The room felt smaller after Robert spoke. Not physically. Nothing had changed. The walls were still the same carved stone, the narrow window still letting in that thin line of daylight, the table untouched between them.
But something had shifted. Something heavy had been placed in the middle of the space, and neither of them could step around it.
For a moment, Edmond couldn't speak. His lips parted slightly, then closed again. His eyes stayed on Robert, but not fully. Like he was looking at him and past him at the same time, trying to make sense of what he had just heard.
The words were still echoing.
I have been scheming a plan to overthrow him.
They didn't settle. They didn't soften. They just stayed there.
Robert didn't wait. "I need you." His voice was lower now. Not rushed. Not desperate. But there was something under it. Something tight. "I need you and the Northern warriors to join me."
He stepped closer. Not aggressively. But with intent.."Together…" There was a small pause. "We will overthrow this dictator." The word hung differently when he said it. Not like a complaint.
Like a decision already made. Edmond turned away. Slowly. His hand brushed over his face as if trying to wipe something off that wouldn't go away.
Then he faced him again. "You are planning to fight a man with dragons." Each word came measured.
Careful.
Like he didn't want them to slip into something sharper. "How do you intend to succeed?" It wasn't mockery. It wasn't disbelief. It was real.
Robert didn't hesitate. He stepped forward again. This time his hands came up, gripping Edmond's shoulders firmly. Not rough. But enough to hold him there. Enough to make sure he listened. "I have placed men into the service of the dragon."
The words came quiet, and controlled. Edmond's eyes narrowed slightly. Robert leaned in just a little. "Men who are loyal to me."
He paused.
"Men who want vengeance." His grip tightened slightly. "On the king." The room felt even smaller now. "When we are ready…" Robert's voice dropped further. "…his dragon…" A breath. "…and every other dragon will all die."
Silence stretched long, and uncomfortable.
Edmond didn't move. He didn't blink. His mind tried to catch up. To place it. To understand the weight of what had just been said. Dragons. Not one. All will be dead.
The thought didn't sit right. It didn't feel like a plan. It felt like something bigger. Something that could collapse everything if it went wrong.
"Even if you succeed…" His voice came out slower now. Like he was stepping carefully across thin ice. "…eliminating the king…" He lifted his gaze fully to Robert's. "…his sons will never forgive you."
There it was. The part that hadn't been spoken yet. The part that made everything else heavier.
Robert nodded. No hesitation. "I do not intend to leave the sons alive either." The words came clean, and sharp. No apology. "They have to die."
Edmond's reaction was immediate. His hand came up to his head, fingers pressing against his temple as if something inside was pushing too hard. Too fast. "The children did nothing wrong."
His voice tightened. "They are your cousins." The word cousins lingered. It wasn't just a title. It carried memories. Shared spaces. Shared blood. Things that didn't disappear just because the world had changed.
Robert nodded again. "I know." His voice softened. Just slightly.
"I love them as my cousins." For a moment, something human passed through his expression. Something conflicted. But it didn't stay. "But they are Dragarians." The softness disappeared. Replaced, by hardened face again. "They carry the blood of their father."
Each word landed harder than the last. "If we do not end all of them…" His gaze didn't waver. "…we will continue to endure tyranny…"
He breath sharply. "even after the death of the father." The room went quiet again. But this time, it felt different, and heavier. Like the walls themselves were listening. Edmond exhaled sharply. His chest rose, then fell.
Once, and twice. He stepped back slightly, creating space between them. "I agree with you." The words came out strained. "the father has to die."
That much, he could hold. That much, he could stand on. But then, he spoke. "But the sons have done no wrong."
His eyes hardened. Clear, and certain. "I cannot take part in the killing of the innocent." The word innocent settled between them like a line drawn on the ground.
Edmond turned. Not slowly this time. Decisively. Like he needed to move before something pulled him back.
But he didn't get far..Robert's hand caught him again. Stronger this time. More urgent. "You think the children are innocent?" His voice had changed. There was an edge now. Not anger. Not fully. But close.
Edmond stopped. Didn't turn immediately. Robert stepped closer behind him. His grip firm on his arm. "Once Dereek becomes king…" He leaned in slightly. "…who do you think he will behave like?"
Edmond's jaw tightened. He didn't answer. He didn't need to. "Of course he learned leadership from the father."
Each word pressed forward. Relentless.
"Therefore he is likely to behave like him.".The argument hung there. Cold, logical, and dangerous.
For a second, just a second— It almost made sense. You could see it. The future he was describing. A throne..A son. The same patterns repeating.
But Edmond pulled his arm free. Sharp, and decisive. He turned now fully..His eyes locked onto Robert's. "I still won't do it.".No hesitation. No softness. "The sons of the king are innocent."
The line didn't move. It didn't bend. It stayed exactly where he had placed it. Then he turned again. This time, he walked.
No pause.
No looking back. Each step firm. Grounded. Like he was choosing something with every movement away from that room.
The door opened. Then closed behind him. The sound echoed briefly. Then faded. Robert stood there.
Still.
His hand remained slightly lifted where Edmond had pulled away. Then slowly, it dropped.
His jaw tightened. His teeth pressed together. A flicker of anger crossed his face. Quick, and sharp.
Gone almost as soon as it came. He bit his lip. Hard. As if holding something in. Or pushing something down. The room felt quiet again.
But underneath it, something else. A different kind of stillness. Not empty, but ertain because despite everything, despite Edmond walking away.
Despite the refusal. Despite the line drawn between them. Robert's shoulders eased slightly. Just a fraction. Not relief. Not exactly. But something close. Because he knew Edmond since childhood.
The way he refused to bend once he decided something. And more importantly, how loyal he is to family and allies.
His gaze drifted toward the door. Toward the path Edmond had taken. "He won't tell." The thought settled quietly.
Certain, and unshaken.