Chapter 4: Adrian's Answer

Leon loved him.

Rowan loved him.

Cassian loved him.

The three men had finally confessed.

And Adrian's brain had completely stopped working.

"Adrian?"

Leon sounded concerned.

The prince remained frozen.

"Is he alright?" Rowan asked.

"I think we broke him," Cassian replied.

Adrian suddenly stood.

"I need air."

"You are already outside," Cassian pointed out.

"I need more air."

Before anyone could stop him, Adrian turned and hurried back toward the palace.

The three men watched him disappear.

"...That could have gone better," Rowan admitted.

"No," Leon said.

"It could have gone much worse."

Cassian sighed.

"He didn't reject us."

That single sentence gave all three of them hope.

Meanwhile, Adrian was having a crisis.

He collapsed onto his bed.

Face first.

"What am I supposed to do?"

In the original novel, these men were supposed to fall in love with Elena.

Not him.

Certainly not all three of them.

The more Adrian thought about it, the more confused he became.

Because the truth was...

He cared about them too.

Leon had always protected him.

Even when he didn't realize he was doing it.

Rowan had never failed to stand by his side when things became difficult.

And Cassian always knew how to make him smile.

Somewhere along the way...

They had become precious to him.

That realization terrified him.

The next morning, Adrian avoided them.

Unfortunately, avoiding three determined men was impossible.

By lunchtime, Leon found him in the library.

By afternoon, Rowan found him in the garden."How did you get in here?"

"Magic."

"That's concerning."

"Thank you."

Adrian groaned.

The next few days were even worse.

Every time Adrian looked at one of them, he remembered the confessions.

Every smile made his heart race.

Every compliment made him blush.

Every accidental touch felt far too noticeable.

Elena found the situation hilarious.

"You like them."

"I do not."

"You absolutely do."

Adrian covered his face.

Elena grinned.

"You know, watching four intelligent people act this stupid has been very entertaining."

"Four?"

"Yes. Them and you."

Adrian had no defense against that.Leon loved him.

Rowan loved him.

Cassian loved him.

The three men who had once ignored him, avoided him, and insisted they loved someone else were now looking at him as if he were the most important person in the world.

And Adrian had absolutely no idea what to say.

The garden was silent.

Very silent.

Uncomfortably silent.

Finally, Adrian spoke.

"...Can I have a moment?"

The three men immediately nodded.

"Of course."

"Take all the time you need."

"We can wait."

Adrian stared at them.

Why were they being so reasonable now?

Where had this maturity been before?

The next few days were chaos.

Not because the male leads pressured him.

They didn't.

In fact, they were surprisingly respectful.

The problem was that Adrian couldn't stop thinking about their confessions.

Every time Leon smiled at him, Adrian remembered his words.

"When you smiled, I couldn't stop thinking about it for days."

Every time Rowan accompanied him around the palace, Adrian remembered:

"I was always looking for you."

And every time Cassian appeared out of nowhere—

Which happened constantly—

Adrian remembered:

"Your laugh became my favorite sound."

His heart was suffering.

Meanwhile, the three men were suffering too.

Because now they had to wait.

One afternoon, Elena found them together.

The sight was pathetic.

Leon was staring out a window.

Rowan was pretending to read a book upside down.

Cassian had made a magical projection showing Adrian's schedule.

Elena blinked.

"What are you doing?"

No one answered.

"You confessed, didn't you?"

Still silence.

Elena sighed.

"You really are hopeless."

A few days later, Adrian received another invitation from Duke Lucian.

This time, he accepted.

Not because he liked the duke.

But because he needed advice.

When Adrian explained everything, Lucian laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair.

"This is serious!"

"I'm sorry."

Lucian wiped tears from his eyes.

"No, I'm not."

Adrian groaned.

The duke eventually calmed down.

Then his expression became thoughtful.

"Do you love any of them?"

Adrian froze.

That was the question, wasn't it?

For the first time, he allowed himself to think honestly.

Leon was proud and stubborn.

But he cared deeply about the people he loved.

Rowan was quiet and dependable.

Whenever Adrian needed help, Rowan was there.

Cassian was mischievous and impossible to predict.

Yet somehow he always knew when Adrian was sad.

Thinking about them made Adrian smile.

Lucian noticed immediately.

"Oh."

"What?"

The duke grinned.

"I think you already have your answer."

Adrian blinked.

Then slowly looked away.

Because for the first time, he realized something.

Somewhere along the way...

He had fallen in love too.

That evening, Adrian asked Leon, Rowan, and Cassian to meet him in the palace garden.

The same garden where they had confessed.

The three men arrived immediately.

Of course they did.

All of them looked nervous.

Adrian took a deep breath.

"I thought about everything."

The three men became very still.

"You hurt me before."

Their expressions fell.

"But you apologized."

Hope returned to their eyes.

"And..."

Adrian smiled.

A small, genuine smile.

"I don't hate the idea of giving us a chance."

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Nobody spoke.

Then—

CRASH!

A tree fell over.

Everyone turned.

Cassian looked guilty.

"...That wasn't supposed to happen."

Leon burst out laughing.

Rowan covered his face.

Adrian couldn't help it.

He laughed too.

And as the four of them stood beneath the moonlight, surrounded by roses and one very unfortunate tree, they knew something important.

Their story wasn't over.

It was only beginning.

Far away, hidden within the darkness of an ancient evil was arising

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