Chapter 135 - The Only Answer You Need

Chapter 135: 135 - The Only Answer You Need

Margaret left her room not long after, leaving Nimbus near the foot of her bed. The corridors ran as busy as the courtyard below, with servants carrying sealed folders between offices and Crown officers moving toward the administrative wing.

Aurelian was in his private rooms today, something a servant told her before she needed to ask. That alone said enough about how much had shifted since the last time she came looking for him with urgent information.

Back then, during the Arquenay crisis, two Royal Guards had blocked the doors and refused to let her through without permission.

She had forced the issue in the end by making clear they could explain to Aurelian why they had delayed information involving two Great Houses and the Kingdom of Sylvamir.

This time the guards outside his rooms stepped aside the moment they saw her.

"Her Highness may enter."

Margaret gave them a brief nod and went through the doors without slowing. The change was small, though she caught it at once.

A few months ago she had interrupted Aurelian’s work because she happened to carry something important. Now everyone around him knew she had been part of the Montferrand operation from the start.

That did not mean she had grown close to her brother. Aurelian stood near a large table beside the windows when she entered, several folders open in front of him along with a map of Montferrand territory marked with small black pins. He looked up only after Margaret closed the door behind her.

"You’re early."

"I finished what I had to do."

Aurelian returned to the papers. "Then we can go over this before we leave."

Margaret crossed the room and stopped on the opposite side of the table. Even after weeks of working together an obvious distance remained between them, and neither bothered to hide it.

"What happens now?"

"The secondary branch is formally recognized today. After that, they return to Montferrand under Crown supervision and begin taking control of the family’s administration."

Margaret studied the map, then the names written beside one of the larger estates. "And the main branch?"

"Sentenced members remain in Crown custody. Those directly involved in the crimes we confirmed will not return to their estates."

Aurelian turned one of the documents around so she could read it, a long list of names, properties and positions inside House Montferrand. "Several officials beneath them are being removed as well. Military officers, administrators, treasury staff. Anyone whose position depended entirely on the old leadership is being reviewed."

"That’s a large part of the house."

"It needs to be."

Margaret read several names she recognised before raising her eyes. "And the secondary branch simply inherits what remains?"

"Not simply."

Aurelian moved from the table and poured himself water from a glass pitcher near the wall. "They inherit the name and most of the territory. Some holdings will remain under temporary Crown administration until we’ve finished going through the records. Their military will be reduced for now, and their teleportation access stays monitored."

Margaret had expected as much. Replacing Estienne’s line meant nothing if the new leadership rebuilt the same structure immediately afterward.

"So they’re keeping their position as a Great House."

"For now."

Nothing in his answer wavered. Margaret watched him for a moment, weighing those last two words more than anything else he had said.

"For now?"

"If they understand what happened and remember where their authority comes from, there will be no problem."

"And if they don’t?"

Aurelian met her eyes. "Then Montferrand will require another restructuring."

He said it calmly enough that Margaret disliked it more than if he had sounded threatening. She folded her arms and watched him put the glass back down.

"How far are you planning to take this?"

"With Montferrand?"

"You know that’s not what I’m asking."

Quiet stretched between them for several seconds. The noise of the capital carried on beyond the windows, distant enough that the room itself stayed still.

Margaret knew better than to expect names. Aurelian had never shared more than he judged necessary, even while they worked toward the same goal.

"Arquenay nearly caused a war," he said eventually. "Montferrand spent years ignoring its obligations, hiding transactions and using influence it was never supposed to have. Neither situation appeared overnight."

"So there are others."

"There are always others."

That was exactly the part of Aurelian that made cooperating with him difficult, even when Margaret agreed with what he was doing. He had accepted her help readily enough, though it had never turned her into an equal partner in anything he planned.

Margaret looked over the folders covering the table. "You asked me to help because people speak more freely around me than around you. I did. I traveled with your officers, spoke to the people you wanted spoken to and helped keep the investigation quiet. If this continues, I’d prefer to know what I’m helping with."

Aurelian watched her carefully. "You’re helping remove people who have spent years treating the Crown as optional."

"And helping you."

"Yes."

At least he did not pretend otherwise. Margaret narrowed her eyes while his expression stayed exactly where it was.

"You don’t seem bothered admitting that."

"Why would I be? You already know what I want."

The throne. Neither of them needed to say it aloud.

Aurelian gathered two folders from the table and closed them. "If a Great House performs its duties, follows the law and remembers that Valleroy is a kingdom rather than a collection of private territories, I have no reason to touch it."

"And the ones that don’t?"

"They should look at what happened to Arquenay and Montferrand."

Margaret stayed quiet. That was as near to a real answer as she would get from him today, and pushing harder would achieve nothing.

Aurelian took his coat from a chair, put it on and checked the time. "The Montferrand representatives should already be in the western hall."

Margaret glanced toward the door. "So we’re doing it now."

"Yes. The documents have been prepared, the witnesses are present, and the secondary branch has agreed to the Crown’s conditions."

He walked toward the doors and stopped when Margaret did not follow at once. For a moment brother and sister regarded one another across the room.

They had worked together, yet nothing between them felt repaired, and Margaret was not sure it ever would be.

Aurelian opened the door. "Come. It’s time to meet the new House Montferrand."