25. Rowan
He fell asleep like he’d been holding himself together for too long.
Like the second I stopped talking, something inside him finally gave up on staying upright.
Caelum’s breathing had slowed against my chest first.
Then evened out.
Then deepened.
It took a while before I was sure he was actually asleep and not just pretending to be okay the way he always did.
But his grip on my shirt loosened eventually.
Just enough.
Not fully.
Like even unconscious, he didn’t trust letting go completely.
I stayed still.
Long after I should’ve moved him.
Long after I should’ve left.
Long after every rule I had ever followed told me this was too close.
But I didn’t move.
Because for once...
he wasn’t the King.
Not in that moment.
Just a person who had finally stopped fighting himself long enough to breathe properly.
Eventually, I carefully shifted him onto the bed.
Slow.
Controlled.
Like handling something fragile that didn’t know it was fragile.
He didn’t wake.
Didn’t stir.
Just turned slightly into the pillow like his body already knew where safety was.
That thought stuck longer than it should have.
I stood there for a moment.
Watching him sleep.
Trying not to think about what it meant that I didn’t want to leave.
Then I turned away.
Because I had something else to do.
Something that had been bothering me since the moment that uncle showed up.
The palace didn’t feel different at night.
It just felt more honest.
Less noise to hide behind.
Less movement to distract from what mattered.
I moved through the corridors quietly.
Not as a guard.
Not officially.
Just someone who knew how to not be seen when it mattered.
The uncle’s office was easy to locate.
Too easy.
That bothered me immediately.
Powerful people usually didn’t leave things unprotected unless they wanted to be found.
Or unless they assumed no one would try.
I slipped inside without triggering anything obvious.
No alarms.
No visible wards.
Either arrogance…
or confidence.
Neither was good.
The office was neat.
Too neat.
Not lived-in.
Organised in a way that didn’t feel natural, like everything had been placed to look correct rather than used.
I started with the desk.
Drawers.
Cabinets.
Nothing immediately obvious.
Then I found it.
A hidden panel behind the lower shelving.
Not locked.
Just concealed.
That was worse.
Inside...
files.
Stacks of them.
Organised.
Categorised.
Stamped.
Royal seal records.
Family histories.
Lineage tracking.
Security logs.
Political movement charts.
My jaw tightened as I flicked through them.
This wasn’t casual information.
This was surveillance.
Systematic.
Long-term.
And then I saw it.
Caelum’s file.
I opened it carefully.
Heart rate steady.
Expression neutral.
Training kicking in automatically.
Everything about him was there.
Birth records.
Early education.
Medical history.
Security incidents.
Behavioural reports.
Even childhood trauma notes.
I kept scanning.
Expecting...
his father.
The Former King.
The original power structure.
Anything that explained the hierarchy of who was being tracked.
Nothing.
I frowned slightly.
Flipped back.
Checked again.
Still nothing.
No file on the previous King.
No file on the uncle either.
That wasn’t an oversight.
That was intentional.
I leaned back slightly, exhaling slowly.
Because that meant one of two things.
Either they were being erased from records entirely…
or they were controlling the records themselves.
Neither option was good.
Footsteps outside.
I froze instantly.
Not palace guards.
Too casual.
Too familiar.
The door opened.
I didn’t have time to hide.
Just time to turn slightly.
Caelum’s brother stepped in.
Stopped immediately when he saw me.
Then glanced at the open panel behind me.
“…Interesting,” he said.
I didn’t move.
“You’re getting good at breaking into things you shouldn’t,” he added.
“I was investigating.”
“Of course you were.”
He walked in further, not alarmed.
That alone told me he either trusted me…
or didn’t care.
He leaned against the desk.
Looked at the files.
Then back at me.
“You know,” he said casually, “I saw you two last night.”
My expression didn’t change.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
He smiled faintly.
“That’s not what I saw.”
Silence.
“You were in the garden,” he continued. “Holding hands.”
I felt something tighten in my chest.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Just irritation.
“That is incorrect,” I said calmly.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re telling me I imagined it?”
“I am telling you you misinterpreted the situation.”
He laughed under his breath.
“Sure.”
I closed the file I was holding.
Carefully.
Controlled.
“This conversation is irrelevant,” I said.
“It’s very relevant,” he replied. “Because if you’re getting close to him...”
“I am not.”
He paused.
Studied me.
Longer this time.
Then tilted his head slightly.
“You’re lying.”
I didn’t respond.
Because responding would mean acknowledging the accusation.
And I didn’t want to give it space.
He pushed off the desk.
Walked closer.
“You know what people are starting to say?” he asked.
“I do not concern myself with rumours.”
“They think you’re attached to him.”
Silence.
“That you don’t just protect him,” he added. “That it’s something else.”
My jaw tightened slightly.
“There is no ‘something else’.”
He watched me for a moment.
Then shrugged.
“Alright,” he said lightly. “Then prove it.”
I frowned.
“Stop standing so close to him,” he said.
“That’s all I’m asking.”
“I perform my duties as required.”
“Do you?”
A pause.
He looked at the open files again.
Then back at me.
“Be careful,” he said quietly. “My family doesn’t like attachments we didn’t approve of.”
That sentence landed differently than the rest.
Not threat.
Not warning.
Something closer to fact.
Then he left.
Just like that.
I stood alone in the office again.
Looking at the files.
At the gaps where certain names should have been.
At the absence of the two most powerful people in Caelum’s life from their own historical records.
That wasn’t an accident.
That was design.
And somewhere in the middle of that...
was me.
I left the office the same way I came in.
Quiet.
Unnoticed.
Controlled.
But something had shifted.
Not externally.
Internally.
Because now I wasn’t just protecting the King.
I was standing inside a system I didn’t fully understand.
One that might have been watching him long before I ever existed in his life.
When I returned, he was still asleep.
Same position.
Same breathing.
Same fragile stillness.
I didn’t wake him.
Just stood there for a moment.
Watching.
Thinking.
Because for the first time...
I wasn’t sure if I had stepped into something I could actually walk away from.