Chapter 5: Dignity on the Floor
This was what Aurelia found when she opened the door.
Kael was crouched on the floor, pajama pants halfway down, clutching his clothes in one hand while using the other to sweep broken glass away from the carpet.
The magic lamp had shattered.
Tiny pieces of glass were scattered across the floor. When the morning light hit them, they flashed like bits of ice.
The bed was a wreck. The blanket had been kicked into a knot, the pillow had fallen to the floor, and beside the bed lay a slightly rusted curved saber.
It was close to Kael.
Close enough that he could grab it with one reach.
"Little Kae..."
Aurelia stopped in the doorway.
Her eyes went first to the broken lamp, then to Kael. She checked his fingers, his feet, and his calves, making sure none of the glass had cut him.
Only after that did she relax.
Kael looked up.
Then he froze.
He looked ridiculous.
His pants were still halfway down. His clothes were bunched in one hand. A little pile of glass sat right beside him, sparkling in the sun.
If the soldiers on the city walls saw their Grand General like this, their faith might break faster than the lamp.
Aurelia looked at her son.
Messy hair. Red face. Clothes in hand. Pride hanging by a thread.
A smile tugged at her mouth.
She walked over, crouched beside him, and pulled him away from the glass.
"M-Mom..."
Kael had not even managed to get clear of the shards before Aurelia wrapped an arm around him and drew him back. Her hold was careful, but firm enough that he could not wriggle away.
For a second, he was almost face to face with her.
His first instinct was to fight it.
His hands lifted.
Then stopped.
Aurelia was his mother.
That was exactly the problem.
In her eyes, he was still Little Kae. The boy she had spoiled, worried over, and protected since he was small.
But he was sixteen now.
Sixteen.
Being held like this while half-dressed was enough to kill whatever dignity he had left.
Still, the warmth of her arms was too familiar.
The panic in his chest sank before he could stop it. The anger went with it.
So he stopped struggling.
Kael stayed there, stiff as a board, trapped in Empress Aurelia Valemont’s arms.
"Little Kae, are you hurt? Did the glass cut you?"
Aurelia held him with one arm and used her free hand to smooth his messy hair.
This was the same empress who stood above the entire Suncrest Empire. The same woman who could make ministers hold their breath with one look.
But right now, she was only looking at her son.
"No..."
Kael’s voice came out much smaller than he wanted.
Outside this room, he cursed, barked orders, and kicked anyone who annoyed him straight into a wall.
But in front of Aurelia, all that temper disappeared.
His voice turned rough and awkward, with a few stubborn pauses mixed in.
His young face burned red.
Aurelia looked down at him, and the smile on her face grew.
"Good. As long as you’re not hurt."
She patted his hair again.
"Now hurry up and put your pants on. You cannot sleep in today. You have work to do."
"I-I can do it myself!"
Kael snatched his pants back before the heat on his face could fade.
He turned around and nearly tripped while pulling on his uniform trousers, moving like getting dressed was some kind of battlefield charge.
"Oh my. Why is Little Kae in such a hurry?"
Aurelia stepped forward to help, but one of his feet was not planted right. The pant leg caught on his heel, and for a second he almost lost his balance.
She reached for him.
"Mom! I’m not a kid! I can dress myself!"
Kael’s face turned even redder.
He forced the embarrassment down, yanked the pants into place, and tightened the waist.
Then he looked down at himself like he had just survived a war.
"See? Done. I’m dressed. I’m leaving."
"Hm? Little Kae—"
Before Aurelia could finish, Kael bolted.
He had only put on his uniform trousers. He did not even bother with his officer’s tunic. He threw his fur-lined cloak over his shoulders, grabbed the rusted curved saber beside the bed, and rushed for the door with his head down.
He left so fast that his cloak slapped against the doorframe and sent a gust of wind through the room.
Aurelia stood there, watching him run out before she could ask what had happened.
"Little Kae!"
Kael did not look back.
He was gone in a blink.
The room went quiet again.
Sunlight still lay across the golden carpet and the expensive furniture. The bed was still a mess. The pillow was still crooked on the floor. The broken magic lamp still glittered beside the carpet.
Only the door remained half-open.
Aurelia looked at it and gave a helpless little laugh.
"Sigh... Little Kae really does run fast. And he still does not clean up after himself."
She looked down at the clothes on the floor, then at the glass, then at the blanket he had kicked into a knot beside the bed.
Her eyes warmed.
No matter how old he was, he was still a child to her.
"Well then... I suppose I will wash these for him."
No one else could make Empress Aurelia Valemont act like this.
No one else could make her fuss over clothes, blankets, and broken glass with this much patience.
She was the empress of the Suncrest Empire.
But before that, she was Kael’s mother.
...
"Damn it, Mom..."
The second Kael left the Ashborne Wing, he stormed down the corridor with his head lowered and his arms folded tight across his chest.
His face looked like he had just suffered the greatest shame of his life.
"You idiot..."
He muttered as he walked. His voice was not loud, but a few nearby servants still heard it.
"I’m sixteen. Sixteen! I’m not a little kid anymore. Why does she still walk into my room like that?"
The memory hit him again, and heat rushed straight to his ears.
He had not even finished getting dressed.
Aurelia had just walked in.
Worse, she had pulled him away from the glass.
Held him.
Like he was still some tiny brat who needed to be rescued from his own bedroom.
Where was the dignity of a Grand General supposed to go after that?
The more Kael thought about it, the redder his face became.
"Gah—! I am the Suncrest Empire’s Grand General! General Kael! Something this stupid is not going to mess with my head!"
He kept muttering as he walked, like he could curse his pride back into place.
Unfortunately, the people around him only grew more uneasy.
He was not wearing the formal uniform everyone knew. His officer’s cloak hung loose over his shoulders, his hair was a mess, and his face was still red.
So even though he was walking through the imperial capital, almost no one connected this angry-looking young man with the famous Grand General.
Also, he was muttering curses to himself.
That alone was enough to make people step aside.
Kael ignored them.
He walked until the heat in his face finally began to fade. His steps slowed.
Before long, he reached the defensive walls of the imperial capital.
By the time Kael stopped muttering, he was already standing on top of the wall.
A guard near the parapet was watching the distant plains. When he heard footsteps, he turned around.
Then he saw the young but familiar face.
And the long, deep scar across Kael’s left eye.
The guard’s heart nearly stopped.
"Grand General Ashborne?"
"It’s General Kael," Kael snapped. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
The guard straightened so fast he almost hurt himself.
"Yes—"
He started to answer, then shut his mouth halfway through.
It looked like he had just remembered a rule that was dangerous to break.
