Chapter 96: Hot Chocolate and Cold Wars

Chapter 96: Hot Chocolate and Cold Wars
Xavier’s spine was straight, his gaze glued to the mug before him.

The silence stretched. The chocolate cooled.

Vlad’s cup was empty now, two ice cubes left bare at the bottom.

Sighing, he crossed his arms and looked at X.

“Are you not going to say anything?”

The question wasn’t aggressive. Again, there was this gentleness from Vlad that Xavier had long since forgotten.

He didn’t know how to respond to it. They were brothers who had lost each other and didn’t know how to reconnect without fighting. But it seemed that Vlad had found his way back to who X used to know him as.

But the same couldn’t be said for Xavier. The only thing inside him at that moment was defensiveness and the itch to argue. But he didn’t want to fight.

Especially when Vlad was like this. So, he remained silent.

Vlad slowly nodded as his question was ignored. “Fine.”

He stood with too much force. The chair clattered to the floor, but Vlad didn’t care.

He reached out to grab the mug, but X quickly covered it, looking up at Vlad.

“What?” said Vlad. “I thought you didn’t want it?”

“So? It’s still mine! You made it for me.”

Vlad’s jaw briefly clenched. He turned to leave. “Brat.”

“What?!” Getting called a brat as a grown man made Xavier release a scoff of disbelief.

Vlad didn’t answer, rounding the counter to walk away.

X shot to his feet. “We’ll talk!”

Vlad stopped.

After a moment of silence, he turned to look at him. “I thought you didn’t want to.”

“I can’t right now,” X grumbled. “I’m not in the right place. I just need you to tell Seth to let me face my punishment. I don’t want your pity. And I know that when you heard I’d been suspended, you believed I deserved it. So, don’t change your mind now. Just because…”

He trailed off.

Slowly, Vlad walked back over to stand before him. “You think I pity you?”

X blinked, thinking it over. “…Clearly.”

“Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do. I would love nothing more than to kick your ass for disobeying Seth when he instructed us not to challenge Rogan. But I acknowledge that you did it because you never got the chance to talk to him after what he did to me in Geminor. And I acknowledge that your intelligence isn’t enough to help you realize that I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”

That got him a glare. “You think you’re so intelligent?! How did you get yourself stabbed by the bastard’s cursed daggers, then?”

“It happens,” Vlad said with a shrug. “I’m alive, aren’t I?”

Xavier groaned. “I hate it when you trivialize things like this! You’re alive? So, what? What matters is the moment when you weren’t! And the risk there was of that being permanent.”

Vlad silently studied him, looking at the suppressed urgency in Xavier’s eyes. In a quiet voice, like he wanted to ground his brother’s rising temper, he said, “X. It’s been decades since. I’m alive. I’m okay. I’m still here with you.”

The words struck Xavier silent. He stood there, arms hanging at his sides. He was disgusted. How could just a few words still him so instantly? He wanted to keep being angry.

But the truth was that he couldn’t. Vlad had somehow said the exact words that X had needed to hear.

So, stripped of his aggression, he swallowed hard and turned away. “Whatever. I don’t care, but Syre would’ve been crushed to lose you. So would Seth, you know, he adores you. And Zen, and Ethan, they would lose their smiles. And Fayed needs you, you’re the only one who reads his mind when he doesn’t speak. So… yeah, listen, just tell Seth—”

“I won’t let anyone kill me again,” Vlad said. “I won’t put you through— you guys through that again. So, don’t worry.”

Xavier met his gaze.

The silence stretched.

And then he sighed. “What the hell happened to us, man?”

Vlad quietly lowered his gaze.

A bitter laugh followed X’s words. “Right, I nearly forgot. Me. I’m what happened. I ruined it like I ruin everything.”

“Xavier—”

“I know that I’m the one who pushed you away. And I know you don’t want us to go back to being best of pals or whatever, so don’t worry. I won’t ask for that. Just tell Seth that I’m still suspended.”

“You’re back on duty,” Vlad said, frowning. “Don’t piss me off.”

Xavier clenched his jaw, glaring at him.

Vlad glared back. “And you don’t get to tell me what I do or don’t want. Are you out of your mind?”

“I broke the rules!”

“Exactly. And I’m telling you not to do it again. Don’t fight for me. Especially not if you get hurt as a result.”

Xavier huffed pridefully, turning away to grumble, “Who says I was fighting for him? Presumptuous and wrong all at once—”

“Xavier.”

He turned back to face him. “Fine, Vlad! Whatever. I’ll go back to work, since you’re so obsessed with me.”

Shutting his eyes, Vlad simultaneously gathered patience and tried to ignore the niggle of amusement deep inside him. He sighed, looking at X. “Good. Start tomorrow. Today, there’s something else I need you to do for me.”

“Do I look like your fucking secretary?”

“It’s for Aurelia.”

He stood at attention. “Aurelia? What is it? I’ll do it.”

Vlad stared flatly at him, not knowing whether he was grateful or pissed. What was that overeager reaction?

There was no way Xavier was really falling for Aurelia. Was there?

“Summon Olive,” he said. “Ask her for a favor for us. We need someone on the inside, now that Aurelia’s out of the kingdom.”

“You’ve lost me. What is this about?”

Vlad thought it over for a moment and then decided he had no choice. They needed more people if they were going to keep Aurelia safe and alive.

So, summarizing the entire matter, he explained to Xavier what had been going on. The horse, the ploy, how Betty was involved, and how she had involved the Princess.

When he was done, Xavier’s face was twisted with confusion. “All of that happened here, on the estate? Where was I?”

“Buried in a pair of breasts, probably.”

“Poor Aurelia,” X said, ignoring that blatant jab. “But Ava would never do that.”

“I agree. That’s why we need Olive to keep an eye on that Betty girl. The way I see it…”

X nodded. “She’s going to feed Ava the garbage and convince her to accuse Aurelia.”

Vlad shook his head. “Not if we have anything to do with it.”