Julian finally reached the doors of the Sunburst Pavilion. Two guards pulled them open, revealing the Emperor and the Duke already seated. The air in the room was thick enough to choke on, and Julian gulped.

One thing he was sure of was that his veil of the Commoner was useless to the Emperor. After all, for whatever amusing or threatening reason... The Emperor was interested in looking for him, using whatever reason available.

So even if he faded into the background, it was useless in the presence of the Emperor.

Aurelian was leaning back, swirling a glass of blood-orange juice, looking like a lion waiting for a reason to bite. Opposite him, Alaric looked like he hadn’t slept a second.

But even with that tired look in his eyes, he still seemed the most imposing in the room after the Emperor.

Then, his blue eyes snapped to Julian the moment he entered, filled with such a mess of guilt and longing that Julian almost turned around and ran. But there was no denying the momentary spark that ignited in Julian’s heart.

This was what made the room seem even harder to breathe in, but it was only for these two.

The Emperor caught on to Julian’s presence the moment he felt a shift in Duke Alaric’s gaze, and so he turned.

"Ah, Master Astrea," the Emperor purred, his golden eyes scanning Julian from head to toe. "You look quite pale. Did the excitement of the night keep you from your rest as well?"

"Ah, not at all, your majesty," he answered as he bowed his head. "Greetings to the Sun of the Empire."

"Yes, just take a seat. Let’s not waste the morning on pleasantries." The Emperor said, waving his hand as if the greeting didn’t matter between them.

But it made Julian feel even more uneasy.

He spotted the empty spot next to Young Lucius, who was waiting for him to come sit.

He sat down and smiled at Lucius.

"Did you have a good night’s rest?" He asked the young Lord, who nodded with an excited glow in his eyes. Julian smiled meekly, feeling that at least one of them got a pleasant sleep.

He would very much like to converse with the young Lord, but how could he do that with the Emperor peering at him with such intense stares?

His golden eyes seemed to be questioning him, but the content of the question was very unknown to Julian.

He would very much prefer it if the Emperor asked outright rather than just stared at him.

And then there was the Duke, stealing glances at him, again. But the moment Julian turned his head to look at him, he would turn his head away as swiftly as a python.

He wasn’t fooling anyone with that act, though. It was clear to the Emperor that something had transpired between them, but he just didn’t know what.

"Did you enjoy your night stroll?" The Emperor suddenly asked, and the fork he just barely managed to hold slipped from his hand and fell onto the plate with a sharp clank.

"Pardon, your majesty?" He looked at the Emperor, who was smiling, hiding whatever hideous thoughts he had behind that golden smile.

"You know the stroll. I got word that the Duke and his son’s tutor were taking a stroll in my garden. Well, did you enjoy it?"

Julian’s heart began to race, hammering uncontrollably as he thought of this as a trap question.

Why would the Emperor ask otherwise?

The maids came in to change the fork that had fallen, and Julian decided to stay calm; if not, he’d be giving the Emperor the reaction he wanted to see.

But just before he opened his mouth to speak, the Duke did,

"Astrea has problems sleeping in new places." He said, which took Julian and the Emperor by surprise.

This time, he wasn’t just sitting there and letting the questioning go on; he was answering them.

"I took him to take a stroll so he’d be able to relax."

The Emperor, short of words and maybe short of a reason to keep smiling, had a dark expression to mask his smiling face.

"That’s... surprising." He said and brought his gaze back to Julian. "I didn’t know you knew your son’s tutor so closely. It almost makes me jealous, brother."

"There’s nothing to be jealous about." The Duke added, finally lifting his gaze to meet Aurelian’s golden eyes. "You and I both did a lot in that garden anyway."

"Yes, and that’s why it’s even more surprising." The Emperor said, forcing a laugh that couldn’t fool Julian’s ears. "It’s because you took him to a place we had so many memories, it almost feels like you took him to our secret spot." He laughed, but his eyes grew even darker as he glanced at Julian. "It’s... unpleasant."

The Duke looked at his brother, knowing the kind of obsession this man had had for years and why he ran from it before it got too dire.

He didn’t want Julian to be caught up in one of the Emperor’s accidents, so before the Emperor thinks of Julian as just his son’s tutor and goes ’oh, well, we can always get a new tutor,’ he just laid it bare that Julian meant more than just a tutor.

Even if that meant putting Julian under the Emperor’s watchful eyes.

Finally, he turned to look at Julian, who had his gaze down. He was confused and a bit concerned.

The way the Emperor looked at him, the darkness in his eyes was already a danger sign, but above all, the way the Duke spoke on his behalf for the first time.

He was both thankful and both regretful. He thanked the Duke for going through the trouble so he wouldn’t have to do it himself, but then again, he just caused the misunderstanding to fester with the Emperor even more.

How was he going to wish for absolutely no problems during his stay in the Capital when he had landed himself in the biggest trouble of all? Becoming the Emperor’s supposed rival.

’I’m not stealing his brother’s love, but I’m sure the Emperor sees it like this. He’ll see me as a threat from now on.’ Julian thought, wishing the ground could just open up and swallow him. ’I hope I won’t get into an accident."

He pursed his lips and looked up again, to find the Emperor now talking to his brother again and paying him no mind.

He let out a little huff, but it was nothing compared to the weight in his chest.

Just where did it all go wrong?