly... The Duke does not care.'
The carriage dust had barely settled before the Arden estate snapped back into its rigid, silent routine.
*****