Chapter 142

It was the fire in Winter’s eyes that reminded Akira why he had deigned to take up the flesh of the crippled heir of House Wolfe and personally interfered in the great game he’d been setting up for years.

It was too much fun for him to resist.

Taking up a proper mortal host lessened his abilities somewhat, but Akira could still sense many rampant energies within the capital alone. Someone somewhere nearby was dabbling in wild, taboo magic he hadn’t tasted in eons. There were beings powerful enough to control the actions of people in this world like an invisible puppet master. His longest game yet was soon to come to a satisfying conclusion if he played his cards right. And most satisfying of all, the bright-eyed disciple his good brother, Helio, had chosen was square in the middle of his palm.

“Game?” He murmured, happy for once not to stifle his true nature.

“You are certainly playing at something,” Winter said, not backing down. “And I don’t like that.”

At the end of the day, Akira was just collecting the last of the debt owed by Winter’s father before collecting the debt of the other imperial family member who had needed his help not once, but twice. The pious fearfully called him the Devourer, thieves in need of luck called him the Deceiver, but at the end of the day, Akira just considered himself a very good debt collector who always received what he was owed. But he couldn’t very well say that, so he went for the next best thing: redirecting Winter’s attention.

“Well, you’re right. There is a game in play right now. A losing one. By you.”

.....

Winter had gotten rid of her invisible puppet master somehow once she came into her abilities, but she still was tangled up in her strings.

“Oh?” A noncommital response. Winter wanted him to keep speaking. But it was a dangerous ledge he stood on, one that could cause Akira to fall out of Winter’s trust forever if he wasn’t careful.

“Let us make a bet. If this ceremony goes off without a hitch, I will leave Radovalsk forever and never set foot in the capital for as long as I live,” Elias pledged.

Winter looked unimpressed. “I’m already expecting the empress to make some trouble.”

“No. It won’t be from her.” Akira shook his head. “That is your first mistake, to attribute anything and everything bad to her. It blinds you to other enemies.”

Akira would know since he had personally turned one of those enemies into his lackeys. Although Akira knew that Winter was well aware of the enmity Janice had for her, she clearly underestimated its potency. Some might even call him Winter’s enemy, but he truly wasn’t.

She was just one of his pawns, albeit the most fascinating one he’d ever encountered.

“Sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct one,” Winter said stubbornly. “Besides, don’t think you can get away with trying to change the subject on me.”

“Winter-” Akira started to say.

“Your. Highness.” Winter interrupted coldly, revoking her first name privilege.

Akira heaved a sigh, but his next words were gentle. “Your highness, I cherish our friendship. Which is why I can be silent no longer.”

Winter gave him a long look.

“Why do you always bring up my father when you know how I feel about him?” she asked quietly with none of the initial anger. But the air was heavy with unspoken emotions. “Especially when you yourself don’t even have a good relationship with your father.”

“Touché,” Akira said with a nod.

But Akira grimaced inwardly. It was true that he did not have a good relationship with Elias’ father, Lord Wolfe. The boy had not been well-liked from the start, suffering both physically and emotionally due to circumstances beyond his control. He’d been born prematurely in a breech position that had robbed his mother of her life and him of his legs. In a laughable knee jerk reaction, the boy’s father had placed the burden of his grief and anger on his son and was distant with him.

This weakened the boy’s psyche, which made it incredibly easy for Akira to take up a semi-permanent residence within Elias. He was Elias, and Elias was Akira. His vessel’s legs could not be brought to full health, but his magic was otherwise unencumbered by it. However, these days, he was beginning to realize that perhaps some fragment of the original boy’s conscience was still lurking inside of him, which was a troublesome revelation as he was forced to face a slight conundrum.

Elias was in love with Winter. But Akira was not.

“It’s simple. Your father is the emperor, mine is not. I’m going to inherit my father’s mantle no matter what, but you will not.”

“Because I am a girl,” Winter said, unimpressed.

“Because you are a girl,” Akira carried on. “A large part of your fate is in the hands of others. But rather than ensure that the person who holds your fate has a good relationship with you, you invest it in the hands of someone else.”

“So you’re asking me why I have a good relationship with Elias?”

“No. I just want to know one thing. What is it you really want, your highness? You seek to avoid political matters, yet you stand behind the crown prince. You don’t want your father’s attention, yet here you sit in the central palace.”

“I-” Winter started, before cutting herself off. “I just want to survive of course.”

Akira shook his head. She still needed more of a push. “Maybe that is what you used to want. But things have changed. What is it you want now?”

Something flashed in Winter’s eyes, she’d found her answer.

“Your highness!” a girl suddenly squealed. Before the princess could tell Akira anything someone knocked on the door and popped her head in without invitation. Behind her, Marie could be heard scolding Sage to shut the door and leave. The spike of irritation at such a great conversation being interrupted caused Akira’s piercing glare to fall upon Sage.

“Not now!” Both he and Winter yelled at her in sync. But it was not nearly as amusing as it was earlier that day, as Princess Winter’s corresponding eye roll told Akira.

Sage’s face went through a series of emotions. Shock, anger, suspicion, then back to her happy-go-lucky mask. She was a decent spy, but not good enough to realize that her cover had long been blown and Winter was keeping her around to confuse the empress.

“When are you going to get rid of her, your highness?” Akira asked, knowing that his chance to get an answer from Winter had escaped out the door with Sage.

“You can see through her too?” Winter chuckled, similarly moving past his prior question. “I don’t know. But I’ll be done with her soon. Her existence takes away from time Emma and I could spend together.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Just based on her movements, she seems extremely skilled in combat. Be careful, lest you become her victim,” Akira warned.

“So you’re concerned for me, huh? I’ve underestimated you. But I should’ve expected this since you’re the heir of one of the great Houses,” Winter muttered.

“What do you want?” Akira repeated.

Winter sneered, her patience visibly thinning. “Hmph. You seem to think you can read me like a book. So you tell me what I want, Young Lord Wolfe.”

She strolled all the way up to Akira’s side, sitting down on the armrest that wasn’t occupied by Akira’s elbow. He could faintly smell the perfume she had on. Camellia. The same flower he’d given her the first time they met.

“Hello? Tell me what it is I want,” she drawled, leaning in close. Her actions seemed playful, but there was an unmistakably malicious glint in her eye.

“You want to take back control. You wish to be the puppet master who runs the show, rather than the puppet.” Akira didn’t waste time delivering his answer.

His words hung in the air between them, mixing with the scent of the camellias to create an ambiguous atmosphere. It made Elias, the real Elias, restless. Akira’s heartbeat picked up, although he wasn’t certain if it was because of Elias’ lovestruck nature or his own burning curiosity.

Winter drew back first, a slight tilt in her cherry red lips. She neither confirmed nor denied Akira’s answer. She was so strange, the way her emotions danced back and forth without warning. Sometimes Akira wishes to peel back her skin and understand what made Winter so peculiar, so intriguing. Too many secrets seemed to follow the girl wherever she went.

“Am I right?” Akira inquired. “Does this mean I’m now forgiven, your highness?”

It felt strange going from ‘Winter’ to ‘your highness’ after years of addressing her as the former.

“It’s going to be my birthday soon. Get me something good, then I’ll really forgive you,” Winter said with a huff, disappearing out the door and leaving him alone without answers.

Akira couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself. Who didn’t know that the newest imperial princess could attain whatever material thing her heart desired? It seemed he would have to be creative with his choice of a gift.

But then again, ever since the first time he’d laid his eyes on her years ago in the temporary body of a flower seller, Akira had known he would have to be more careful this time than any other. The thrilling sensation was utterly new too, never had he so thoroughly enjoyed collecting a debt. He was having so much fun, he almost wished he didn’t have to kill Winter. Almost.

“Janice, don’t let me down,” he murmured to himself in the dark room with a single flickering candle, a faint smile playing at his lips.

He did not have an invite to the coming-of-age ceremony, a prestigious event meant to only be attended by those of rank and title. But Akira almost wished he could go, just to see the expression on Bartholomew, no, Emperor Helio’s face as he watched his son go through a crown prince’s coming-of-age ceremony after killing his older brother, the former Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Did Helio love the son borne by his beloved first wife? Love! Such a laughable idea, that Helio would feel love towards the incarnation that represented everything he hated, everything he’d overcome, everything that could someday perhaps surpass him. In an imperial family, the emperor is an emperor first and father second. And what emperor can stand to watch himself be replaced from the throne he worked so hard to earn?

Love! That was not love, but guilt Emperor Helio had for his son. Guilt that his own ambition had killed his son’s mother. Guilt that he was raising his eldest son the same way his father had raised his older brother, to be complacent on the battleground for power. Complacency had no place in an imperial family, even if the crown was promised to sit on his head someday. It never ended up on Wilhelm’s head after all.

But the wolf-like Bartholomew had always been rather heartless. After the bastard prince had bargained for some of Akira’s power in order to take the throne, Emperor Helio had then taken on Akira’s brother’s name in an amusing twist.

For such a slight, deceiving the emperor into thinking that their bargain was complete when it was not was just Akira returning the favor. His amethyst eyes glittered maniacally in the dim lighting as he remembered the fire that had burned so brightly in the palace years before. Helio truly still believed that the terrible incident had been Akira coming to collect rather than the machinations of others.

And now the emperor’s guard was down. His heart was beginning to warm once more towards his youngest daughter.

No matter how much Elias protested within the confines of his mind, Akira could not wait to watch it get torn to pieces once again.