Chapter 466. Harem Boost: Terms and Conditions Apply

Chapter 466: 466. Harem Boost: Terms and Conditions Apply

The morning light filtered through the tall windows of Kaela’s private sitting room, pale and deceptively peaceful.

William found Catherine already seated at the small breakfast table, her posture impeccable, sipping tea with the kind of serene composure that suggested she had been awake for hours, contemplating the mysteries of the universe or at least the morning’s political implications.

Before William could even draw out his chair, the heavy oak doors swung open with an almost violent enthusiasm. Kaela stormed in behind him, still fumbling with the leather ties of her hair, her eyes bright with an energy that made the room feel suddenly too small.

She was vibrating with a kind of suppressed electricity that William recognized instantly: she was incapable of holding a secret.

"Catherine." Kaela didn’t sit so much as she collapsed into the chair opposite her friend, leaning forward with elbows planted on the tablecloth. "I have to tell you something."

"And I need you. I am demanding that you actually act surprised, because I have been rehearsing this moment since last night."

Catherine set her teacup down with a slow, deliberate click, her expression one of amused patience. "You’ve been rehearsing, have you?"

"Well, by all means, enlighten me."

"William and I." Kaela pressed her lips together, fighting a grin that was visibly threatening to split her face in two. "Last night."

"We... it happened... Finally."

For a heartbeat, silence stretched between them. William watched Kaela’s shoulders tense slightly, her bravado wavering as she braced for the possibility that the news might land with a dull thud.

But then, Catherine’s carefully maintained composure shattered. A genuine, unguarded laugh escaped her, followed by a smile so radiant it seemed to dim the morning sun.

She reached across the table, seizing both of Kaela’s hands in hers.

"I am so happy for you," Catherine said, her voice thick with an emotion that lacked any of the practiced honey of courtly speech. "Truly, Kaela~!"

"I have watched the two of you circling each other like predators for weeks."

"I knew something was coming, but I didn’t realize it had finally broken."

Kaela’s shoulders sagged in mock despair, though her eyes were dancing. "You already knew, didn’t you?"

"Instructor Wade told me you’d already know... I wanted to surprise you, you insufferable vice-headmaster."

"I suspected," Catherine admitted with a playful shrug. "I did not know for certain until this very second."

"Let me have my moment of triumph." She rose from her chair, rounding the table in two strides to wrap Kaela in a fierce embrace.

Kaela let out a strangled laugh, protesting that she couldn’t breathe as Catherine squeezed the air from her lungs. When they finally parted, both women were flushed with genuine mirth.

"There’s more, actually," William interjected, waiting for the dust of their reunion to settle. "I was going to wait until you both stopped acting like teenagers, but I’ve never been good at patience."

"There is always ’more’ with you, William," Catherine said, smoothing her skirts as she sat back down, though her smile remained. "Go on."

"What else is burning a hole in your agenda?"

William reached for his cup, but before the porcelain could touch his lips, the familiar, unnerving shimmer bloomed in the air directly before his eyes.

The translucent blue screen unfurled with its characteristic, unapologetic confidence, cutting through the domestic warmth of the room like a blade through silk.

[Official Bond Confirmed: Catherine Blackwood, Lia Valestria, Kaela Aurelius.]

[Threshold Met.]

[Framework Expanded: Harem Boost.]

William froze. His cup hovered inches from his mouth as he stared at the glowing text that only he could perceive.

"Huh."

Catherine’s fork paused halfway to her mouth, her keen eyes narrowing as she studied his sudden stillness. "William? What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

"Give me a second," William said, his voice dropping into a low murmur.

His mind was already racing, analyzing the implications before he could even process the shock. "The system... it’s talking."

[Harem Boost: Allows the user to temporarily multiply all combat statistics, including Strength, Speed, Endurance, and Mana Capacity, with the multiplier determined by the number of official bonds that have reached a sufficient depth.]

[Warning: This ability places drastic, catastrophic strain on the user’s physical vessel.]

[Excessive use may result in internal hemorrhaging, bone fracture, or permanent organ damage.]

[Bonds currently meeting the required depth: Two (Catherine Blackwood, Lia Valestria).]

[The bond with Kaela Aurelius is now officially confirmed but remains too recent to count toward the multiplier in full.]

[Current Multiplier available: x2.0. This ceiling will ascend as each bond deepens further.]

William set the cup down slowly, the clink of ceramic against wood sounding unnaturally loud. His pulse quickened. A twofold increase.

In a fight, that wasn’t just an advantage; it was a godlike transformation. He could feel the latent power humming in the air, a promise of violence that matched the growing darkness of the political conspiracy outside these walls.

William stared at the glowing text, his mind working with the cold, analytical precision of a general assessing a new weapon cache. He ignored the concerned glances from the two women across from him, focusing entirely on the implications of the warning.

’Internal hemorrhaging.’

’Bone fracture.’

’Permanent organ damage.’

The system wasn’t offering a gift; it was offering a pact written in blood.

"Wait," William said aloud, breaking his trance. He frowned, turning something over in his head before he addressed the women. "This doesn’t make sense."

"Isn’t this something I already have?"

"Catherine and Lia both settled their bonds months ago... I’ve been using a multiplier since the two of them first committed."

[The framework you unlocked previously was static,] the system answered. William could have sworn he detected a faint, almost imperceptible note of dry amusement threading through its otherwise measured, mechanical tone. [A fixed multiplier tied solely to the quantity of bonds held, incapable of evolving beyond its initial parameters.]

[What you have now is that same core mechanic given permission to breathe to expand.]

[It is no longer tied to how many people you carry, but to how deeply each bond has settled into your soul.]

[You once commanded that I allow no further unprompted evolutions unless you personally pursued them.]

[Choosing to commit yourself freely to a third person satisfies that condition.]

William huffed out a breath that was almost a laugh, though there was no humor in it. "Fair enough... You’re a stickler for the rules."

Turning away from the invisible screen, he read the rest of the data aloud to the table. He translated the system’s clinical, detached phrasing into something tangible—something they could actually grasp.

He spoke of the power, the mechanics, and most importantly, the catastrophic cost of pushing the multiplier too far.

As he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The lightheartedness of their earlier breakfast evaporated, replaced by a heavy, charged tension.

Catherine set her fork down with deliberate slowness. She folded her hands on the table, adopting that particular, terrifyingly calm posture she used when she was dissecting a political maneuver.

Her eyes were sharp, calculating.

"So," Catherine said finally, her voice quiet but carrying an odd weight. "I am, quite literally, a source of combat power now."

"That is not how I would have chosen to explain it," William muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "I prefer not to frame my companions as... batteries."

"But it’s accurate, isn’t it?" Catherine countered, her gaze unflinching. "The deeper our connection, the stronger you become."

"Technically, yes," William admitted grimly. "Though I’d prefer to think of it as mutual strengthening rather than you simply fueling my violence."

Catherine looked down at her own hands for a long moment, as though checking to see if her skin had changed color or if something beneath her flesh had begun to hum with latent energy.

She turned one hand over in the morning sunlight, examining the pale skin as if she expected to see veins of gold or mana coursing through her.

"That’s strange," she said after a beat, a complicated expression crossing her features. "But somehow... also a little endearing."

"I spent eight years believing I had passed my prime, that I had become someone who existed in the shadows of real fighters, someone who had stopped being useful in any true conflict." A small, wry smile touched her lips. "Now, apparently, I am useful simply by existing near you."

William reached across the table, his fingers brushing hers briefly, his expression softening. "You were always useful, Catherine."

"You’re one of the sharpest minds I’ve ever encountered and one of the bravest souls I know." His voice dropped lower, becoming more serious. "This isn’t about you being a tool for me."

"This is the system finally admitting the truth in numbers: that our bond changes the very fabric of what you and I can achieve together."