Xion tugged at the hem of his new brown coat, marveling at how the fine fabric trapped warmth against his skin without the stifling weight most winter garnts carried.
It felt like wearing a piece of the sky. Soft and breathable, yet utterly impervious to the chill that seeped through the grand halls of the castle.
He was currently nestled inside a room far from the one he had been resting in.
It had taken him an embarrassingly long ti to arrive here and just as long to console Noxian, who had imdiately latched onto him the mont he entered.
The only teenager in the room was sprawled dramatically across the couch now, his head pillowed on Xion’s lap like an overgrown feline creature refusing to be dislodged.
Serena rely chuckled from her perch at the windowsill, arms folded, her red hair glittering under the afternoon sun.
The "purple-haired brat," as she liked to call Noxian, seed utterly unbothered by her teasing, or the pointed stare of the archduke himself, seated directly across from them.
Ray stood silently near the door while Allen fumbled eagerly with the new books Xion had gifted him.
The way his entire fra vibrated with excitent made Ray roll his eyes. What was so interesting about books? The knight commander found it hard to understand.
eting them again felt nice, Xion mused with a soft smile, absentmindedly running his fingers through Noxian’s ssy curls.
The boy let out a sigh of contentnt under the touch, further lting into his lap, completely ignoring the imposing gaze pointed at him.
"So," Serena spoke, calm and cool as the snow drifting outside the window. "The Order has rats nesting in old ruins."
Xion was pulled from his reverie. "Rats?"
"A group is living in the abandoned churches," she clarified for Xion, though most of her words were directed at the archduke. "And not just any religious vagrants. They’re ordered to stay with the Priestess."
The title made the entire room fall silent. After all, the ’Priestess’ label had a heavy unspoken history.
Once, "Priestess" had been Serena’s title before she had been exiled from the ’Order of Thirteen.’
Looking at her now, calm, composed, her eyes sharp and utterly devoid of lingering regret, it was clear she had long since severed any ties to that life.
"They’re gathering strength," Serena continued, almost idly inspecting her red-painted nails. "And I have little doubt they’re after you, Xion."
"Why though?" Xion asked in an almost tired voice. He really didn’t like whatever shenanigans these church-addicts were pulling.
His hand continued to move gently in Noxian’s hair.
"You’re not exactly... subtle," Ray remarked from his post near the door, the faintest flicker of a smile betraying his amusent.
Xion flushed slightly at that. It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to remain subtle and invisible. But it just never worked as he had intended it to.
Instead of becoming his shield, it had only increased the number of fake healers pretending to be him and looting the poor victims.
Hence, in the end, he could only let go of the title ’Ugly-capped Healer.’ Although he’d never liked it in the first place, it still made him irritable to lose his disguise.
Shaking off the old mories, Xion focused on the problem at hand, "Why? Are they after the cure? And why bring the Priestess into this?"
Even if Xion wasn’t a hundred percent sure if the person they were talking to was the sa as he assud, he still had a lingering fear of being kidnapped by that golden lady.
"Because," Darius spoke in a low, rumbling drawl, "the Priestess holds relics, knowledge, and artifacts that should have been sealed away."
Xion frowned, his mind already racing ahead to possibilities. If they were collecting relics tied to ancient power... maybe it’s related to Sakura i?
But then again, not everything ancient was tied under her na. There were far too many ssy people in the history of Eldoria who had been trying to ss with the natural course of humans.
That reminded Xion of those twisted scientists in the movies who always unleashed disaster in the world. Zombies and dinosaurs were the two major examples.
And this world already had those Zombies. What else did they want? An apocalypse?
Xion snorted at the thought. "Let’s find the Caverns of Haldris first."
Just as he said it, he caught Darius smirking teasingly at him.
"No need to find them," the archduke rested his chin against his knuckle, and with a lazy voice, he said, "You just have to fulfill your side of the deal."
"What deal?" Noxian finally opened his eyes, staring at his brother, whose face had started to turn slightly red. Was it cold, or...?
He tilted his head to stare at the archduke.
Like a kid who had infinite confidence in his parents, Noxian wasn’t afraid to glare at Darius when Xion was with him.
Anyway, he was sure the archduke would do nothing in front of Xion. As for later, all he had to do was run away before he got caught.
Simple enough, Noxian snorted and turned back to stare at his brother questioningly.
"Ah, that..." Xion let out a nervous laugh, stumbling over his words.
No matter how he looked at it, telling them he was going on a date with the King of the North while soone was dying just sounded wrong. Even more so when there were many people waiting for his answer.
In his desperation, he shot a pleading look to the only person who could handle it.
Darius watched those wide blue eyes staring at him, silently begging him for help.
Fuck, Darius thought. Wouldn’t he look utterly gorgeous? Sprawled on my bed, pinned under with the sa pleading look in his eyes?
He really wanted to grab that brat by his neck and throw him away from his sweetheart. Xion would look prettier without anyone lounging on his lap.
"Xion needs to check a place with ," Darius replied smoothly, looking dangerously entertained by his own sweet suffering. "It’s very important for the northern kingdom."
It was really important to him, the ruler, so of course, it was equally important for the entire North as well.
Xion narrowed his eyes at the archduke. What was speaking nonsense without batting an eye? This was!
He was almost impressed by the bullshit Darius was spouting.
"And besides," Darius added, tilting his head ever so slightly, "Don’t you want to see those people in the church?"
Xion faltered. He was interested in them for various reasons. One was the priestess, or as so preferred to call her, the Saintess. He wanted to see if she was his kidnapper.
Second was the mutation of the plant. After he explained everything to Darius, he learned that those people ca around a very particular ti, and after a few weeks, the plague started to spread.
Xion, with a light sigh, shot the archduke a look, and funnily, Darius understood it as ’Don’t ss around.’
So, the Archduke really didn’t ss around.
"I’ll go when you’re ready," Xion said while tapping Noxian’s forehead. Amidst such a serious topic, the boy was fast asleep.
It made Xion lt into a gentle smile. Even though no one said anything, he was well aware of just how worried Noxian must have been.
Xion’s musings were interrupted when Darius spoke. "Let’s get ready then." In a good mood, he snapped his fingers, summoning the blanket from the nearby table.
Xion caught the soft blanket midair, blinking in surprise.
There was an almost faint smile on Darius’ face, a bare curl of his lips, but Xion sohow felt the tenderness emanating from him.
He didn’t expect the cold Darius to change so much. He had even started to care about the kids now.
It ward sothing deep in Xion’s chest as he carefully tucked the blanket around Noxian.
All the while, he was unaware of the storm swirling in the recesses of Darius’ mind.
Every innocent smile Xion threw at him, every little tilt of his head, every ti he blinked those wide blue eyes without a shred of understanding of what he did to Darius... It was awakening sothing primal in the Archduke’s entire being.
He really just wanted to reach out, fist a hand in that stupid brown coat, and drag Xion against him. Away from Noxian, from Serena, from everyone.
It was such a good ti when Xion was obediently waiting in his room.
Just to make Xion feel at ease, he didn’t allow his own thoughts to consu him. Or at least he had been trying to keep them under control.
He was planning to do that for as long as Xion needed him to be.
When Xion finally finished fussing over Noxian, Darius stepped forward, extending his hand. "Let’s go."
He watched, almost breathless, as Xion shyly placed his smaller hand into his palm and closed his fingers around it without a second’s hesitation.
’Mine’, the thought roared wildly in Darius’ blood and he had no intention of letting go anyti soon.
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