Chapter 72: ⁷²: silk

"What?" Louis said with a cough.

I narrowed my eyes at him. What was with that strange reaction?

"It is nothing like that, brother!" he continued almost immediately, as if afraid I would misunderstand. "We are just classmates. We have been since primary school, so that is why she keeps following me. There is nothing else between us. Who told you this, though? Did Beta Ryan..."

"Stop. There is no need to get so nervous." I cut him off, watching him carefully.

He immediately fell silent.

I had known Louis long enough to recognize when he was genuinely nervous and when he was simply trying to hide something. Right now, he looked more like a guilty child standing before his older brother than the carefree young man who could tease almost anyone without hesitation.

"If she is not your girlfriend, then why did you heal her with your blood?" I asked, leaning forward. My expression turned serious. "Do you even realize how serious that is?"

The color drained from his face. "Brother, trust me. I did save her like that, but not because there is something between us," he said quickly.

I kept my eyes narrowed, waiting for him to explain himself properly.

"It is just that we have been friends since childhood, so when the doctor said there were chances she might not survive..." His gaze dropped nervously to the table. "Knowing there was a way I could save her, I decided to follow it. But that in no way means there is something between us!"

His voice carried genuine sincerity, but I still wasn’t completely convinced.

"Are you sure that is entirely the reason?" I asked, keeping my stern expression intact. I wanted him to understand that I was serious.

"Yes..." He hesitated for a few seconds before finally meeting my eyes. "There really is no other reason."

I studied him silently.

There was no obvious deception in his expression, but something about the entire situation still bothered me. Perhaps it was because I had never imagined Louis would become entangled in something like this, especially with someone from Elder Vale’s family.

I sighed, not wanting to see him looking so frightened. "Okay. Don’t give me that look now," I said, my voice softening slightly.

I knew that expression too well. Whenever Louis looked at me like that, it became difficult to remain angry with him. He had always been that way, even when we were children.

But this time, I couldn’t afford to become too soft. Not when the next thing I wanted to talk about elwas about Athena. Not when I still didn’t know exactly what connection existed between them.

Louis finally relaxed a little, but I wasn’t ready to let the matter completely go.

"Just be careful from now on," I warned him. "You are no longer a child. Every decision you make can have consequences, especially when it involves someone connected to the council."

"Yes, brother," he replied quietly.

I leaned back in my chair, still watching him. There is no way I can let him get close to Athena. I didn’t know whether this was something Athena had planned or simply another one of Louis’s usual theatrics with girls. Whatever it was, it had to stop.

"I don’t know what your reason for doing that was, but don’t do something like that ever again, okay?"

"Okay, brother. I won’t do it again," Louis replied, keeping his head lowered.

"Now, what is it that you have with Athena Moonvel?" I asked, finally getting to the main topic. "Why did you post that dance video from your birthday? Are you interested in her?"

Although my face remained passive, devoid of any expression, my heart was beating so rapidly that I could almost hear it.

I had asked the question, but whether I would actually be able to accept his answer was something I wasn’t sure about.

Louis’s eyes widened at my question. He abruptly looked up as though I had asked him something completely unexpected.

That reaction only made me more uneasy.

I didn’t know why I was so worried. There was something strange happening inside me, something that felt as though it was constricting my heart. A strange fear seemed to be wrapping itself around me, tightening with every second I waited for his answer.

"How... How do you know about Athena Moonvel?" Louis asked, his voice filled with shock. "And about me posting that video?"

"I am the Alpha of this pack, Louis. There is nothing that can remain hidden from me," I replied, forcing myself to ignore the strange feeling surging through me. "Besides, Athena Moonvel is this year’s Dravera holder. Of course I know who she is. That isn’t anything unusual."

I leaned forward slightly, my eyes fixed on him. "The question is, what involvement do you have with her?"

"Dravera is the answer to that too!" Louis said, his voice suddenly turning bitter.

I raised my eyebrows.

"It isn’t just an achievement. You know how hard I worked for it." His fingers curled against the edge of the table as he continued. "Dad received it. Mom received it. You received it. Naturally, I was supposed to receive it too."

His expression darkened. "But then that girl came in between us and took it away from me."

For a moment, I simply stared at him.

"The fact that she took away what was supposed to be mine is the thing connecting the two of us."

I was shocked by the bitterness in his voice. I had never thought Louis would be bothered enough by someone to harbor such strong feelings toward them. Hate was too strong a word, but dislike? Clearly, there was plenty of that.

So Athena had been telling the truth. Louis really was on bad terms with her because of the Dravera.

"Then why did you dance with her on your birthday?" I asked before I could stop myself. My voice came out sharper than I intended. "And now you’ve posted that video yourself? Your actions are completely contradictory to your words, Louis."

"I... I had..." Louis stuttered.

"You had what, Louis?"

He fell silent.

I watched him closely, waiting. For the first time since our conversation had started, Louis looked genuinely cornered. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his fingers moving restlessly against the table as though he was trying to find the right words.

I narrowed my eyes. "Speak."

"I had my reasons, brother."

"What reasons?"

He hesitated again. My patience was wearing thin, but strangely, beneath my irritation was something else. Something much more unsettling.

I needed to know why he had danced with Athena. I needed to know why he had posted that video. And, more than anything else, I needed to know whether there was something between them that I didn’t know about.

"No..." he said, shaking his head as if talking to himself. "I did that because I knew that, considering my position in the pack, I couldn’t target her directly. So I decided to pretend I was getting close to her, knowing that if I did that, there would be many people who wouldn’t spare her for it."

I raised my brows at that. "So that was why you posted the video too?" I asked, feeling the fire that had been burning inside me slowly beginning to subside.

"Yeah..." Louis replied immediately. "I just wanted to make sure everyone knew about it."

A small smile tugged at my lips as I finally understood what he had been doing.

The tension that had been coiling around my chest began to loosen. I leaned my head back slightly and let out a long breath, realizing only then that I had been holding it.

So there was nothing between them. Louis had simply been using the situation to make Athena’s life difficult. I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

"Louis, whatever you did until now, let’s take it as a childish mistake," I said, looking back at him. My voice turned stern as I continued, "You have a lot of important responsibilities waiting for you, responsibilities that require you to be strong and prepared. You should keep yourself above these trivial grudges."

Louis nodded silently.

"From now on, I should not hear that you have entangled yourself with Athena Moonvel again."

I fixed him with a warning look.

"Am I clear?"

"Yes, brother."

"Good."

The matter was settled. At least as far as Louis was concerned.

My gaze drifted away from him and landed on the painting hanging on the opposite wall. It depicted a delicate red rose wrapped in shiny crimson silk, its beautiful petals almost hidden beneath the smooth fabric. The artist had somehow managed to make the rose look both fragile and dangerous at the same time.

I stared at it for a moment. A strange idea formed in my mind. As far as Athena Moonvel was concerned, her punishment for daring to scheme against me would be given by me dlowly, carefully.

I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing what was coming. I would let her continue believing that she had fooled me, while I quietly tightened the net around her.

Like thorns hidden beneath silk.

And the very first step would begin tomorrow. A faint smirk curved across my lips as I continued staring at the painting. "Let’s see how long you can endure me, Athena Moonvel."