"Empress. Empress."

My eyes fluttered open and I squinted for a moment before rubbing my eyes. It took me a small moment to realize that Remus was standing on the side of my bed. His gray hair was damp and his black-red eyes were focused on me. Even in the bright light of morning, with my mind frazzled from sleep, and my senses dulled due to waking up so abruptly, I could tell that something was off about him.

"Remus?"

His eyes were wilder than usual and his fingers were twitching.

"Where's Meilin?" I mumbled as I sat up and rubbed at my eyes. I kept an eye on him as I pulled my long hair back. The bed was empty save for me, and the room was empty as well, save for the both of us. Last I remembered, Meilin had told Remus that we were never supposed to be alone together.

Remus rubbed at his neck, his eyes frantically going from me to the door. "I . . . I'm not supposed to . . . I can't find Thera or Nikator or Minos or—" He inhaled sharply and frowned, tugging at the ends of his hair. "I can feel it. It's so strong and it . . . it scares me. I don't want to feel . . . I don't want to—"

"Remus, what's wrong?" I whispered, pushing the blanket off of me and sitting on the edge of the bed. I patted down the spot next to me and he reluctantly sat down. His shoulders were taut and he was having trouble breathing, his blackened eyes wide. I patted his back, not sure what he was trying to tell me.

He rubbed his forehead. "I don't want to feel it. I don't want to."

"Remus, what's wrong? I don't understand what you mean by 'it'. What is 'it'?"

He waved his hands around. "The feelings of . . . bad things."

"Bad things? Like premonitions?"

"No," he said quietly. "I can feel when people are bad."

"What do you—"

"I don't want to feel it," he mumbled. Darkness swirled around his hand and slowly, his claws were forming around his fingers. I gasped when I saw the transformation, watching as the blackened nails formed hook like shapes and the black markings swirled around his wrist. "It's so strong but Master said I can't hurt anyone so I have to be alone. I don't want to be alone and I can't find Thera or anyone."

"Remus—"

"You feel so calm and nice, Empress. I don't think that I should be with you but you actually feel like you care." He dug his claws into his forearm and hissed in pain, his eyes widening a fraction of an inch before his expression was contorted with pain. Still, he cradled his arm to his chest and kept his claws hooked inside, blood dripping around the wound.

I let out a choked sound and reached forward, grabbing his wrist and trying to pull his arm, my voice shrill. "Remus, what are you doing?!" I pulled at him but he was too strong and he kept his claws stuck in his arm. "Stop that, stop hurting yourself!"

He curled his fingers and winced, breathing in heavily. "I can't. If I stop, I might hurt someone and Master said I can't. It's hard to stop feeling . . . feeling like this, feeling it, so I have to stop it. Pain is the only . . . only thing that—"

My fingers dug into his biceps as I anxiously tried to pry his arm away. "Stop this, Remus, this isn't helping—"

"I don't want to," he whispered. "I can't—"

"Yes, you can. Don't hurt yourself like this. Please." I couldn't understand his reasoning for what he was doing, but I knew that there was a better way to solve this problem than stabbing himself. Inflicting pain on oneself was an unnecessary distraction. "Think about me and Atreus and Minos and Meilin, and every one of the Peccata. Focus on the love that people have for you. Focus on the positive things you feel."

"That's not how it works—"

"Remus, Nikator once said that Peccata is family. Think of your family and know that they believe in you and that they love you."

"We are family," he muttered, his eyelids fluttering for a moment.

"Please, Remus—"

"No," he said strongly, digging his fingers deeper into his arm, his eyes becoming more wild. "Pain is the only distraction when Vita, and Nikator and Atreus, and—" His brows came together and he breathed in sharply. "When they're not with me, I can't control it. I'll hurt people if I don't . . . "

"Remus, please," I begged.

"Master says I can't kill everyone and Thera said I shouldn't hurt people," he whispered.

"Meilin wouldn't want you to do this!"

"Master?"

"Yes, Meilin wouldn't want this," I said, my eyes widening at the blood that was running down his arm and staining the sheets. "He wouldn't want you to hurt yourself like this. Remus, I'm begging you, stop."

He shook his head. "Master doesn't care about me anymore." His voice shook and he stared down at the ground.

"Remus, that's not true. Meilin loves you—"

Tears welled up in his eyes and although his red and black eyes were terrifying to look at and abnormal to look at, his eyes saddened me. "I don't know about that."

I tugged at his arm once more. "Remus, please stop hurting yourself. I care for you and I know Meilin cares for you. If you just stop, we can go talk to him right now."

"Talk to Master?"

"Yes."

"B-But he doesn't have time—"

"He'll make time."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Remus," I said softly.

He eased his fingers and slowly retracted them from his forearm. Blood dripped form the tips of his claws and it spattered on his clothes and the bed, staining the sheets with red. He stared down at the pooling blood on his arm and the circular gashes his claws had made. I inhaled shakily as I looked at his gnashed arm.

"Remus, you shouldn't do that," I whispered as I stood from the bed. I quickly made my way to the door of the bedroom, which was wide open, and stopped at the doorway. "Stay right there. I'll bring bandages and then we'll go to Meilin."

He was blankly staring at his arm at this point.

I rushed over to the other room and held the door to the hallway open, stepping outside and grabbing the first servant I could see. "Can you please bring me bandages and a salve?"

When I came back to the bedroom, Remus was still seated where I had left him. I brought the bottle of alcohol the maid had given me and the bandages towards him. Placing the bandages on the side table, I sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Remus, we have to clean the wound. Can you pull your sleeve up?"

He obliged, yanking the sleeve of his shirt and revealing his pale arm. Black markings swirled around his arm in intricate designs, contrasting with his milky white skin. The blood stained on his fingers also stood out against the black and white lining his arm. Carefully, I poured the alcohol onto one of the rags I had been given. Hovering over the wound, I shot him a careful look before bringing it down on his forearm.

He yanked his arm back and hissed in pain, his red eyes flashing with alarm.

"It'll hurt," I said apologetically as I brought the rag back to his arm to clean the wound.

He shut his eyes and allowed me to clean it, his entire body rigid and his breathing uneven. After cleansing the wound, I applied the thick salve onto his skin in thin layers. My fingers felt hot against his cool skin.

"Don't do that again," I said with a sigh. "I don't know what was happening with you, but don't hurt yourself like that."

"It clings onto so many people here," he said so softly that I had to lean forward, straining to hear his words. "Hatred and darkness and ill intent. It clings onto them like shadows and I can feel it eating away at them. Sometimes I can feel where it is directed."

I stared at him for the longest moment. "And what do you feel with me?"

"I don't sense hatred."

"And . . . " I licked my lips. "What about Meilin?"

He paused for a moment. "He is mostly . . . warm. I can feel the darkness in his heart but it is buried deep within, as if it is old. His is hard and strong, but warm as well."

"Warmth, huh?" I smiled. "That makes me happy to think that Meilin is warm."

"But his hatred is strong," he said softly, breathing out deeply. "Dark and scary and old."

I shivered at his words.

"Can we go see Master now?"

I nodded.

Remus's white shirt had splotches of blood and I was still dressed in my sleeping dress, but seeing as how Remus was emotionally unstable at this point, I couldn't change or waste time. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him or why he would think that Meilin hated him, but I knew that everything would be cleared up when we talked to Meilin.

I led Remus out of Meilin's chambers and we started walking down the hall, servants passing us by and staring at Remus with startled expressions. Remus stared blankly around him, his darkened eyes flickering from person to person.

"Excuse me," I asked one of the soldiers walking by. "Do you know where His Majesty is?"

The soldier straightened up and bowed in front of me, his eyes downcast. "His Majesty is having a meeting right now with General Fang."

"What room?"

"The War Council room."

"Can you take us there?"

"Of course."

The soldier led us throughout the palace, his head held high while he tried with all his might to not make eye contact with Remus. Remus, meanwhile, was tugging at the ends of his hair, his eyes darting around everywhere we went.

The soldier suddenly stopped and motioned towards one of the doors, where two other soldiers were situated around. "His Majesty is in there."

"Empress," the two soldiers at the doorway said, bowing down.

"Hello," I said. "Can you please let us in? I need to speak with the emperor."

The two soldiers exchanged glances. "U-Um, well, His Majesty and General—"

Remus stepped forward. "We need to talk to him." Although his voice was emotionless, the two soldiers inhaled sharply and inched back, their eyes wide as they stared at him.

Without further ado, one of the soldiers nodded vigorously. "O-Of course."

Remus pushed the door to the room open and we both slipped in. Inside, Fang was pointing at a map that was resting on the middle of the desk. Bohai was sitting on one of the seats and Minos was standing a few feet away, his expression bored. Meilin, meanwhile, was sitting on one of the seats, his expression as dark as ever.

Everyone turned their attention to us when we entered the room.

"Lady Daiyu?" Bohai said in surprise, looking between me and Remus. His gaze trailed down to the splatters on Remus's shirt and then to the bandages on his arm. "What happened?"

"I didn't hurt anyone," Remus blurted out.

Meilin looked at the both of us and before I could say anything, he frowned. "Remus, didn't I tell you not to be alone with Daiyu?"

Remus's shoulders dropped and he nodded slowly. "I-I know, but—"

"I don't want you to accidently hurt her," Meilin said, his voice cold. "Remus, you have a tendency to—"

"I'm sorry," he said. "B-But I didn't hurt her—"

"I know you didn't, but I still don't—"

"Remus," Minos said suddenly, "we talked about this—"

"But you weren't there," Remus said, his voice shaking. "I woke up alone and I didn't know what—"

Meilin sighed and rubbed the side of his face. I could already tell that he was irritated, his eyes dark and his expression barely controlled. He was trying really hard not to let his rage get the better of him, but I could tell that he was ticked off and that it would only take a little bit more for him to explode. It seemed as if there was something else that was bothering him, and that this Remus issue was adding onto his annoyance.

"Meilin," I suddenly interjected before he could say anything that might upset Remus. "Remus and I wanted to come here and talk to you."

Minos ran a hand through his black hair and stepped forward. "Don't worry, Empress, I'll take Remus back to his room. We're busy right now—"

"No, we have something important to talk about," I said, holding my ground.

Bohai and Fang exchanged glances with each other, while Meilin watched us silently.

Remus rubbed the back of his head, his expression lost. "Empress, I think I'll just go with Minos. I don't want to make Master mad."

His expression broke my heart. He was like a little kid that wanted attention from his parent. For some reason, it suddenly struck me that the reason Remus might've thought that Meilin didn't care for him was because Meilin wasn't paying attention to him anymore. He was busy and it was only natural that he had his attention divided, so what if Remus was lonely and sad that his father-figure was 'ignoring' him?

"Meilin," I said suddenly, grabbing onto Remus's arm. "Remus thinks that you hate him."

Meilin's eyes widened and the rest of the room silenced, Bohai, Fang, and Minos all looking surprised. Remus, meanwhile, stared at the ground. After a stunned moment of silence, Meilin spoke. "Remus, why would you think that?"

He sniffled. "Because you don't seem to care anymore and you don't talk to me."

"Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I don't care for you." He raised his chin and met Remus's gaze. "Remus, I could never hate you, no matter what you do. Even if you became the most vicious and crazy person in this world, I would never hate you."

Remus bit his bottom lip.

"You can feel the emotions and energies around people, so just feel what's in my heart." Meilin touched his heart and his words were calm and soothing. "Tell me what you feel. Do you sense hatred? Annoyance?"

Tears welled up in Remus's eyes.

"You all are the more important part of my life," Meilin continued uncharacteristically. "Don't ever think that I don't love you all."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, rubbing at his face.

"Come on, don't cry." Bohai waved his hand around and shook his head. "You can't always be a cry-baby, Remus. Come on, wipe those tears away."

Minos broke out into a smile and engulfed Remus in a hug. "Remus, you big cry baby, don't cry anymore." He patted his back. "Why would you ever think that Master doesn't love you?"

"He doesn't tuck me in bed anymore," he sulked, hugging back.

"You're kidding, right?" Bohai said, barely able to hold in his laughter.

Fang, looking as serious as ever, spoke. "I can tuck you in if you want."

Meilin laughed out loud at that, but then flinched and held onto his abdomen, where he was stabbed. Bohai, meanwhile, couldn't stop laughing at that point.

"I'm serious."

"Sure you are," Bohai breathed. "You always are."

Minos clapped Remus's back. "I can tuck you in too, and maybe even Atreus." He bit his bottom lip and continued while laughing, "Maybe even Nik can do it."

"Nikator?" Bohai laughed even harder. "I'd love to see the day where Atreus and Nikator tuck anyone into bed."

When the laughing subsided, Meilin motioned for Remus to sit next to him. "I didn't think you were such a little kid, Remus. Do you still want me to treat you like when you were a child?"

Remus shrugged. "Just sometimes."

When Meilin smiled at him, my chest ached and I couldn't believe that he could make such a genuine expression. Slowly, little by little, I felt my heart easing up to the terrifying Dragon.