The days and nights passed in relative harmony in the Kardos manor. Oliver made it a point to avoid Ewen as much as possible, spending most of his time in the barracks with Conrad, playing with Avery, or reading in the library. At night, he would go out to the gardens, where Antony would accompany him to practice his movements.

Many have noticed Oliver's reluctance to be close to Ewen, causing some whispers in the estate, but Oliver didn't change his attitude.  In his previous life, Ewen admitted that he was with Piers years before Piers broke off his engagement. Therefore, Ewen was already climbing into Piers' bed, probably feeding him information from the Kardos household. Any trust he harbored for his little brother has been long stripped.

However, Oliver did not instigate anything. He figured it would be best to stay distant. Once he was done with this engagement, he would move back to Wynter. He feared for his family but knew his presence would put them in more danger. Let him be out of sight for a while. He will continue to make changes to steer away from their dark fate.

He just needed to hold on a bit longer, and he would finally be able to go home.

He was sitting leisurely in the library; his clothes were loose and casual, unlike his old style. His hair was tied back, and the long translucent silver brushed over the back of the chair. His long fingers flipped through the pages of the book he was reading.

He had ultimately won over the servants, and they couldn't help but try to steal a glimpse of him when he was like this. Oliver could sense them coming and going, and he sighed lightly. When Sarah came rushing in, he got up to stretch and placed the book on the table by the chair.

"Oliver. A messenger from the Royal Family came and is waiting at the door." She said breathlessly.

Oliver nodded and realized that the timing was right for the invitation to the coming-of-age ceremony. But he knew his invitation would be a little different from the others. In his past life, he threw a tantrum, attacked the messenger, and then destroyed his room in a fit of rage.

Now, he looked forward to this expected invitation.

He didn't bother to straighten his clothes or dress up. He rolled up his sleeves and walked with Sarah to the entrance. He made eye contact with Ewen, who seemed a little too eager for this message. Oliver had to shake his head, admonishing himself for being so blind. Ewen was always looking for his destruction.

He nodded towards the messenger and held out his hand expectantly. The messenger was surprised about his greeting. Usually, Oliver would take an hour to dress and look his best, then come bounding down the stairs like an excitable puppy. But there was no trace of immaturity this time. Although his clothes were casual, he still carried a dignified air.

He handed the invitation over and coughed a little. "Young Lord, the Prince has a message for you as well."

Oliver looked at the thick invitation in his hand and didn't bother to lift his eyes toward the messenger. "Oh?"

The messenger shivered a little from the overwhelming feeling he received from Oliver. "Um... he apologizes, but because he will be busy with the crowning ceremony, he will not be able to escort Lord Oliver to the ball.

Sophia was in the entryway with the rest of his family when they heard this. Her face darkened. "You mean to tell us that the Prince has no desire to bring his fiance to his crowning ceremony, nor does he intend to escort him? Is this the courtesy he shows to the Kardoses and the Future Royal Consort?"

"Perhaps I should have a meeting with the King," Aaron said; his look was equally dark.

However, Oliver just flipped the invitation between his fingers. "No need. This will also be convenient for me."

The messenger was panicking a little. "My Lord? Will... will you send a written response to the Prince?"

Oliver gave him an incredulous look. "Just tell him that I agree with the arrangements."

"You won't write to him?"

Oliver laughed. "The Prince trusted you with his words; can I not trust you with mine? Or are you saying my words are truly loftier than his, and I need a different means of communication?"

The messenger paled. "No, my Lord. I will relay your message." He bowed low to everyone and ran off to escape the unfathomable pressure he felt in the presence of the Kardoses.

Ewen tried to conceal his glee, and he ran up to Oliver and placed a hand on his arm. "Brother, are you OK?"

Oliver looked down at the small hand holding his arm and grimaced. This was the hand he thought was delivered to him years ago as a threat to ensure he obeyed—a bloodied hand that nearly broke him and flooded him with guilt. The dismembered hand made him give up any semblance of hope to escape the prolonged war. This was his shackle and chains he bore for years. This goddamn hand... it was nothing but a lie.

"I'm fine." He forced a smile. "The crowning ceremony will be boring and requires a copious amount of kneeling. I'd rather not dirty my pants."

He shook off Ewen's arm and turned to his parents. "This is more favorable for me. I haven't attended a ball with my family before. I enjoy this novel experience."

Piers had always reluctantly escorted Oliver, so this was the first ball he attended with his family.

"I'm going to retire to the library." He said gently and motioned to Sarah to follow him.

Oliver lazily sat back in the chair he was in before and looked out the window with a distant expression. He continued to flip the invitation in his hands.

"Oliver," Sarah called out lightly as she set a cup of tea in front of him, "Are you truly comfortable with this arrangement?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Sarah sat down next to him and gave him a concerned look. "Your fiancé of ten years has declined to have you a part of his crowning ceremony and refused to escort you. This is not the behavior of a lover."

Oliver laughed lightly. "Lover? When were we ever truly lovers?"

Sarah bit her lip and thought about Oliver's interactions with the Prince. Prince Piers never treated him affectionately. "Then... this is not the right behavior of a fiancé, especially a royal one."

After a while, he released a long breath. "My betrothal to the Crown Prince is knowns across the four kingdoms. With his coming-of-age celebration, I am expected to step into the role of Royal Consort... Bierze will witness the enthronement of a new royal couple."

She nodded knowingly, wondering why he was bringing up something well-known.

"However, this crown never belonged to Piers. It was his Uncle Gideon who sat on the throne. My memories of him have faded substantially, but I know he was a good man and a wise ruler.  In his short rule, he brought peace to Bierze and reestablished a strong alliance between the four kingdoms.  So when he died, it shook the kingdom... A new unconscious fear bubbled inside the people because there was now a vacant throne. To appease the people, Piers' father stepped forward."

He sighed heavily. "With each new king, the kingdom faces a crisis because they do not know what kind of ruler they will have to bow down to. In our history, we have faced both great and poor kings... But what does Brieze need right now?"

Sarah lowered her head, deep in thought. "I'm not sure..."

Oliver placed the invitation down and drank a little of the tea. "We need a king who dares to look within his borders to create change. We can clean out the dredges of society, establish a stronger technological foothold, and usher in prosperous peace. This can be a time for economic and intellectual growth."

Oliver stretched his waist lazily. "This would have been my agenda as Royal Consort, but the future is painfully unpredictable. We don't know if the future king will adhere to these ideals, nor do we know if he will choose me to stand by his side."

Sarah shook. "Choose you? But you have been engaged for so many years!"

"We have been incompatible for those long years—we both are aware of it," Oliver said with a slight shrug.

"Are there no mutual affections?"

Oliver laughed. "Wouldn't that be ideal? I admit I tried to love him, but all that remains is feeble tolerance and disdain.  After ten years, I can find nothing about him that I appreciate. He is a poor lover, a terrible friend, and a hopeless leader."

Sarah was staring intently at him, shocked by his admissions of his true thoughts about the Prince. She believed that he was enamored. 

"The future Crown Prince should have been amongst his people as he grew up. He should have been learning what it was like to beg in the streets, to toil in the fields, and fight with the mercenaries. When our relationship with the other three kingdoms is so stable, he should continue to nurture those bonds and then learn how to defend this kingdom internally."

Oliver shook his head sadly. "The once hidden sins of the land have now festered under the lack of vigilance of the current Belelots. There are illegal drugs and slave trade within the heart of the capital. Aristocrats persecute the poor and abuse their inflated titles while Ravagers are ransacking villages. In these ten years, the Prince has shown me what kind of leader he is: apathetic."

"Oliver... these words..." She looked around cautiously, making sure no one heard his words.

Oliver could easily be imprisoned if someone heard him. However, Sarah was one of his few friends in his previous lifetime, and he felt comfortable enough to share this.

He never had the opportunity to contemplate many happenings in his past life.  He had found that his thoughts were stimulated by discussing these dark things with Sarah. 

The Belelots had always been cautious of the Kardoses because of the strength they wielded. Many generations back, the Kardos family could have built their own kingdom, splitting the continent into five nations. However, the Kardoses were warriors, not rulers. Therefore they remained independent and settled into Wynter, a large fief that sat on the borders of Bierze, Rucrea, and Osmela. 

Because of their prestige, they were respected as knights who protected the continent. The kingdoms honored them by bestowing them with the title Guardian of the Realms. Thus the greatest Kardos warrior would be given two swords made of dragon bone and bear the heavy title. 

However, the Kardos family faced a disaster centuries ago. They had to call upon a life-saving favor from the other kingdoms, but only the Belelots heeded their call. 

Thus the cursed treaty was drafted, and the Kardos family fell into the Belelot's hands. Then, this treat was hidden away within the vaults of Bierze. 

The only person aware of its contents was Guardian Ciciel Kardos, who died in battle. Shortly after his death, those carrying the Kardos' blood started to fall. In the year of the treaty, the Kardos family line was nearly extinguished, and their Guardian dragon blades disappeared. 

Too much was lost. They did not have their family leader and were ignorant of the treaty's contents, so the Kardos family became shackled to Bierze. Their bloodline was scattered for generations; therefore, they could not stand up to the Belelots. Instead, they endured as they swore allegiance to Bierze and accepted a lowly ducal title. Their consolation was that they could continue passing down the Guardian of the Realms title.

However, their prestige and strength were not something the Belelots could easily rule over. Although King Gideon was understanding and sympathetic to Oliver's family, most of the Belelots feared the power of the Kardoses. 

He never understood the Belelots' motivation to initiate this engagement in the first place. Naming Oliver the Royal Consort put Piers at a terrible disadvantage. A Kardos who was second to only the King could easily usurp the throne.    

Oliver bit the tip of his thumb in contemplation.

Yet the current King forced this risky engagement and ignored all of Piers' requests to annul it. 

The only benefit Piers would have obtained with the engagement would be the guarantee of being named Crown Prince when he came to age. But there was no threat to the Prince's position. He was the only child, and King Gideon had died with no known heirs.

Piers did not need to tie himself to the Kardos name, and he didn't know about the Anima Wish shard in their possession at this time.  

The only conclusion that Oliver could come up with was that there was a possible threat to Piers' claim to the throne. The King needed to establish a powerful backer for Piers, so he tied him to the Kardos name. Once Piers was named Crown Prince, his claim would be safe. 

Oliver suddenly paled and stood up suddenly in shock.

No known heirs.

Did King Gideon have a child?

Didn't Piers mention something along those lines while he was locked up? He feared Oliver could have found 'that bastard' and sat him on the throne.

"He's not the only heir?" He whispered his speculation. "Someone with a stronger claim to the throne is out there."

Sarah stood up with him and grabbed his shirt. "What are you saying?!" She looked around and narrowed her eyes at Oliver.

He knew he was treading on treasonous grounds. This was the kind of talk that could implicate his family. Did the Prince know about this?

"Once Piers is named Crown Prince, then I become expendable. He will end our engagement with his coming-of-age ceremony." He said quietly as he sat back down with a heavy breath. 

They both stilled when they heard heavy footsteps out in the hall. The library doors creaked open, and Oliver quickly stood up. 

"Father. Uncle." He greeted them with respect. 

The two men came in, and Sarah, understanding propriety, bowed before she left the room.

"We came to see how you were doing with this invitation," Antony said gently. They both sat down and gave Oliver a concerned look.

Aaron's jaw twitched, the only indicator of his overwhelming anger. "Do you still want to marry the Prince?"

Oliver snapped his head up in shock. "What?"

"You don't seem as interested in him as before, and his behaviors are unworthy of you," Aaron explained his thoughts.

"My engagement was the King's orders." Oliver's voice was nearly a whisper, scared that anything louder would reveal that this was a dream.

Was his father truly proposing this? Did his father, the many he constantly disappointed in his previous life, actually think so highly of him?

Aaron scoffed lightly. "I care little about the King's orders, especially when they impact my family. So, answer me honestly. Do you want to marry the Prince?"

"No. I do not wish to marry him," Oliver said, his eyes downcast. He suddenly felt meek in front of these two men he had held in his heart for so long.

"I have never approved of Piers, so I never approved of your engagement. However, you seemed happy, so I did not voice my opinions and accepted it. But now that things have changed, can I know your reasons why you changed your mind? Has he harmed you in any way?"

Oliver suppressed his rippling emotions. 

"He is not a good man," Oliver finally mustered out. "I fear I will murder him before our wedding night is over."

"If you kill him on your wedding night, you will become King. Is that what you really want?" Antony asked.

"Cursed hells, no. I only say this because I would rather see him in a grave than in my bed" Oliver nearly laughed but then paled when he realized how crass his words were.

Antony and Aaron exchanged a look, but they did not seem alarmed by his treasonous words. Antony leaned forward; his words were cautious. "Do you think he is worthy to rule?" 

Oliver scoffed lightly. "No."

Antony checked his surroundings once more. After their many nights of training together, he had built a strong bond with Oliver and trusted him. His next question proved how deep his trust was. "What if you had a choice in the next King?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow. Their words and actions hinted that his conjectures were accurate.

A smile bloomed on Oliver's lips. "So there is another heir."