CHAPTER 431: ’DEATH OF A PET.’

’No...’

Florian’s breath hitched the moment he saw Cashew’s face—eyes hesitant, lips pressed into a trembling line. He recognized that look all too well. It was the look someone wore when they were about to say something that would shatter you.

’Don’t say it. Please don’t say it.’

Cashew approached slowly, arms full of clothes, but his steps felt heavy, uncertain. The butterflies trailed behind him, fluttering in delicate swirls—Twinkle, Dewdrop, Shimmie, Blinky, Mimiwing... but one was missing.

’Where’s Luluwing?’

Florian’s pulse quickened. His stomach twisted. He tried to hold on to hope, just for a second.

From what he remembered, Luluwing had been injured—his delicate wing torn by Alexandria’s cruel hands. When Florian was taken, he had left the poor creature resting on a blooming flower in the garden—their favorite spot.

He had hoped... hoped that he’d be okay.

’Please don’t say it... ’

Cashew gently set the clothes down on the bed. His small hands were trembling. His eyes shimmered with tears he hadn’t let fall yet.

"The night you came back," Cashew began, voice soft and cracking, "Luluwing was already weak. I tried to care for him, Your Highness, I did. But... the next morning after that..."

He stepped closer to Florian, hesitant, almost afraid. Azure leapt into Florian’s lap, as if sensing the shift in the air, curling there protectively. The butterflies hovered quietly above, their usual playful dances replaced with a strange stillness.

Cashew leaned against him. "Luluwing... died." His voice cracked. "I buried him... in the soil of his favorite flower. I’m sorry, Your Highness."

Florian blinked.

He wasn’t going to cry.

He shouldn’t cry.

He was supposed to be strong. He survived a kidnapping, torture, worse. A butterfly shouldn’t undo him.

They weren’t even his butterflies. They were the original Florian’s, right? Just inherited fragments of a life that wasn’t even his own.

’Then why does this hurt so much?’

"L-Luluwing is dead?" Florian whispered, the words slipping out of his lips before he even realized it, as if saying them out loud would make them less true.

Tears rolled down his cheeks anyway.

Cashew nodded slowly and clung to Florian’s arm in silent comfort, and Azure pressed more firmly against him.

"Luluwing is dead..." Florian repeated, voice growing more hollow. "Luluwing is dead because of me."

Because he had left him. Because he hadn’t protected him. Because he had been stupid.

’If I had just been smarter. If I had been... If I had seen through her.’

"No, Your Highness," Cashew whispered, "You didn’t do anything wrong. It was Princess—"

"I should’ve known!" Florian snapped, the dam inside him bursting open all at once. "I should’ve known! Her words, her actions, none of it made sense! I knew something was off. I felt it—but I kept brushing it off. I let her near me, I let my guard down... and because of that, Luluwing suffered!"

His voice cracked.

He remembered Luluwing struggling to fly with only one wing. Remembered the last time he saw him, resting on the petals like he was trying so hard to be brave.

"Luluwing was in pain

," Florian sobbed, burying his face in his trembling hands. "Butterflies feel pain when their wings get torn. Right? He died hurting. He died alone. And I wasn’t even there..."

Azure whimpered softly and nuzzled against him. Cashew didn’t speak. He just held onto Florian’s arm, his own tears falling now, quietly.

And Florian cried.

He cried the way he hadn’t cried in years—raw, broken, furious with himself.

It wasn’t just about Luluwing.

It was everything.

The kidnapping. The assault. The shame. The helplessness. The guilt. The touches he still felt in his skin when the room was too quiet.

It all came crashing down at once, flooding his chest like a storm he’d been too stubborn to acknowledge.

He was a dam—and the cracks had finally split wide open.

And for some reason, there was only one person he wanted to see.

And that made it worse.

’Why him? Why now? Why did he have to be the one I wanted?’

Florian clenched his fists. ;Why did my body shut down and only respond when it was Heinz?’

Why—

"Florian?"

He froze. His breath caught in his throat as he turned just in time to see Cashew glancing over his shoulder.

"Your Majesty..." Cashew said, quickly bowing his head.

Florian’s hand instinctively went to his cheeks to wipe away the tears, but he didn’t get far—because the next thing he knew, Heinz was right in front of him, taking hold of his hands with a firm but gentle grip.

Florian gasped, startled by the sudden closeness.

"Why are you crying?" Heinz asked, voice low and slightly stern. His gaze shifted toward Cashew. "What happened? Is this another episode?"

Cashew quickly shook his head. "I-I told His Highness about L-Luluwing... uhm, the butterfly that Princess Alexandria used... to kill Delilah."

Heinz’s eyes widened faintly.

"I-I’m fine, Your Majesty. I just—just need—" Florian tried to speak, but the second he looked at Heinz, it was like a dam broke.

The tears came harder. His chest heaved.

"I-I’m fine... I’m fine..."

No, he wasn’t.

"Cashew," Heinz said calmly, though the air around him was growing heavier with command, "go to Lucius. He has something to tell you. Take Azure with you. Return during dinner time with Lucius and bring us food. Florian and I will be dining here tonight."

There was no room for argument in his voice. He had already decided.

Cashew glanced at Florian, then slowly opened his arms. Azure hesitated but eventually fluttered toward him, climbing into the boy’s arms.

"I’ll be back in a few hours, Your Highness," Cashew murmured with a worried frown before bowing and quietly walking out of the room.

The door clicked shut, leaving only the sound of Florian’s soft sobs.

Heinz exhaled slowly. "I didn’t expect you to cry this hard over the butterfly," he said, moving closer. "It seems Luluwing meant more to you than I realized."

He stepped in front of Florian and cupped his tear-stained cheeks, tilting his head up.

"Luluwing... these butterflies..." Florian whispered between broken breaths, "They might not be mine—but I’ve grown so fond of them. I feel... a connection. Like they understand me."

His voice trembled. "And the fact that Luluwing died because of me—"

"It was not your fault, Florian," Heinz cut in gently.

Before Florian could say another word, Heinz reached out and ran a hand through his disheveled hair—then, without hesitation, lifted him effortlessly from the edge of the bed.

"H-Hey—!" Florian yelped softly, caught off-guard.

But Heinz didn’t put him down. He carried him with an unexpected tenderness and sat down on the bed, keeping Florian in his lap. One arm wrapped securely around his waist, the other resting across his back, pulling him closer.

Florian’s eyes widened.

’Wh-What is this? Why is he holding me like this? This is too close... too much...’

The warmth of Heinz’s chest, the way his breath stirred Florian’s hair, how steady and firm he felt beneath him—it was almost... comforting.

No. Not almost.

It was.