Chapter : 649

“A beautiful sentiment. And one I wholeheartedly support,” the King agreed, nodding. “But on the geopolitical stage, it is also a declaration of war. A war of ideology. We, in Bethelham, are saying that the future belongs to the brilliant, regardless of their blood. The Altamiras of Eldoria, a dynasty built on the ossified bedrock of pure-blood supremacy, see this as an existential threat. They cannot allow our philosophy to succeed.”

He pushed the second teacup across the polished surface of the map table. “An attack on Scholar Airin was never a question of ‘if,’ my friend. It was always a question of ‘when’ and ‘how.’ Her success is a knife pointed at the heart of their entire social order. I simply chose the time and place for their inevitable move.”

Valerius looked down into his own teacup, the amber liquid reflecting the face of a man who had been a headmaster for two centuries, a protector of young minds. “But the risk…” he protested, his voice weak with the memory of the terror on the students’ faces. “The Princess was nearly killed. You placed your own daughter in the path of a monster.”

“A calculated risk,” Liam corrected him smoothly. “And one I took only because I had already placed a far more dangerous monster in the garden to watch over them. Which brings us to our mutual acquaintance, the esteemed Professor Lloyd Ferrum.”

The King’s gaze drifted back to the window, a look of complex, almost paternal contemplation on his face. “When I appointed him to your faculty, it was not merely to shake up your curriculum. It was a strategic placement. I was putting my hidden dragon precisely where I knew the snakes would eventually strike. And I needed to confirm two things with my own eyes.”

He held up a finger. “First, the nature of the Altamira threat. Their use of a Curse Knight who could bypass our wards confirms my intelligence about their growing reliance on forbidden, demonic arts. It also proves they have an agent inside your Academy. Valuable, if troubling, intelligence.”

He held up a second finger. “And second… I needed to see what my dragon would do when provoked. I have been watching him, Valerius, far more closely than he knows. The boy who was a public failure now builds a commercial empire with one hand and forges a revolutionary industrial project with the other. The drab duckling now has the fiery daughter of Marquess Kruts sketching his face in her private chambers. His duel with his father was the stuff of legend. The Arch Duke tested a warrior and found a god. This boy is not a rising star; he is a supernova waiting to happen.”

King Liam leaned forward, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of a master strategist who has just seen his most audacious gambit pay off perfectly.

“But the final piece of the puzzle, the key to the entire operation, was his connection to the girl. My agents reported his… public breakdown in the market. A man of his newfound power and control, weeping openly over a common vegetable seller. It was a profound psychological anomaly. One that suggested a vulnerability, a deep, irrational, and fiercely protective instinct tied specifically to her. I did not know the reason for it, but I knew it was real. So I placed her in his classroom. I put the person he was inexplicably driven to protect directly in the path of the enemy I knew was coming. It was a cruel test, I admit. But a necessary one.”

He leaned back, a look of profound satisfaction on his face. “I did not know what form his intervention would take. I did not anticipate a second Transcended spirit of fire. That was… a delightful surprise. But I knew, with absolute certainty, that he would not stand by and watch that girl be harmed.”

“So, you see, my dear Headmaster,” the King concluded, “today was not a disaster. It was a resounding success. The Academy was not a target; it was a honeypot. My enemies have revealed their hand, and my hidden queen was protected by a knight of unimaginable power. And you, my friend, had a front-row seat to the most interesting piece of political theatre this kingdom has seen in a decade.”

Chapter : 650

Valerius stared into his untouched tea, the warmth of the cup doing nothing to ward off the chill that had settled deep in his bones. He had come to the palace to debrief his king on a successful, shared operation. But listening to the cold, precise, and ruthless logic behind the plan, he was reminded of a simple, terrifying truth. There were dragons in his garden, yes. But the greatest, most dangerous dragon of them all was sitting right here, on the throne, playing with the fate of the entire world as if it were a simple game of chess.

A long, profound silence settled over the King’s study. The only sound was the faint, distant hum of the capital city far below, a sound that seemed to underscore the immense scale of the game being discussed. Headmaster Valerius finally raised his head, his ancient eyes filled with a new, sober understanding. The raw shock from the day’s events had receded, replaced by the analytical mind of a master scholar who had just witnessed a phenomenon that defied all established precedent. He had come to report to his King, and now, he offered his final, considered assessment.

“Your Majesty,” he said, his voice regaining its familiar, resonant gravity, “I have analyzed every report, cross-referenced every witness account, and reviewed my own observations. My conclusion is unequivocal. Your decision to place Lord Ferrum within the Academy was not merely a wise choice; it was an act of profound, almost prophetic, foresight. The boy is a marvel.”

King Liam Bethelham, who had been observing his Headmaster with a quiet, knowing intensity, allowed a slow, satisfied smile to touch his lips. He turned from the breathtaking panorama of the window, his honey-colored eyes gleaming with the light of a vindicated strategist. “So, the dragon I placed in your garden has shown its fire. I am pleased to hear my faith was not misplaced. Tell me, Valerius, what is the precise nature of the marvel you witnessed?”

Valerius leaned forward, his old hands clasped on the polished surface of the oak map table. “It is not one thing, Your Majesty, but a confluence of many. We have seen prodigies before. Young talents who grasp complex magical theory or display a natural affinity for the sword. But Lloyd Ferrum… he is not a prodigy in a single field. He is a prodigy in all of them. His commercial ventures are already reshaping the duchy’s economy. His strategic mind, as demonstrated in his public dismantling of his uncle’s schemes, is as sharp as any general’s in your command. And his power…”

The Headmaster paused, shaking his head in lingering disbelief. “At his age, to have achieved the Transcendence stage is a feat that would be recorded in the annals of history. But he has not just reached it. He has mastered it. The control he exhibited, the synergy with his spirits… it was flawless. He is, without a doubt, already operating at the Commander Level. A Commander, at nineteen. It is a concept so ludicrous that if I had not witnessed it with my own eyes, I would have had the teller flogged for spreading absurd fictions.”

The King’s smile widened. This was the confirmation he had sought, the validation of his high-stakes gambit. “A Commander,” he mused, the word tasting like victory. “So young. He builds empires of soap and salt with one hand and commands gods with the other. He is truly his father’s son, and yet, he is something more.”

A shadow of concern crossed Valerius’s face. “There is, however, a minor complication, Your Majesty. A political one. The Princess Isabella.” He chose his words with the careful diplomacy of a man who was both a loyal subject and a mentor to the girl in question. “Her Highness holds a… less than favorable view of our new professor. Her friendship with his sister, Lady Jothi, has colored her perception. She sees the boy from the past, the public failure, and she cannot reconcile that image with the man of today. She views his appointment as a personal insult, a stain on the Academy’s prestige.”

King Liam let out a soft, dismissive chuckle, waving his hand as if brushing away a troublesome fly. “Isabella is a passionate and brilliant girl, but her heart often gallops ahead of her head. She sees the world in stark, dramatic colors of right and wrong, honor and disgrace. She has not yet learned to appreciate the subtle, beautiful art of the shades of grey where true power resides.”