The loudness of the room did very little to ease the relentless pounding inside Varen's head, and the headmaster's determination to talk to him only made the discomfort worse.
"Can you believe the audacity of that bastard Roseabelle?" He huffed angrily, deeply offended by Lex's decision to ditch their official gathering after his speech. "To think that we'll have to deal with him in the forthcoming events is already giving me an ailing migraine."
"... What do you expect from someone with a condition as bad as his? An obedient, tail-wagging servant?" Varen asked between gritted teeth, his tone heavily strained with self-control. "Besides, it's not like the other one had a better personality. Sure, Kaiden might have been timid, but he still moved as impulsively as Lex does."
As gallant as he may be, Varen knew better than to provoke the elder if he wished to continue his search for Zeya's whereabouts.
Sure, he was Exousian's emperor, but the headmaster still had vast authority within the nation because of his contributions during the war that ultimately lead to their victory against the Roseabelles.
"If only that brute had turned out normal like the rest of us." He kept ranting a bit too loudly for Varen's taste. "Things wouldn't be so complicated as they are right now."
"Let's keep our voices down, shall we, Headmaster?" He said with a gentle warning and a knowing smile, spotting a group of nobles approaching from a distance. "This may be a private section of the palace, but even here the walls have ears. We barely managed to avoid conflict with our neighbors these past few years, so let's not risk stirring trouble with our esteemed guests."
Having the truth about the Stygian ruler come out during such a vulnerable time between the two nations was the last thing Varen needed to deal with at the moment.
Not only would it jeopardize the Roseabelles' approval of their ruler, but it would leave Stygia, the empire with the world's strongest militia, ungoverned, making it easy pickings for any of its enemies.
Fortunately, Lex's unusual condition was one of the most well-kept secrets amongst the royal families, though it came with many additional precautions, but Varen always told himself that it was for the better to play along for as long as he could.
He still had his personal objectives to fulfill, and if he wanted to get them done in time, he still needed Lex on his side.
"...Don't tell me you're still upset with me?" The headmaster hastily dropped his voice after Varen's warning. He finally caught onto the Varen's strained tone with each reluctant reply, as though he was speaking only out of obligation.
The past few hours had been tensed between the two, following a heated argument right after the grand opening that marked the official start of spring.
Varen accidentally came across the headmaster's sly team of spies rifling through his personal belongings, likely trying to see if he anything to hide from the headmaster.
Saying he was angry would be an understatement, given what he did to every single one of them later on.
"Would you have rather I made a big scene about it instead?" Varen asked with a sarcastic edge, his face still cold and impassive.
"I did it for your own sake. Your father and I worked hard to make you the exceptional ruler that you are today but," The headmaster turned to face the much taller Kaxarene, his expression still hard to read, "your judgement tends to waver significantly when that Roseabelle is involved. She is nothing but a weakness-"
"Weakness? Headmaster, I don't have any." He stated with a bold grin that carried an unsettling edge. "Not after everything I had to do to get here."
"Maybe the younger me did, but that little prince is long gone, and the Kaxarene standing before you now is nothing like him—nothing at all."
The headmaster had no idea, but Varen had been on edge since learning about this deceit, and now his patience with everything around him was wearing thin.
He had matured enough to keep his emotions in check better than when he first took the throne, but every now and then, that side of him would break through and take over his rational mind—and today felt like the moment it would finally boil over.
"It was simply a measure to keep you in check."
"In check for whom?" Varen inquired without any remorse, watching with little fear as the headmaster's expression falter into a deep scowl. "When have I ever neglected my responsibilities in favor of pursuing my personal interests?"
"How dare you interrogate me-"
"Answer my question."
For a moment, the room fell silent at his sharp tone, but the guests knew better than to pry in the erratic emperor's affairs, so they soon returned to their own conversations, making a point to ignore him.
"This isn't like you at all, Varen." The headmaster said with a dismissive cough, clearly tired of the subject that was making him look guilty. "Control yourself at once, there are other people here watching your every move."
"... We made a deal, headmaster."
His voice was eerily calm as he turned to face the headmaster, giving his whole demeanor a sharp, hostile edge.
"You promised to entrust Exousia with me completely as long as I did everything you told me to, and I have done everything you've wanted, haven't I?"
"I gave up everything to make you and my good-for-nothing father happy. And in return I asked that you gave me space—space to fix things that were broken because of my father's greed. And yet, you still chose to defy me..."
He turned from the minister, letting out a deep breath as he ran a hand through his neatly styled hair, as if trying to soothe the anger bubbling beneath the surface.
'To hell with them all...' He thought, his frown deepening as the migraine tormented him harder as the seconds go by. 'Perhaps it would be better if I just kill off all these scoundrels that dare to defy me...'
"Varen-"
"Enough." He stopped the headmaster before he could say anything else.
"For what it's worth, I'm willing to let this go just to keep the peace. I might be imprudent, but I'm not foolish enough to bite the hand that helped me when I had nothing."
"But one chance is all you'll get, headmaster." Varen remained unfazed by the headmaster's enraged glare, seemingly having had enough of the festivities. "And trust me when I say that it will not end well for you if this were to happen again."
He needed to get away from all the noise and drink himself to sleep, and whatever consequences that were to come could be dealt with once he woke up the next day hungover.
Varen ignored the stream of ancient profanities the headmaster hurled at him as he strolled away, while a cluster of noblemen and Valors rushed to keep the headmaster from storming toward the emperor and escalating the commotion.
A familiar figure had been quietly watching the whole scene play out, and now she couldn't help but grin, deeply pleased with how things had unfolded exactly in her favor.
Her plans were unfolding quicker than she'd anticipated, and now all she had to do was play to her strengths to get closer to the one she desired most—the almighty emperor of Stygia.