"Why would Kieran come in here?" Matthew barked at Marko. He was mad not because of his brother but because he was planning to spend a long time in bed with Ava. "He isn’t welcome. Kick him out."
"Sire, he said it is about the explosion."
"Did he ask about Ava?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"I told her she’s fine."
"Good." Matthew looked at Ava who was still sitting at the desk. She was smiling languidly at him. "Don’t tell anyone else she’s awake. Don’t let the doctors in. Baba and the Shaman are welcome. But not anyone else."
"Understood."
Matthew looked at Ava. After seeing her nod, he left the room and walked towards the drawing-room where Kieran was waiting for him.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Is this how you greet your younger brother?"
"Yes. Now spill it out. What the hell do you want?" he asked.
Kieran stopped smiling. "I am here for business brother. I hope you won’t blame your bad mood on me."
"What business."
"Have you heard about the explosion, brother?"
"I’ve heard about it." Matthew got himself a glass of whiskey. He sat opposite his brother and waited for him to speak.
"And?"
"I sent my people to the site where it took place . It was burned down. No bodies."
"Isn’t it strange that there were no bodies in the scene?"
"How would I know, Kieran?"
"Well... we heard a very strange news."
"What news?"
"That it was you who caused that explosion," Kieran said.
"It wasn’t."
"The building is owned by the council Matthew. Someone needs to pay for all the damages."
"So you are here because you wanted me to pay for something I didn’t do?"
"No. On the contrary, I am here because I defended you."
Matthew said nothing. He downed his whiskey and observed his brother’s face. Among his siblings, Kieran was actually the least serious. He was considered lazy. Yet he always did what their father told him to do.
Sometimes, the man would come off as arrogant because he believed that he was doing the right thing. The fact that Erenes was with him most of the time is another reason for his arrogance.
"Defended from who?"
"I came to warn you about... the noble families. It seems that they wanted to drag you back to ask you about the explosion. Said it was too eye-catching. If this goes on... Trillium would surely come to see you in a few days."
"Nobles?" the de Cene family. How convenient. "So, they wanted to drag me back to the palace just to interrogate me about the explosion? It seems that those people are really bored."
"Yes. I convinced them to send me instead."
"Why is that?"
"What do you mean, why? Because... you are my brother?"
"Shut up."
"Heh..." Kieran snorted. "It seems that I cannot fool you."
Matthew poured himself another glass of whiskey.
"I am here to warn you, brother," Kieran said. "As an apology. For what I did back then."
"Apology for binding my wolf?"
"Well... I was following orders. Father asked me to do it. He even let me bring Erenes because he knew that she could subdue you. Of course, the plan was a failure because you actually found yourself a powerful witch."
"Get to the point Kieran. I don’t have all night to talk to you."
"Hmmm... then let me just say this. The nobles are after you."
"Why?"
"I don’t know," Kieran smiled. He then leaned back and continued, "All I know is that they want to bring you home. And they might send a few people to compromise your research. So they have reasons to bring you back."
Matthew pursed his lips.
"How did you know that?"
"Someone has a video of the explosion. We didn’t miss the sky-blue fire. They thought it was an experiment that would put the whole race in danger."
"Those bastards..." So now, they wanted to frame him.
"So, I suggest you lay low."
"And by lay low, you mean?"
"I mean... marry one of the nobles."
A snort escaped Matthew’s lips.
"So, someone indeed sent you here," Matthew said.
"What?"
"What is it? Did they tell you to try and convince me to marry one of their girls?"
"It is only proper that you marry someone... you are turning thirty-two soon. You are not getting any younger brother."
"We live a very long life, Kieran. Who cares if I married someone if I turned fifty?"
"I am younger than you and I already have a wife. She— "
"I don’t care," Matthew said.
Another sigh escaped Kieran’s lips. "It seems that you really are hell-bent on... staying here?"
Matthew didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to answer that as he knew that Kieran was already aware of his reasons.
"Look... the past... is past. You cannot just stay here and hide from your responsibilities. You have the strongest bloodline and therefore, you have to become the King to continue our lineage."
When Matthew just stared at him, Kieran added. "I know you hate us for... your mother’s death. But that happened years ago, Matthew. At some point, you have to move on. Father was hoping you will forget about it and that’s the reason why he agreed to send you here. But— "
"I don’t think you have something new to tell me, Kieran. You may leave now." Matthew said. "Don’t wait for me to make you leave."
Kieran clenched his jaw. He got up and grabbed his coat.
"I am only here to help."
"I don’t need your help. But thank you very much. Your words just made me feel at ease." Matthew didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
Hearing this, Kieran sighed. Then he started walking towards the exit.
"Oh... by the way," Kieran said just as he was about to step towards the hallway that would lead him outside. "Your witch... I couldn’t feel her. I couldn’t smell her either." To Matthew’s surprise, Kieran gave him a mocking smile. "She’s not dead... is she?"
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