#formally

but this was politics, and divided power is always hardly ideal, people are greedy, selfish little creatures that Phil despised.

The empire was carefully balanced between two pulling forces; it was a miracle that the empire hadn't been pulled into smithereens somewhere long before.

Phil knew this better than anyone. He had been the quieter twin, the shadow to his brother’s brilliance. While the future emperor had been groomed for the throne, Phil had been taught to watch, to listen, to endure. And when the time came, he had been expected to step aside, or be pushed.

It rarely mattered, he was raised to be the sword of the empire, before the war a royal archivist, after that barely more than glorified babysitter for the new twin.

but Phil was little things, things that he held dear and one of those was competent, so he took his pride and raised techno as best he could, he brought him up with bleeding hands and the heart broken.

So he didn't trust anything coming from the royal palace grounds, and he specially didn't trust the new, shiny bride they had been given, from the older twin no less.

Phil’s fingers tightened around the hilt of his dagger, hidden beneath the folds of his cloak. The bride, Wilbur’s former bride no less, the commoners ran a pretty good rumor mill that reached even the northernmost edges of the capital, was too perfect. silver-haired, gentle voiced, almost a mouse, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He had arrived with silks and spices, gifts from the southern provinces alongside his dowry, with a retinue of guards who watched the state with a little too much interest.

He had met the boy once or twice in the offhand capital get together, Techno did too, he looked like a whispering fox most of the time, wide green eyes that felt dissecting on his skin, it crawled up his spine 

a pair of intelligent jades stared back at him at that time, Dream, the court whispered, the youngest of the southernmost duchess in the province, a prodigy.

Phil had known foxes. Had been one. Techno had stiffened when he first saw him, fingers twitching toward the sword he wasn’t allowed to wear in the receiving hall. Phil had watched the recognition flicker in his mentee’s eyes ‘this one is dangerous.’ he had told him later, once they had passed through the proper bows and small talk that nobility demanded of them, his voice still lisping lightly from his growing tusks, a soft lisp he had come to associate with his youth.

So he had expected… something else, maybe jaded eyes, sharper than when he was a soft faced boy, instead they were almost like lightly disturbed water, shaky and deep, he still didn't quite decide if this was a disguise or not, but he didn't expect the pale thing that stepped off the sedan chair.

This wasn’t the fox from court.

This was a rabbit.

And yet Phil’s grip on his dagger didn’t loosen, because rabbits didn’t survive in the empire. Not unless they had teeth.

Phil watched as the silver-haired man stepped forward, his movements hesitant, almost fragile. His green eyes darted around the courtyard before settling on the ground, as if he couldn’t bear to meet anyone’s gaze. The wind tugged at his fine silks, making him seem even smaller, like a leaf about to be swept away.

Techno stood beside Phil, his arms crossed, his usual bored expression firmly in place. But Phil knew him too well,, the way his fingers tapped rhythmically against his bicep and the subtle tense brow, He was wary.

Dream tilted his head, his green eyes wide and guileless. "Lord Philza," he murmured, voice soft as snowfall. "It’s an honor to finally be welcomed into your home."

Phil exhaled through his nose. “Welcome,” Phil said, forcing his voice into something resembling warmth. The words tasted like ash. “The northern court is honored by your presence.”

A flicker of something passed over Dream’s face, too quick to name before he ducked his head in a practiced show of deference. "Of course. I understand this is… an unusual arrangement."

Unusual. That was one way to put it. A southern noble, once promised to the elder twin, now handed off to the younger? Phil’s instincts screamed trap.

The emperor had sent his regards with this "gift," a pretty little thing meant to tie the southern provinces closer to the crown. A peace offering, they said. A show of unity.

Phil knew better.

Nothing from the palace was ever just a gift.

Dream lifted his head slightly, and for a brief moment, his eyes flickered to Phil’s. There was something there, something sharp and calculating, before it vanished beneath a veil of demure submission.

Phil’s lips twitched. Ah. There you are.

Techno shifted beside him, his voice low. "You’re smiling. That’s never good."

Phil didn’t answer. He kept his eyes on Dream as the boy was led forward by the palace attendants, his steps light, his posture perfect. A well-trained noble, playing his part.

Phil’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Techno exhaled through his nose, a quiet, irritated sound. “We’re keeping him, then?”

Phil hummed, watching as Dream was ushered toward the guest wing by a flock of attendants. The boy moved like a ghost, barely disturbing the air around him. “For now.”

“He’s trouble.”

“Oh, absolutely.”

Techno shot him a look. “And you’re happy about that?”

Phil’s grin sharpened. “Hardly..”

I like my men like unreliable narrators LMAO, phil is looking at dream soooo evily while dream is just.

ig finally debling into lore territory giggles, btw if anything about the narration is odd its bc is spanish to english and i didn't gave it to my beta.

I hope the the family stuff isn't too hard to figure out but incase it isss