Chapter 152: Organized Chaos

Chapter 152: Chapter 152: Organized Chaos

"No," said Sebastian while trying to understand why his surprise for the wedding was now gathering more people than before. Now Trevor and Sirius were at his last fitting, too.

Trevor, at least, had the decency to look mildly apologetic.

Sirius did not.

The Emperor of Palatine occupied one end of the long upholstered sofa beside Ethan with the relaxed entitlement of a man who had crossed an international border and entered another royal palace because someone had mentioned something interesting was happening without him. Lucas sat nearby examining Madame Celestine Vareaux’s embroidery, Chris stood beside the fitting platform, and Dax had somehow acquired coffee despite nobody remembering him ordering it.

Duncan remained near the door.

Sebastian no longer counted him.

Security was unavoidable.

His family was becoming an infestation.

"I asked Chris."

Trevor looked toward Lucas. "Your father told me."

Lucas remained completely unapologetic.

Sebastian turned to Sirius.

"Ethan told me."

Sebastian stared at all of them.

"This is exactly how classified information collapses."

Dax lifted his coffee. "Nero still doesn’t know."

"That is becoming considerably less impressive when apparently everyone else does."

Celestine stepped between Sebastian and his relatives with the authority of a woman who had dressed enough royal families to understand that fabric could occasionally accomplish what diplomacy could not.

"Your Highness, arms."

Sebastian obeyed.

The finished robe settled over his shoulders.

For several seconds, even he forgot the audience.

White dominated exactly as they had planned, luminous without looking delicate, while deep purple appeared beneath it in the lining and layered inner panels whenever he moved. Silver embroidery climbed from the hem toward his chest and shoulders in narrow geometric patterns belonging to the Crown Prince’s house, intricate enough for royal ceremony without turning Sebastian into a walking monument to Nero’s wealth.

The darker structure beneath sharpened the silhouette and preserved the severity Sebastian preferred.

Nothing circled his throat.

Sebastian knew Sahan tradition well enough to understand the significance of collars, and he had worn Nero’s often enough that nobody could mistake his willingness to participate in it.

His wedding was different.

He wanted the robe to stand on its own.

Besides, Sebastian had a growing suspicion Nero had already purchased something obscenely expensive to commemorate the wedding and was merely waiting for an opportunity to produce it with that innocent expression he wore whenever he had done something financially offensive.

Sebastian refused to provide him with convenient neck space in advance.

Trevor rose and came closer.

His gaze moved slowly over the finished robe before meeting Sebastian’s in the mirror.

"That suits you."

Simple approval, but from Trevor it carried weight.

Sirius followed, studying the white, purple, and silver from several angles.

"You look Sahan."

Sebastian glanced toward him.

"I am marrying the Crown Prince of Saha."

"That part has become difficult to miss."

"But?"

Sirius considered him a moment longer.

"You still look like yourself."

Chris smiled.

That had been the point.

Sebastian wanted Nero’s traditions without becoming absorbed into them.

Celestine adjusted the final fall of one sleeve, checked the embroidery across his shoulder, then stepped back.

"The ceremonial robe is complete. Anything remaining can be finished without another fitting."

Relief came first until Lucas ruined it.

"Assuming Nero doesn’t uncover it before next week."

Sebastian’s mouth twitched.

That was less frightening than it should have been.

Keeping the secret had become exhausting, increasingly complicated, and far too entertaining.

The wedding preparations surrounding them had descended into a form of organized chaos that Nero seemed born to enjoy. He attended tastings, reviewed floral arrangements, interfered with musical selections, argued with lighting designers, modified the printed programs, attended security meetings with Hale and Duncan, and somehow still found enough time to investigate every garment bag that entered Sebastian’s half of the palace.

Sebastian had responded by becoming a menace.

The decoy suit was excellent.

Deep Fitzgeralt green, black, and minimal silver embroidery, tailored beautifully enough that Nero could not criticize the craftsmanship even while clearly suffering from the fact that it coordinated with absolutely nothing Nero intended to wear.

The first time Sebastian showed him the design, Nero had stared at it for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Green."

"Fitzgeralt green."

"I know."

That had been the best part.

The disappointment had been so beautifully controlled that Sebastian nearly laughed in his face.

Nero had spent the next several weeks attempting to improve the situation without openly admitting the lack of coordination bothered him.

A purple sash had been proposed.

Sebastian declined it.

Nero suggested silver embroidery matching his own.

Sebastian explained that his suit already had silver embroidery and watched Nero realize the argument had nowhere useful to go.

Matching ceremonial clasps followed.

Then pocket details.

At one particularly desperate moment, Nero suggested their shoes might coordinate.

Sebastian had needed to leave the room because maintaining a straight face became impossible.

Now he found himself looking forward to every new attempt.

"You’re smiling," Ethan observed.

Sebastian immediately stopped.

Dax looked delighted. "Thinking about Nero?"

"I usually am."

That answer earned several expressions Sebastian chose to ignore.

Trevor moved closer to inspect the embroidery. "Where is the decoy now?"

"Fitzgeralt."

"Good."

Sebastian looked at him. "Why?"

"Nero’s staff requested confirmation yesterday that your wedding clothing had already been transferred."

Sebastian slowly turned toward Duncan.

Duncan took approximately half a second to consider the likely source.

"Idris."

Sebastian smiled.

"He’s suspicious."

Lucas looked unsurprised. "He has been suspicious since childhood. It keeps him occupied."

"Nero asked me three days ago whether I thought green would photograph badly beside purple," Chris added.

Sebastian’s composure cracked.

A laugh escaped before he could stop it.

Everyone looked at him.

Sebastian covered his mouth.

Dax started laughing too.

"Oh, you’re enjoying this."

Sebastian recovered enough to look offended.

"I have been fighting for my life for two months."

"You are enjoying it," Sirius said.

Sebastian stepped down from the fitting platform while Celestine began releasing the temporary protective pins along the shoulder.

Perhaps he was.

There was something profoundly satisfying about watching Nero, who could manipulate diplomats, ministers, family members, and international negotiations without blinking, slowly lose his mind over wedding colors.

Sebastian loved him.

That did not mean he had to make his life easy.

Especially after seven years of engineered encounters and shameless pursuit.

This was practically compensation.

Later that afternoon, Sebastian returned to Nero’s palace carrying the robe concealed beneath a plain garment cover, with another ordinary garment bag containing actual Fitzgeralt clothing layered in front of it for additional protection.

He found Nero in their private sitting room surrounded by wedding schedules, seating charts, two tablets, floral samples, and several exhausted staff members.

Nero looked radiant.

Sebastian resented that too.

His white-blond hair was tied loosely at the nape, pale trousers contrasted with a deep-purple silk shirt, and he seemed entirely at home in the chaos while three other people looked ready to flee the country.

The staff escaped shortly after Sebastian entered.

Nero’s attention immediately shifted toward Duncan.

More specifically, toward the garment bags Duncan carried.

Sebastian felt laughter rise before anything had even happened.

Nero stood.

"What are those?"

Sebastian removed his gloves finger by finger.

"Clothing."

Nero approached Duncan.

Duncan moved one of the bags subtly behind himself.

That was almost enough to destroy Sebastian.

Nero noticed the movement.

His violet eyes narrowed.

Sebastian bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to remain silent.

"Duncan."

"Your Highness."

"What are you carrying?"

"His Highness’s clothing."

Sebastian turned away under the pretense of checking a message because he could feel his control failing.

Nero looked at him.

Then at Duncan.

Then back at Sebastian.

"Is that the wedding suit?"

Sebastian finally faced him.

"The green one?"

Nero’s expression changed by less than a fraction.

It was still glorious.

"Yes," he said.

Sebastian nodded pleasantly. "Then probably."

The disappointment was immediate and beautifully restrained.

Sebastian nearly lost his mind.

Nero recovered, crossed the remaining distance between them, and slid one arm around Sebastian’s waist.

"You know," he murmured, "purple would look very good with your eyes."

Sebastian leaned closer as though seriously considering this valuable information.

"So would green."

Nero stared at him.

Sebastian smiled sweetly.

Behind them, Duncan made a sound suspiciously close to a cough.

One more week.

Sebastian only needed to keep the truth hidden for seven more days.

Considering how much fun he was having, that might actually be the difficult part.