Auther had barely stepped out of the cathedral when a royal attendant found him.
"Her Majesty summons you. Now."
He followed quietly, the heavy ceremonial robes suddenly feeling suffocating. When he entered the Queen's private solar, Elizabeth stood by the window, staring out at the blood-red sunset. She didn't turn around immediately.
Auther waited. The silence stretched.
Finally, she spoke, voice low and controlled.
"Where were you?"
Auther exhaled through his nose, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.
"I didn't realize you even noticed I was missing. Or that you cared enough to ask."
Elizabeth slowly turned. For the briefest moment, something raw flickered across her face — guilt, maybe regret — before she buried it beneath layers of ice.
"You disappeared for hours on the most important day of your life," she said, each word precise. "Hours. Do you have any idea how that made us look?"
Auther's hands clenched at his sides.
"Us?" he repeated, voice rising. "There is no 'us', Mother. There never has been. You've barely spoken to me in three years. And today, of all days, you suddenly decide to play the concerned parent?"
Elizabeth stepped closer, her eyes cold but her voice carrying the faintest tremor.
"I am offering to mentor you personally. To train you. To guide you."
Auther laughed — a short, broken sound.
"Mentor me?" He shook his head. "I can't learn from someone I don't trust. And I don't trust you. How could I? You've treated me like a disappointment my entire life. Like I was… defective."
Elizabeth's expression cracked. For once, real anger and something deeper — pain? — flashed in her eyes.
"You think this world cares about trust?" she said, voice rising. "You think I had the luxury of trust when I crawled up from nothing? When I watched your father die? When I held this crumbling kingdom together with my bare hands?"
"I'm not you and I wouldn't wish it on my worst of enemies to be like you all you care about is power, importance and my dead father but I get it I'll never be like him... cause I swear I'll be greater than any of you could ever dream of."
She took another step forward, her voice shaking with barely contained emotion.
"You are Divine Rank now, Auther. Do you understand what that means? Every kingdom, every church, every monster out there will want a piece of you. They will smile at you while sharpening knives behind their backs. Trust will get you killed. I am trying to keep you alive!"
Auther met her gaze, his own eyes burning.
"Then let me die on my own terms," he said quietly, but fiercely. "Because learning to survive like you… becoming like you… that terrifies me more than any enemy ever could."
A heavy silence fell between them.
Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment, her hands trembling slightly at her sides. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Finally, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said:
"…You did well today."
Auther didn't respond. He simply bowed stiffly and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
The moment he stepped into the corridor, Viola was there.
She pushed off the wall, arms crossed, blue eyes locked onto him like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.
"You've been running from me all day," she said, voice dangerously soft. "How long did you think that would last?"
Auther instinctively backed up a step, heart hammering.
Viola walked forward slowly, each step deliberate.
"Even after becoming Divine Rank… even after they made you Crown Prince… you're still the same scared little boy who pisses himself when I draw my sword. Pathetic."
Auther swallowed hard, but forced himself to stand his ground.
"I'm still stuck with you, aren't I?"
Viola's lips curled into a cold, mocking smile.
"Oh, little prince…" She leaned in close enough that he could feel her breath. "You were never going to escape me. Not before. And certainly not now. I don't care what fancy title they gave you. When we're in that training yard, you're still mine to break. Every. Single. Day."
Her voice dropped to a venomous whisper.
"Try running again. I dare you. I'll drag you back by your hair if I have to."
Auther said nothing. The fear was still there, but so was something colder — pure, burning resentment. He walked past her without another word.
The walk back to his chambers felt endless.
Servants, maids, and guards bowed deeply wherever he passed.
"Your Highness…"
"Crown Prince Auther…"
"Congratulations on your divine blessing…"
By the time he reached his room and slammed the door shut, he was shaking. He leaned against the wood, breathing hard, eyes squeezed shut.
Too many people. Too many expectations. Too much weight.
In the middle of that storm of panic and exhaustion, one clear thought broke through like a lifeline.
Lana.
She didn't look at him like a weapon. She didn't look at him like a failure. She didn't look at him like a prince.
She just… saw him.
Auther opened his eyes, jaw set with sudden determination.
"…Fuck it."
He changed into plain clothes, pulled up his hood, and slipped out through the servant passages.
He needed to see her.