Chapter 27: The Circle Closes
The Crown Prince had arrived.
Sirius Alaric of Palatine.
He didn’t need an introduction. Everyone in the Capital knew that face—sharpened by birthright, war-forged by responsibility, and tempered by a charisma so cool it could cut. Brown hair slicked back with precision. Blue eyes like cold fire. His presence commanded silence the way generals command armies.
He strode past the nobles and courtiers without glancing at a single one, cutting through the sea of wealth and power like it was air. The whispers died the moment his shadow passed.
And then he was in front of them.
Sirius Alaric—Crown Prince of Palatine—stopped not at Lucas, but at Lucius, his gaze sharp and narrowing like a blade turned on its edge.
"You were supposed to wait for me."
Lucius didn’t blink. He offered the most innocent expression he could conjure, all bright-eyed arrogance wrapped in too-clean lines.
"I did. You were late."
Sirius’s voice dropped half a note.
"You arrived two hours early. Don’t lie to me."
Lucius tilted his head, lips twitching at the corners.