❝He wasn't sure who had left in the end; they were both gone in her absence.❞

 Recap: Lester recounts his experience leaving Dahlia in the morning, throwing himself into work and the depression that hits him in the process. He throws himself into mindless work. Once finished, he comes home to an empty wing and despaired, draws a light cut across his skin to express his emotions, knowing that words fail in describing his state. The pain is the only thing he recognizes as an emotion from the day.

"Lester Finlay Marren Raure!" An extremely sharp tongue was the only warning he got before his office door was flung open dramatically, announcing the entrance of his sister. "If you don't stop working on paperwork right now, I'm kicking you out of this castle!"

Lester looked up from his work blearily, wincing at the sudden head rush that he received. Was this really necessary? He set his pencil down, with the full intent to be the one kicking his sibling out.

Cayce caught on quickly, eyes narrowing before a word could escape his mouth. "I'm the queen; I can fire you."

"Sis—"

"No, don't Sis me, you little brat. Get up, eat some food, drink some water, and get out of the office or I'm writing 'Death by paperwork' on your gravestone. Honest to the Goddess."

Ugh.

The only reason that Lester got up from his chair was because his little sister looked like she was about to burn his office to the ground. He made his way over to her and threw an arm over her shoulder, to which she scowled. "C'mon, just let me finish this last bit up and I'll be done for the day."

Cayce crossed her arms over her chest, shaking off his arm. She gave him the most sarcastic smile possible, her voice so sickly sweet that it nearly dripped honey. "You're officially banned from the office for the next half a week."

"Cayce!" Lester exclaimed. His expression dropped from playfully fatigued to ticked-off. She couldn't possibly be serious.

"Or you're fired," she emphasized, punching him in the shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise. "I mean that. Get moving, Leslie."

Cayce turned on her heel and left before he was able to protest. Lester ran his fingers through his hair. He knew that he'd been spending a bit more time in the office to distract himself lately but come on. It wasn't that bad, right? It wasn't like he was hurting anyone.

A knock sounded on his open door, and his hackles raised again. Lester glanced up, ready to yell at his sister that he was going, before stopping short.

Evanna Keegan raised an eyebrow, unimpressed as she leaned against the door. "That's probably the highlight of my day. Thanks for the entertainment."

"Anytime," Lester scoffed, but he didn't have it within himself to yell at her to go away. She reminded him a little bit too much of her sister, which left her (unfortunately) in one of his soft spots. He tugged a hand through his hair at the thought.

Eva took that as an invitation to come in, walking over and hopping up onto his desk. Her dark brown hair curled around the frame of her face with attitude, the silver blue color he was so familiar with flitting around the room. "It's a mess in here."

Lester glanced around self-consciously, groaning inwardly when he realized she was right. "I haven't really had time to clean, sorry about that."

Inadvertently, his eyes drew to the corner where Dahlia had liked to sit and read sometimes while he worked. It as all too easy to conjure up the image of her there again, leaning against the cabinet behind her deep in thought. His chest tightened, and he looked away.

"What brings you here?" he asked, eager to be left alone. "Besides my sister, of course."

It was common knowledge around the castle that Cayce and Eva had something going on between them, but their relationship was still very much unspecified. The public had yet to catch on, thankfully.

Eva's already rosy cheeks flushed as she dodged the question with a glint in her eye. "Someone needs to drag you out of your little bubble over here. Cayce is incredibly demanding sometimes, but she's got the right idea. You need to stop working and take care of yourself. It's all you've done since..."

"I know," Lester said quickly, before the implication could hover in the air between them. "Even so, I need the distraction."

"Les—" Eva started, but he cut her off.

"Everything reminds me of her," he said quietly, pressing his lips together.

Everything. His words rang true in the air between them, hanging there like an old ghost.

Eva paused at that, her gaze softening. "I know. And I know it's hard. It's just that whether or not you can see it, you're blindly destroying yourself instead of coping. When's the last time you had a full night's rest? When's the last time you ate? Took a break?"

Longer than you know. Lester plastered a smile to his face. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"Sometimes I think – I'm sorry – she had the right idea. When's the last time you had a break? A real one. Honestly, Lester. You look like you're going to go haunt someone at night."

Lester tried his best not to react to her mention. "Never," he confessed, "not since I started. But I just stepped down from being King. The kingdom needs me."

Eva shook her head, swinging her legs. "No offense – do the Royal Territories need you? I mean, doing work at the rate you're doing it, it's got to be only mildly useable. You're worth more alive than dead, and nobody needs you working in this state."

Lester didn't respond, and she sighed.

"People die from overwork, you know. You're not superhuman. We're all up in your business right now because we care."

"What do you want me to do then?"

"Take a break," Eva said, hopping down from his desk and sending him a smile as she made her way out. "It's the least you can do for yourself. We want you to be happy and healthy, not haggard. Just think it over. If you need, go someplace for a while."

Lester's gaze went to Dahlia's corner as he turned the thought over in his head. When he realized what he was doing, something lodged in his throat as it all came crushing down on him again.

Go someplace, Eva had said. He looked up at the ceiling so that his tears wouldn't fall as the door slammed shut.

⋄

does it strike you as surprising that he's so distraught?

any thoughts and theories so far? i have a feeling this story is going to be a bit faster paced than the book before it.