The Legends of Kartas | Ongoing

17. RESPITE

Elias always had an iron hold on his life. After the end of the Great Southern Wars—after he had lost his brothers and his mother—his entire life had changed. Even though he strived to save his ailing mother, even though he believed he could do it, she passed on to Lexitem. And even though his brothers fulfilled his father's dream, even though Elias was allowed to achieve whatever he desired, the chance disappeared with his brothers' deaths.

That was when he vowed to take control of his life. His father wanted to use him as a substitute to satisfy his dream: to have an heir to succeed in his position. However, Elias had different plans. When he was ten, he joined the scholar gentry and scaled the ranks with his wits. But that wasn't enough for his father.

So he joined the Royal Academy at fourteen and advanced to the position of colonel by the age of eighteen. At the time, no one had ever accomplished a grander feat until Tiberius Faelaux. Compared to what Tiberius attained, Elias's feat became nothing. For his achievement, Tiberius won everything, while all Elias's received—all he deserved—was a pat on the back. He existed as a shadow. First as his older brothers'. Now as Tiberius's. Regardless, his father didn't show a hint of care for him, but he didn't mind because at least he had control of his life.

That was, until now.

After that fiasco with Jungkook, everything spiraled out of Elias's control. There was a reason why he kept close tabs on the prince and concealed certain secrets from his ears, but Elias never knew it would push Jungkook to Tiberius. Out of all the generals in Lux, why did it have to be him—the only one who wouldn't hesitate to hurt Jungkook. Or worse, get into his head.

When Elias had woken in his room that night to hear from a servant that Jungkook probably went to see Tiberius, he was petrified. The first thought that had raced in his head was that Jungkook was dead, that Elias had failed to protect him. Ever since the death of the late King Titus, the Raigists lost their influence on the crown. King Aethyrias had ended the Great Southern Wars and opposed the Raigists. But Jungkook was another story waiting to be written. It was just a matter of who held the quill.

Fortunately, Jungkook was unharmed, or it seemed as if he was until—

Did you pretend to be friendly because I was the prince? Did you do as I said because you wanted to leech off me?

Elias licked his lips as the words echoed in his ears. Until that.

He had miscalculated. He and Snow had miscalculated. They had decided it was best to tell Jungkook the truth about Lux, but their plan had backfired. Now, Jungkook was silent during his lessons and had avoided as much eye contact as possible. He didn't attempt to sneak out of the castle, and his genial nature turned dismal. He was pushing himself away, and from there, the strings of Elias's life started to slip from his grasp. And when the final string flew away, he ended up becoming a dog that played fetch with Tiberius.

Flashes of red blurred in his peripheral vision as he strode down the hall in the castle's right wing, Sergeant Pascal following right behind. Earlier that evening, Tiberius had ordered Elias to escort Pascal to his office, and at first, Elias was taken aback. There were plenty of men to order about, yet Tiberius dared to demand that he bring Pascal.

Nevertheless, as he padded through the halls with Pascal behind him, he understood why. He was the one who had requested Tiberius to reposition Pascal to the south after the night he found Jungkook roaming the gardens—the night this entire ordeal began. Demanding a general to discipline the soldiers under them was not a light request. This was punishment for his impertinence.

When they arrived at their destination, Tiberius opened the door to his office and exchanged glances with Elias. The general's dark hair was tied in a ponytail. Over his shoulder, Elias saw another unfamiliar guard sitting on a chair in the room. The guard was abnormally pale as if he was sick, heavy bags sagging under his debilitated eyes. If Tiberius wasn't standing before him, Elias would have asked if the man was ill.