Chapter 120: 120-Because he’s a star
"That’s it?" Aeltharion was the first to question his aunt’s judgement. "He does this and barely a slap on the wrist, no scolding or punishment?"
"Yes, if I did that... you’d have me dragged out by the guards and punished," Nytherael joined on, calling out Madam Zhen on being inconsistent and biased.
Sseraphis glanced up at them in confusion. "Whose side are you on?"
Aeltharion swallowed the more questions he had for his aunt’s unfairness. "Yours obviously, but..."
"The but doesn’t make it obvious at all," Sseraphis called out how hypocritical he sounded. "Face it, Aelthie, I am lovable even when I am evil. Even the cold matriarch of your family can’t help but spoil me," he said.
Aeltharion, Nytherael, and Aenyra shared a glance. Envy settled in their eyes. They wished they could trade their luck with Sseraphis. The snake with his nine tails was always spared the consequences of his mistakes, a cheat code that they weren’t accorded.
"Madam Zhen, excuse me a little. I want to dance," he excused himself. He raised his hand to pick his dance partner. His hand reached for Aeltharion, and when the dragon reached out to hold his, he dodged. Then he made a move on Nytherael. The fox was happy to indulge him, but just as their hands nearly touched, he dodged again.
"With Aenyra," he flashed an offended forced smile and grabbed Aenyra’s hand.
"Me?"
Aenyra was beyond stunned to be picked. She quickly glanced at her aunt to hear an objection and a lecture about proper conduct at parties. Since her mother, the host, hadn’t arrived yet, it was rude for them to take to the stage and dance.
Again, Madam Zhen surprised her and every beast present by nodding a consent. Aenyra swallowed. Hard. She felt the bitterness that Aeltharion had been feelings.
She couldn’t even muster the courage to tell Aninma the truth of her and Sheana in fear of her reaction, and there Sseraphis was getting away with everything like he was the family’s last born child.
"Did you bewitch my aunt?" Aenyra asked him as she accepted his offer to dance.
"I don’t know," Sseraphis answered flatly.
The musicians on cue started playing a soft song. Sseraphis leaned his head on Aenyra’s shoulder, closed his eyes, and moved to the beat of the music.
Back at the table, Aeltharion glared at his aunt. In as much as he loved his beloved getting special treatment, he couldn’t help but feel bad for the unfair treatment.
"Help me understand why he gets a free pass?"
"Yes, I had to kneel in greeting for a long time just because you were displeased with me," Nytherael echoed his own grievance. "So how come you treat Sseraphis differently. "
Aninma raised her icy eyes to them. "Because a star deserves all the love and free passes in the world," she replied.
"What do you mean?" They asked in unison.
"It must be nice," Aninma expressed and opened the scroll, preparing to bury her head in reading again. But Aeltharion didn’t let the matter go. He needed to understand her.
"What must be nice?"
Sensing their need and understanding that the two beasts weren’t going to stop until she gave them an answer, she set the scroll to the table, folded her hands, and gave them her full attention.
"Answer me, aunt."
"It must be nice being the moon," she answered Aeltharion, then her gaze moved to Nytherael, "And the sun... in a tri-relationship," she finished.
Nytherael and Aeltharion looked at each other. Their eyes expressed their confusion clearly. She was talking in riddles, going round and round with them to the point that they could barely make head or tail of what she was saying.
"Sun, moon, star... what do you mean?"
"It’s just my assessment of your relationship," she stated. "The moon that draws light from others in the form of love and gives his all to his bonds even when he’s at his lowest without complaining," she pointed towards Aeltharion.
"And the sun that burns brightly but never extinguishes because when it comes down to it, it doesn’t share its light with others, it can extend the perimeter that the rays of its light touches but its ultimately selfish," she assessed Nytherael.
Nytherael blinked. Hearing her opinion of him kind of hurt, especially since he was doing his best to be better. Yes, he admitted that he has always been selfish and self-centered, but this time around, he recognized thar weakness and was doing his best to give more than he received.
"While the star burns itself our to fulfil the sun and the moon. But ever so often, every eye is focused on its shine that they don’t see it withering until its too late," she summed.
"That’s a hit unfair. Sseraphis is selfish too," Nytherael argued.
"In his love for both of you, yes," Aninma’s voice didn’t waver. It remained steady and firm as she defended Sseraphis.
"I know that he stayed by Aeltharion’s side when everything went down and you..."
"The last I saw you... you were unwell," Aninma interrupted him and directed her words to her nephew. "You did your best to hide it, stayed away from home to keep it a secret from us, but I could tell something was wrong..."
"Aunt..." Aeltharion felt guilty for keeping his sickness a secret and for not telling her. "That..." he had no excuse, other than he wanted to spare them the nightmare of it all.
"Sseraphis was with you. He did everything to make you better, and he succeeded too because you... look healthier than ever."
That was a fact that neither Nytherael nor Aeltharion could deny. Sseraphis was always their for the two of them more than they showed up for him, that’s for sure. He was always saving the day.
Having Aninma point out Sseraphis contribution to their saved lives and future without death lingering in their bond, they both realized they hadn’t gotten him a gift to thank him.
"Yes, fairy Zarathia wrote to me and said that Sseraphis had transfered our cursed fate to a villain we encountered along the way," Aeltharion said.
Nytherael listened and felt like applauding to the snake and toasting just for him. It was the perfect punishment for Hadrian after what he put them through. It keeps the beast world safe since Hadrian would now be too busy and focuses on healing to worry about causing mischief.
"Is he the god of fate?" Aninma questioned them.
"What?"
"Huh?"
Aninma rubbed her temple. She badly wanted to tear open both their skulls to see what they used for brains and why when it came to their relationship, Sseraphis was always the one on the losing end.
"This is why Sseraphis gets a free pass. He could use some after fate damned him by tying him to the two of you," she cursed, her voice rising for the first time that night.
However, it wasn’t too loud that it would attract attention. Just enough that Nytherael and Aeltharion picked up on her irritation with the fact that they weren’t understanding the point she was putting across.
Aeltharion took a moment to catch his breath to listen with a clear head. She was putting a point across, and he wasn’t getting it, and that frustrated him too.
"Sseraphis is always the first to notice when something is wrong with both of you. Always the one racing to find a solution to relieve you both of any burdens...." she decided to spell it out for them. "Did you ever ask yourself the price he paid to transfer your fate to that villain. As he isn’t a god and with the world as is where everything comes a a price... what did Sseraphis trade away for your health?"
"He..." Neither Nytherael nor Aeltharion could answer that.
"Take a closer look at him... you’ll understand thar sometimes pain can be masked in mischief and chaos," she let out.
Nytherael glanced at Sseraphis. Nothing seemed out of ordinary then. He truly looked at him, and what he saw made his soul shatter.
Aeltharion eyes glowed. He scanned Sseraphis from head to toe, and what he discovered made his heart stop beating.
"How is this... how?" Nytherael couldn’t find the words, tears welled up in his eyes.
"Eight heads... how?" A tear in the colour of blood tricked down his eye.
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