Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight!
Chapter 392: ’Broken Wing.’

Chapter 392: ’Broken Wing.’

"Come in," Heinz ordered.

The doors opened almost instantly, revealing two familiar knights.

’Those are the ones who helped save me... during the kidnapping.’ Florian recognized their faces this time—Gareth and Elias. But his attention snapped away as soon as he saw what Elias was holding.

A small jar. Inside it, fluttering weakly, was—

"Luluwing!" Florian gasped, his heart dropping. He rushed forward without hesitation. "What happened to its wing?!"

The butterfly’s once graceful blue wings were now damaged—one of them twisted unnaturally, clearly broken. It kept trying to fly, desperately hitting the jar’s glass as soon as it saw him.

"Luluwing, no—don’t hurt yourself—" Florian reached for the jar in Elias’s hands, but before his fingers could touch it, Gareth grabbed his arm.

"Wha—?!"

"Please do not get close, Your Highness," Gareth said firmly. "This butterfly is suspected to be the cause of Lady Delilah’s death. It is evidence, and we can’t—"

RUMBLE.

The walls, the floor—everything trembled. Florian flinched, eyes wide.

Everyone knew what that sound meant.

Heinz.

The king’s magic thickened the air like a thunderstorm ready to strike.

"Unhand him," Heinz growled, his voice low and laced with danger. "Let him do whatever he wants."

The tension in the room snapped like a bowstring. Gareth immediately released Florian and dropped his head in a bow.

"O-Of course, Your Majesty. My sincerest apologies."

Florian stood frozen for a moment, processing what just happened. ’He’s... He’s been so kind to me lately. Why?’

He glanced at Heinz, who didn’t look at him—he simply waited, arms crossed, like none of this was unusual.

’Still... Thank you.’

Florian gave him a small smile before turning back to Elias. He took the jar with trembling hands. As soon as he touched it, the rumbling ceased completely. The air cleared.

"Luluwing..." Florian whispered as he carefully opened the jar. The butterfly struggled to move, wings trembling.

It couldn’t fly.

It tried, and failed, then tried again—until Florian gently placed his hand inside.

"Come here," he coaxed softly.

Luluwing crawled weakly onto his finger, resting there. Its tiny body was shaking.

’What on earth happened?’

The sight crushed him. He held the butterfly up close, heart aching.

"What happened to you?" Florian murmured, barely able to speak. Then he turned toward the two knights—his expression no longer soft, but sharp.

His eyes narrowed. Voice cold.

"Did either of you do this?"

Gareth’s eyes flew wide open, panic flashing across his face as he immediately shook his head.

"N-No, Your Highness. We would never." His voice cracked slightly, but he quickly cleared his throat and gestured toward Elias. "Elias, explain. Tell him."

Elias straightened his back, standing tall like a soldier, though his eyes still flicked toward the butterfly in Florian’s hand with unease.

"When we were stationed outside Lady Delilah’s cell, everything was quiet at first," Elias began, voice measured. "But then we heard her coughing—at first mildly, then violently. By the time we opened her cell to check on her, she was still tied to the chair. The butterfly was... already there."

Florian’s breath hitched.

"On her lap," Elias added. "Its wing was already broken, and... a piece of it had torn off. It was near her mouth. She was bleeding, her skin turned an unnatural color. We didn’t know what it meant until later."

’Motherfucker.’

Florian clenched his teeth as he turned to look at Heinz.

"This proves it," he said, voice trembling with restrained fury. "Luluwing was provoked—or worse, planted. But how?"

His thoughts raced. Luluwing had been in his room before he left. He hadn’t taken the butterfly with him. And the only ones present in the room were—

Cashew.

And Azure.

But...

’No. Azure is far too intelligent. If Cashew tried anything—anything at all—Azure would’ve noticed. Azure would’ve alerted, screeched, told Heinz. Hell, maybe even transform into his original form to kill Cashew. There’s no way it was him.’

And yet, that only narrowed the list of suspects. Narrowed it, and made it more terrifying.

"You mentioned the butterflies were agitated before this happened," Lucius interjected, stepping closer. "Something must have triggered it. Something must’ve been done to them."

"No shit," Florian snapped.

The room stilled.

Lucius blinked in surprise. Gareth and Elias stiffened as if slapped. No one expected Florian—usually controlled and composed—to curse like that.

But right now? Right now he was done.

He turned the broken-winged butterfly in his palm toward them.

"Look at Luluwing," he hissed. "Look at its wing. Jagged. Sliced. That’s not a natural tear—it was cut. Someone cut its wing to agitate it, probably right before pushing it into Delilah’s cell."

The butterfly flapped weakly, still trying to fly.

’I know it’s just a butterfly... but how heartless do you have to be to do this?’

Florian’s hands shook as he cradled the fragile creature.

’How do you injure something this delicate and use it to kill someone...’

"They obviously wanted to frame me," Florian muttered, voice low, brows furrowing as he stared down at the injured Luluwing in his hand. "But doesn’t that seem a little too stupid? That’s what I can’t understand... It’s obvious I’d be the first suspect—but I have way too many alibis."

His voice trembled—not from fear, but from the sheer absurdity of it all. It was insulting, really.

’If they wanted to frame me, they should’ve done it right. I’m not some careless fool they can pin things on.’

Heinz’s arms folded across his chest, his posture like stone. "It doesn’t seem like this was pre-planned," he finally said, his voice low and laced with steel. "This was likely a last-minute decision."

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Lucius asked, stepping slightly closer, tension written in the lines of his brow.

Heinz’s crimson eyes narrowed, faintly glowing in the dim light of the room. "So far, the perpetrator has been... careful. Every move calculated. If they’ve managed to tamper with your butterflies—to agitate them without getting caught—that means they’ve been observing for some time. Learning. Waiting."

He paused, his gaze drifting from Florian to the jar the butterfly had once been kept in.

"But Delilah getting caught probably ruined whatever plan they had. She must’ve known or seen something. So, they panicked. They made a desperate move. On the spot, they decided to kill her and leave your butterfly behind, hoping I’d act without thinking. That I’d punish you—or kill you—before anyone could ask questions."

Florian’s fingers curled protectively around Luluwing.

’So they were counting on Heinz being irrational... on him being the terrifying king they all fear.’

But Heinz hadn’t acted on instinct. He had looked at Florian—really looked—and trusted him.

’Then this definitely isn’t Cashew. And it’s not whoever Cashew’s been meeting.’

Suspicious as he may be, Florian does not think Cashew would do anything that could harm Florian.

He glanced at Heinz again. There was something different about him now—an intensity behind his silence, behind the lines in his jaw and the darkness gathering in his eyes.

’It seems like he already has a plan to catch the perp...’

The heavy silence pressed in again, the weight of unanswered questions thick in the air.

Then Florian spoke. "What do we do now, Your Majesty?"