CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: HOUSE MERLIN

And like the sun, he came.

Not with the slow climb of dawn, but with the sudden blaze of midday—brilliant, impossible to ignore, commanding every pair of eyes in the courtyard.

Aiden’s gaze found him almost by instinct, drawn to that effortless authority. For one, dangerous heartbeat, he forgot himself. His chin was high, his posture unbent, his pale eyes locked on the man whose word ruled over acres of land, over every stone in this estate... over Aiden’s life.

It was only when the lord’s own eyes slid to him—slow, assessing—that Aiden realized.

He was the one not bowing.

The air between them tightened.

Aiden’s chest felt too still, his pulse too loud. The moment was a blade balanced on its edge.

Then, he broke. His body folded in a crisp bow, head low. Not too rushed—no, just quick enough to suggest a slip, not defiance. The gravel beneath his shoes crunched softly.

When he glanced up again, the lord was already walking away. But not before Aiden caught it—

A smile.

Maybe the man thought the boy had admired him too much to remember formality.

Maybe he assumed it was the undisciplined heat of youth.

Whatever the reason... Aiden saw a smile, and that was enough for now.

A knot of satisfaction formed low in his stomach, warm and sharp. His ambitions—already high—rose higher still, swelling like a tide under the pull of a new moon. That smile wasn’t victory. It was a door, cracked open.

And Aiden intended to step through.

If the lord before him needed to know Aiden... then Aiden needed to know the lord.

The man moved with the quiet gravity of someone used to being followed, and indeed—many carriages trailed behind him, each more polished than the last. The gleam of lacquer and gilt reflected the noon sun, throwing fragments of light across the cobblestones.

Knights in silver armor flanked the procession, the etched metal catching like frost under fire. Some bore the crest of the household. Others carried the unmistakable symbols of the Faith, their tabards stark against the summer brightness.

The air was thick with the mingled scents of horse leather, oiled steel, and faint incense—clinging to the robed figures who walked with heads bowed.

And then Aiden saw it.

The largest carriage. No—calling it a carriage felt almost insulting. It was a moving fortress of lacquered wood and reinforced steel, its panels embossed with an insignia not of this house.

Aiden’s mind sifted through memory, old servant gossip, and the careful scraps of heraldry he’d collected. Then he placed it.

A Duke’s house. Two steps higher in rank than Viscount.

And not just any Duke...

He didn’t have time to finish the thought.

Something cold pricked the top of his nose.

A stare.

It was impossible to tell from where—the flow of people, the shifting of guards, the shimmer of the sun on metal. But it was there, a weight between his eyes.

His eyes scanned the Duke’s soldiers as they disembarked—polished boots, matched strides. His senses worked like a hawk circling the air currents, trying to find the faint ripple that didn’t belong.

The back of the carriage was curtained, heavy fabric swaying just enough to whisper possibilities.

Maybe it was nothing.

Maybe he was imagining it.

’...Or maybe I’m just paranoid.’

Slap!

Aiden staggered forward a fraction, the sting on his back blooming through his shirt.

"...You did good," came the old man’s voice, rasped with years and authority. "I saw it. Our lord smiled at your childish mistake..."

Aiden’s mouth curved faintly. "Old man... what’s the big carriage from?"

The high butler’s gaze swept across the scene. The lord, dismounting now, met his wife with a practiced warmth—a noblewoman of such grace her every movement seemed rehearsed by generations. Their daughter Flora was there too, framed in sunlight, the perfect portrait of a noble heir.

And then, at their backs... the red carriage. The butler’s mouth thinned, his tone souring.

"It’s House Merlin. I don’t know why our lord brought them."

Aiden’s mind tightened around the name like a fist. House Merlin. High in status, higher still in influence. And the lord... the lord’s status had its own blemish—tainted.

Was this the beginning of something? New alliances? Old grudges resurfaced?

If there was chaos here, he would drink it. Every drop. Turn it into something sharp and useful.

The old man straightened. "It’s a good chance now... before our lord leaves again. Work hard, Aiden. Hard enough that he notices you. And maybe... just maybe... you could take my place."

Then the man was gone, striding toward the lord to take his place in the welcoming procession.

The courtyard shifted. Maids and servants dispersed, their chatter fading into the quiet efficiency of resumed duties.

Aiden watched them all. And felt it.

The faint hum in his blood, like a predator sensing the warmth of prey.

Eighty percent of the servants here... charmed.

And maybe a quarter—his temporary possession. The invisible thread linking him to them was taut, humming with latent obedience.

He realized something new.

Even speaking to someone after charming them—planting words like seeds in softened earth—could draw them into his possession for a time.

Like the head chef of the bakery. Like Conish, the butchery man.

If he did this enough...

"This house..." he whispered to the emptying courtyard, "...will be mine."

There was a pause....

"Such ambitions..."

The voice was female—smooth, lilting—but it cut through him like a wire drawn tight. His breath snagged in his throat.

He didn’t turn. Didn’t even pause. Just walked forward, slow at first, then faster, faster and he rushed like his life depended on it.

"Hey. Wait."

He didn’t wait. His pace sharpened into a run. Not a sprint of fear—but the measured retreat of someone who refused to give the hunter their first good look.

"Oh, come on..."

The voice shifted, threaded with frustration. Light, but carrying.

Aiden’s feet hit the stone with sharp rhythm, the edges of his coat flaring with each stride. He didn’t look back.

Behind him, she cuffed her hair, the movement unselfconscious but tinged with annoyance. Red hair, catching sunlight like blood on a blade. Eyes—if he’d looked—would have been molten gold like his.

A girl in her late teens, dressed in a gown that spoke of nobility from its first embroidered hem to its last perfectly stitched seam. On her back, the insignia of House Merlin—a crest that could open or close doors across the realm.

She watched the white-haired butler vanish like a ghost into the estate’s arteries. Her lips tightened.

"...What the actual fuck. I come late, and I’m treated with this much disrespect?"

She snapped her fingers. Luggage—three heavy trunks—lifted off the ground with casual ease, floating in the air as though tethered to her will.

Her mouth curved, not into a smile but a promise.

"I’ll remember you, you snotty white-haired psycho."

Then she stepped forward, the floating luggage gliding after her like obedient hounds.

.

.

And in the shadowed hall beyond, Aiden slowed his pace just enough to listen to the faint echo of her footsteps.

The game, it seemed, had just added a new player.

Somewhere behind his calm face, behind the careful mask of a dutiful servant, the corners of his mind curled upward.

He sniffed it, he knew it, it was coming....chaos

And If chaos was coming...

He would be ready.