The Winter Festival day arrived.
The sky was a clear, cold blue.
Snow glittered on the rooftops.
The whole castle buzzed with noise and color.
Ace was doing his punishment.
His father had made him stand at the main gate.
He had to greet every noble who arrived.
“Welcome to the North,” Ace said, over and over.
His smile was bright, but his eyes were bored.
“Your coat is ugly,” he whispered to one fat lord.
The man didn’t hear him.
Alex stood nearby, watching.
He was dressed in his formal black and silver.
He looked like a future duke.
He watched Ace and quietly chuckled behind his gloved hand.
Their parents were further down the courtyard.
Duke Aster and Lady Roseline were talking to important guests.
They looked calm, but their eyes were watchful.
Jade was sitting on the edge of a stone railing.
He wore simple clothes.
A white shirt.
Dark pants.
His grey cardigan was draped over his shoulders.
He looked small next to the big, loud nobles.
Minister Kalgen was next to him.
The fat man was talking, his face beaming.
“…so about this Winter Festival,” Kalgen was saying.
“Since you are new, I will tell you how it works.
I wonder if the Duke will introduce you to everyone today.
The Emperor…
well, since you are the oldest by law…”
Ace finished greeting a group of ladies.
He walked away from the gate.
He moved quietly, like a shadow.
He went behind a big stone pillar near the railing.
He listened.
Kalgen kept talking.
“Your birthright should be yours.
You did nothing wrong.
They can’t punish you for things you didn’t choose.”
Jade sipped his drink.
He said nothing.
“Besides,” Kalgen leaned closer.
“The council also wants someone else as heir.
Don’t get me wrong.
Alex is still young.
And too brutal.
Things are changing.
We need someone gentle on the seat.
Someone more polished.
Like you.”
Jade was quiet for a moment.
He looked out over the courtyard.
He watched Alex talking to their father far away.
“Alex is indeed young,” Jade said softly.
His voice was calm.
“And immature.
This duchy needs more than military training.”
Kalgen beamed.
His whole face lit up.
“See?
See?
That’s what I was saying!
If we replace him, it’s only because you are the oldest.
We are not at fault here.”
Jade said nothing more.
He just watched.
His face was unreadable.
Kalgen went on.
“Today’s festival…
during the daytime, there will be a hunting event—”
He stopped.
He saw Ace.
Ace stepped out from behind the pillar.
His eyes were furious.
“Fat old pig,” Ace muttered.
“Was my last punch not enough for you?”
Kalgen stammered.
“Ah—ah—I only said the truth!”
“Leave,” Ace said.
His voice was low and dangerous.
Kalgen wiped his forehead.
He hurried away, his robes swishing.
Ace turned to Jade.
He grabbed the front of Jade’s shirt and cardigan.
He yanked him off the railing.
Jade gasped.
The drink fell from his hand.
It shattered on the stones.
“You bastard,” Ace snarled.
“So that’s your real face.”
Jade’s feet barely touched the ground.
He looked up at Ace, eyes wide.
“What did I do?” he asked.
“You’ve been plotting behind our backs.
You backstabbing bitch.
You’re a whore, just like your mother.”
Jade’s hand curled into a fist.
His breath hitched.
For a second, his calm mask cracked.
Ace saw pain there.
Real pain.
“I only said the truth,” Jade whispered.
“Alex is still young.
He needs to learn.”
Ace’s snarl was animal.
“That’s *our* problem.
You are an outsider.
You don’t get to replace my brother.
You don’t get to replace my mother.”
“I am not replacing anyone,” Jade said.
His voice was shaky now.
“But I am the oldest,” he said.
“So naturally…”
“So naturally you will take the heir’s seat?” Ace laughed, a harsh sound.
“As if I will let that happen.
I will make your life a living hell.”
Jade’s eyes flashed.
“What are you planning to do?”
Ace didn’t answer.
He started dragging Jade across the balcony.
“Wait—Ace, let go of my hand!
Where are you taking me?”
Ace grinned.
It was a mean, wild grin.
“You wanted to be seen, right?
To get attention from everyone?”
They reached the edge of the balcony.
Below them was a large fountain.
It was decorated with ice sculptures.
The water was cold.
Ace didn’t hesitate.
He threw him.
Jade flew through the air.
For a second, he was a tangle of limbs and grey wool.
Then—*splash*.
He hit the water hard.
Someone in the crowd gasped.
Then everything went quiet.
All heads turned.
Jade was in the fountain.
Soaked.
The water was up to his chest.
His white shirt was plastered to his skin.
It showed every curve of his slim body.
The fabric turned see-through.
His silver hair was stuck to his face and neck.
A few Alphas nearby stared.
Their scents spiked in the air.
Interest.
Surprise.
Hunger.
Duke Aster saw.
Alex saw.
They both turned.
Their faces were shocked.
“What happened?” Duke Aster’s voice boomed across the courtyard.
Jade looked up, shivering.
Water dripped from his eyelashes.
Ace leaned over the balcony railing.
He was grinning.
“He fell!” Ace called out, his voice loud and cheerful.
He drew out the words.
“I tried to catch him…
isn’t that right…”
He looked right at Jade.
His smile was all teeth.
“…*big brother*?”
Jade’s head snapped up.
He stared at Ace.
His eyes were wide.
Hurt.
Anger.
Humiliation.
Then he looked down at himself.
He tried to pull the soaked cardigan around his shoulders.
It was useless.
He was shaking from the cold.
“I…” Jade’s voice was small.
Everyone was listening.
“Y-yes…
we were talking…
and…
I slipped.”
He didn’t look at Ace again.
Alex was already moving.
He grabbed a heavy fur cloak from a nearby guard.
He jumped down the short steps to the fountain.
He didn’t ask questions.
He just held out the cloak.
Jade looked up at him.
His lips were turning blue.
He took the cloak with trembling hands.
He wrapped it tightly around himself, hiding his body from the staring eyes.
Duke Aster’s face was dark.
He looked from his shivering guest to his grinning son on the balcony.
Lady Roseline put a hand on her husband’s arm.
Her face was worried.
The festival music started up again, awkwardly.
People began to talk, but their eyes kept flicking to the fountain.
Ace stayed on the balcony.
He watched Alex help Jade out of the water.
He had wanted to humiliate him.
To show everyone he was weak.
But as he watched Jade cling to Alex’s cloak, his head bowed, something twisted in Ace’s stomach.
It didn’t feel like a victory.
It felt like he had just thrown a lit match into a room full of gunpowder.
And he had no idea what would explode first.