The courtyard had never felt so suffocating.
Sunlight glittered off the marble tiles, guards stood perfectly still at their posts, and yet the tension was so thick that even the birds stopped chirping.
Alo pressed two fingers against his temple in pure, pulsing frustration. His son clung to Ethan's sleeve like a vine strangling a tree, while Princess Alice stood nearby, shoulders tight, trying not to crumble in front of a king she barely knew.
This… was not how royal engagements were supposed to go.
Not even close.
Ethan slowly lowered his hand from James's mouth after the latest outburst.
James immediately puffed his cheeks, looking very much like a furious kitten.
"I'm not talking to her again," he declared loudly, proudly and stubbornly.
Alice's face flickered in pain before she forced a smile.
Ethan winced. "James… she's right there."
"I know," James whispered sharply, loud enough to echo off the courtyard walls "that's why I'm whispering."
Alo inhaled slowly through his nose.
Deeply.
Very, very painfully.
"James," he said, his voice dangerously calm, "you will speak to Princess Alice with respect."
James crossed his arms like a tiny warrior preparing for battle.
"I did! I said "no" respectfully three times."
"That was not respectful," Alo replied dryly.
"It was to me." James murmured are he rolled his eyes.
Ethan stepped forward gently. "Your Highness… please. She traveled a long way. Maybe you could try again later? Just a little bit?"
James turned to Ethan instantly, irritation melting into soft-eyed devotion.
"I don't want her. I said I want…"
Ethan slapped a hand over James's mouth again so fast it created wind.
"Water," Ethan said aggressively. "He wants water."
James shook his head hard, trying to talk through Ethan's palm.
Alo's eyebrow arched in subtle amusement.
He looked at Ethan with a knowing glint that made Ethan want to crawl under a bench.
James finally managed to wiggle free.
"I want Ethan."
Ethan panicked. "… as a GUIDE! A palace guide! He wants me to guide him. He…he cannot… walk alone."
Alo's eyes narrowed.
James shouted, "I can walk perfectly! I want Ethan because…"
Ethan slapped his hand on James's mouth again, mentally begging the ground to swallow him.
Princess Alice leaned toward Ethan, whispering, "Does he always behave like this…?"
Ethan smiled apologetically. "Only around me."
Alo's expression tightened.
Only around Ethan, the same thought kept on playing on repeat in his head.
That… was the problem he thought. So far his whole finding James a bride had backfired.
Alo stepped forward, his commanding aura sweeping through the air like a cold wind.
"That is enough for today," he said sharply. "Princess Alice, I will arrange accommodations for you. Rest. You must be tired."
Alice bowed gratefully, as she felt relieved that at least the king did not dislike her. "Thank you, Your Majesty…"
She walked toward the guest wing, though the stiffness in her steps betrayed how shaken she was.
James stuck his tongue out at her retreating figure.
Alo caught him instantly.
"James."
James froze like a guilty statue.
"Drop it."
James lowered his tongue slowly like a disappointed puppy.
Alo turned toward Ethan, ready to reprimand him next only to pause.
James had already glued himself back to Ethan's sleeve.
Ethan looked helpless while
James had a smug look on his face.
Alo looked like he wanted to flip a table.
"Prince James," Alo said, voice slow and dangerously patient, "you will show Princess Alice proper manners for the next few days."
James stared at him like he'd been asked to lick a cactus.
"No." James crossed his arms as he rejected the idea.
"Yes." Alo retorted
"No." James shouted. He wasn't ready to down
"Yes." Alo pressed
"NO." James shouted with one last defyant breath.
At this point king Alo was already pissed of at James attitude.
Alo's voice dropped into that deep, terrifying royal tone that made even the pigeons freeze.
"James."
The boy gulped.
Ethan placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"James… maybe she could be your friend."
"I don't want more friends," James muttered.
"But…" Ethan tried to convince James, but he wasn't going to budge.
"I only need one." James looked like a puppy that was rejected by his owner as he lowered his head.
Ethan blinked. "Me…?"
James nodded without hesitation. "Yes."
Alo's jaw twitched so sharply a servant flinched.
Something dangerous and unreadable flashed in the king's purple eyes.
"This attachment," Alo said quietly, "is becoming a problem."
Ethan felt a chill crawl down his spine.
James did not hear that warning at all.
He had already grabbed Ethan's wrist.
"Come on! Before she comes back!" he shouted, dragging Ethan down the hallway.
"James, wait… your father… the princess… James!!"
Their footsteps faded as they ran off with Ethan stumbling behind him.
Alo stood alone in the courtyard, watching the two disappear around the archway.
He exhaled through his nose, long and slow.
Princess Alice.
James's attitude.
Ethan's soft, patient smile.
His son's suffocating dependence.
His own… reactions.
Everything was unraveling.
This was supposed to distance them.
Not pull them even closer.
Alo's gaze followed the hallway where Ethan had vanished. His hair, dark and soft, had caught the sunlight like black silk.
His gentle voice. The way he smiled at James. The way James softened around him. How easily Ethan fit into their lives…
Too easily.
Alo pushed a thumb against his brow, trying to steady the sudden tightness in his chest.
"…This engagement was supposed to fix things," he muttered under his breath.
But now…?
"James hates Alice and Alice looked like she was ready to cry."
Ethan was stuck playing peacekeeper.
And Alo…
Alo didn't want to admit the truth forming like a crack in stone.
He didn't want Ethan and James separated for James's sake.
He wanted them separated…
for himself.
And that realization?
Was what terrified him more than any war, any alliance, any threat he had ever faced.
Alo closed his eyes for one brief moment.
"…This is going to get complicated."