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“You said that losing Azar reminded you of how helpless you felt when you and your grandmother were attacked.”

Aegus merely nodded his head in agreement.

He lay atop a comfortable, but simple, bed in the medical ward of the academy. The room was outfitted with little furniture and forgettable decor. Not that Aegus had paid much attention. His gaze had remained fixed primarily on the corner where the sheer cream-white curtain met the ceiling. Light from the outside and inside met and filtered through the fabric in soft, uneven layers, diffusing across the folds in an oddly calming way.

Since being admitted earlier that day, he had remained lying in place for most of the time.

It wasn’t his first time going through this. When he was a child, his family had spared no expense to restore his arm and mind.

The psychiatrist seated beside his bed had introduced himself as Francis Castile. Based on his features and family name, Aegus suspected he was related to the very same psychiatrist who had treated him back then. This was likely not a coincidence on the academy’s part.

However, unlike his likely relative, Francis’s method relied less on medicinal incense and magical spellwork and more on conversation. Aegus had been given an herbal concoction to loosen the flow of his thoughts, and Francis Castile had spent the past several hours gently guiding him through the tangled maze his mind had been flung into since the ‘incident’.

“What made you feel less helpless back then,” Francis asked, “after the attack on you and your grandmother?”

Aegus smirked at the question.

It wasn’t an internal reason that had brought him out of the dark back then.

No, what pulled him out of the darkness back then was witnessing the power his family wielded in the aftermath.

His father used his influence to mobilize allies, pressure officials, and even draw on the crown to identify the culprits and bring them to justice. To catch the criminals responsible, their nation had even allowed itself to enter a conflict with a neighboring country, which continued to this day.

The sheer authority of House Matrinovo had awed him. It had been the first time Aegus truly understood what his family name meant. And it was this power and reach that had been the compelling force that pushed him out of his depressive state.

However, that and this differ greatly.

“What worked then won’t help now, if that’s what you’re alluding to,” Aegus muttered.

Francis did not interrupt and allowed the room to settle into silence as Aegus’s mind continued to churn.

Aegus’s left fingers tightened slightly against the thin wool blanket covering his body.

He had already utilized his family’s vast influence and connections to obtain an advantage over his roommate. He had obtained Azar. A Grade A elemental of the last remaining Cerberus.

And it was all of naught.

Who could have ever guessed that Luca Frey possessed a monster such as that?

Void was not Cerberus-born. Aegus was certain of that now. Luca Frey had indeed lied.

But that only made things worse.

Cerberus-born elementals were not necessarily the strongest elementals in existence. However, there was no clear evidence of any other type standing above them either. That was why Aegus had been so confident originally.

Yet Void overpowered Azar in an instant.

No, Void had erased Azar from existence.

Aegus felt a shiver run through his body at the mere memory, despite it being summer and the blanket covering him.

For a brief moment, he was back inside the silver cage. He could feel the absence again. The terrible, impossible emptiness where Azar’s presence had been. It was akin to having a limb removed before his mind could understand the wound—something Aegus had literally experienced once before.

Whatever Luca Frey had contracted with was far more terrifying than anything described in any text on elementals.

Not that Aegus would ever tell a soul.

Void had given Azar a warning. It was clear, childish, and barely veiled: it called itself a Cerberus-born. There was no need for further threats; the worst had already been shown.

“There is another matter,” Francis said eventually, filling in the silence. “One that I believe you are ready to hear, and perhaps one that should give you some relief.”

Aegus shifted his gaze from the curtain to the man beside his bed.

Francis Castile was in his mid-forties with a grey goatee. He sat with one ankle crossed over the other, a notebook resting on his knee. His expression was calm, professional, and gentle.

“What ‘matter’?” Aegus asked.

“The academy board reached a decision regarding Luca Frey,” Francis said.

Aegus’s left fingers tightened beneath the blanket.

“He has been assigned to the southern front under enhanced supervision. The front lines.”

For a brief moment, the words that Francis spoke aloud did not make sense.

Aegus stared at him.

“Why?” The decision evaded his understanding.

Luca Frey had been sent to war. To the bitter front lines, no less, where survival was not guaranteed for anyone.

Aegus should have felt vindicated. Or at least that was what Francis had presumed he’d feel. Instead, heat rose sharply to Aegus’s face.

“That was my place,” he said.

Francis studied him. “Your place?”

Aegus pushed himself off the bed, sitting up.

“That was my arrangement,” he said, voice sharpening. “The deal for Azar was not charity. My family did not simply obtain the last Cerberus-born elemental because Father felt indulgent.”

Aegus continued speaking, his voice growing with more force.

“The southern border war is not some distant conflict to me. The kingdom they are fighting sheltered the criminals who attacked my grandmother. The ones who burned away my right arm.”

He lifted his shiny, metal right arm through which Azar’s warm flames flickered.

Even now, even after all these years, he could still remember the smell. Burnt fabric and flesh. His flesh.

He remembered his grandmother’s soft hand pulling his face back and her trembling voice telling him not to look. But he had looked at the melted flesh oozing almost comically off his right arm.

Hours of therapy sessions did not completely dispel the horrors of that day.

“My family secured Azar,” Aegus said quietly, “and in return, I was to assist on the southern front. Under supervision, of course. And with protection and recognition. But I was supposed to be there.”

He swallowed.

“I was supposed to help end it.” Aegus’s voice cracked.

“And now Luca Frey has taken that from you,” Francis said softly, continuing as if this were all part of the planned therapy session.

Aegus’s mouth twisted.

Luca Frey had upended everything Aegus had carefully arranged for himself, trampling over his standing, his certainty, and the unshakable superiority he had built up. And now, without even intending to, he had taken the one discomfort Aegus had been willing and eager to partake in.

For years, Aegus had imagined contributing to the final blow in a war that had begun after his very own flesh and blood had been spilled. He always intended to fight; thus, the requirement to obtain Azar, which seemed quite costly, was actually one House Matrinovo had put in place themselves.

Aegus had imagined completing the revenge his family had started.

And now Luca Frey is going in my place.

Aeus blinked. The herbal concoction that he had drunk was still running through his body, making his thoughts flow in a strange harmony.

Wait. Luca Frey is going in my place. Luca Frey is going to the southern front.

Realization struck Aegus.

The southern front was about to receive something far worse than Azar. Aegus knew that better than anyone.

Rather, no one aside from Aegus was aware of it. The academy did not understand what Luca Frey had contracted with. The board likely believed that Luca Frey simply possessed a powerful Cerberus-born elemental.

They were wrong.

And the small kingdom to the south—the same kingdom that had once given shelter to the people who had attacked his grandmother and taken his right arm—was about to learn that.

Aegus’s breathing steadied, and he let out a deep exhale.

“What is it?” Francis asked gently. “You look calmer.”

Aegus realized he was smiling.

“It’s nothing,” Aegus said and lay back against the pillow. He returned his gaze to the pale curtain, where light continued to break softly across the folds. Though it was now far less interesting than the actual view outside.

His place had been stolen, and his revenge had been delegated to someone else. But perhaps that was not entirely a loss.

“The war in the south should finally wrap up with him down there,” Aegus said.

Then dissatisfaction rose in him.

No. That is not enough. I want to see it.

He realized he wanted to be down on the southern front no matter what, when that damned kingdom fell.

And I want to contribute in some way too.

“Francis,” Aegus said, turning his head. “Have you ever wanted direct access to battlefield trauma cases?”

Francis’s pen stilled.

Aegus smiled faintly. He had provided the right bait.

“If you can write that I am fit for supervised travel by tonight, I’m certain my father can arrange more than enough research opportunities for you, with the full financial backing of House Matrinovo.”

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