The east garden was Sareth's favorite spot in the entire manor. Not for its beauty, although the wild-growing flowers near the fountain had a certain messy charm, but because no one else came here. It was forgotten. Ignored.
Like him.
But today, that forgotten corner felt different. Because Carmen was there.
"Do you see this one?" Carmen knelt beside a small flower with purple petals.
"It's a Midnight Star. It only blooms in autumn and smells different depending on the time of day."
Sareth knelt beside her, keeping a respectful distance.
"I didn't know that."
"Most people don't," Carmen smiled, that small gesture that made something warm bloom in Sareth's chest.
"That's why I like it. It's special without shouting that it is."
'Like you,' Sareth thought, but the words got stuck in his throat.
They sat on the stone bench near the fountain. The water dripped constantly, a tranquil rhythm that filled the comfortable silences between them. Carmen had a book on botany in her lap, but she hadn't opened it. She just looked at the garden, occasionally pointing out a plant and sharing a fact she had learned. Sareth listened to her, but more than that, he observed her. The way she frowned slightly when she thought. How she bit her lower lip before saying something she considered important. The lock of hair that always escaped her braid and fell over her face.
"Sareth," Carmen said softly, turning towards him.
"You know? Yesterday, after talking with you, I felt..."
"What?" Sareth asked, his heart quickening.
Carmen blushed slightly, lowering her gaze.
"Different. Like... like I mattered."
"You always matter," Sareth replied, the sincerity making his voice sound stronger than usual.
Carmen looked up, her brown eyes finding his.
"To you. But that..." a shy smile.
"That's enough."
Their hands rested on the bench, separated by barely a finger's distance. Sareth felt the warmth emanating from Carmen's skin, the temptation to close that small gap.
'Just do it. Just...'
"There you are."
The voice cut the moment like a knife.
Sareth turned sharply. Cedric Drayvar was approaching on the stone path, with confident bearing and an arrogant smile. He was older than Sareth, taller, stronger. Second-Layer Apprentice. Everything Sareth was not.
"I've been looking for you," Cedric said, but his eyes were not on Sareth. They were fixed on Carmen.
Carmen tensed slightly.
"Lord Cedric? I don't..."
"Come with me," Cedric stopped in front of them, completely ignoring Sareth.
"I need you to help me with some texts in the north library. About Aether cultivation. Your grandmother says you're good with those things."
"But I'm..." Carmen looked at Sareth, seeking help.
"It's not a request."
Cedric reached out, grabbing Carmen's arm firmly. Not brutally, but with enough pressure to make it clear he expected obedience. Sareth stood up so quickly he almost tripped.
"Wait, she's with me."
Cedric finally looked at him. Truly looked at him. And in his eyes, Sareth saw something worse than contempt. He saw... nothing. As if Sareth was so insignificant he barely deserved recognition.
"Excuse me?" Cedric said, his tone polite but tinged with mockery.
"Carmen is with me," Sareth repeated, his voice trembling but determined.
"We were talking."
Cedric let out a short laugh.
"And? You don't need her for anything important, do you? You were just... sitting."
"Let her go."
The word came out before Sareth could think. It sounded stronger than he intended. More defiant. Cedric raised an eyebrow.
"Or what, Sareth the Weak? What are you going to do?"
The nickname. The damned nickname everyone used. That everyone knew.
"Let her go," Sareth repeated, stepping forward.
"Make me."
Sareth grabbed Cedric's wrist, trying to separate him from Carmen. He put all his strength into the grip, all his weight. It was useless. Cedric didn't even move. He just looked at him with something between amusement and irritation.
"Sareth, no..." Carmen began, frightened now.
Cedric shoved.
It wasn't a punch. He didn't even use his Aether. Just a casual shove, like someone brushing aside an annoying branch. But Sareth didn't have the strength to resist it. He stumbled backward, his feet tangling. He fell, his back hitting the stone ground with an impact that stole the air from his lungs.
"Stay down," Cedric said, his voice bored.
Sareth gasped, trying to catch his breath. His hands trembled as he pushed off the ground, trying to stand up.
"I told you to stay down."
Cedric's foot slammed into his side. Pain. Sharp and explosive. Sareth doubled over, falling onto his side, a muffled cry escaping his throat.
"Cedric, stop!" Carmen's voice sounded distant, muffled by the ringing in Sareth's ears.
"That's enough," Cedric said, pulling Carmen away.
"Let's go."
Sareth looked up, the world blurry from the involuntary tears of pain. He saw Cedric dragging Carmen down the path. He saw Carmen looking back, her eyes wide and scared. Begging for help.
'Get up. Get up. GET UP.'
His hands scraped the stone. He tried to get to his knees. His side screamed in protest.
"Please..." he whispered, but his voice reached no one.
And then they were gone. They disappeared behind the hedge, leaving only the sound of the fountain and Sareth's labored breathing. Alone. On the ground. Impotent.
"Cedric."
The voice cut the air like a drawn sword.
Sareth, still trying to get up, turned his head. Through his blurry vision, he saw a tall figure approaching.
Rylan.
His older brother walked toward them with measured steps, his expression calm but his eyes... his eyes shone with something cold. Cedric stopped, immediately letting go of Carmen.
"Rylan, this isn't what..."
"Let her go."
It wasn't a suggestion. It was an absolute command. Cedric took a step back, raising his hands.
"I was just asking for help with..."
"Lie," Rylan stopped a few feet away. His electric blue Aether began to glow faintly around his hands, small sparks dancing between his fingers.
"I saw what you did to Sareth."
"He attacked me first..."
"He attacked you?" Rylan let out a humorless laugh.
"A boy with weak Aether attacked a Second-Layer Apprentice. And you responded by kicking him while he was on the ground."
Cedric paled.
"I didn't..."
Rylan took another step forward. His aura pressured the air, making it difficult to breathe even for Sareth several meters away.
"You struck a member of the main family," Rylan's voice was soft now. Dangerously soft.
"My brother."
His hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
"If you ever touch anyone in my family again, or anyone under our protection..." Rylan paused, his eyes piercing Cedric's.
"I will cut off your head myself. Understood?"
Cedric nodded so fast it seemed his head would detach.
"Yes. Yes, Lord. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"Go."
Cedric practically ran, his hurried footsteps echoing on the stone path until he disappeared. Rylan sighed, his aura fading. He turned towards Carmen, his expression immediately softening.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice gentle now.
Carmen, still trembling, nodded.
"Yes, I... thank you, Lord Rylan."
"Just Rylan is fine."
He smiled, that easy gesture that made everything seem less terrible.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No, but Sareth..." Carmen looked toward where Sareth was still on the ground.
"Brother," Rylan walked toward Sareth, extending a hand.
"Get up."
Sareth looked at the hand. Strong. Firm. Capable. Everything he was not. He took Rylan's hand. His brother lifted him up without apparent effort, as if Sareth weighed nothing.
"I... I tried..." Sareth began, his voice cracking.
"I know," Rylan clapped him on the shoulder. It wasn't cruel, but there was something in the gesture. Something that felt like... condescension.
"But it's resolved now."
'Resolved. Because you resolved it. Because I couldn't.'
Rylan turned towards Carmen.
"Come. I'll walk you back. Let's make sure you're alright."
Carmen looked at Sareth, hesitating.
"Sareth needs to rest," Rylan continued, his smile still present.
"That blow looked painful. Right, brother?"
It wasn't a real question.
"Will you be alright?" Carmen asked Sareth, her eyes worried.
Sareth forced a smile. It hurt more than his side.
"Yes. Go."
And Carmen left. With Rylan. Walking side by side down the path Cedric had taken. Rylan said something. Sareth couldn't hear what, but Carmen let out a soft laugh.
Sareth was left alone in the garden. In the same place where he had fallen. Where he had been useless. The sound of the fountain continued, indifferent. The world kept turning. And Sareth... Sareth just stayed there, watching his brother take away the only thing that mattered to him.
He didn't know how long he had walked. His legs automatically carried him away from the garden, away from the main manor. He ended up behind the stables, in a corner where old wood blocked the view of the rest of the world. He slumped against the wall. The pain in his side had subsided to a constant throb, but the pain in his chest...
The tears came before he could stop them. Silent at first. Just wet trails on his cheeks that he tried to wipe away with trembling hands. But they didn't stop. They turned into sobs. Choppy and shameful, but impossible to hold back.
'I couldn't protect her. I couldn't even get up.'
'And Rylan... Rylan saved her. Of course he did.'
'Because he is strong. Because he matters.'
'And I... I am nothing.'
"Sareth?"
The voice made him jump. He tried to wipe his tears quickly, but it was too late. Lyssara was standing a few feet away, still in her training clothes. Her hair was tied back in a practical ponytail and there was dirt on her cheeks. She must have been returning from the courtyard.
For a moment, she just looked at him. Her expression was... difficult to read. Then, to Sareth's surprise, she approached. Not quickly. Not with enthusiasm. But she approached and sat on the ground beside him, maintaining a respectful space between them.
"I'm fine," Sareth lied, his voice hoarse.
"Clearly not."
Silence. The kind Lyssara always left waiting, observing.
"What happened?" she finally asked.
And Sareth told her. Between sobs he tried to repress and miserable failures. He told her about the garden, about Carmen, about Cedric. The blow. His helplessness. Rylan arriving like the perfect hero. Carmen leaving with him. Lyssara listened without interrupting. When Sareth finished, she remained silent for a long moment.
'Rylan,' Lyssara thought. 'Of course.'
It hadn't been with cruelty. He probably hadn't even realized what he was doing. Rylan simply... was like that. The natural hero. The one who saved the day. The one who earned gratitude and, eventually, much more.
'And Sareth loses the only thing he had.'
"Sareth..." Lyssara began, then stopped.
What could she say? That Cedric was stronger and that's how the world worked? That Rylan hadn't technically done anything wrong? That Carmen was human and would naturally be drawn to the power that protected her? All those things were true. And all of them were cruel.
"It wasn't your fault," she finally said. The words sounded inadequate even as she said them.
"Cedric is stronger. It's... that's how the world works."
Sareth let out a bitter laugh.
"So I'll always lose? Because I'm weak?"
Lyssara closed her eyes briefly.
'Yes.'
But she couldn't say that.
"Yes," she said anyway, because lying wouldn't help.
"Unless you find another way to be strong."
"There is no other way."
"There is always another way," Lyssara stood up, dusting off her clothes.
"You just have to be willing to pay the price."
She didn't wait for an answer. She walked away, leaving Sareth with his thoughts and the echo of her words.
'Another way to be strong.'
But Sareth couldn't see any. He only saw the garden. Carmen looking back. Rylan smiling. And himself. On the ground. Where he belonged.
Lyssara found Rylan in the hallway outside his room. He was in a good mood, whistling a tune as he opened his door.
"Are you amused?" Lyssara asked, her voice cutting the air.
Rylan turned, surprised.
"Lyssara? What...?"
"Are you amused by stealing Sareth's girl?"
Rylan blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Carmen. You walked her back. You made her laugh. You played the hero."
"I just... helped her," Rylan frowned, genuinely confused.
"Cedric was being an idiot."
"And you didn't notice Sareth was with her? That he tried to defend her?"
Rylan paused. Something crossed his face, understanding, perhaps discomfort.
"He... Sareth can't..."
"Can't what? Protect her? Be enough? Exactly," Lyssara crossed her arms.
"That is exactly why you shouldn't have done it."
"What was I supposed to do? Leave him lying there? Let Carmen be dragged away?" there was defensiveness in Rylan's voice now.
"You could have helped him and left him with her. But no. You took her away."
"I didn't 'take her away'," Rylan became irritated.
"I just walked her to a safe place."
"And you made her laugh."
"And that's a crime now?"
Lyssara studied him. Her older brother, so sure of himself, so used to being the hero that he didn't even see the collateral damage he left behind.
"You don't even realize it, do you?" she said softly.
"How easy it is for you. You smile, you use your strength, and people follow you."
"I'm not trying to..."
"I know. That's the worst part. You didn't do it maliciously. You're just... you," Lyssara paused.
"Sareth lost the only thing he had today. And you didn't even notice."
Rylan was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was tired.
"Lyssara, I don't know what you want me to say. I helped my brother. I protected a servant."
"No," Lyssara shook her head.
"You saved the day. As always."
There was something in her tone, not exactly accusation, but close. Rylan sighed, opening his door.
"I'm tired. If you've finished accusing me of... whatever this is, I have to sleep."
"Rylan."
He stopped in the doorway, but didn't turn around.
"Sareth is broken. And you don't even see it."
A long silence.
"I'll talk to him tomorrow."
He went in and closed the door. Lyssara remained in the empty hallway, looking at the dark wood.
'You won't. Or if you do, it will be worse.'
'Because Rylan doesn't understand what it's like to be invisible.'
'And Sareth... Sareth just learned the most brutal lesson.'
'In this world, weakness costs you everything.'
She walked away, her steps echoing on the cold stone. Somewhere in the manor, Sareth was alone with his pain. And Lyssara didn't know if that would completely break him. Or if it would forge him into something more dangerous.
Sareth lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room. The candle on his desk had burned out an hour ago, leaving him in darkness. His side throbbed with every breath. Bruises were forming; he could feel the sensitive skin even without touching it. But the physical pain was nothing.
'Carmen. She left with Rylan.'
'Of course she did. Why would she choose the weak when the strong is there?'
'Kael abandoned me for power.'
'Carmen will abandon me for safety.'
'Lyssara is right.'
A single tear fell, rolling down his temple to the pillow. The last one. Something in his chest hardened. Like metal cooling after fire.
'I will always lose. Because I am weak.'
He closed his eyes.
'And in this world... the weak deserve nothing.'
Sleep finally came, heavy and unrestful. And in his dreams, he saw gardens where he couldn't reach the flowers. And brothers who shone like suns. And himself, always on the ground, always looking up.
Always alone.