Ethan stared. "Are you mentally challenged?"
The words landed hard in the small kitchen and somehow still less insulting than the situation deserved.
Sirius watched Ethan the way he watched everything: calm, assessing, like he was measuring what was under the anger.
Ethan threw his hands up. "No, seriously. You're the Crown Prince. You have guards. You have power. You have a whole palace that exists to keep you alive. And you're telling me you kept a spy who tried to drug you into pregnancy because… optics."
Sirius's voice stayed mild. "Because stability."
Ethan's laugh was sharp and humorless. "Stability is not letting people tamper with your body."
He paced two steps, because that was all the space the kitchen allowed, then turned back like he couldn't physically leave this unfinished.
"This is the part where you tell me you have safeguards," Ethan snapped. "And then I tell you that safeguards are not the same as removing the hazard."
