Chapter 467. The Whole Kingdom Built on Rotten Wood

Chapter 467: 467. The Whole Kingdom Built on Rotten Wood

Kaela burst into a fit of genuine laughter at Catherine’s dry assessment, nearly choking on a mouthful of pastry. She gasped for air, one hand flying up to cover her mouth as she shook her head.

"You’re taking the news that you’re a combat resource remarkably well, Catherine..."

"Most people would be demanding a raise or complaining about being turned into a battery."

"I’ve had considerably longer to sit with the general concept than you have, Kaela," Catherine replied dryly, daintily wiping a crumb from the corner of her mouth. "And honestly?"

"In a world as treacherous as ours, there are worse things to be especially in a relationship built on the foundation we’ve constructed than being indispensable."

As the laughter died down, the room’s temperature seemed to drop. The humor couldn’t fully mask the implications of what William had described.

Kaela’s expression shifted, the playful light in her eyes replaced by the sharp, focused intensity of a warrior who understood the price of power. She set her cup down with a soft but decisive clatter and leaned toward William, her brow furrowed with genuine concern.

"Wait," Kaela said, her voice dropping an octave. "What’s a system...?"

William and Catherine were shocked hearing that because they just blurred something that should’ve been a secret between them. But since it’s already too late, William had to tell Kaela, but in such a fast, informative way that it concludes the point only.

"I see... that’s kinda cool, but you deserve that actually..." Kaela nodded, and then she said again. "Second wait...!"

"You said it puts strain on your body."

"How much strain are we talking about?"

"The system mentioned hemorrhaging and broken bones."

"What actually happens when you push past the limit? Do you just... break apart?"

William met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "I don’t know yet... That’s the problem."

"The system gives warnings, but it doesn’t give specifics."

"That’s exactly why I want to test it methodically, carefully, somewhere isolated where I can monitor the feedback." His fingers drummed once against the table. "I’d rather find its edges now, on my own terms, than discover them while I’m bleeding out in the middle of a battlefield where I can’t afford to lose."

"Good," Kaela said, her voice hard as flint. "Because if you try to play hero and find out the hard way, I will personally break your ribs before whatever enemy gets to you has the chance to try."

"Noted," William said, and there was no trace of mockery in his tone.

He meant it with every fiber of his being.

Catherine watched the exchange with a small, private smile, the kind she rarely permitted herself at court, where every expression was a calculated move, but wore effortlessly here, around a breakfast table with the only people who truly knew her.

"For what it’s worth," she said softly, "I don’t think either of us needs to worry about him being recklessly cavalier with this power."

"He’s already had Lia extract a blood oath promise out of him for risks half as catastrophic as this."

William offered a rueful grimace. "Lia doesn’t know about this yet."

"Lia will know within the hour of hearing about it," Catherine countered immediately, her eyes sparkling with knowing amusement. "And she will extract the exact same promise from you, and you will give it to her just as sincerely as you’re giving it to us right now."

She leaned back, studying him like a familiar text. "I’ve watched this pattern in you for years, William."

"It’s part of your infuriating charm... You never learn to stop making promises about your own safety to the people who love you."

"And somehow, you never quite manage to keep every single one of them perfectly. And another somehow, we all keep forgiving you for it anyway."

William blinked, caught off guard by the accuracy of her assessment. "That’s... oddly specific."

"I’ve had eight years of desk work to think about exactly this kind of thing," Catherine said with a shrug. Without waiting for his permission, she reached across the table and deftly stole the last pastry off his plate before he could even register the movement.

...

Lia arrived at the palace two days later, riding hard as if she were chasing the sun itself. She was escorted by a small detachment of the Royal Greatsword Corps soldiers who had been dispatched north to deliver ceremonial documents ahead of the wedding preparations.

Commander Ardyn had folded the errand into Lia’s ongoing orientation with that characteristic, pointed observation that she might as well see the capital properly while she was still young enough to enjoy the ride.

When she finally rode through the palace gates, she looked travel-worn and delightfully windblown, her hair pulled back into a messy, practical braid.

Her greatsword was strapped diagonally across her back like a natural extension of her spine, looking as though it weighed nothing at all, though William knew better. That blade was a monster of steel and enchantments that would have buckled the knees of most grown men.

But it wasn’t the sword that caught his attention. It was her.

She looked... settled. Better than well, actually.

There was a new, tempered steadiness in the way she carried herself, shoulders set with the particular confidence of someone who had spent weeks being pushed to the breaking point by a mentor who believed she could survive it.

The perpetual tightness she used to carry around her eyes, that defensive tension she wore like armor when she thought no one was watching, had eased. In its place was something closer to genuine ease, a quiet strength that made her seem taller, more present.

William felt something in his own chest loosen at the sight of her; whatever Ardyn was doing with her training, it was working.

She didn’t waste time with pleasantries. After greeting Catherine with a fierce, brief hug that nearly knocked the breath from the older woman, Lia marched straight toward William.

She planted both hands on her hips, her boots clicking sharply against the stone, and fixed him with a stare that demanded immediate honesty.

"Well?" she demanded, her voice carrying that familiar, commanding edge. "Don’t just stand there looking like you’ve been caught stealing wine, William."

"Give me a full report. Everything."

He didn’t flinch. He knew better than to try and sugarcoat anything with Lia; she would smell the deception before he even finished the sentence.

So, he gave her everything.

He didn’t just tell her about the Harem Boost. He laid bare the entire tapestry of the conspiracy that had been tightening around them.

He spoke of the dam, the bribes, the treacherous contracts, and the whispered conversations in shadowed corridors. He told her about the pillar, the mortar, the political maneuvering, and the dangerous implications of a man named Tobin Hale.

He laid it all out because it no longer felt right; it felt like a betrayal to keep Lia standing outside a truth that now touched all three of the women he had chosen to build a life around.

Lia listened with her jaw set so tight he feared her teeth might crack. One hand curled slowly into a fist at her side as the details piled up, her knuckles whitening.

With every new piece of corruption he revealed, her expression grew darker, the fire in her eyes shifting from curiosity to a cold, simmering fury.

"So that’s it then," she muttered, her voice low and dangerous. "The whole kingdom is built on rotten wood."

"It’s worse than that," William said, stepping closer so only she could hear the next part. "Because the system I’ve been relying on... it isn’t just luck, Lia."

"And it isn’t just ’instinct’ like I told you before."

When he finally explained the reality of the system—the fact that there was a conscious mechanic, a named framework sitting behind every strange notification, every unnatural spike in his abilities—he saw her entire demeanor shift.

Her eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise, her mouth parting slightly as she processed the implications.

’She’s not frustrated anymore,’ William thought grimly as he watched her process the revelation. ’Now, she’s calculating.’

’And God help anyone who stands in her way once she figures out how to use this information.’