ryethenovel Chapter 211: What Did Helios Do?
Chapter 211: What Did Helios Do?
’What is he saying?’
Ezra stiffens instinctively at first, his hand accidentally clutching the front of Kaelis’s clothes for balance as he looks up at him in complete disbelief.
Kaelis, meanwhile, looked perfectly calm.
Confident, even.
As if casually pulling Ezra against him in front of Helios was completely normal behavior.
But it wasn’t normal behavior.
It was scandalous.
And the worst part was that Kaelis didn’t even look embarrassed about it.
"You interrupted us, actually," Kaelis continued smoothly, sounding almost amused now as he looked directly at Helios. "So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make things awkward."
Ezra nearly choked.
’Kaelis.’
His face immediately started burning.
Not just because of the words.
Not just because Helios was staring at them.
But because Kaelis’ hand was resting against his waist again, and Ezra hated that his body immediately recognized the warmth.
Like it had already memorized it.
Helios goes very still.
The smile on his face remains.
But something about him immediately changes.
The atmosphere sharpens.
And for the first time in years, Ezra notices how terrifying Helios could actually look when he was upset.
Not loud anger.
Not explosive rage.
Something quieter.
Colder.
"Oh?" Helios says softly. "Is that so?"
His eyes briefly flicker toward Kaelis’s hand on Ezra’s waist.
Then toward Ezra himself.
And somehow, that gaze made Ezra feel cold.
Like Helios was looking through him instead of at him.
Kaelis notices too.
Ezra could feel it from the way Kaelis subtly tightened his hold around him, almost protective without making it obvious.
"I didn’t realize the two of you were close enough for that now," Helios says lightly, though the tension beneath his voice was impossible to miss.
"We’re reconnecting," Kaelis answers easily. "After all, Ezra apologized to me earlier for not knowing that it was actually me who brought him the bread."
Ezra immediately looks at Kaelis in horror.
’Why would you say that out loud?!’
Kaelis ignores him completely.
Honestly, at this poin,t Ezra wasn’t even sure Kaelis remembered he was still standing there having a crisis inside his arms.
Helios’ expression doesn’t change, but Ezra sees it.
That tiny shift in his eyes.
The irritation.
The anger.
And suddenly Ezra realizes something that makes his stomach twist.
Helios hated this.
Not in the irritated older brother kind of way either.
No.
This looked personal.
Ezra felt like he didn’t know Helios anymore, but that gaze was a gaze he had seen in others before.
The look of pure hatred and disdain.
The kind nobles gave servants they deemed filthy.
The kind jealous alphas gave rivals during mating season.
Possessive.
Ugly.
’Why is he so angry?’ Ezra thought, resisting the urge to narrow his eyes, even if what Kaelis was saying was absolutely scandalous.
There was no reason for Helios to stand there and look at them like they had just lit his mother on fire.
It didn’t make any sense.
Helios’ gaze slowly shifts back toward Ezra again.
Then, softly, almost too softly, he asks, "Is that true?"
Ezra hesitates.
Only for a second.
But that second felt important somehow.
Because before, Ezra would’ve immediately tried to reassure Helios, tried to ease whatever tension was happening before it could grow worse.
And it was a lie, a scandalous lie at that, something Ezra normally would never want to get associated with.
Now?
Now Ezra found himself watching Helios carefully instead.
Observing him.
’...Is this what Kaelis has been doing this whole time?’
Getting reactions out of him.
Pushing him intentionally just to see what was real beneath Helios’ perfect image.
And now that Ezra knew the truth, now that the illusion had finally cracked, he realized he wanted to see Helios clearly, too.
Not the version he built in his head for years.
Not the prince he blindly trusted.
The real Helios.
So despite the embarrassment still burning on his face, Ezra quietly answers,
"Yes. Not in a romantic sense as Prince Kaelis joke,d but..." Ezra takes a deep breath. "We have been talking amicably. I fear I misjudged his highness all these years."
Helios’ expression flickers slightly.
Very slightly.
But Ezra catches it now.
That tiny tightening in his jaw.
The way his eyes darkened for half a second before smoothing over again.
’There it is.’ Ezra thought quietly. ’You really do hate this.’
"Fine," Helios says after a moment, his voice calm again in a way that almost sounded forced. "If that’s the case, then I won’t interrupt."
Ezra almost relaxes.
Almost.
"But," Helios continues, his gaze settling directly on Ezra now, "you and I still need to talk and work things out. So, do that another time."
Ezra stiffens again immediately.
Because Helios sounded serious.
Too serious.
"I might have lied," Helios says carefully, "but that doesn’t mean our friendship wasn’t genuine."
Ezra stares at him.
Shocked less by the statement itself and more by what it even meant.
Because what kind of apology was that?
Or was it even an apology at all?
’Friendship?’
And first of all—
Why wasn’t he apologizing to Kaelis?
He wasn’t even acknowledging the fact that he lied and took all of Kaelis’ effort.
Kaelis was the actual victim here thinking about it now.
The one Ezra hated unfairly for years because of Helios’ silence.
The one Helios watched got treated coldly over something that was never his fault in the first place.
And Helios knew Ezra disliked Kaelis heavily.
Ezra had never exactly hidden it.
Yet Helios was talking about their friendship instead.
Ezra’s brows slowly furrow.
"All I wanted to know," Ezra says quietly now, "was why you lied all this time."
Helios exhales slowly through his nose.
"That conversation is private."
Ezra immediately frowns harder.
"That conversation involves Prince Kaelis."
"And Kaelis also kept quiet about it," Helios says smoothly, his eyes sharpening slightly now. "So why am I the only one being blamed here?"
Ezra goes still for a moment after hearing that.
Because part of him hated that Helios technically wasn’t wrong.
Kaelis did keep quiet, too.
But somehow, the difference felt obvious now that Ezra stood between both of them.
Kaelis looked confident when the topic came up.
And Helios looked like he suddenly regretted what he said after he saw Kaelis’ expression.
And those were two very different things.
Beside him, Kaelis suddenly lets out a quiet breath of amusement.
Not happy amusement.
Something sharper.
Then, slowly, Kaelis finally speaks again.
"You know why I didn’t."
Helios’ eyes immediately shift toward him.
The tension between the brothers instantly thickens again, heavy enough that even Ezra could feel it pressing against his skin now.
’Come to think of it...’ Ezra thought, his eyebrows furrowing deeper as something finally started clicking together inside his head.
Ezra slowly looks up at Kaelis.
"Why didn’t you?"
Kaelis’ gaze immediately shifts toward him.
And strangely enough, Kaelis didn’t even look caught off guard by the question.
Almost like he had been expecting Ezra to eventually ask for it.
"Should I tell him or you, brother?" Kaelis asks lightly, though there was something sharper beneath the humor now. "I promised the captain that I’d never lie to him, but at the same time, you are the one who wants to explain."
The moment the words leave Kaelis’ mouth, Ezra immediately looks toward Helios again.
And for the first time since this conversation started, Helios looked genuinely shaken.
Not irritated.
Not cold.
Shaken.
His chest was rising and falling harder now, like he was suddenly having trouble breathing properly.
As if Kaelis had just dragged something ugly into the light that Helios desperately didn’t want exposed.
"That’s..." Helios starts quietly, but the confidence from earlier is gone now.
His voice almost sounded strained.
Like he had suddenly been cornered.
Ezra’s stomach twists.
Because now he understood what Kaelis was implying.
Or at least...he thought he did.
Slowly, carefully, Ezra asks,
"Did you stop him from telling me the truth?"
The realization sinks in harder with every second.
Because Helios must have done something.
Said something.
Kaelis had been nothing but honest with him lately.
Painfully honest, even.
And the more Ezra thought about it now, the less sense it made for Kaelis to willingly hide something like that for years unless there was another reason behind it.
"I...you..."
Helios actually looked stunned now.
Like he genuinely didn’t expect Kaelis to answer that way.
Like he didn’t expect any of this to spiral this far out of his control.
And suddenly Ezra remembered all those years Helios would subtly redirect conversations whenever Kaelis came up, but he always made it seem like it was ’brotherly.’
All the times Helios discouraged conflict between them, while somehow still allowing the resentment to remain.
’No way...’
The silence stretches painfully between the three of them.
Then, to Ezra’s complete surprise, Helios turns around.
And walks away.
Like, actually walks away.
No explanation.
No denial.
No attempt to defend himself further.
Just silence.
Ezra stares after him in disbelief, almost expecting him to stop eventually.
To turn back.
To say something.
Anything.
But Helios just kept walking down the hall, his shoulders tense enough that even from behind Ezra could tell he was unraveling too.
Beside him, Kaelis slowly lets go of Ezra’s waist at some point during the silence, though neither of them immediately notices it.
Neither Ezra nor Kaelis bothered to call out to Helios.
Once Helios was gone, Kaelis started shaking.
"Pfft..."
In laughter.
"That was something. This is the first time he hasn’t yelled at me for doing something like this," Kaelis says casually as he laughs, running a hand through his hair afterward like the entire situation had merely been entertaining to him.
But this just makes Ezra stare at him harder.
Because now that he was actually paying attention, Kaelis’ laughter didn’t sound entirely genuine.
It sounded nervous.
Relieved.
Like someone who had been bracing for a blow that never came.
All this time, Kaelis had been jokingly saying how scary Helios was.
Teasing him about it.
Laughing it off whenever Ezra defended Helios before.
But now?
Now those jokes sounded different in Ezra’s head.
Less like jokes.
More like the kind of humor people used when they didn’t know how else to talk about something painful.
And suddenly Ezra realized something uncomfortable.
Kaelis never looked surprised when Helios got angry.
Only prepared.
It didn’t feel like Kaelis was genuinely happy right now.
It almost seemed like he was relieved.
Relieved that Helios walked away instead of exploding at him.
That realization makes Ezra’s chest tighten painfully again.
’What exactly happened between them...?’
So...Ezra had to ask.
"What did he do that you didn’t tell me?" Ezra asks quietly, not blinking as he looked directly at Kaelis this time.
The question immediately wipes the amusement off Kaelis’ face.
Kaelis freezes.
Completely.
Like Ezra had just struck somewhere sensitive without meaning to.
The silence afterward felt heavier than the argument with Helios somehow.
"You keep wanting me to know about the truth of who he is..." Ezra continues slowly now, his voice softer but steadier. "Why don’t you tell me everything?"