Chapter 133: Lior Comes First.

Present…

“I’m sorry,” Ezra whispered it almost immediately, the words slipping out right after the memory surfaced.

“Mhm?” Lior hummed, pulling back just enough to look at him. “Why are you still sorry?”

“It’s nothing,” Ezra said, forcing a small smile, as if that would be enough to brush it away.

He didn’t know why that memory came back.

Out of everything.

That was a memory he wanted to stay buried.

But…

Maybe because of how ironic it was.

His current situation.

The child he once tried so hard to get rid of… was the same child he had just nearly lost, the same one he had been desperate to get back.

’…what was I thinking back then?’

When Ezra left for his so-called vacation, he never meant to stay long. If anything, he had planned everything already.

He would go somewhere far, somewhere quiet, get it done, and return as if nothing had happened.

Like it never existed.

Like Lior never existed.

He had chosen a kingdom called Floramatria. It was known for its advanced medicine, and unlike most places, abortion was legal there, especially for men.

It was a matriarchal kingdom where men were the ones who carried children, so procedures like that were…normal.

Accessible.

Or at least, that was what Ezra thought.

Before anything could be done, he had been required to stay for two weeks in a place they called the “House of Fertility.”

It wasn’t a prison, but it felt like one in a different way. The purpose was to make sure that anyone who chose to abort was fully certain.

Apparently, too many people made the decision too quickly.

Too many ended up regretting it afterward.

Falling into guilt. Into something heavier than what they tried to escape.

Ezra had been sure he wasn’t one of them.

He was certain.

Or at least…he thought he was.

“Why do you want to get rid of your baby?”

The voice had been small, soft, and completely unexpected.

Ezra glanced to the side and saw a boy sitting not too far from him, surrounded by flowers. He looked delicate, almost too clean for a place like that.

It was the last day of Ezra’s stay.

’Why is a kid here?’

“Because I’m a knight,” Ezra answered without much thought. “I can’t have it.”

“Do you hate it?”

Ezra stilled.

Not expecting such a question.

“N-No,” he said after a pause. “It’s not that I hate—”

“My father hates me,” the boy said suddenly, his voice flat as he stared ahead. “He locks me in rooms all the time.”

Ezra didn’t know what to say to that.

“Oh.”

“Did your father hate you, too?” the boy continued, turning his head slightly. “Is that why you’re aborting? Because sometimes I wish my father had just aborted me.”

Ezra’s chest tightened.

“No,” he said quietly. “I didn’t really have parents.”

The boy looked at him for a moment, then back at the flowers.

“Oh.”

There was a pause.

Then—

“So you’re getting rid of it because you didn’t have parents, and you don’t think you can love a baby enough… because you were never loved.”

“That’s—” Ezra stopped himself.

He didn’t even know how to answer that.

“Florian!”

The boy flinched the moment his name was called.

“Where are you?!”

“I have to go now,” the boy—Florian—whispered quickly, standing up. “That’s my father. He’s the one who’s going to permit your procedure tomorrow… if you’re really sure.”

Ezra frowned slightly. “But?”

Florian hesitated, then looked back at him.

“Don’t you think that just because you weren’t given the chance to have parents… doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be one?”

Ezra didn’t answer.

“I saw you,” Florian added. “When you heard your baby’s heartbeat. You smiled.”

“That’s not—”

Florian shook his head, smiling faintly.

“I know what it looks like when someone doesn’t want to be a father,” he said. “I don’t think you want to be one.”

Then he waved, small and casual, before running off toward the voice calling him.

Leaving Ezra sitting there.

Confused.

’That kid was right.’

Because when Ezra was finally asked—when the King of Floramatria himself stood in front of him, the man who oversaw all matters of fertility, and gave him the choice—

The moment came.

The moment he had been preparing for.

And Ezra…

He couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t say the words.

He couldn’t go through with it.

Because after everything, after all the reasoning he forced onto himself—

’I did want this.’

Ezra had wanted to become a parent.

He had just convinced himself he never could.

Because the person he loved was already promised to someone else.

Because the father of his child was someone he didn’t even like.

Because everything about it was wrong.

But still—

“I’m glad you’re here, Lior,” Ezra said quietly, looking at him properly now. “I’m glad you’re not gone.”

Lior smiled, soft and bright despite everything. “I’m glad I’m not gone too.”

Ezra let out a small breath, then glanced up.

Kaelis was still there. Watching them. That same faint smile on his face, like he had been there the whole time, just observing.

Ezra held his gaze for a second before speaking.

“We’re going to be dealing with a lot of problems when we get back, Your Highness.”

Kaelis let out a short laugh. “I’m used to it. Are you?”

Ezra didn’t answer right away.

He had to be.

Because no matter how much he tried to deny it before, no matter how much he buried it under duty and expectations—

’This is what I chose.’

He chose this.

He chose Lior.

Helios becoming king was still important. It had always been important.

But now—

It wasn’t the only thing.

’Lior comes first.’

And right now, too many things are threatening that.

Ezra shifted his hold on Lior slightly, then looked back at Kaelis.

“We need to talk.”

Kaelis raised an eyebrow. “About?”

’About the obvious.’ Ezra thought, slightly annoyed that Kaelis even had to ask.

“Everything.”

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