Chapter 29: DREAD.
Another few days have passed...
It had been mostly uneventful.
Quiet, almost suffocatingly so.
The only real change, if it could even be called that, was Amethiel’s shameful... new habit of touching himself every single day.
It irritated him more than anything, a distraction he couldn’t shake, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.
Aside from that, his focus had been entirely on Kree.
Amethiel managed to train Kree into understanding more cues, and that alone kept him occupied for hours.
Of course, there were the simple greetings. Basic responses. Recognition.
Then, gradually, he taught Kree to understand more specific things.
When he wanted his extra arms.
His... tentacles.
When to show his tongue.
Each command was met with quicker understanding, smoother responses, as if Kree wasn’t just following orders but actually processing them.
More or less, Kree had shown even more signs of intelligence and awareness.
And Amethiel was satisfied.
More than satisfied, actually.
Kree had also, more or less, healed. His face was fully restored, smooth as if nothing had ever happened.
Except for the lashes.
The lashes Amethiel gave him every day.
Some as form of punishment, some were from another newly found sadistic habit.
And yet, despite that, Kree still tried.
Still reached, in his own way, for any form of affection.
Hence, the lashes.
Because of Amethiel’s newly discovered behavior, or where he actually started enjoying Kree’s desperation.
So now, he had stayed more and more inside his room, shutting everyone out.
He didn’t even come out to eat anymore, despite the many attempts of his brothers to get him out.
He mostly rang maids to give him the things he needed.
So really, he shouldn’t have been surprised.
Not when the door opened.
Not when it wasn’t his father this time.
It was his brothers.
And for some reason, Johnson.
’Why is he involved in this?’
Amethiel let out a quiet sigh. "Why are you all here?" he asked. "I’ve already spoken to father, I told him—"
"Well, father’s not here right now," Lilior said, crossing his arms as he narrowed his eyes at him.
’Sneaky bastards.’ Amethiel thought. They knew he had already convinced their father not to interfere, not to see Kree as a threat, so they waited.
Timed it perfectly for when their father was occupied with the other dukes.
’I can play this game.’
Sure, Hyacinthe and Lilior were harder to deal with than their father, but not by much.
They were still very predictable.
"What exactly is wrong?" Amethiel asked, tilting his head as he leaned back against the couch, looking completely at ease while the three men stood in front of him.
Hovering.
Annoyingly so.
"You..." Hyacinthe pointed at him, his expression tight. "...may have our innocent father fooled, but you can’t fool us."
"Innocent? Father’s hardly innocent, look, he had three of us—"
"Amie!"
"Amethiel!"
"Little grace!"
All three of them spoke at once, cutting him off.
Amethiel almost smiled.
He knew they would react like that. He wanted them to.
It was a small kind of amusement, but enough.
And more importantly, it proved something.
He had them.
Right in the palm of his hand.
Because he knew exactly what would set them off.
Amethiel was too smart for them.
Hyacinthe dragged a hand down his face. "Amethiel, cooperate with us."
"Why should I?" Amethiel replied, crossing his arms, his tone turning slightly childish on purpose. "I already know what you’re going to say."
"Oh, yeah?" Lilior challenged. "What?"
Amethiel took a slow breath, then lowered his voice, mimicking them.
"You have to get out of that monster; it’s unhealthy for you to be staying in your room for so long. That monster is unlike the rest of your monsters, and it’s just creepy. Blah blah blah."
When he finished, he watched their expressions.
Their faces dropped.
Their eyes widened.
"Well, the little grace has summed it up," Johnson muttered under his breath.
Hyacinthe and Lilior both shot him a look.
"Okay," Lilior said after a moment. "So you know why we’re here. What do we have to do?" He stepped forward slightly. "We’ll give you anything you want, just get off that damned monster."
Amethiel’s gaze sharpened.
"Why?" he asked. "This is research. I’m helping our kingdom advance."
He leaned forward slightly. "And if you aren’t aware, because I am very aware that selling monsters and the trade isn’t as prominent as it was in the olden days."
He didn’t look away.
"That’s why you and father are busy, right? You’re helping the king figure out ways to use monsters for something else. We aren’t going to be affected if our economy plummets, but it’s our family’s job to make sure it doesn’t."
"How is that monster going to help?" Lilior asked.
Amethiel’s eyes flickered, something sharper settling in.
"Haven’t you seen it?" he said. "You know all existing monsters. All the monsters in our rosters, our collection, in the king’s collection."
He paused, letting it sink in.
"It doesn’t exist yet."
A small smile formed on his lips.
"It only exists here."
Amethiel was the first to discover it.
"I have so many plans for this monster, brothers," Amethiel says. "I don’t go out because the ball is coming close. I just need more time."
His tone was steady, controlled, the kind he always used when he wanted to sound reasonable.
There was even a faint softness to it, just enough to make it seem like he was asking instead of insisting.
But it wasn’t real.
Of course, it wasn’t.
’Just enough,’ Amethiel thought. ’Not too much. They hate it when I sound desperate, but too much would be too obvious even for them.’
"I think it’s dangerous," Johnson says, crossing his arms against his chest. "I’m sure you’re thinking of using that monster maybe for military purposes, or more, but I think that is the kind of monster that you should’ve handed over to the royal family."
Amethiel froze.
It wasn’t subtle.
It was immediate, and this time, it wasn’t planned.
Lilior and Hyacinthe also both froze, their eyes widening as the words settled in.
’Fuck.’
The mask cracked.
Just like that.
There it was.
The one thing he had been avoiding.
The one path he had been carefully stepping around every single day since bringing Kree here.
Not because he didn’t think of it.
But because he did.
Too much, but he feared that if he showed that fear, his father or brothers would eventually realize it.
And Johnson—out of everyone—was the one who said it.
"You’re right, Johnso," Hyacinthe says slowly.
That calm tone again.
That awful, decisive calm.
Amethiel’s eyes snapped to him, the faint softness from earlier completely gone now, replaced with something sharper. Something that bordered on panic, even if he tried to bury it.
"Why haven’t we thought of this before?" Lilior adds, staring at Amethiel more closely now. "And judging by Amethiel’s reaction... he knew this was a possibility."
’No.’
His fingers twitched at his side.
He had been doing so well.
And now—
"We should give that monster to the royal family."
