Chapter Text
The young high king sat on his throne, lost in thought and quiet, staring into the void This happened often in fact.
he tried not to think about anything, to keep his mind far removed from the present ... and failed.
He drank countless glasses of wine that night—too many to count
nothing worked.
He stopped fidgeting and decided to look around
He watched his subjects, faeries and humans, swaying, laughing, and talking amongst themselves.
He felt uneasy. and still couldn't believe he was a king, couldn't believe he had subjects who had placed their trust in him and chosen him as their king. One person was the cause of all this
Her.
He couldn't stop the flow of thoughts about her. He still remembered every moment of that fateful day that had shattered the last remaining crumbs of his rotting, withered heart. He had thought she would understand his trick and return, that she would return not for power, but for him. He would joke with her about her naiveté when she fell into his trap, and he would be proud of himself that perhaps his wife would admire his deception and praise him, and everything would return to normal.
Well he was wrong.
He couldn't imagine what she found appealing in the human world. He had explained this to her in his letters—letters she refused to reply to. He even began to remove his armor, piece by piece, believing she was hurt and angry because of him.ood the matter and wrote to her that if she wanted to return and be angry with him, he would accept it, but she would... return.
she did not.
and here he is in this state for months. He hears a clearing of the throat to his right and sees Nicasia looking at him with a sharp look full of pain. Her eyes are red and traces of tears glisten on her cheeks, she looks sad and angry at the same time. And now he realized the reason for the tightness in his chest since the beginning of the day. They found Locke's body dead in the sea and badly decomposed.
It is definitely murder And Nicasia is angry because he did not lift a finger and did not issue orders to investigate the murder of his old friend.
The recent events did not increase his love for Locke, but he felt a little sorry for him and his old lover, as they were the first to care about him.
even if only a little.
Well, for a while.
"When will you give orders to investigate the murder of our friend?" She asked.
"I will, Nicassia. Calm down a little, " Nicasia said, fighting back tears. He wanted to wipe her tears with his thumbs as he used to, but... nothing ever goes back to the way it was.
His thoughts were elsewhere, in another world, round ears and a sharp knife blade.
Nicasia's sharp voice cut through his reverie. "Who could the killer be? I'm sure it's one of the human twins," she added, giving him a hard look. "And I hope they get what they deserve." Cardan sighed. He didn't know how he'd ended up here, how his fate had chosen this turning point in his life. He had a kingdom to rule "alone," countless negotiations, coups, and plots, a horrific murder, a friend seeking revenge, and a wife far away in the land of humans—so far from him, yet so close.
He could travel to her and persuade her to return whenever he wanted. He could do so much for her, if only she would come back.
But she didn't.
He wanted her to return because she "wanted" to come back to him, not because she was forced. He felt that her absence and her failure to reply to his messages were enough to indicate her refusal to see him again
and that hurt.
He decided to end the evening, brought news to the guards that a trial was scheduled for Locke's wife, Taryn Duarte, and his sister-in-law, as she was the prime suspects. He slipped back to his room, his head filled with thoughts.