Chapter 351: Office

While Caelen marched toward his own undoing, Eris was being led in the opposite direction by a man who looked entirely too pleased with himself. Soren and Aldric flanked her, their presence a strange blend of imperial guard and bickering family members.

“You’re going to love it,” Soren was saying, his voice animated, his hands gesturing wildly as he walked. He seemed to have more energy than a man who had just concluded a tense council meeting had any right to possess.

“I made sure it has everything you need. Natural light, well, as much as we actually get during the Long Dark, and space, lots of space, and the ventilation is perfect for when you’re working with, ”

“Soren,” Eris interrupted, her voice a mix of amusement and exhaustion. She was still moving with that gingerly, stiff-legged gait, every step a reminder of his “enthusiasm” from the night before. “It’s an office. I’m sure it’s fine.”

Soren stopped mid-stride, looking genuinely offended. “Fine? Fine? Eris, it is magnificent. It is a masterpiece of administrative luxury.”

Aldric, walking on the other side of Eris, let out a dry, rattling cough that was clearly a disguised laugh.

“He’s been fussing over it for weeks, Your Majesty. Drove the decorators to the brink of early retirement. One of them actually wept when he saw the Emperor coming back for a fourth consultation.”

Soren glared at his secretary. “I was being thorough. Excellence requires attention to detail.”

“You changed the curtains four times,” Aldric countered, his face a mask of bureaucratic stoicism.

“The color wasn’t right!” Soren defended, his voice rising an octave. “It was too… icy. It needed to be warmer. Like her.”

Eris stopped, her eyebrows shooting toward her hairline as she looked at Soren. “You changed curtains. For me. Four times.”

Soren’s ears turned a faint, tell-tale pink. He cleared his throat, suddenly finding a tapestry on the wall very interesting. “They matter! Lighting and color theory are essential for productivity. Everyone knows that.”

“He also rearranged the furniture,” Aldric added, his tone relentless. “Twice.”

“Once!” Soren snapped, pointing a finger at Aldric. “I rearranged it once. The second time was just… optimizing the first arrangement. It doesn’t count as a full move.”

Eris shook her head, a genuine smile tugging at her lips despite her aching core. In the face of his boyish excitement, the weight of the council meeting seemed to lift. “You’re ridiculous, Soren. Truly.”

He grinned then, that blinding, lopsided smile that made him look less like an Emperor and more like the reckless boy who had stolen her heart in the middle of a war. “You love it.”

Eris looked away, her face warming. She didn’t deny it. She couldn’t.

They reached the doors to the Emperor’s private study first. Aldric stopped, bowing deeply to both of them. “I’ll leave you two here. I have reports to file and decorators to apologize to.”

“Don’t work too hard, old man,” Soren joked, clapping him on the shoulder.

Aldric’s eyes narrowed. “I am not old, Your Majesty. I am seasoned. There is a difference.”

But Soren was already pulling Eris past him, his grip on her hand firm and impatient. “Her office is just ahead! Come on, Eris!”

Aldric watched them go, letting out a long, weary sigh as he shook his head. “Children,” he muttered to the empty corridor.

“I work for children and a wolf.” He turned and disappeared into his own office, clutching his scrolls like a shield.

Soren led Eris further down the corridor, his pace quickening with every step. He stopped in front of a set of ornate double doors made of dark, heavy wood with intricate silver handles. A silver plaque was mounted at eye level, the letters etched in a clean, sharp script: EMPRESS ERIS NIVARRE.

Seeing her name there, paired with the title that had once felt like a death sentence, sent a strange shiver down Eris’s spine. Soren didn’t wait; he threw the doors open with a flourish, stepping aside to let her enter first.

“Here,” he whispered, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Eris stepped inside and stopped dead.

The office was magnificent, far beyond anything she had imagined. It was a massive, airy space with high, vaulted ceilings that made the room feel as if it could breathe.

A massive desk carved from dark, polished mahogany sat in the center, paired with an elegant, high-backed chair upholstered in deep blue velvet.

Large windows overlooked the snow-dusted gardens, and despite the dim light of the Long Dark, the room glowed with the warmth of a dozen enchanted lamps.

But it was the walls that took her breath away.

Integrated into the very structure of the room was a sophisticated library. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined three of the four walls, filled with thousands of leather-bound volumes, their spines glinting with gold and silver lettering.

A rolling wooden ladder was positioned against one shelf, and in the far corner, a deep-set reading nook was carved into the window bay, piled high with soft furs and cushions.

Eris walked slowly into the center of the room, her mouth open slightly, her hand rising to touch the smooth surface of the desk. She was speechless. For the first time in her life, she felt as if a space had been designed not for a Queen, not for a pawn, but for her.

“Do you like it?” Soren asked, his voice hesitant, as if he were suddenly worried he’d gotten it wrong.

Eris turned in a slow circle, her fingers brushing against the spines of the books as she passed. “Soren… this is… I don’t even know what to say.”

He stepped toward her, circling the desk until he was standing just a foot away. The light from the window caught the blue of his eyes, making them look like deep pools of ice. “I remembered,” he whispered, his voice dropping an octave as he stepped into her personal space.

Eris looked up at him, her heart skipping a beat. “Remembered what?”

“Back in Solmire,” he said, a soft, knowing smile playing on his lips. “In your garden. That day when you were planning your escape. When you fell asleep.”

Eris went still, the memory of that morning rushing back, the smell of the southern jasmine, the desperation in her chest, and the way Soren had looked at her with a quiet, devastating understanding and she acted cold.

“You wrote about wanting a library,” Soren continued, his gaze intense.

Eris felt the heat rise in her cheeks, a deep, genuine blush that she couldn’t suppress. He remembered. That tiny, throwaway detail from a list she had while the truth of their world was new to her. He’d carried it with him all this time.

“You’re blushing,” Soren teased, his eyes dancing with mischief.

“I am NOT,” Eris snapped, though the heat on her skin betrayed her.

Soren laughed, a low, rich sound that vibrated through her. “You are. It’s adorable. The fierce Witch Queen of Solmire, reduced to a blushing mess by a few bookshelves.”

“Shut up,” she huffed, turning away to examine a row of books on the history of Nevarian architecture.

“Actually,” Soren said, his voice becoming suddenly serious as he reached out to take her hands, pulling her back to face him. “I haven’t given you the library I want for you yet.”

Eris looked at him, confused. “What do you mean? Soren, this is a library. It’s huge.”

Soren shook his head, his thumb tracing the back of her hand. “This is temporary. A placeholder. The real library… I’m building it for you in a separate wing of the palace. It’s going to be three stories high, with a glass ceiling to catch the Aurora, and climate-controlled vaults for the rare scrolls you like.”

Eris was stunned. “You’re… building me a whole library wing?”

Soren’s face lit up with an almost boyish excitement. “Yes! It was supposed to be a surprise for the spring. I’ve already seen the blueprints, Eris. It’s going to be the finest collection of knowledge in the northern hemisphere.”

Eris fought the smile that was threatening to break across her face. “It’s not much of a surprise if I already know exactly what you’re doing, Soren.”

He grinned sheepishly, pulling her closer until their chests were almost touching. “I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see your reaction. I wanted to know if I was on the right track.”

Eris let out a long, dramatic sigh, rolling her eyes as she leaned her head against his shoulder. “You’re impossible. Truly.”

“You always say that.” he murmured, his arms wrapping around her waist.

Eris didn’t move. She stayed there, wrapped in his warmth, the scent of cedar and cold air clinging to him. For a moment, it was perfect.

Then, the “Emperor” returned.

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