Time in Edrath did not pass like the gentle ticking of a clock.
It moved like the grinding of heavy stone wheels—slow, unyielding, and heavy with the weight of fifteen long years awaiting them.
While Kagen measured his separation in mere months beneath the warm sun of Earth, Duke Lucien Arden counted every passing season in dark ink across the Dukedom ledgers.
As a Guardian of the Throne, Lucien assumed full control over the Empire's internal stability. He wore no crown, nor did he sit upon the Golden Throne.
By day, he quelled border skirmishes with the Crimson Vanguard, he managed court petitions alongside the Emperor, Prince Adrian and Thoris, and suppressed the rising tides of aristocratic corruption.
Then by night in every two days, he sat in the cold silence of the Arden Estate, fighting the dark whispers of Jerga inside his mind.
["Fifteen years, my grand knight,"]
Jerga would mock as the seasons turned.
["Your hair grows longer, your scars grow deeper, and your prince remains a ghost across the stars. Are you certain he hasn't forgotten you?"]
'He has not, it is merely months that side isn't?' Lucien answered every time, his thumb tracing the worn edge of Cassian's original letter.
'And I will be waiting for him.'
Lucien spoke softly as he coddled his miracle twin daughters—named Elise and Elysia—after their delicate surgical extraction from Cassian's suspended frame.
Ruby had raised them alongside Tristan, her own three-year-old son fathered by Lucien during those two dark nights they spent together two years ago under Jerga's influence.
Ruby believed holding the children gave her leverage over Lucien to persuade him to raise their family together. But she was wrong.
Lucien did not even spare her any attention even more.
Instead he put all of his attention to his two small angels, who adorably resembled every part of him and Cassian all at once.
"Ever since you came back, you haven't even held my child into your arms. I bore you a son, one that would carry on your family name."
Ruby hissed softly but Lucien remained focused on his two daughters...amused by their movements and babbling.
Just then he finally spoke up, his focus only set on them.
"Knowing the nature I copulated with you to conceive that boy, I can't bring myself to even look at him. I fear that he carries the impurities I harboured those nights I spent with you."
["They carry your DNA though?"]
'Still, who knows what kind of darkness you poured inside of her during that time?... In fact should I just execute him while he's still young?'
["You cold bastard!, even to your own child?...if that Kagen heard of this he would never forgive you."]
Lucien thought for a moment and then sighed.
'That is true....I had barely made amends with him on Earth, I can't have him hate me the moment he comes back home. Fine I will let the child live, but keeping distance would be proper especially when I still carry your darkness inside of me, what if a friction of resonance awakens whatever is inside of him?'
["Are you seriously going to neglect your child because of assumptions that you made up in your mind?, crazy bastard isn't this because you feel guilty that you impregnated her while Cassian was gone?"]
'Shut up!...that was all your fault!'
["Whatever the truth may be...he is still you seed."]
Lucien looked at the young boy on Ruby's arms for a moment, his silver hair that resembled his own and his blue eyes were unmistakable. Indeed that was truly his very own seed. His son.
Lucien grit his teeth looking away once again. Shaking his head.
"In the end, I can't even look at him."
Those words tore Ruby to pieces. Even with the children. Cassian's children took precedence over her own, the official heir of Arden just like Cassian did over her, the official wife of Arden.
It angered her truly.
"I don't know what you were really thinking by becoming their caregiver, Lady Ruby," Lucien replied, his deep voice smooth and devoid of heat.
"But knowing that you are capable of heartless schemes, I have doubled the royal guard surrounding this estate and maid servants. Every meal served to them will be tested. Every tutor hired is vetted by Butler Elias, he will come stay with us to serve my daughters while the Crown Prince remains suspended and every copper piece allocated for their care comes directly from the Arden and the royal treasury."
Ruby's eyes flashed with anger as she glared down at him.
"You treat me and your son like a prisoner in our own home!?"
"I treat you like a woman who forged a letter to break a prince's heart," Lucien said coldly, stepping closer until his shadow completely swallowed her.
"I always told you didn't I?, staying with me will always hurt you in the end because my heart solely belongs to him."
"Then while you shower your daughters with care and luxury, just what about Tristan?, he is your son as well so what will you do for him?"
"You will continue raising him as you were these past three years. And since the children already regard you as their guardian you will raise them properly but under watchful eyes of the royal guard. You will teach them respect. But the moment you attempt to use my daughters for your own selfish reasons, I will tear you to pieces and take Tristan's head along with yours."
Ruby gasped, truly surprised.
"His–...his head?...your own son?"
"Do you think blood ties can stop me from getting blood on my hands? If you do then you better think again."
Ruby looked at him with surprise and her voice suddenly caught on her throat.
So these were his true colours after all?
She always thought that the Holy Knight was a kind perfect image of god's chosen child but that was all a facade. The Holy Knight's image was merely a mask worn to deceive the masses and hide his true darkness and wickedness from the world.
The thought of it all just made her sick.
"Do not test my patience, Ruby. I have ten more years of it to burn."
From that day onward, Ruby obeyed.
Not because she had accepted Lucien's decision, but because she understood the threat behind his words.
For Tristan's sake, she remained.
And despite Ruby's presence, Lucien made certain that Elise and Elysia knew exactly who they were.
More importantly, he made certain they knew who was coming back for them.
Every week, Lucien visited the nursery grounds.
At first, his visits were nothing more than inspections.
He checked their food.
Their lessons.
Their tutors.
Their health.
But slowly, those inspections became something else.
They became cherished rituals he enjoyed at every passing day.
He would sit with them beneath the trees.
Read stories to them.
Answer their endless questions.
Teach them about the Empire.
Tell them about the Crimson Vanguard.
And, most importantly, tell them about their other father. As young as they were, Lucien thought it was only better to teach them everything while it was still early.
*****
A few weeks later.
The massive gates of the Arden estate swung open with a heavy groan, letting the horse-drawn carriage roll into the courtyard.
The Western sky was dark with thick, grey rain clouds and heavy wind swept across the stone grounds, bringing the sharp scent of the pine forest surrounding the palace.
Lucien stood at the top of the grand marble staircase, his dark cloak snapping in the cold breeze. His silver hair blew wild around his shoulders as he watched the carriage come to a complete stop across the entrance.
Suddenly, the door clicked open.
And Sora stepped out first, wearing a thick fur coat over his delicate green robes. His face was ghostly pale, his dark circles prominent under his eyes, and his hands trembled slightly as he leaned against the wooden carriage frame to steady his weak legs.
Beside him, the four-year-old Aurelian hopped down onto the stone pavement. The boy held a small leather leash attached to a young green wyvern—a scaled beast no bigger than a large hound, its golden eyes darting around the courtyard with sharp curiosity.
"Hold its leash tight, young master," Augustus murmured nervously as he watched the Dukedom's servants backing away several paces from the creature.
"He does not bite unless I tell him to," Aurelian said flatly, his voice carrying the calm authority as he looked around the courtyard.
Lucien walked down the stairs, his heavy leather boots echoing against the wet stone. Then he stopped right in front of Sora, looking down at the elf's fragile, fading form.
"Took you long enough to respond to my invitation Sora, for a moment there I was starting to believe that you didn't want my help at all."
"Haa Sir Arden please spare me the lecture, the elven Kingdom is chaotic and I couldn't just leave because I wanted to I had to fix a few things first."
Lucien sighed leaving him be and then he looked down at him with a creased brow.
"You look worse than you did at the palace,"
Lucien noted, his voice flat and direct. "Did you faint on the way here?"
Sora let out a soft, breathy laugh, pulling his coat tighter around his shoulders.
"I managed to stay awake... barely. The roads to the West are far rougher than I thought, Sir Arden."
Lucien didn't answer. Instead, he reached out, caught Sora by his upper arm, and lifted him slightly off his feet to take the weight off his shaking legs.
"Enter the hall," Lucien ordered calmly. "The wind here will freeze your blood before we even begin."
"Sir Arden, wait," Sora murmured, pointing weakly toward the courtyard. "The wyvern—"
"I told you, we will house it in the lower courtyard pens," Lucien said, looking at Aurelian.
"Boy, bring your beast and follow Elias. He will show you where it can sleep."
Aurelian looked up at Lucien with his sharp, crimson eyes, analyzing the massive knight for a long second before nodding once.
"Very well. Come, Vermis."
The young wyvern let out a low huff of smoke and trotted quietly after the boy as Elias guided them toward the side stables.
Inside the master study, a grand stone fireplace roared with crackling logs, filling the room with warm, orange light.
Sora sat on a plush velvet sofa near the fire, sipping a cup of warm herbal tea. The color was slowly returning to his cheeks, but his posture remained hunched and his shoulders tight with pain.
Lucien stood near the desk, pouring a glass of dark wine.
["He is fading fast,"]
Jerga purred inside Lucien's mind, his dark mana stirring restlessly beneath Lucien's chest.
["The bond with Cassian is like a severed thread bleeding vitality out into the void. Without dark mana to act as an anchor, his spirit will fade within six months."]
'And your mana can stabilize it?' Lucien thought back.
["My mana is the exact same dark essence that flows in Cassian's blood,"] Jerga chuckled softly. ["It will trick the elf's Moonborn spirit into believing his mate is standing right beside him."]
Lucien set his glass down on the heavy mahogany desk.
Then he walked over to the sofa and stood directly in front of Sora.
"Sora, ask your attendants to leave us alone."
Lucien spoke, his deep voice cutting through the quiet room and Sora nodded turning to Lyra and Eryndor who hesitated for a brief moment to leave him alone with Lucien Arden.
Then Lucien leaped forward to hover above his frame.
"Sit up."
Sora looked up, setting his tea cup on the side table. He straightened his back, his sharp eyes searching Lucien's serious face.
"Are we starting now?"
"Yes," Lucien said.
"The method I have... it is not conventional light magic. It involves the dark mana I carry."
Sora blinked, his long elf ears twitching slightly.
"Dark mana? Like... Sir Arden you–....wait aren't you supposed to be a holy knight?"
"Precisely," Lucien said coldly.
"But I contacted with a demon in order to go find Cassian and now the demon's power surges through my veins and blood. And Jerga's essence matches the core signature of the royal bloodline. By transferring a controlled portion of it into your spirit core, your Moonborn bond will react to it and calm down."
Sora's eyes widened slightly in realization as the dark marks stretched on Lucien's skin and then he sighed casting away his disbelief.
"So the process of this... Is a sort of a mana link?"
"Yes," Lucien confirmed, leaning down slightly, his silver hair falling forward over his shoulders.
"It requires physical contact. Direct transfer through your palm or your chest. It will not be pleasant, and it will bind a portion of my dark mana inside your body through refills right until Cassian returns."
Sora stared at Lucien's large hand for a long moment. Then he let out a low, tired breath and a small, grateful smile touching his pale lips.
"Sir Arden... you really do think of everything for him, don't you?" Sora whispered.
"I promised him I would keep his world whole," Lucien said flatly. "And you are part of that world."
Sora reached out his hand, resting his small, trembling palm against Lucien's broad, leather-gloved hand.
"Then do it," Sora said softly, his voice clear and resolute.
"I want to live to see him again."
Lucien removed his glove, throwing it onto the table then he gripped Sora's bare hand tightly.
A dark, violet light immediately flickered beneath Lucien's skin. The dark mana surged forward, creeping up Sora's wrist like delicate, glowing black veins, weaving into his fading spirit core.
Sora gasped softly, his eyes widening as a sudden rush of warm, heavy energy flooded his weak body, replacing the hollow emptiness with a power that felt terrifyingly familiar.
["It seems to work,"]
Jerga laughed quietly.
["Look at him. His spirit is drinking it all eagerly up."]
Lucien kept his grip steady, his eyes fixed on Sora's face as the dark mana stabilized the elf's spirit, beginning the long fifteen-year watch over the West.
*****