Varen was surprised by how smoothly the interaction with Zeya had gone.
He had expected her to be aggressive towards him, refusing to agree with him until something actually happens to her.
'She did seem out of it... Maybe she was too weak to deny me.' He thought, noticing how dark her under eyes were.
She had visibly lost weight too despite him making sure that her meals were taken to her study since she was too preoccupied with work to even eat.
He started to regret running over here to meet Zeya, it seemed like his list of worries only ever increased when he did.
Despite it being close to noon, the corridor was almost deserted when Varen got there. Rushing footsteps from the opposite direction caught his attention, and it was coming his way.
He recognized the figure to be that of Arius, who appeared worried and distraught.
"Look who came to visit." Varen said while he blocked Arius' way. What's gotten you so excited, I wonder?"
"I got news that Zeya has awoken." He said almost breathlessly as he tried to get past Varen but to no avail. "I'm just here to make sure she is alright and well-"
'Ah...' Varen's mood immediately turned sour. 'Word travels too quickly with these damned shadows around.'
He was hoping to get some time alone with Zeya after leaving her be for so long, but it seems like that hope was now going entirely out of the window.
"I can assure you that she is doing fine, I had just met with her a moment ago." He smiled as he spoke, trying to mask his annoyance. "However, she is still weak so I'm sure it would not help her recovery if she were to have guests disrupting her rest."
"How is it alright that you get to see her but not us, her friends?" Arius countered, clearly not entertained by Varen's peculiar rules. "I'll see for myself if she is truly in need of a rest and if that is truly the case, I will just leave."
"I already said she's still unwell, didn't I?" The playfulness in his voice had completely disappeared, he clearly did not like how persistent Arius was being. "Since when did you have such a hard time listening, Arius?"
"I should say the same to you, Your Majesty." He still managed to keep the formalities despite the tone of his voice being the contrary. "You act as if you give a shit about the empress's well-being."
"It would be stranger if I didn't, would it not?" Varen argued, a knowing smile forming on his charming face. "It's hard to pretend to be strangers with someone you've fucked, wouldn't you agree?"
"... I'm not surprised to be honest." Arius agreed with a knowing smile. "You always lacked shame to begin with, I'm glad to see that you still haven't changed one bit since your adolescent years."
"Huh." Varen smirked, clearly amused. "You're still as humorous as ever."
"I'm flattered, Your Majesty." He bowed sarcastically, walking away from him yet again. "Well then, I hope you have a great day."
"While you're here right now, we need to talk." Varen continued, apparently not done dealing with Arius. "Contrary to your belief, it's about something serious."
"Spit it out then." He replied, having no interest in being in the same room as Varen. "I hope you know that I have other more important things to deal with besides you."
"This isn't a matter I can just tell you on a whim I'm afraid." Varen explained. "Let's talk back in my study. It won't take too long if you just comply with me."
=================
His study was one of the larger rooms in the palace with majority of the space used to hold some of oldest books known to men.
Most of them were guidebooks for constructing incredibly intricate spells that were passed down in his family from one generation to another.
Even till this day, Varen still finds most of these books incredibly useful despite being as old as he was.
Studying was a normal part of working with spells because of how dynamic its nature can be, and it was a key factor in improving your skills.
He didn't want to admit that this was all due to the occupational disease but even without an explanation, it was clear to anyone that was indeed the case.
Varen offered Arius to sit once they entered the cluttered room, the silence between them was deafening.
"I am to leave the capital in a few days to deal with a problem going on in one of our villages out in the East." Varen began as Arius listened intently. "I don't know how long I'll be there since the situation seems rather complex."
"And?" Arius questioned impatiently, his thick eyebrows furrowing. "What does that have anything to do with me?"
"I plan to take Zeya with me. I've already gotten Margaret's permission and she agrees that it would be more advantageous for Zeya's well-being if she was around my proximity at all times."
"Ugh... " Arius groaned loudly, visibly stressed by the news.
'If only I had tried harder to convince her to not sign that cursed contract.' He began to regret his leniency with the empress.
It was clear to Arius that Varen was just using the contract as a way to keep Zeya close to him, but he could not do anything that could've spared Zeya the pain from breaching such a brutal contract.
Arius knew how Varen can be with certain things; he always had an issue with being possessive of things he thought belonged to him ever since they were kids.
It made Arius feel sick to think that there was a possibility of Varen still wanting Zeya to be by his side after everything he had done to her.
He could only pray that his beliefs were just pure speculation and not the truth because even he wouldn't be able to save Zeya from Varen's grasp, even if it spelled death for one of them.
He would do whatever it takes to bring her back to life if she were to die again, that was just part of his nature.
"I figured this would be your reaction." Varen added, which earned a warning glare from the minister. "But I trust you know better than to object."
"I don't know what exactly you're planning but I'm warning you to stop." Arius forewarned Varen, watching the emperor closely. "The only reason we agreed to this alliance was to catch this monster."
"How sure are you to assume that I'm planning anything?" He questioned with leisure, unimpressed by Arius' claims. "Shouldn't it make more sense for the Roseabelles to be praying for my downfall instead?"
"And cause yet another war like you did?" He retorted back, clenching his fists. "It's hilarious to see how the ones you painted to be the villains are more merciful than you are."
"... Did you think I wanted all this to happen? You knew my father had this planned since he found out about Zeya and I."
"And you had the chance to stop him, but you didn't." Arius said with a grim tone. "Instead, you obliged to his every word like a brainless puppet despite knowing the consequences that were to come with his selfish decisions."
"We lost everything while you and that damned father of yours gloated in your so-called victory." Arius said spitefully, finding it hard to control his based emotions. "While we grieved the loss of Zeya's mother, you were with the humans celebrating, jeering at our direction."
"You cannot fix something that is already beyond repair." Arius shook his head. "As long as you continue to be allies with the humans and Zeya remains Empress, our nations can never merge back together."
"... A week. I'll give you a week's time to handle it." He spoke after a long time of thinking. "If she does not come back within then, I am going to come get her myself."
There was something in the way Arius said it that oddly vexed Varen, but he remained calm.
"She's suffered enough with all that's happened because of the war." He stated earnestly, getting up to leave the room. "The last thing she needs is to be hurt by you again."
Again.
The word stuck with him even after Arius left the room, ringing in his ears like a reminder of the crimes he thought he had paid for all these years.