"I am recovering perfectly, Second Mother," I murmured smoothly, gently wrapping my fingers around her wrist to stop her maternal fussing.
"Which is fortunate. The Duke officially informed me this morning that I am being sent away to the Aethelgard Imperial Academy in fourteen days for a political marriage."
The temperature in the opulent suite dropped instantly.
I watched the terrifying transition happen in real time. The doting mother vanished, entirely replaced by the ruthless financial matriarch of House Valerius.
Camilla ripped her hand away, her beautiful features flaring with genuine anger. She violently slammed her manicured hand against her glass-topped desk.
"A political marriage?" she hissed, her emerald eyes snapping with cold fire.
"He intends to use you as a cheap bargaining chip to secure some petty continental alliance? To tie you to an unknown woman and send you to the capital now?
The Aethelgard Academy is a meat grinder for the weak. The Solaris Empire is crawling with cutthroat nobles who will see a vulnerable northern heir as an easy target.
That bastard is intentionally throwing you to the wolves!"
I remained completely silent, letting her protective fury run its course.
"I will send a messenger hawk to the capital this very evening," she declared firmly. "Your older stepsister is already established there. I will instruct my daughter to mobilize every resource she has to ensure you are fully protected the absolute second you arrive."
Camilla walked around the desk, closing the distance between us. Her eyes burned with an intense, unyielding light.
"As for your time left here, you will come to my private suite every single day. I need to personally check your recovery."
In this massive, deceitful fortress, she was one of my only true protectors. I genuinely loved her for that.
But as I looked at the stunning sixty-five-year-old woman, whose 6th Circle magic kept her in the flawless body of her absolute prime, my lustful brain took over.
I pulled her forward, wrapping my arms around her waist in a deep, firm hug. While holding her close, I silently activated my passive skill.
Electrifying Touch.
A violent, euphoric jolt of mana instantly bypassed her aristocratic composure. The sudden magical current surged from my palms, blooming a searing heat deep within the pink flesh underneath her emerald-green silk dress.
Her breath caught sharply. Her knees weakened immediately, forcing the terrifying financier to melt completely into my embrace, her mind short-circuiting into a foggy haze of unexpected pleasure.
[ Target: Second Mother Camilla (Financial Matriarch of House Valerius) ]
[ Age: 65 ]
[ Arousal Level: 10 / 100 (Flustered, Sudden Euphoric Heat) ]
[ Target has experienced taboo physical contact. Passive Skill 'Electrifying Touch' triggered. ]
[ +20 Taboo Points generated. ]
[ Current Balance: 110 Taboo Points ]
I held her trembling body for a second longer before smoothly pulling away. Offering the utterly flushed woman a gentle smile, I turned and left the suite. I had locked down my survival funds and established my first daily farming route.
But my work for the day was only half done.
I left the warm, perfumed air of the East Wing behind and headed straight down the northern corridor.
The atmosphere quickly shifted into a sharp, clinical chill. Two Elite Disciplinary Guards in midnight-blue armor stood outside a set of heavy, iron-reinforced doors. They did not try to block me, but their icy stares followed me as I stepped directly into the lion's den.
The private study of First Mother Morgana was a spartan, granite-walled command center.
Sitting behind a plain stone desk was a woman carved from the very glaciers outside.
Morgana was a towering figure of terrifying, authoritative beauty. She wore a high-collared, military-style dark dress. Her stark-silver hair was pinned back in a flawlessly tight braid, emphasizing her piercing, ice-blue eyes.
Beside her hand rested a short, silver-headed leather riding crop.
As a terrifying 7th Circle Mage, Morgana possessed the unblemished body of a warrior goddess, completely defying her seventy-two years of life. To the rest of the estate, she was a merciless judge.
The moment the heavy doors clicked shut, her icy gaze snapped to my face. The psychological pressure was suffocating.
"You dare walk up here after making such a pathetic spectacle of yourself at the ravine?" Morgana's voice rang out like a cracking whip.
"The entire estate is whispering about how the adopted son nearly died because he could not even watch his own step."
She walked down from her stone dais, her heavy leather boots clicking rhythmically. Stopping less than a foot away, she used her imposing height to stare down at me. Slowly, she raised the leather riding crop and pressed the cool, silver handle directly beneath my chin, forcing my head upward.
"If you ever scare me like that again, Kael, I will personally chain you to the walls of my private dungeon to ensure your absolute safety," she whispered in a fierce, low register.
"I am currently drafting the execution orders for the entire scouting unit that failed to protect you."
Any normal sibling would have dropped to their knees in terror. Instead, I calmly gripped the silver handle of her riding crop.
I firmly pushed the weapon away from my chin and took a deliberate step forward, completely invading her personal space until our chests were almost touching.
I looked straight into the eyes of the most feared woman in the north.
"The scouts did not fail, Mother," I murmured, watching her ice-blue pupils dilate slightly at my sudden, dominant proximity. "I did not slip. I was pushed."
Before her protective fury could fully ignite, I leaned in just a fraction closer. My voice dropped into a dangerous, taunting whisper.
"But are you absolutely sure you want to know who orchestrated it? You and I both know you cannot do anything to him, right?"
Morgana's breath hitched completely. She was a woman of terrifying intellect. She was not dumb. The moment the words left my mouth, I watched the brutal realization strike her like a physical blow. The list of people bold enough to assassinate a Duke's son and powerful enough to bypass her elite scouts was incredibly short.
Her flawless cheeks flushed with a sudden, dangerous hint of crimson. She knew. She instantly guessed that the culprit was her own biological son, Cassius.
The sheer shock of my bold proximity mixed with the paralyzing horror of discovering her own flesh and blood had orchestrated my murder completely shattered her strict, lawful mind.
She was suddenly trapped between her fierce protectiveness over me and the grim reality that she could not simply execute her own child.
Her breathing turned heavy, her chest rising and falling rapidly against mine as a terrifying, conflicted darkness swallowed her icy gaze.
Morgana stiffened entirely, letting out a sharp gasp of absolute surprise as my arms wrapped firmly around her rigid back.
"Do not worry, First Mother," I whispered softly, my voice calm and completely steady against her ear. "I will forgive him. Not because he is my brother... but simply because you are my mother."
Before she could even process the sheer emotional weight of my words, I silently used my skill.
Electrifying Touch.
A sudden, euphoric jolt of magical current surged directly from my palms and straight into her spine. The intense, searing heat bypassed her thick military dress, flooding the pink flesh underneath and violently shattering her chaotic train of thought.
Her knees slightly weakened. The paralyzing horror in her mind was momentarily swept away, entirely replaced by a sudden, overwhelming wave of dizzying physical pleasure.
[ Target: First Mother Morgana (Disciplinary Matriarch of House Valerius) ]
[ Age: 72 ]
[ Mental State: Paralyzing Conflict Overwritten by Sudden Arousal ]
[ Arousal Level: 15 / 100 (Shocked, Heavy Physical Craving) ]
[ Target has experienced taboo physical contact. Passive Skill 'Electrifying Touch' triggered. Hidden Trait 'Submissive to Confidence' activated. ]
[ +30 Taboo Points generated. ]
[ Current Balance: 140 Taboo Points ]
"But before we tear this estate apart over your biological son," I continued smoothly.
I stepped back just enough to let her support her own weight, refusing to break eye contact with her slightly hazed, ice-blue pupils.
"I think someone else deliberately influenced Cassius to do it."
Morgana's breath caught again. Her sharp eyes flared, the lingering heat of my touch battling fiercely with her sudden, calculating rage. Before she could demand names, I dropped the second piece of information.
"You should also know that the Duke has finalized my immediate schedule," I said calmly. "In exactly fourteen days, I am being sent to the Aethelgard Imperial Academy for a political marriage."
Morgana's eyes widened, the dark conflict in her gaze violently mixing with a sudden, freezing shock. Her grip on the leather riding crop tightened until her knuckles turned completely white.
"Fourteen days?" she repeated, her voice dropping to a dangerously quiet whisper. "Julian dares to send you away into the center of the empire when there is an active plot against your life? To whom?"
"The third princess of the Solaris Empire," I replied smoothly. "The one they call the crippled prodigy."
The temperature in the spartan room plummeted.
"Julian wants you to marry a crippled imperial princess?" Morgana hissed, genuine fury completely cracking her stoic facade. "To hand you over as a disposable hostage for a political alliance?"
Beneath her anger, a sudden, unfamiliar spark of possessive jealousy flared to life deep within her chest. The mere thought of another woman tying me down and claiming me as her own made her stomach twist into a tight, territorial knot.
'No', Morgana thought, her mind churning with absolute rejection. 'I cannot let my son marry into that imperial den of backstabbers. He belongs here.'
Morgana stepped even closer, completely eliminating the tiny gap I had just created between us. Her intense gaze locked onto mine with an unyielding, absolute command.
"Listen to me very carefully, Kael," she breathed, her tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. "If Julian expects you to walk into that imperial meat grinder in two weeks, you are severely unprepared. Starting tomorrow, you will report to my private training grounds every single morning at dawn.
I will personally beat every combat instinct you need into your flesh until you are capable of surviving the capital."
I offered her a confident, unbothered smile.
"I look forward to it, Mother."
I held her gaze without blinking. The foundation of the Valerius estate was beginning to crack, and I was holding the hammer.
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