Morning arrived quietly, like a soft breath across the world. Sunlight filtered through the sky, warm yet gentle, touching everything it reached. The air was cool and fresh, carrying the faint sounds of birds beginning their song. It felt like a new start, calm and full of quiet promise. Aurelian woke up feeling more tired than the day before, he goes to the bath house and get himself cleaned and got dressed, his movements no longer felt mechanical -because they were now mechanical. He checked himself in the mirror. The mirror reflected a perfect prince.
Composed. Elegant. Unshaken.
But Aurelian felt nothing. He walked through corridors and halls finally stopping in front of the heavy dining area door. He pushes the door open and walked in without saying a word, he quietly sat at his usual spot. Aurelian didn't eat, he played absentmindedly with his fork,"dear? Eat something", his mother speaks up first, "you need to be fit for the wedding, if you don't eat your wedding dress might not fit" Elowen tries to tease but Aurelian wasn't hearing anything. King Alaric watched his son for a moment before speaking,"you know you can talk to us right?" "Talk? I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you!" Aurelian finally snaps, "you're doing this for the greater good of the kingdom!" His father shot back, already frustrated with his son's attitude. "The kingdom? The same kingdom that whispers words like knife? You talk about the kingdom's happiness but what about mine?" Aurelian asks standing up, "Aurelian sit down!" Queen Amara demands, "we need to talk about your attitude". Aurelian didn't sit, Instead he walked away without another word. Elowen looked at their parents,"do you think we failed him?" She asks,"no, he's just being dramatic to avoid royal duties" the father answers. Aurelian walks to the garden,his safe space but somehow it felt suffocating, he turned around to leave when he heard it, servants whispering those same words that were supposed to hurt, "I heard he doesn't want to fight for the kingdom, he doesn't deserve to be crown prince" "he's weak". Aurelian looked at them,"you're right" he says, the servants looks at him,"your high.. highness" they greet and scrambled off. Aurelian walks away, he went back to his room, since his rehearsals aren't until afternoon.
On the other hand, Draven's mind was chaos, he had placed someone at moonveil to watch over Aurelian and the person had just reported to him about Aurelian's lack of reaction to the venomous words of those servants. Draven's head was a total mess, right now, he wanted to hold Aurelian and tell him that everything would be okay but at the same time he can't betray his people, he can't make them question his loyalty to the throne. "You can leave ", he told the informant who left immediately. Draven looked at his own reflection, he doesn't look human. Could he protect Aurelian while looking like this? Could he even face his own people looking this way? He ran his hand over his face and let out a deep breath,"I'm sorry Aurelian, I'm really sorry, I can't protect you, I'm a coward" he says to his reflection. After a moment of staring into space, he decided to have a meeting with his people. Aurelian was losing his fire and he wasn't about to let that happen.
During the meeting, Drusilla was present and she made sure to stand close to Draven, she offered fake support and intentionally snaked her hand around Draven's arm in public. Draven didn't push her away because he didn't want to publicly humiliate her. She nods gently as Draven spoke to the crowd and offer what was supposed to look like quiet comfort. She made sure to lean impossibly close to Draven in front of the crowd. She used the fact that Draven wouldn't humiliate publicly to her advantage. And she got what she wanted, because the people whispered, they spoke about how 'good they look together'. But even with the rumours, Aurelian still had some people in his support and those people whispered words of their own, they said things like,"that lady Drusilla is a snake", "Prince Aurelian is trying his best", and "lady Drusilla is a fake". They even defended him when necessary.
After the meeting, Draven sent a messenger to relay a message to Aurelian, asking for them to meet up at the border. The messenger arrived a while later and told Draven, Aurelian had declined the meeting. Draven dismissed the messenger. His jaw clenched so tight it might snap. He was angry -at himself.
Meanwhile, Aurelian had heard about Draven addressing his people and Drusilla's public display but it didn't matter -when has it ever mattered? He removed his jewelry and stared at his plain self in the mirror, "I don't need to be happy... I just need to survive" he whispered to himself, exhausted.