The capital came into view just before sunset.
The towers pierced the clouds. The flags danced like nothing had changed. The roads were polished, perfect, welcoming.
But Cael's chest felt tight.
He gripped the edge of the carriage window, eyes cold.
He didn't want to be here.
Not now.
Not ever.
⸻
The twins were beside him, dressed like dolls in royal silks—Viel leaning sleepily against his shoulder, Eryx resting his head in Cael's lap like he didn't care what the world thought.
They were unusually quiet.
Even they could feel it.
The shift in the air.
The weight of the city.
But Cael's thoughts were elsewhere.
⸻
He wasn't afraid of the nobles.
Not really.
Not the court, not the whispers, not the masks.
What haunted him was the memory of the person he didn't want to see.
And the possibility that he might be there.
Watching.
Waiting.
⸻
The carriage rolled over the cobbled stones.
Cael stared out the window, jaw tight beneath the mask he wore.
His voice was gone, tucked away behind the disguise of a mute knight.
But his mind—his mind was loud.
⸻
Rowan.
He hadn't said that name in two years.
Not since he ran.
Not since he stopped looking back.
But the name lived in his chest like a second heartbeat.
He told the twins his brother was dead.
Maybe it was easier that way.
⸻
He hated the palace.
Even before he left.
He had friends here. The crown prince, Aurelian—soft-spoken and kind, a boy who treated him like an equal even when others sneered.
But not even that was enough.
Because every corridor reminded him of Rowan.
Of warm smiles and soft hands helping him up when he fell.
Of stolen books, shared sweets, lazy afternoons where Cael would fall asleep with his head in his brother's lap.
Of being loved.
And never realizing how deeply twisted that love truly was.
⸻
He didn't want to remember.
Didn't want to risk being seen.
The mask on his face felt heavier than armor.
I'm not here for him.
I'm here for them.
He looked down at Viel, whose breath was slow and warm against his arm, and Eryx, whose fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of Cael's cloak.
I'm here because they need me.
And once the ball is over, I'll disappear again.
⸻
Because if Rowan saw him—
If Rowan recognized him—
There wouldn't be anywhere left to run.
"Before we go in," Cael said, tightening his mask and triple-checking Viel's buttons like a nervous mother, "I need you two to do something for me."
The twins stared at him.
"Call me by a different name. Just while we're in the capital."
"Why?" Eryx asked suspiciously.
"Because I said so," Cael muttered.
"That's not a reason," Viel said.
Cael sighed. "Fine. It's for safety. If someone hears my name, things might... get messy."
"What name then?" Eryx asked, arms crossed.
"...Finn."
There was a silence.
Eryx blinked. "You look like a Finn."
"Exactly."
"You look like a lost traveler named Finn who sells soup from a cart."
"I—what—okay, shut up."
Viel nodded seriously. "Finn the Soup Man."
"Why are you like this."
⸻
They arrived a day before the palace summons.
Instead of checking into their rooms like sane people, Cael made the mistake of saying: "Let's walk around the city for a bit."
The twins' eyes lit up like demons released into the mortal world.
That's when the chaos began.
⸻
It started with Eryx trying to challenge a street magician to a duel after he pulled a coin out of Cael's ear.
"He's a witch," Eryx declared.
"He's a man with pockets," Cael deadpanned.
"I will destroy him."
⸻
Viel saw a child with a balloon and wanted one. He didn't ask—he stared. The child burst into tears and gave it to him out of fear.
Cael tried to apologize.
Viel just looked smug, holding the balloon like a trophy.
⸻
At the food stalls, things got worse.
Eryx pointed at everything. "One of those. Two of that. That thing. I don't care what it is. I want it."
"We don't have that kind of money," Cael hissed.
"We're royalty."
"I'm not!"
"You're our nanny. That's worse. You should be feeding us."
Cael considered walking into traffic.
⸻
Viel became obsessed with cotton candy. He got it stuck in his hair. In Cael's hair. Eryx tried to use it as a weapon.
At one point, Cael turned around and found them feeding a stray dog while giving it a full backstory.
"This is now our son," Viel said solemnly.
"We're naming him General Pudding."
"Please don't."
⸻
They found a street performance where a man balanced on barrels.
Eryx loudly critiqued his posture and almost joined him before Cael grabbed him by the back of the collar like an angry father dragging his child out of a fountain.
"You're not allowed to do tricks in public."
"Says who?"
"Says me, Finn the Soup Man."
"I knew you'd embrace it."
Lord please have mercy,I feel so exhausted.
⸻
And yet, through the chaos, the noise, the laughter that should've driven him mad—
Cael smiled.
Because the twins weren't threatening anyone.
They weren't hiding behind knives or silence.
They were just... being boys.
Real boys.
Running, tripping, pointing, laughing, smiling.
No masks. No curses. No blood.
Just sugar, noise, and balloon theft.
There was a fountain in the square. Children playing. No guards. No whispers.
Just wind and sunlight.
Cael sat on the edge of the stone and watched as Eryx and Viel splashed each other, pretending they weren't royalty, pretending they weren't dangerous.
Pretending they were just two boys.
Laughing.
Alive.
And when Viel came running back with soaked sleeves and sparkling eyes, he leaned into Cael's side without a word.
"Today was fun," he whispered.
Eryx flopped beside them, breathless. "Best day ever."
Cael smiled behind his mask.
And whispered back,
"One day like this... is enough."