The Reborn Sovereign of Ruin, Bound by His Star

Samuel and Ayla left shortly after breakfast for what the Imperial Academy called an experience exchange and what Samuel described as "being allowed to inspect everything adults normally tell us not to touch."

Liam had chosen not to ask for clarification.

The academy had assigned escorts, instructors, and enough security that even Arik had approved the visit without adding another six guards, which meant Liam had several unexpected hours without either sibling appearing in his office to ask questions about Nurian ether systems, imperial gossip, or whether Mezos had always looked annoyingly young for his age.

That should have made the morning peaceful.

Instead, Liam had Rubis.

More specifically, he had Rubis hiding something.

Liam noticed within twelve minutes.

They were sitting in one of the smaller administrative rooms attached to Liam’s office, where tall windows overlooked the western gardens and autumn sunlight reached across the long table in pale strips. Several trees below had already lost half their leaves, leaving the paths covered in rust-red and gold despite the gardeners clearing them every morning.

Rubis sat opposite Liam in a dark plum suit, one tablet open before him and another balanced against a stack of schedule reports. He had been unusually efficient even by his standards, which was the first problem.

The second was that he had avoided eye contact three times.

Liam set down his stylus.

"What happened?"

Rubis continued scrolling.

"Nothing."

"That was too fast."

"I am working."

"You are hiding something."

Rubis finally looked up.

"I am not."

Liam leaned back.

Rubis returned to the schedule.

That confirmed it.

Normally, Rubis would have responded with something sharper, probably involving Liam’s tendency to confuse curiosity with authority. Today he had merely denied it and moved on.

Suspicious.

Liam watched him for several seconds.

Rubis ignored him.

"You know," Liam said eventually, "Ayla had a crush on Mezos."

The stylus in Rubis’s hand stopped. Only for a fraction of a second. But it stopped.

Liam smiled.

Rubis resumed writing.

"I am aware that Lady Ayla found Chief Mezos attractive."

Liam’s smile widened.

"You are aware?"

"She announced it indirectly to half the sitting room."

"She did not announce it."

"She asked his age while staring at him as though she were assessing a purchase."

Liam laughed.

Rubis remained perfectly composed.

"She lost interest when he said he was almost forty."

"Sensible."

The answer came far too quickly.

Liam raised an eyebrow.

Rubis seemed to realize what he had done and deliberately moved one report from the left side of his tablet to the right.

Liam watched.

"How old are you again?"

Rubis looked up slowly.

"Old enough to know when I am being interrogated."

"So around Mezos’s age."

"Liam."

"What?"

"You have three foundation appointments requiring approval, an education grant waiting for your signature, and an election briefing at one."

"That did not answer the question."

"It was not intended to."

Liam rested his chin against one hand.

Rubis stared at him.

Neither moved.

Liam had suspected something for months.

Not because either man had ever said anything.

They were too careful for that.

But Mezos and Rubis had a particular way of existing near each other, comfortable in a manner that went beyond simple familiarity. Rubis complained about Mezos’s scheduling habits with the intimacy of someone who had been inconvenienced by them repeatedly. Mezos knew exactly which tea Rubis drank when he was irritated and which meetings would make him skip lunch. They disappeared from large dinners at approximately the same time often enough that Liam had eventually stopped assuming coincidence.

And once, months ago, Liam had entered an archive room and found Mezos leaning against Rubis’s desk while Rubis adjusted the collar of his uniform.

Neither had moved quickly.

That had been more suspicious than if they had.

Liam tapped one finger against the table.

"Mezos appreciated Ayla’s interest."

Rubis stiffened properly this time.

Liam almost admired the speed with which he recovered.

"Did he?"

"Yes."

Rubis’s eyes dropped back to his tablet.

"Chief Mezos is capable of appreciating attention without encouraging it."

Interesting answer.

Liam continued casually.

"He seemed flattered."

"Most people enjoy being called handsome."

"I didn’t call him handsome."

"Ayla’s expression did."

Liam smiled.

Rubis realized he had once again answered too much.

His mouth tightened.

"You are enjoying this."

"Immensely."

"You have too much free time."

"My siblings are at the academy."

"That explains the problem."

Liam ignored him.

"He told Ayla he was unavailable."

Rubis’s stylus stopped again.

This time he did not restart it immediately.

Liam waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Rubis looked up.

"He did?"

"Yes."

Liam let the silence sit just long enough to become uncomfortable.

Rubis’s expression remained neutral, but the stillness in his shoulders had changed. He was listening now rather than pretending not to care.

Liam folded his arms.

"He said he was taken."

Rubis said nothing.

Liam tilted his head.

"By whom?"

Rubis stared at him.

Liam stared back.

Then Rubis slowly placed the stylus on the table.

"I dislike you."

Liam smiled.

"That is not an answer."

"It is the only one you are getting."

"So there is someone."

"I said nothing of the sort."

"You did not need to."

Rubis leaned back in his chair.

"Arik is a terrible influence on you."

"I was nosy before Arik."

"That is unfortunately true."

Liam’s smile softened.

He was teasing, but there was no judgment beneath it.

Rubis seemed to understand that.

For a moment, the room quieted around them, filled only by the faint hum of the climate system and distant movement from the gardens beyond the windows.

Liam looked at him more carefully.

"You know I don’t care who it is."

Rubis’s expression changed slightly.

"I know."

"And if it is Mezos, I still don’t care."

Rubis exhaled through his nose.

"You are remarkably unsubtle."

"You two are remarkably obvious once someone notices."

"We are not obvious."

Liam laughed.

Rubis looked genuinely offended.

"Mezos knows which meetings make you forget lunch."

"That is because he works in the same palace."

"You keep spare gloves for him in your office."

"He loses them."

"You knew before anyone else that his father was moving to Nuria."

Rubis went quiet.

Liam lifted one eyebrow.

Rubis picked up his stylus again.

"That proves nothing."

"It proves enough."

"You sound like Severin investigating financial fraud."

"I spend too much time around him."

Rubis began working again.

Liam allowed him three lines of silence.

Then asked, "How long?"

Rubis stopped writing.

Slowly, very slowly, he looked up.

Liam smiled sweetly.

Rubis closed his tablet.

"We are done for the morning."

"No, we are not."

"We absolutely are."

"You cannot cancel my schedule because I asked one question."

"I can reorganize it."

"That sounds suspiciously familiar."

Rubis stood and gathered his files.

Liam watched him.

"You are not denying it."

Rubis tucked the tablet beneath one arm.

"You should prepare for your election briefing."

"Rubis."

The man stopped at the door.

Liam grinned.

"Tell Mezos I said Ayla really did lose interest."

Rubis’s eyes narrowed.

Then, despite himself, the corner of his mouth lifted.

"I am sure he will be devastated."

He left before Liam could answer.

Liam sat alone for several seconds.

Then he laughed.

Definitely Mezos.