Chapter 514: It’s good to be on the winning side.
The silence that settled after Kael’s last words wasn’t heavy, nor charged with tension as before. It was a different kind of silence—stable, almost comfortable, as if they had just aligned something essential without needing to discuss more than necessary. The room remained enveloped in that controlled twilight, the walls absorbing any sound, any excess, while the world outside continued... attentive. But inside, for a few moments, everything seemed reduced to just two perfectly synchronized points of consciousness.
Exelia was the first to break the silence, though not with immediate words. Her eyes met Kael’s directly, without deviation, without disguise. There was no questioning there, no doubt—only a shared understanding, built not only by what had been said, but by what they both already knew even before verbalizing it. The slight smile that appeared on her lips wasn’t provocative, nor cruel. It was... satisfied.
"So..." she began, tilting her head slightly, keeping her gaze on him. "We have the entire kingdom in our hands."
Kael held her gaze for a brief moment, as if considering the phrase not for its impact, but for its precision. Then he shrugged lightly, almost nonchalantly, as if it were just another detail within something larger.
"Yes," he replied naturally. "It’s good to be on the side that always wins."
The way he said it carried no arrogance.
Nor pride.
It was simply... an observation.
Exelia let out a small laugh through her nose, averting her gaze for a moment as she crossed her arms again, walking a few steps across the room before stopping near one of the walls. Her fingers lightly touched the cold surface of the stone, as if she felt the structure, the weight of that place, while organizing her own thoughts.
"With this..." she continued, turning her face slightly back to him, "we can simply do whatever we want."
Kael didn’t answer immediately. His eyes moved slowly around the room once more, as if assessing not the room itself, but everything it represented—the castle, the kingdom, the presences outside, the invisible hierarchy that underpinned it all.
"You can," he said finally.
A brief pause.
But a significant one.
"But that doesn’t mean you should."
Exelia raised an eyebrow slightly, curious.
Kael slowly uncrossed his arms, moving away from the wall he was leaning against, walking a few steps across the space before stopping near the center of the room. His posture remained relaxed, but there was something more present now—a more focused, less scattered approach.
"The vampires..." he began calmly, "are not the main problem."
Exelia didn’t interrupt.
She simply observed.
"Attacking everything indiscriminately..." he continued, "...would be a waste."
His eyes lifted slightly, as if looking beyond the walls. "The problem is at the top."
A brief pause.
"The King."
Another.
"And who’s behind him."
Exelia narrowed her eyes slightly, absorbing it quickly.
"Manipulation?" she asked.
Kael gave a slight, wry smile.
"Or something worse."
Silence returned for a moment, but now heavy with analysis.
"Whatever it is," he continued, "if necessary..."
His eyes returned to her.
"...I won’t hesitate."
The sentence wasn’t laden with emotion.
Nor with threat.
It was simple.
Direct.
Definitive.
"If I have to plunge this entire kingdom into death..." he finished, "...I will."
Exelia held his gaze for a few seconds.
And then... she smiled.
There was no shock.
No hesitation.
Just agreement.
"In the end..." she said, slowly uncrossing her arms, "...it’s always been this way."
She took a few steps toward him, stopping at a comfortable distance.
"No matter how much they try to complicate it," she continued, her voice soft but firm, "it all comes down to one thing."
Her eyes gleamed slightly.
"Power."
A pause.
"The strongest rules."
Another.
"And always will."
Kael tilted his head slightly.
Agreeing.
"Fortunately..." he said, with a slight smile, "...we’re on the stronger side."
Exelia chuckled softly, shaking her head.
"Without a doubt."
The silence that followed wasn’t empty.
It was... stable.
As if everything was, finally, in its right place.
But it didn’t last long.
Because there was movement outside.
Footsteps.
Controlled.
Measured.
The door to the room opened gently, unhurriedly, revealing a figure that contrasted sharply with everything they had faced until then. A man of impeccable posture, wearing perfectly tailored formal attire, a neutral expression, almost impossible to read. His movements were precise, calculated, but without any trace of tension.
A butler.
He entered just far enough to position himself within the room, closing the door behind him with the same care with which he had opened it. His eyes swept quickly over the two, not intrusively, but assessingly, like someone accustomed to dealing with presences that demanded... attention.
Then he inclined his head slightly.
A respectful gesture.
"I imagine the journey has been... long," he said, his voice calm, perfectly controlled.
Exelia did not respond.
She merely observed.
Kael also remained silent, allowing him to continue.
"The King is aware of your arrival," the butler continued, maintaining a neutral tone. "However, considering the time..."
A brief pause.
"...it was decided that it would be more appropriate for you to rest before any formal audience."
Exelia inclined her head slightly, but did not interrupt.
"A room has been prepared," he continued. "Bath, suitable accommodations... everything is already at your disposal."
His eyes briefly shifted between the two.
"The audience with His Majesty will take place in the morning, during breakfast."
Silence.
There was no imposition.
Nor a request.
Just... organization.
Kael observed the man for a few seconds, as if analyzing not only what he said, but how he said it. There was discipline there. Training. But also something more subtle—a clear awareness of who he was speaking to.
"Convenient," Kael murmured, with a slight touch of irony.
The butler didn’t react.
Or, if he did, he didn’t show it.
"Our goal is to ensure you are... comfortable," he replied, with the same neutrality.
Exelia let out a small chuckle, crossing her arms again.
"Of course it is."
The butler ignored the tone.
Or perhaps he simply didn’t consider it relevant.
"If you’ll allow me," he said, taking a small step to the side, indicating the exit, "I can guide you to your chambers."
Kael exchanged a brief glance with Exelia.
One of those quick glances.
But full of understanding.
Then he shrugged.
"Why not?" he replied.
Exelia didn’t protest.
She merely nodded slightly.
"Let’s see what they’ve prepared."
The butler inclined his head again, satisfied with the answer, and turned with precise movements, opening the door and beginning his way through the castle corridors.
Kael began to follow him.
Exelia beside him.
And, as they walked, the silence returned—but not as before.
Now, there was something clearer.
A defined line.
They were no longer just entering the kingdom.
They were already inside.
And in the morning...
The real game would begin.
The silence that followed that conclusion wasn’t uncomfortable. Quite the opposite—it was the kind of charged quiet that arises when two people reach the same understanding without needing to extend the subject beyond what’s necessary. Kael and Exelia exchanged a brief, almost casual glance, but there was something there that went beyond complicity. It wasn’t just alignment of thought. It was shared certainty.
They held the entire kingdom in their hands.
Not as an assumption.
Not as an empty threat.
But as a fact.
Kael shrugged lightly, as if it carried no weight, as if he were commenting on something trivial, almost boring within the scale of things he had already experienced.
"It’s good to be on the winning side."
The sentence came out without exaggerated arrogance. There was no need for that. The kind of confidence he carried didn’t need to be forcefully asserted—it simply existed.
Exelia observed this for a moment, and then a small smile appeared on her lips, discreet, elegant, but laden with a very clear understanding of what it meant.
"With this..." she began, walking slowly through the space while lightly running her fingers along the surface of one of the walls, feeling the cold texture of the dark stone, "...we can simply do whatever we want."
There was no provocation in the way she said it.
It was... a statement of fact.
Kael tilted his head slightly, thoughtful for a brief moment, as if he were truly considering the extent of that freedom—not for the desire to use it indiscriminately, but for the strategic weight it carried.
"We can," he agreed.
A pause.
Short.
Sufficient.
"But we shouldn’t."
Exelia stopped.
She turned her face slightly toward him.
The smile was still there.
But now... there was interest.
"Don’t you want to antagonize?" she asked, in an almost curious tone, but without any judgment.
Kael let out a small sound through his nose, almost a suppressed laugh.
"Not unnecessarily."
He slightly uncrossed his arms, leaning more comfortably against one of the surfaces in the room, his gaze now more distant, as if he were seeing beyond that enclosed space, beyond that castle.
"The problem isn’t them."
The statement came simply.
Directly.
Exelia didn’t interrupt.
"It’s the king... or whoever is behind him," he continued, his tone remaining the same, but with a slight shift in focus. "Manipulation, control... whatever it is, it doesn’t matter much now."
His eyes returned to her.
Calm.
Precise.
"But if necessary..." he finished.
He didn’t finish the sentence.
It wasn’t necessary.
Exelia tilted her head slightly, her smile returning with a sharper edge this time.
"You throw them all to their deaths."
It wasn’t a question.
It was an understanding.
Kael merely held her gaze for a brief moment.
And then nodded.
Without hesitation.
Exelia let out a small, almost amused laugh, as if that answer was exactly what she expected—not just from him, but from the very logic of the world they lived in.
"In the end..." she murmured, crossing her arms slightly, "...it’s always the same thing."
She looked around for a moment, as if that entire castle were just another example of what she was saying.
"Power."
A pause.
"Whoever has more... rules."
Kael didn’t disagree.
He didn’t correct her.
He didn’t add anything.
He simply shrugged again.
"And it always has been."
Exelia looked back at him.
"And it always will be."
The silence that followed wasn’t empty.
It was... comfortable. Because there was nothing more to discuss there.
They understood.
And that was enough.
Kael tilted his head slightly, a small smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
"Fortunately..." he said, almost nonchalantly, "...we’re on the stronger side."
Exelia smiled.
This time, a little more openly.
"Yes."
And then—
A soft sound.
Controlled.
Three firm knocks on the door.
There was no urgency in them.
Nor hesitation.
It was the kind of practiced, precise knock that doesn’t ask permission... but also doesn’t invade.
Kael slowly shifted his gaze to the door.
Exelia was already looking.
"Come in."
His voice came out calm.
The door opened almost immediately, as if whoever was on the other side was already prepared for it.
And they were. A man entered.
Impeccable posture.
Smooth movements.
Formal, dark attire, perfectly aligned with the surrounding environment.
A butler.
But not only that.
There was something in the way he moved—precision, control, a total absence of unnecessary noise—that made it clear that this function was not merely decorative. He was trained. Observant. And, above all... aware of where he was.
His eyes scanned the room for a brief moment, quickly registering Kael and Exelia, before fixing directly on Kael.
He bowed slightly.
Formal respect.
Without exaggeration.
"Your Majesty."
The way he said it left no room for doubt.
He knew.
Kael didn’t respond immediately.
He only observed.
The butler then continued, in the same controlled and polite tone:
"The journey must have been long. Your stay has been prepared according to instructions."
A slight pause, just enough to maintain the rhythm of the speech.
"As it is late, Your Majesty, the King has requested that you rest tonight. An audience will be arranged in the morning."
Kael let out a small "hm," as if that were expected.
"Of course."
Simple.
Direct.
The butler inclined his head slightly again.
"If you will allow me, I will escort you."
Kael made a slight gesture with his hand.
Enough.
They began to move.
The path through the castle corridors was silent, but not empty. There was a presence in every corner, in every intersection, in every deeper shadow. They were not directly visible, but they were... perceptible. Constant observers, like a living extension of the structure itself.
The butler drove with absolute precision, choosing routes that avoided unnecessary encounters, maintaining a pace that didn’t demand haste, but also didn’t allow for detours.
Exelia walked beside Kael, her eyes as attentive as ever, but her posture remained relaxed, elegant, as if this environment were just another setting among many others.
After a few minutes, they arrived.
A double door.
More refined than the previous ones, but still within the austere aesthetic of the castle.
The butler stopped.
He turned.
And then opened the door with a fluid gesture.
"This will be your room, Your Majesty."
The space beyond was ample, well-structured, with quality furniture, soft lighting, and an environment carefully prepared for comfort—within the standards of that kingdom, of course.
Nothing exaggerated.
But... sufficient.
Kael entered without ceremony, his eyes scanning the space with a quick glance, assessing, registering.
Exelia followed close behind.
The butler then turned slightly toward her.
"Mademoiselle, I will escort you to your room—"
"No need."
The interruption was gentle.
But definitive.
Exelia turned her face slowly toward him, a gentle smile appearing on her lips—handsome, polite... and utterly dangerous.
"I’ll stay here."
A short pause.
The smile didn’t change.
But there was something behind it now.
Something clear.
Something impossible to ignore.
It wasn’t a request.
It wasn’t exactly a formal order.
But it was... enough.
The butler observed her for a brief moment.
A second.
Perhaps less.
And then—
He smiled.
Discreetly.
Controlled.
Like someone who perfectly understood the situation... and chose the right answer.
"Of course."
Without hesitation.
Without questioning.
Without error.
He inclined his head slightly once more, now to both of them.
"If you need anything, I’ll be at your disposal."
And then he turned.
And left.
The door closed softly behind him.
Silence returned.
But this time...
More intimate.
Exelia held the smile for another second before letting it slowly fade, walking a few steps into the room as if it were completely natural.
Kael observed this out of the corner of his eye.
And let out a small sigh through his nose.
Not surprised.
Not contrary.
Just... accepting.
Because, in the end—
That too... was expected.