I Became the Villain Alpha's Omega (BL)

Chapter 350: The Real Discussion

The moment the doors to their quarters swung shut, the muted hum of the Auzelian palace vanished entirely. Instantly, the atmosphere changed. The smiles they’d worn outside disappeared the moment the doors closed behind them. What remained was the careful distance of two royals who knew every word and every glance carried weight.

Rather than settling into the plush lounges near the hearth, Iryna made a straight line for the long briefing table. She pulled out a heavy chair and sat, her spine perfectly straight, looking more like a general at a war council than a recovering patient. Gillian took his time following her lead. He reached up to pop open the top hook of his stiff collar, letting out a small breath of relief as he pulled out the seat directly across from his sister.

The senior delegates and advisors filled the remaining space, their earlier performative panic transforming into sharp, calculating severity.

"This is an absolute mockery of our empire," Lord Pane, the senior diplomat of the delegation, began without waiting for permission. He brought his hand down on the table with a loud smack, his face drawn tight with barely restrained anger. "An explicit attempt on the life of a Solaric princess inside the host kingdom’s own residence! Your Highnesses, we cannot possibly continue with this peace treaty. To sign our names to a parchment under these conditions is to advertise Solaric weakness to the entire continent."

"Weakness?" Iryna countered, her voice low and cutting as she leveled a cold gaze at the older man. "A singular, desperate maid managed to smuggle a vial of common poison because the Auzelian palace guards are incompetent, not because the empire is weak. If we break the treaty over a dead servant’s diary, we look fragile, Lord Pane. We make it look like we’re easily intimidated."

"It is not about being intimidated, Princess!" another advisor, a sharp-featured woman named Celeste, interjected, leaning forward. "It is about precedence and security. The Auzelian internal guard is clearly compromised. If their security breakdown is this severe, how can we guarantee your safety moving forward? You are the Solaric princess betrothed to this place. You are meant to live here, to cement our alliance with your presence. Should we truly honor an engagement that places you in a capital where the staff can be bought or manipulated so easily?"

"Lady Celeste is right," an older advisor murmured, nodding in grim agreement. "You haven’t even married into this empire yet, Your Highness, and this happens. A royal palace is supposed to be the safest, most heavily fortified sanctuary in the entire kingdom. If their security can fail so spectacularly within their own inner walls, what does that say about the rest of the country? If you cannot be protected here, then no one can guarantee your safety anywhere else in Auzelian."

Gillian watched the argument bounce back and forth, his fingers idly tracing the polished grain of the wood. His relaxed posture contrasted sharply with the rising heat in the room, but his eyes were entirely sharp, tracking every speaker with cold precision.

"If we scrap the treaty now, all of our hard-fought diplomatic progress dissolves into nothing. The Emperor will not be pleased if we return empty-handed because of internal palace drama that the Auzelians are already handling," a younger delegate argued from the back.

"Handling?" Pane scoffed, turning on the younger man. "They found a convenient scapegoat in a dead maid! We have no guarantee she acted alone, regardless of what her supposedly convenient diary claims. For all we know, the poison was sanctioned by a faction within the Auzelian court itself to test our resolve. We must demand a full cessation of the talks until a thorough, independent Solaric investigation is conducted."

"And how do you think King Alderon will respond if we push past his palace security to run our own inquiry, Lord Pane?" Iryna asked, her tone dry and dangerous. "He will close the gates. The treaty will die, the borders will tighten, and the rogue elements who actually wanted this failure will win without lifting another finger."

The debate erupted into a chaotic tangle of overlapping voices. Half the room demanded an immediate withdrawal to the border, citing imperial honor and the physical safety of the royal siblings. The other half argued for pragmatic endurance, emphasizing the economic ruin that a failed alliance would bring to their home provinces. The word betrothal was thrown around like a piece of currency, weighed against the risks of a compromised capital.

Through it all, Gillian remained silent, letting the noise wash over him until the arguments began to repeat themselves. Finally, he tapped his knuckles against the table. The sound wasn’t loud, but the sheer weight of his royal authority made the entire room snap shut in an instant.

"Are we quite finished?" Gillian asked, his voice entirely calm, devoid of the easygoing jesting he used with the guards outside.

The advisors shifted in their seats, lowering their heads respectfully but remaining tense.

Gillian leaned back, looking around the table. "You speak of the treaty as if it is a fragile glass ornament we might drop. It is a tool. Nothing more. The Auzelians are embarrassed, I saw it in their eyes, and Iryna saw it in the High Priest’s face. A king who is embarrassed is a king who is willing to make concessions he wouldn’t have considered two days ago."

He looked directly at Pane. "We do not withdraw. We do not panic. We use the fact that my sister is standing here, perfectly healthy and clear-headed, to squeeze every possible advantage out of Alderon’s ministers during the next session. They made a massive mistake on their own soil. That gives us the perfect upper hand."

"And the betrothal, Your Highness?" Celeste asked softly, her eyes glancing between Gillian and Iryna. "The concern for Princess Iryna’s placement here remains valid."

Iryna leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table, her dark eyes flashing with pure irritation. "The high officials back home are not the ones who swallowed the poison, Lady Celeste. I did. And if I am not packing my bags to flee back to Solaric, then no one in this room has the right to suggest it for me. The marriage stands because the alliance stands. We will simply dictate the terms of my personal guard moving forward."

The advisors exchanged lingering, hesitant looks.

"Besides," Iryna added quietly. She turned her head, her gaze drifting toward the high window as she looked far away into the courtyard, completely ignoring the stunned silence of her advisors. "The betrothal isn’t so bad after all."

Gillian watched her, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift in her tone. He raised a hand, idly scratching the side of his nose as he studied his sister’s distant expression with a mix of amusement and genuine disbelief.