Ethan remained still, unsure whether to move… or breathe.
"Your Majesty… what kind of way?" Ethan asked carefully.
Alo didn't answer immediately.
He stood there, hands clasped behind his back, posture straight yet strangely tense.
The silence stretched long enough that Ethan began to wonder if he should repeat the question.
Then Alo spoke.
"When a future king becomes too attached to one person," Alo said, voice low, "he risks neglecting the world he's meant to rule."
Ethan swallowed, unsure where this was going.
Alo continued, "James's focus must be redirected. Expanded."
He paused… then added quietly:
"Detached from …."
Looks directly into Ethan's confused eye then looks away.
Ethan blinked. "From… me."
Alo didn't deny it.
Instead, his eyes shifted toward the balcony, where the winds from the training grounds carried faint traces of James's laugh.
A sound Alo had once loved.
A sound that suddenly felt like it wasn't meant for him anymore.
"He admires you," Alo said. "Too much."
Ethan lowered his head. "I never meant for that to be a problem sir ."
"I know," Alo murmured.
For the first time, Ethan heard something fragile beneath Alo's tone. Something human. Something that didn't belong to a king at all.
Alo cleared his throat, pushing it away.
"There is a way to broaden James's world," he said.
"To give him new duties, new expectations, new… attachments."
Ethan frowned. "…Attachments?"
Alo finally turned to him fully. His purple eyes, always sharp, now held a calculating glint mixed with something uncomfortably raw.
"A royal engagement."
Ethan's breath caught.
Alo went on, "Not immediately , of course. But a promised union. A diplomatic match." His gaze darkened. "An alliance that will take priority over everything. Including you."
Ethan's fingers curled at his sides.
"James… engaged?"
"To someone he didn't even know sir ?"
Alo watched the emotions flicker across Ethan's face, confusion, surprise… and something else Alo couldn't place. Something that made his chest tighten again.
"This is what is best for him,"
Alo said quietly, almost as if reassuring himself. "It will anchor him. Mature him. Prepare him."
"And distance him from our friendship…?," Ethan said softly.
Alo stiffened.
Ethan hadn't meant it as an accusation but…the words slipped like truth from his mouth.
Alo looked away.
He didn't deny that either.
Instead, he said, "The neighboring kingdom has a princess of suitable age. Princess Alice."
Ethan's lips pressed into a tight line.
Alo continued "If the alliance is accepted, James will be required to study courtship traditions. Attend diplomatic gatherings. Correspond with her."
Ethan stood frozen, absorbing the weight of every word.
James who'd grown so bright these past weeks.
James who lit up whenever Ethan entered a room.
James whose smile reached his eyes only when he looked at Ethan.
Ethan couldn't place the emotion that hugged at his chest.
He knew an engagement would pull James away from him.
"What if he likes her more than me. "
"What if he thinks she's more pretty."
"Would he stop hanging out with me once he gets engaged."
Different thoughts started rushing through Ethan's head
This engagement. A bride for his newly found…"friend" Ethan didn't want to think this way but… somewhere deep down he new this engagement might take all of James attention away.
Alo watched Ethan with unsettling intensity.
He had seen the shock.
He had felt the shift in Ethan's expression .
The room felt so heavy you could cut through it with a knife.
And yet… Alo forced himself to continue.
"I will begin the arrangements soon," Alo said. "Quietly, at first."
Ethan didn't speak.
He couldn't. The shock was to much to bear.
But he still couldn't understand why he felt this way.
Alo stepped closer, close enough that Ethan had to lift his chin slightly to meet his gaze.
For a moment, the king's face softened, something almost guilty flickering there.
"This is necessary," Alo murmured. "For James."
But Ethan heard the unspoken truth beneath it.
"And for me…" He murmured.
Alo stepped past him, heading toward his study.
As he walked away, his voice echoed behind him:
"Prepare yourself, Ethan. Things will begin to change soon."
Ethan stood alone in the hallway, heart twisting in a way he couldn't understand.
And far down the corridor, unseen, Alo's expression shifted into something complex and unreadable, jealousy, fear, strategy, and something deeper he refused to name.
His plan had begun.