Free Web NovelChapter 387: A catastrophic union
Alaric didn’t even stop to process what his eyes had just witnessed. He marched down the grand corridor with heavy, fast strides, his dark fur mantle billowing behind him as he practically stormed away from the guest wing.
His mind was completely reeling from the sheer domestic chaos of his own estate.
He needed to find Julian. Right now.
He took the sweeping stone stairs two at a time, bypassing the servants who bowed to him, until he reached the entrance of the main parlor where Julian was peacefully organizing his lesson plans for that morning.
Alaric threw the doors open, his chest heaving slightly as he stepped inside.
Julian looked up from his desk, a soft, welcoming smile instantly gracing his lips at the sight of the Duke. "Lucien? Back so soon? I thought you went to discuss something with the Emperor—"
"Julian," Alaric interrupted, closing the doors behind him with a sharp snap and walking straight toward the scholar’s desk with an intensely serious expression.
He leaned his large hands over the wood, staring directly into Julian’s vibrant blue eyes. "You’re never going to believe what I just saw. Damn, I don’t know if I believe what I just saw."
Julian’s smile faltered, his brow furrowing with immediate concern. He sat up straight, his focus locking in to what seemed to be a gossip topic. "What is it? What did you see? Did the capital guards cause trouble? Is Aurelian planning a political maneuver?"
"No," Alaric rumbled, his jaw twitching slightly as he tried to find the right words to describe the absolute insanity he had just walked into. "I went to his quarters just now. Aurelian... Seems to have gotten involved with the fallen god of creation."
Julian blinked. The library manual he was holding slipped completely from his fingers, hitting the desk with a dull thud.
"He... what?" Julian whispered, his mind entirely short-circuiting as he stared at the Duke in utter, breathless shock. "You mean... They had... sex?"
"Yes," Alaric stated, his voice completely flat, though a vein was visibly throbbing near his temple as he forced his brain to process the scene. "They had sex. The room was completely turned upside down, the sheets were in absolute ruin, and Norx’s neck was covered in heavy bruises that looked like strangling marks, matching Aurelian’s hands perfectly."
"Then, are you sure they didn’t just fight?" Julian asked, trying to make sense of it.
"I would’ve assumed that, but what kind of fight would create such chaos with Aurelian being naked and the sheets stained with their dried fluids? The air in the room smelled like it would when the morning comes in our own chambers."
Julian shuddered. Ah. This was crazy. "Then?" He looked up at Alaric, eager to know the rest. "What happened when you saw them?"
"I just apologized for the interruption and closed the door."
Julian stared at him, his mouth slightly open, his mind completely refusing to construct a logical sentence.
He was a scholar. He had memorized this world’s manuscripts, deciphered world-ending prophecies, and navigated the complex, terrifying mechanics of political warfare. But absolutely nothing had prepared him for this.
"The Emperor and... Norx?" Julian whispered, his hands trembling slightly against his desk.
He just never expected that combination. It was, by all accounts, an absolute disaster in the making.
They both were men of immense, volatile pride—Aurelian with his suffocating need for absolute, detached control, and Norx with his ancient, chaotic god-complex.
How on earth were they able to get together like that? He could have never pictured that specific arrangement in any timeline. It was a collision of two entirely incompatible forces, yet somehow, they had imploded in the exact same bed.
How is the manor not even destroyed yet?
"I don’t understand," Julian murmured, rubbing his temples as his brain was still short-circuiting. "Emperor Aurelian doesn’t even allow people to get close to him without his permission, let alone... do that." And it was with a man too. Julian thought.
Aurelian was so obsessed with Alaric that it was hard to imagine him looking at another man. The only reason why he even married the late empress was so he could have an heir to the throne, and Alaric had gotten married to the late duchess then.
And then there was Norx. The god who hates being dominated by anyone.
"How did it even escalate to that point?"
Alaric was still deeply taken aback by the whole thing, his massive frame shifting uncomfortably as he leaned against the edge of the desk.
"I don’t know," the Duke rumbled, his brow furrowed in a dark, heavy scowl. "When Norx said he would keep an eye on Aurelian, I was satisfied. I figured they would just tear each other apart with words or petty mind games, leaving us in peace so you wouldn’t be pestered. But this..."
Alaric shook his head, a look of profound, lingering shock settling over his rugged features. "This was way beyond just tearing each other apart. They literally dragged each other to the brink, and neither one of them looked like they were going to back down."
Julian looked up, the sheer gravity of the situation weighing on him.
It was a terrifying, chaotic wild card dropped right into the middle of the estate just two days before the preparations were finalized—and neither of them knew exactly what kind of aftermath they were going to have to deal with when those bedroom doors finally opened again.
"If they start bringing their baggage into the courtyard, I am personally kicking both of them to the capital," Alaric grunted, running a massive hand through his blonde hair. "I already have a lot on my plate planning..." He caught himself just a fraction of a second too late, coughing roughly into his fist as he realized his tongue had slipped. "I mean—I have enough to coordinate with Kaelen... and the guards... for the estate’s winter security registries. I do not have time to arbitrate whatever toxic power dynamic they’ve managed to invent in the last twenty-four hours."
Julian, however, was far too occupied with the sheer, blinding absurdity of the Emperor’s situation to notice the Duke’s sudden, clumsy word stumble.
He slowly sat back in his chair, his gaze drifting toward the window as he tried to piece together the absolute anomaly of this development.
"Emperor Aurelian’s obsession with you was built entirely on a desire for complete, absolute possession," Julian analyzed softly, his scholar’s mind automatically trying to dissect the psychology of the disaster. "He wanted to control you. He wanted to own you. But Norx... Norx is an entity who literally thrives on raw, unyielding emotion. If Aurelian tried to force his malice onto him..."
Julian’s eyes widened slightly as the terrifying truth dawned on him.
"I have a theory which says Norx didn’t fight back," Julian whispered, looking up at Alaric with a mix of awe and horror. "He fed into it instead, deliberately using Aurelian’s own dark, sadistic tendencies to trap him."
"How did you come up with that conclusion?" Alaric asked and Julian looked the other way.
"Remember, Norx said he was going to keep an eye on Aurelian. I fear that he saw something, a darkness that might lead to a tragedy." Julian explained. "Norx brought about different tragedies over the centuries, so our happily ever after would never be met. But this time was different, so now he has to stop whatever tragic ending villain he had designed."
"Aurelian." Aleric whispered with realization and Julian nodded.
"By giving Aurelian a completely unbreakable canvas to release his darkest frustration on, Norx essentially found a way to subdue him entirely. It’s brilliant, but it is incredibly dangerous." Julian stated and sighed.
"Dangerous is an understatement," Alaric growled, leaning down to plant his hands on Julian’s desk again, his blue eyes dead serious. "I walked into that room without expecting much, but instead I find the primordial creator of this world covered in marks that look like an attempted murder, and while looking like he just won a prize. He’s not sane and neither is Aurelian."
They were two crazy peas in a pod.
"I don’t care what kind of game they are playing to balance their egos, Julian. I just want to ensure that whatever fallout comes from this doesn’t spill over into the manor."
Julian reached out, his pale fingers gently wrapping around Alaric’s large, calloused hand, squeezing it reassuringly. The warmth of the touch immediately caused the tense line of the Duke’s shoulders to drop.
"It won’t," Julian promised softly, his voice full of an absolute, grounding certainty. "Aurelian’s pride is his greatest strength, but right now, it is his heaviest shackle. He is likely paralyzingly horrified that you saw him in such an unraveled, undignified state. He won’t dare cause a scene or step out of line now. He’ll be too busy trying to figure out how to put his mask back together before he has to face you again."
Alaric let out a heavy, gravelly sigh, flipping his hand over to lock his thick fingers with Julian’s. "He better. Because if he or that ridiculous god ruins the peace of this estate right now, I won’t care about the throne or the apocalypse. I will handle them myself."
Especially since his grand plans were going to manifest the next day at dusk. He could not let anything ruin it.
Julian offered a soft, knowing smile, his heart doing a small, affectionate flip at the fierce protectiveness in Alaric’s voice. Though he was oblivious to Alaric’s thoughts and the preparations being made in the estate.
"I’m sure... Things will work out somehow." He whispered.
