The east garden was Sareth's favorite place in the entire mansion. Not for its beauty—though the wild flowers growing beside the fountain had a certain unkempt charm—but because no one else ever came here. It was forgotten. Ignored.
Like him.
But today, that forgotten corner felt different. Because Carmen was there.
"See this one?" Carmen knelt beside a small flower with purple petals. "It's a Midnight Star. It only blooms in autumn and smells different depending on the time of day."
Sareth knelt beside her, keeping a respectful distance. "I didn't know that."
"Most people don't." Carmen smiled, that small gesture that made something warm bloom in Sareth's chest. "That's why I like it. It's special without shouting that it is."
Like you, Sareth thought, but the words stuck in his throat.
They sat on the stone bench near the fountain. Water dripped steadily, a calm rhythm that filled the comfortable silences between them. Carmen had a botany book in her lap, but she hadn't opened it. She just gazed at the garden, occasionally pointing out a plant and sharing some fact she'd learned.
Sareth listened, but more than that, he watched her. The way she frowned slightly when thinking. How she bit her lower lip before saying something she considered important. The stray lock of hair that always escaped her braid and fell across her face.
"Sareth," Carmen said softly, turning to him. "You know? Yesterday, after talking to you, I felt…"
"What?" Sareth asked, his heart racing.
Carmen blushed faintly, lowering her gaze. "Different. Like… like I mattered."
"You always matter," Sareth replied, sincerity making his voice stronger than usual.
Carmen looked up, her brown eyes meeting his. "To you. But that…" A shy smile. "That's enough."
Their hands rested on the bench, separated by barely a finger's width. Sareth felt the heat radiating from Carmen's skin, the temptation to close that tiny gap.
Just do it. Just—
"There you are."
The voice cut the moment like a knife.
Sareth whipped around. Cedric Drayvar approached down the stone path, his posture confident and his smile arrogant. He was older than Sareth, taller, stronger. Second-layer Apprentice. Everything Sareth wasn't.
"I've been looking for you," Cedric said, but his eyes weren't on Sareth. They were fixed on Carmen.
Carmen tensed slightly. "Lord Cedric? I didn't—"
"Come with me." Cedric stopped in front of them, completely ignoring Sareth. "I need help with some texts in the north library. About Aether cultivation. Your grandmother says you're good with that stuff."
"But I'm—" Carmen glanced at Sareth, seeking help.
"It's not a request." Cedric reached out, gripping Carmen's arm firmly. Not brutally, but with enough pressure to make his expectation of obedience clear.
Sareth stood so fast he nearly tripped. "Wait, she's with me—"
Cedric finally looked at him. Really looked. And in his eyes, Sareth saw something worse than contempt. He saw… nothing. As if Sareth were so insignificant he barely warranted acknowledgment.
"Excuse me?" Cedric said, his tone polite but laced with mockery.
"Carmen's with me," Sareth repeated, his voice trembling but determined. "We were talking."
Cedric let out a short laugh. "And? You don't need her for anything important, do you? You were just… sitting."
"Let her go."
The words came out before Sareth could think. They sounded stronger than he intended. More defiant.
Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Or what, Sareth the Weak? What are you going to do?"
The nickname. The damn nickname everyone used. That everyone knew.
"Let her go," Sareth repeated, stepping forward.
"Make me."
Sareth grabbed Cedric's wrist, trying to pull him off Carmen. He put all his strength into the grip, all his weight.
It did nothing.
Cedric didn't even move. He just looked at him with something between amusement and irritation.
"Sareth, don't—" Carmen started, frightened now.
Cedric pushed.
It wasn't a punch. He didn't even use his Aether. Just a casual shove, like brushing aside an annoying branch.
But Sareth had no strength to resist it. He stumbled backward, his feet tangling. He fell, his back hitting the stone ground with an impact that drove the air from his lungs.
"Stay down," Cedric said, his voice bored.
Sareth gasped, trying to catch his breath. His hands shook as he braced against the ground, attempting to rise.
"I told you to stay down."
Cedric's foot slammed into his side.
Pain. Sharp and explosive. Sareth doubled over, curling onto his side, a choked cry escaping his throat.
"Cedric, stop!" Carmen's voice sounded distant, drowned out by the ringing in Sareth's ears.
"Enough," Cedric said, yanking Carmen along. "Let's go."
Sareth looked up, the world blurry through involuntary tears of pain. He saw Cedric dragging Carmen down the path. He saw Carmen looking back, her eyes wide and frightened.
Asking for help.
Get up. Get up. GET UP.
His hands scraped the stone. He tried to push to his knees. His side screamed in protest.
"Please…" he whispered, but his voice reached no one.
And then they were gone. Vanished behind the hedge, leaving only the sound of the fountain and Sareth's labored breathing.
Alone. On the ground. Powerless.
"Cedric."
The voice cut the air like a drawn sword.
Sareth, still trying to rise, turned his head. Through his blurred vision, he saw a tall figure approaching.
Rylan.
His older brother walked toward them with measured steps, his expression calm but his eyes… his eyes gleamed with something cold.
Cedric stopped, releasing Carmen immediately. "Rylan, this isn't what—"
"Let her go." It wasn't a suggestion. It was an absolute order.
Cedric stepped back, raising his hands. "I was just asking for help with—"
"Lie." Rylan stopped a few paces away. His blue electric Aether began to glow faintly around his hands, small sparks dancing between his fingers. "I saw what you did to Sareth."
"He attacked me first—"
"He attacked you?" Rylan let out a humorless laugh. "A boy with weak Aether attacked a second-layer Apprentice. And you responded by kicking him while he was down."
Cedric paled. "I didn't—"
Rylan took another step forward. His aura pressed the air, making it hard to breathe even for Sareth several meters away.
"You struck a member of the main family." Rylan's voice was soft now. Dangerously soft. "My brother."
His hand rested on his sword hilt.
"If you ever touch anyone in my family again, or anyone under our protection…" Rylan paused, his eyes locking onto Cedric's. "I'll cut your head off myself. Understood?"
Cedric nodded so fast it looked like his head might come off. "Yes. Yes, sir. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"Leave."
Cedric practically ran, his hurried footsteps echoing on the stone path until he vanished.
Rylan sighed, his aura fading. He turned to Carmen, his expression softening immediately.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice gentle now.
Carmen, still trembling, nodded. "Yes, I… thank you, Lord Rylan."
"Just Rylan is fine." He smiled, that easy gesture that made everything seem less terrible. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, but Sareth—" Carmen looked toward where Sareth still lay on the ground.
"Brother." Rylan walked over to Sareth, extending a hand. "Get up."
Sareth stared at the hand. Strong. Steady. Capable.
Everything he wasn't.
He took Rylan's hand. His brother lifted him without apparent effort, as if Sareth weighed nothing.
"I… I tried—" Sareth began, his voice cracking.
"I know." Rylan clapped his shoulder. It wasn't cruel, but there was something in the gesture. Something that felt like… condescension. "But it's handled now."
Handled. Because you handled it. Because I couldn't.
Rylan turned to Carmen. "Come. I'll walk you back. Let's make sure you're okay."
Carmen glanced at Sareth, hesitating.
"Sareth needs rest," Rylan continued, his smile still in place. "That hit looked painful. Right, brother?"
It wasn't really a question.
"Will you be okay?" Carmen asked Sareth, her eyes worried.
Sareth forced a smile. It hurt more than his side. "Yeah. Go."
And Carmen left. With Rylan. Walking side by side down the path Cedric had taken.
Rylan said something. Sareth couldn't hear what, but Carmen let out a soft laugh.
Sareth stood alone in the garden.
In the same spot where he'd fallen.
Where he'd been useless.
The fountain's sound continued, indifferent. The world kept turning.
And Sareth… Sareth just stood there, watching his brother take away the only thing that mattered to him.
He didn't know how long he'd walked. His legs carried him automatically, away from the garden, away from the main mansion. He ended up behind the stables, in a corner where old wood blocked the view of the rest of the world.
He slid down against the wall. The pain in his side had dulled to a steady throb, but the pain in his chest…
The tears came before he could stop them.
Silent at first. Just wet trails on his cheeks that he tried to wipe away with trembling hands.
But they didn't stop.
They turned into sobs. Choked and shameful, but impossible to hold back.
I couldn't protect her. I couldn't even stand up.
And Rylan… Rylan saved her. Of course he did.
Because he's strong. Because he matters.
And I… I'm nothing.
"Sareth?"
The voice made him jump. He tried to wipe the tears away quickly, but it was too late.
Lyssara stood a few meters away, still in her training clothes. Her hair was tied in a practical ponytail, and there was dirt on her cheeks. She must have been returning from the yard.
For a moment, she just looked at him. Her expression was… hard to read.
Then, to Sareth's surprise, she approached. Not quickly. Not eagerly. But she came and sat on the ground beside him, keeping a respectful space between them.
"I'm fine," Sareth lied, his voice hoarse.
"Clearly not."
Silence. The kind Lyssara always left hanging, watching.
"What happened?" she asked finally.
And Sareth told her. Between sobs he tried to suppress and miserable failures. He told her about the garden, about Carmen, about Cedric. The shove. His powerlessness. Rylan arriving like the perfect hero. Carmen leaving with him.
Lyssara listened without interrupting. When Sareth finished, she stayed quiet for a long moment.
Rylan, Lyssara thought. Of course.
It hadn't been cruel. He probably hadn't even realized what he was doing. Rylan just… was like that. The natural hero. The one who saved the day. The one who earned gratitude and, eventually, so much more.
And Sareth loses the only thing he had.
"Sareth…" Lyssara began, then stopped.
What could she say? That Cedric was stronger and that's how the world worked? That Rylan hadn't technically done anything wrong? That Carmen was human and would naturally be drawn to the power that protected her?
All of it was true. And all of it was cruel.
"It wasn't your fault," she said finally. The words sounded inadequate even as she spoke them. "Cedric is stronger. It's… how the world works."
Sareth let out a bitter laugh. "So I'll always lose? Because I'm weak?"
Lyssara closed her eyes briefly. Yes. But she couldn't say that.
"Yes," she said anyway, because lying wouldn't help. "Unless you find another way to be strong."
"There is no other way."
"There's always another way." Lyssara stood, brushing dust from her clothes. "You just have to be willing to pay the price."
She didn't wait for a reply. She walked away, leaving Sareth with his thoughts and the echo of her words.
Another way to be strong.
But Sareth couldn't see any. He only saw the garden. Carmen looking back. Rylan smiling.
And himself. On the ground. Where he belonged.
Lyssara found Rylan in the hallway outside his room. He was in a good mood, whistling a tune as he opened his door.
"Enjoy yourself?" Lyssara asked, her voice slicing the air.
Rylan turned, surprised. "Lyssara? What—?"
"Enjoy stealing Sareth's girl?"
Rylan blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Carmen. You walked her back. Made her laugh. Played the hero."
"I just… helped her." Rylan frowned, genuinely confused. "Cedric was being an ass."
"And you didn't notice Sareth was with her? That he tried to defend her?"
Rylan paused. Something crossed his face—understanding, maybe discomfort. "He… Sareth can't—"
"Can't what? Protect her? Be enough? Exactly." Lyssara crossed her arms. "That's exactly why you shouldn't have done it."
"What was I supposed to do? Leave him down? Let Carmen get dragged off?" Defensiveness crept into Rylan's voice now.
"You could have helped him and left her with him. But no. You took her."
"I didn't 'take' her." Rylan bristled. "I just walked her to safety."
"And made her laugh."
"And that's a crime now?"
Lyssara studied him. Her older brother, so sure of himself, so used to being the hero that he didn't even see the collateral damage he left behind.
"You don't even realize, do you?" she said softly. "How easy it is for you. You smile, you use your strength, and people follow."
"I'm not trying to—"
"I know. That's the worst part. You didn't do it with malice. You're just… you." Lyssara paused. "Sareth lost the only thing he had today. And you didn't even notice."
Rylan fell silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was tired. "Lyssara, I don't know what you want me to say. I helped my brother. I protected a servant."
"No." Lyssara shook her head. "You saved the day. Like always."
There was something in her tone—not quite accusation, but close.
Rylan sighed, opening his door. "I'm tired. If you're done accusing me of… whatever this is, I need to sleep."
"Rylan."
He paused in the doorway, but didn't turn.
"Sareth is broken. And you don't even see it."
A long silence. Then: "I'll talk to him tomorrow."
He went in and closed the door.
Lyssara stood in the empty hallway, staring at the dark wood.
You won't. Or if you do, it'll make it worse.
Because Rylan doesn't understand what it's like to be invisible.
And Sareth… Sareth just learned the harshest lesson.
In this world, weakness costs you everything.
She walked away, her footsteps echoing on the cold stone. Somewhere in the mansion, Sareth was alone with his pain.
And Lyssara didn't know if it would break him completely.
Or forge him into something more dangerous.
Sareth lay in bed, staring at his room's ceiling. The candle on his desk had burned out an hour ago, leaving him in darkness.
His side throbbed with every breath. Bruises were forming—he could feel the tender skin even without touching it.
But the physical pain was nothing.
Carmen. She left with Rylan.
Of course she did. Why choose the weak one when the strong one is right there?
Kael abandoned me for power.
Carmen will abandon me for safety.
Lyssara is right.
A single tear fell, rolling down his temple into the pillow.
The last one.
Something in his chest hardened. Like metal cooling after fire.
I'll always lose. Because I'm weak.
He closed his eyes.
And in this world… the weak deserve nothing.
Sleep came at last, heavy and dreamless.
And in his dreams, he saw gardens where he couldn't reach the flowers.
And brothers who shone like suns.
And himself, always on the ground, always looking up.
Always alone.