Chapter 6: Home wrecker

Kastiel's world shattered as he heard Carlton's accusation. He had never expected to be accused of anything like this before in his 20 years of life - accused of being a home wrecker! Kastiel had never even been close to any woman, let alone a married one, unless he counted the grandmothers who worked in the palace kitchens. But even then, he didn't have any strange inclinations towards women thrice his age.

"Your Grace..." Kastiel stammered, "I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. I would never dream of interfering with someone else's marriage."

But Carlton wasn't having any of it. He shot back with fiery conviction.

"Maybe not now, but in a few years you will!!!" Carlton snapped back at him. "You've always liked my husband, haven't you?!"

Kastiel felt like the floor had dropped out from under him. Sure, he was prone to falling in love easily, but he knew better than to harbor feelings for the future leader of their kingdom.

Of course, he admired Alaric as a leader and respected him as a friend, but he was attracted to women, not men!!

He was utterly miserable as he thought it would be better to be accused of liking grandmothers than being accused of liking the crown prince.

Alaric himself felt his mind go blank as he stared at the creature sitting on his lap who dared to accuse Kastiel of liking him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing and struggled to find words to defend Kastiel from this baseless accusation.

"I think you're mistaken, Carlton." Alaric finally spoke up. "Kastiel has been nothing but loyal and trustworthy towards me."

A look of anger flashed across Carlton's face as he turned to glare at Alaric.

"We all thought that too, husband!" He spat out. "Until a few years later when he tried to poison our son out of jealousy!"

Alaric and Kastiel exchanged bewildered glances, unable to comprehend what they were hearing. Carlton launched another barrage of nonsensical words, hurling accusations that left them both reeling.

"He almost killed our first son, Malcolm." Carlton seethed through gritted teeth. "When he was only three years old! It's a good thing Helena, our daughter, accidentally dropped the poisoned teacup. Otherwise..."

Kastiel cut in quickly, denying the accusation with all his might. "I would never harm a child!" He protested vehemently. "Besides, I really like children... and there's no way I'd ever hurt the son of the crown prince!"

Alaric stood by his friend, adding his own defense. "Kastiel is not that kind of person," he said firmly. "He's always been willing to sacrifice himself for the safety and protection of children."

Of course, everything Carlton was talking about was just the events from the fanfic, not the original story. The fanfic authors always loved to ship couples they believed shared some undeniable chemistry, and sometimes even made other characters close to them into love rivals or spices of drama just for an added kick.

Kastiel, on the other hand, was nothing if not loyal and highly moral. He could never bring himself to ruin someone else's marriage or harm their children. Especially when that person happened to be none other than Alaric - whom he'd served since childhood as his closest confidant.

But even as they defended themselves against Carlton's accusations, an uncomfortable realization began to dawn on Alaric and Kastiel. If they were taking Carlton's words seriously, it meant that they were indirectly acknowledging his claim of being from the future, married to Alaric, and he was a man who could apparently get pregnant and give birth to multiple children.

The absurdity of it all left both men with throbbing headaches. They couldn't wrap their heads around the idea that someone was making such outlandish claims about himself.

Yet Carlton was not done throwing bombs at them. His accusations seemed to know no bounds, making Alaric and Kastiel braced themselves for whatever came next - uncertain if there was any truth to what he said or if it was all just madness.