Alfred panted and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Again."

"You need a break," Ivan said.

"I will, just not now. Get ready."

Ivan held up the pillow again. Alfred punched it with as much force as he could, which was a lot more than a few days ago. He'd been training every day and was rapidly growing stronger. He delivered ten more punches to the pillow.

"You've had enough," Ivan said, putting the pillow down. "If you still want to train some more, you can practice your magic."

"Alright, I will."

Ivan poured him a cup of water. "Sit. Drink this. Then you can continue."

Alfred sat down and took a few sips from his drink. "I think I've made a lot of progress."

"You have. Lord Matthew won't know what hit him."

"Literally. He'll never expect my fist." He rested the cup on his leg. "Not that I want to hurt him…"

"I know. Maybe we can resolve this without any major attacks."

"If only." Alfred put the cup aside and stood up again. He lifted the cup with his magic.

"We can't wait much longer. We can't risk Lord Matthew finding out that you're recovering."

Alfred sat back down. "Gilbert said he'd talked to your family too."

"I wasn't very involved in my parent's politics, so most of it I don't remember. But I do remember the arguments within my family, and then having to run, and then hide."

"It must have been hard."

"It was. But it has also made me stronger, in a way."

"Is that why you joined the resistance? For revenge?"

"Out of revenge, yes, and anger, and spite. I knew my sister and I couldn't be the only ones hurt by Lord Matthew's reign."

"Your sister and you... What about your parents? Are they..."

"They're dead."

"How..." But Alfred didn't finish his question. He knew there was a possibility his brother was responsible for the death of Ivan's parents. And he knew he had to face that possibility. But he couldn't. He wasn't ready for it. So, he changed the topic. "You haven't told me much about your sister."

"She's brave and strong. Cold on the outside, but she's caring."

"She can be our maid of honor at our wedding." It was a joke. Kind of.

"Our wedding? I hadn't even thought about that yet."

"Neither have I. You know, with all things going on..." But truth was, he had thought about it. A lot. He'd thought about his dream wedding with his soulmate, but now that he'd spent time with Ivan, he was ready to jump into it. A bit enthusiastic, maybe. But then again, they were born to be together.

"How about we work on solving our situation as quickly as possible so that after that, we can focus on our happy ever after."

"I like the sound of that." He went back to lifting the cup.

"How about tomorrow?"

"T-Tomorrow?" The cup fell to the floor, its contents spilling everywhere.

"You're strong enough. All you have to do is defeat Lord Matthew in combat. You're already the rightful heir."

"Don't we need more proof?"

"There aren't many people who still support your brother. They only obey him because they're afraid. If you step up, they'll follow you."

"I don't know... Maybe we should wait a little longer..."

Ivan grabbed Alfred's arm. "Alfred. This isn't fun and games. We don't have the luxury of waiting."

Something had changed in Ivan's eyes, Alfred thought. He almost looked... angry. "Ivan?"

"You may have all the time in the world, but out there, people are dying. People are dying because of your brother every day and you have the ability to stop it."

"But..."

"Do you know what happens to people who disagree with your brother? Do you know what happens to anyone he considers a threat?"

"No, but..."

"They disappear. They are plucked from the streets and they disappear. Where to, we wondered. So, we set to find out. We infiltrated, took risks, even lost some of our people. Do you know what we discovered?"

Alfred shook his head and swallowed.

"They don't go anywhere. They're executed. No trial, no proof, nothing."

"No, that can't be..."

"We are letting this happen, Alfred. You are letting this happen. This can continue because you don't do anything."

Alfred pulled his arm away. "That's not fair."

"Your brother's rule is unfair. Those people losing their lives is unfair. People burying their family is unfair."

"What about my family? Mattie's my brother. He might be an obstacle to you, but he's my dear brother who I grew up with."

"He's a monster."

"He's my brother."

"He deserves to die!"

There was a silence in the room as heavy as if the stone walls crashed down on them.

"Say that again," Alfred said, his voice soft and strained. "Say that again about my brother."

"I…"

"Say it!"

Ivan shook his head. "You don't need me to repeat it."

"Take it back."

"No."

"For me."

Ivan set his jaw. "Not even for you. Not anymore."

"You may care about your family, but so do I. If you can't accept that... then I don't know if you should be here."

"Unlike you, I care about people dying. Unlike you, I am willing to do something about it."

"I'm not who you need."

"No. Clearly not."

Alfred knew it shouldn't end like this. Ivan was his soulmate. He knew they could be happy together. But he wouldn't hurt Matthew for the sake of romance.

"I'm going to bring down Lord Matthew," Ivan said. "I've been waiting to do so for years and not even you can stop me."

"I can't let him get hurt."

"I will use any means necessary. And if you're unwilling to help me, I'll have to do it without you."

"Fine. Then leave."

Ivan turned towards the tunnel. "You are not my enemy, Alfred. I'll never see you that way. But I have a duty to fulfill. And if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's to not let personal feelings cloud my mind. I can't justify not saving the people because my romantic interests lie elsewhere."

"This was always going to happen, wasn't it? It was always going to come down to this."

"Perhaps."

"Maybe being soulmates doesn't guarantee that you'll end up together. Maybe some circumstances can make it impossible."

"This must be one of those circumstances then."

"Probably. It's a shame. I had hoped that we could make this work…"

"So did I. But I think we've reached a limit."

Alfred nodded.

"Goodbye, then."

"Goodbye…"

Ivan disappeared into the tunnels.

Alfred sat down on the bed. What was even happening…

When Alfred couldn't stand the confined space of his bedroom any longer, he ventured out into the hallway. He wasn't sure where he was going until he found himself standing in front of the painting of his family. Funny how he kept gravitating towards here. He sat down on the bench in front of it, looking up at the image from the past. "Dad… Papa… What would you have done?"

They'd been a happy family. Even Matthew. Without the potion, Alfred's memories were coming back, including his childhood memories. He was always trying to keep up with Matthew, to learn from his big brother. They used to be the best of friends.

Had Matthew really resented him all along? How could Alfred not have known? Did it all boil down to sibling jealousy? Matthew could have the throne. Even if Alfred had grown up to be this land's lord, he would have wanted his brother by his side. He never intended to be a threat to Matthew.

Was the painting a lie too? A false, happy facade? Or was Matthew the only one who was unhappy?

Their parents wouldn't have wanted Matthew to hurt people. But they wouldn't have wanted Alfred to hurt his brother, either. They would have wanted both their children to be happy. But was that possible? Was there a way for both of them to come out of this alright? Or could it only be one of them? And if so… which one?

"Dad… Would you forgive me if I hurt Matthew? If it is to help our people? Which would you want me to put first?"

The idea that Matthew really had turned into some kind of monster made Alfred sick to the stomach. He didn't want to believe it. But if it was true, wasn't he being complacent? Wasn't he helping Matthew with his bad deeds? Wasn't he giving up his newfound freedom to stick his head back in the sand?

Or was he just making excuses to choose Ivan over his own brother?

"Dad… I need help…"

But paintings can't speak, and Alfred had nothing but eerie silence awaiting him.

"This is not the Mattie I know. Maybe… Maybe it's time for me to take action."

He didn't want to hurt Matthew, but more and more it seemed like he didn't have much of a choice.

"Dad… I'm sorry if I'm disappointing you… but I have to do this." He clenched his fists and got up. "I will defeat my brother and take the throne. And I promise to bring Mattie back." He walked back through the hallways and to his room. He'd find Ivan and try to make amends. But even if Ivan wasn't on his side anymore, he'd still fulfill his duty.

Alfred rested his hand on the doorknob but didn't turn it yet. He shouldn't be thinking about Ivan now. He had more important things to do. But deep inside, he knew that even if he defeated Matthew, he'd be sad if he wouldn't get Ivan back. You only get one soulmate, after all.

But he had time to be sad later. Right now, he had things to do. He opened the door and walked in.

"Hello, Alfred."

He stopped in his tracks. "Mattie?"

Matthew was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Welcome back. Oh, were you expecting someone else?"

"N-No, who could I be expecting?"

"I don't know, someone like… your soulmate?"

Alfred's blood ran cold. His heart pounded only one thought: Where is Ivan?

"We need to have a talk, little brother."