Chapter 35: Behind All the Bad Things in a Story, There’s Always a Villain

Sebastian ignored the pointed look Galien pinned him with as he kept saying he was fine. “I believe you have an important task to do. And no, I don’t mean visiting your lover who also happens to be my concubine in his quarters right under my nose. It’s tacky even for someone like you.” Insulting and hurting Galien’s feelings had worked before, and it had to work now. They were all running out of time.

“A concubine you don’t care to bed, and a chosen that belongs to someone else. My-my, how the mighty have fallen,” Galien taunted him, but only with his tongue. His eyes were shadowed by worry.

He had always known there was much more about Galien than what everyone thought they knew. Fiana’s son was thought to be nothing more than a rake interested in succumbing to life’s debaucheries in all shapes possible, but Sebastian was much aware that was nothing but a façade. Just as he had suspected that the fire goddess must have bestowed at least some of her magic on her son, he knew that Galien was a lot more than met the eye.

Even in his annoying attempts to convince Sebastian to marry Pepin for the sake of the kingdom, he still believed that he was doing the right thing, and not for Ifigia, but its prince. Of course, things had changed, astounding adventures had happened, and now their whole world was upside down.

“Someone has to care about doing the right thing,” Sebastian insisted, one hand on the doorknob. The pain inside his chest was throbbing slightly now, not as acute and surprising as before, but still there as a warning.

As much as that signaled that the time he had to send Milo, Kai, and Tani back to their world was getting shorter and shorter, it also gave him something to work with. The wielder of that dark magic that was now trying to carve a tomb inside his chest had to be somewhere near. One thing Sebastian had learned about Uxilan was that they needed to be close for their magic to reach its peak.

Pepin could be right in his assumptions, after all, as circumstantial as they might be. Sebastian had someone to confront and not a moment too soon, which meant that he needed to get rid of Galien and send everyone to safety.

“Conrad,” he said sharply, “please escort Sir Galien to my quarters so that he can take his companions and head back to his palace.”

For a moment of silence, he expected the captured prince to protest against being treated as a mere guard, but nothing of the kind followed.

“That will be my pleasure, Your Majesty,” Conrad replied.

“How can you be so cruel?” Galien pleaded as Conrad grabbed his arm. “Do you even realize what risks I’m taking just to see you?”

Despite the flaring pain in his chest, Sebastian examined the two other men in the room with curiosity. The look in Conrad’s eyes wasn’t the fierce one he had known. When the fallen prince looked at Galien, he appeared slightly amused and just a tad confused. And Galien dropped all pretenses, and his eyes were filled with shameless adoration.

Under any other circumstances, Sebastian would have found himself in his rights to let out at least a low chuckle. Galien was guilty of changing lovers in the same reckless manner as he was – no, that had been before Milo, and it would never repeat – but, on the other hand, Conrad was just as famous for leaving broken hearts behind him, discarded like useless little trinkets.

He closed one hand over his chest. “If it is your pleasure, then please do not dally,” he said and opened the door.

He knew he could count on Galien to do the right thing. Now, it was his turn.

“I cannot believe he locked us in here like this,” Tani said while they took it upon themselves to scout through Sebastian’s things for anything that could be used to free them from the royal quarters. “I know. We should think like we’re in an escape room situation.”

“What’s an escape room?” Pepin asked.

“Some silly entertainment from my world,” Kai said with importance.

Both Tani and Milo snickered. “Silly entertainment? Do you hear him talking? It’s like he’s trying to cosplay Sebastian,” his sister said.

“Hey, I’ve been doing it for weeks now. I know what I’m doing,” Kai warned them. “And really, guys, do you want Pepin to think that I’m really that useless?”

“How are we doing that?” Milo asked. “And I think your boyfriend likes you anyway.”

Kai stole a glance at Pepin, who blushed slightly and then looked at him while biting his bottom lip. Gosh, something was melting like ice cream right in the middle of his chest, only that it wasn’t cold but warm.

“Does boyfriend mean lover?” Pepin questioned, his blush never going away.

“Yes,” Kai said promptly. “And I need to find a way to get us out of here, and then another to take you with us.”

“But didn’t you say--” smart-mouth Tani started.

“Shut up,” Kai cut her words short. “I got here, you two got here, and we have no place in this world. I mean, not normally. And Sebastian got to travel to our world. Who says we cannot take Pepin with us?” He set his chin high and crossed his arms while examining everyone just to see who had the guts to challenge him.

“No one,” Milo replied and put his hands up. “But still, aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? What do we even know about this traveling to different worlds?”

“We’ll find out,” Kai announced, although he had no idea where to start. “I know. I think we should hide until we find a way, just so that Sebastian doesn’t send us back before we do that.”

“First, we should get out of here,” Tani reminded him. “Why is Seb so strong?” She walked over to the adorned doors and examined the lock. “Ouch!” She withdrew her hand after pressing her fingers against the ice coming off from the other side.

“He just is. Nice to be an ice prince, right?” Kai said with a snort.

“I don’t think it feels very nice for him right now,” Pepin intervened. “He’s very much in love with Milo, and I don’t think there will be anyone else for him for as long as he’s alive.”

They all fell quiet and looked down. “Yeah, that’s a bummer,” Kai agreed, being the first to break the silence. He didn’t dare to ask Milo what he thought about that. It wasn’t fair; Milo hadn’t believed Sebastian for a moment, and it wasn’t the ice prince of Ifigia he was in love with. Actually, he was in love with –

“Are we going to be in some weird love triangle?” he asked out loud.

Milo smacked him playfully over the head to bring him back to reality. “What love triangle? What I see is a classic four-way, and that without counting royal concubines and whatnot.”

“Are there such things as four-ways?” Tani asked all eyes and ears.

“You’re not allowed to ask about these things,” Kai scolded her.

“I’m not allowed to get isekai’d either, but here we are, right?”

There wasn’t much he could say to contradict his sister.

Their little quarrel was cut short by strange sounds coming from the other side of the door. They all stared at it while the ice inside the lock melted and fell into a small pool on the floor.

“It looks like our leisure trip is over,” Galien announced as he opened the doors wide open.

“Where’s Sebastian?” Tani asked, looking around the duke.

“He has important matters to attend and informed me that I should take you back to my palace.”

“Actually, he got ordered,” Conrad intervened from behind Galien.

Kai noticed right away Conrad’s amused smile. The prince of Estfalia must have warmed considerably toward Galien to smile like that. Also, he was there, in the palace, which meant –

“Conrad,” Kai started, “can you keep an eye on Sebastian and what’s going on in the palace? Pepin thinks that there might be Uxilan assassins around. Or at least allies of theirs or something. But, wait, you got stabbed that time...”

“You can count on me,” Conrad replied right away. “Unlike before, now I am under a special kind of protection.”

Kai smirked as he noticed Galien smiling smugly. Ah, so that was why Galien had wanted to see Conrad so much. But couldn’t he protect Sebastian just the same?

“The least I can do. Unfortunately, fire cannot protect ice,” Galien explained as if he could read his thoughts. “But Conrad will be here, and he’ll be our eyes and ears. Don’t you believe I deserve a kiss?” He turned toward Conrad.

Tani surprised everyone by slapping her cheeks with her palms. “A yaoi kiss? For real? Ah, I so wished I had my phone!”

Kai firmly put his hands over her eyes and held her close, which immediately made Tani launch into a fierce struggle. “Stop it, butthead,” he warned.

“Don’t torture the little girl,” Conrad said. “There won’t be any kiss to witness.”

Galien pouted. “You’re no fun. Mark my words, Sir Conrad, you’ll fall for me one day. Children, let us be on our way. I need to show this stubborn man that distance makes the heart grow fonder.”

Conrad laughed and held the door for them. Kai stopped by his side. “Will you take care of Sebastian? Even if you don’t like him very much?”

“I will. It is my duty. Also,” Conrad added, and his voice dropped, “don’t let him know, but I’ll do it for that rake of a duke, as well.”

Kai made a short move to simulate zipping his mouth, locking it, and throwing away the key. They nodded at each other in understanding. Then, Kai hurried up and took his sister by the shoulders.

Pepin stood there, unmoving.

“You’re not coming with us?” Kai asked, knowing that a positive answer was impossible.

Pepin shook his head. “Sebastian is right about making sure that Reya doesn’t suspect anything. But I’ll keep a candle lit every night, hoping that I will see you again,” he said and threw himself in Kai’s arms.

They hugged each other for a long time. Kai sniffled and then looked away. “Something got in my eye,” he lied.

Tani grabbed his arm. “We will find a way to bring Pepin back with us. Mom so needs to meet her son-in-law.”

Galien cleared his throat discreetly. Kai looked at him and realized that he wasn’t doing that to hurry them. A few feet away, Milo appeared to be engaged in some dead-serious conversation with Conrad.

Sebastian walked purposefully toward the council room. He had sent word already for councilman Madigar to meet him there, without letting him know that they were about to have an intimate conversation, away from prying eyes and ears.

“Your Majesty,” the older man jumped from his high chair and bowed to the ground, holding his position there for long moments.

“You can stand,” Sebastian said and closed the doors behind them. “I believe that it’s grating that you’re still willing to keep up with this charade when we both know what you truly are.”

He stood still, expecting denials. If he were wrong in his assumption, suggested as it was by Pepin, then he would know from the councilman’s reactions.

Madigar straightened up and gave Sebastian a shrewd look. “Does Your Majesty recognize me for what I truly am?”

No denials, then. That was a good thing, and it would save everyone precious time. “The one you are right now, yes. You’re not councilman Madigar anymore.”

“Haven’t been for a while,” the older man admitted. “Do you care for my real name?”

“I’d say I don’t, but I expect that you’ll enlighten me, whether I wish for it or not.”

Hollow laughter followed. “Very well, I am Metust, head of the House of Uxilan, and I am here to punish the one that destroyed my kind.”

Sebastian didn’t flinch as Metust discarded the appearance of the old man who once had been known as councilman Madigar, and instead of that shriveled body, a tall man dressed all in black with his face partially covered appeared. He sustained the dark gaze without saying a word.

“Nothing to say? I would have at least expected you to act surprised,” Metust taunted him.

“I’ve never been the one to perform for the sake of an audience, and I’m not about to start now. What do you want?”

Metust laughed, throwing his head back. “What could I want? Revenge.”

“Very well. My life is yours,” Sebastian said calmly.

That made Metust stop mid-laugh. “What do I hear? Your Majesty, I thought you weren’t the type to perform like a trickster at a fair.”

“I have conditions,” Sebastian added.

“Ah, that sounds more like the ruler of Ifigia we all know, although I still find it hard to believe that you would be willing to give up on your life without a fight.”