Chapter 78: Contingency for the old man

As the preparations for departure continued, Rowena called Ryu into her study and activated the privacy formation.

The old chamberlain arrived carrying the household ledgers he had been reviewing.

Until that morning, Rowena had decided that Ryu would remain behind.

He had spent almost his entire life inside the Orlen mansion and had only a few years remaining, so dragging him across the Divine Sea to die in an unfamiliar land had seemed cruel.

Everyone wished to be buried in their homeland after all.

After thinking about it again, however, she recognized the arrogance hidden inside her own reasoning. The choice should belong to him.

“House Orlen will be leaving the Southern Continent,” Rowena told him. “The exact time and route must remain secret, but the arrangement has already been made. If you wish to accompany us, I will reserve a place for you.”

Ryu displayed little surprise. The movement of resources and Alaric’s new arrivals were enough for him to realize that they were preparing for more than a journey within the kingdom.

“Thank you, my lady, but I will remain here.” His answer came without hesitation, although his expression softened. “I was born outside Orlena City, entered this mansion as a young man and spent the better part of my life serving the people within it.

“I have already chosen a place in the cemetery near my hometown. There is no reason for my old bones to cross the Divine Sea now.”

There was no resentment in his voice and no hidden implication for Rowena to remain.

He understood that she wouldn’t uproot House Orlen without any reason whatsoever.

There must be some inexplicable and insurmountable danger or some extremely beneficial opportunities for her to leave like this, or maybe both.

“I expected that answer,” Rowena admitted. “But I should have asked before deciding it for you.”

“You have asked now, my lady. That is enough.” Ryu placed the ledgers upon her desk before continuing. “I do have one request, although it concerns the people who will stay rather than myself.”

If House Orlen’s rulers disappeared, its political authority would eventually collapse.

The Crown might reclaim the territory, grant it to another house or divide it among neighbouring lords. Ryu accepted that, but knew how easily servants could be punished for the decisions of absent masters.

He asked Rowena to ensure that the mansion, its lawful residents and their ordinary possessions would be left alone.

The Crown could take military resources and official property, but the servants shouldn’t lose their savings, homes or belongings because House Orlen’s standing had changed.

“I will continue managing the mansion for as long as I remain capable,” Ryu said. “Before I die, I will choose and train someone who can take my place. We will obey whichever lawful authority governs Orlena City afterward. All I ask is that nobody be permitted to treat this household as spoils.”

Rowena agreed, but the method required thought.

If Marchioness Orlen publicly requested protection for her mansion in the event that her house vanished, every courtier would wonder what she was preparing to do.

If Alastair monitored royal affairs, the request could warn him that she intended to leave.

“I will obtain the guarantee personally,” she decided. “There will be no petition, delegation or discussion before the royal court. Continue your work as though nothing has changed.”

That night, Rowena left alone.

The Veil of Broken Echoes couldn’t conceal a moving person because its suppression covered a fixed area, so she relied upon her own concealment and avoided every place where her presence might be recorded.

She reached the royal palace without giving anyone a reason to connect House Orlen to the capital.

The king was reading inside a private chamber when Rowena appeared beside the closed doors. No guard had announced her, and none of the palace formations had reacted to an intruder crossing their protected boundaries.

Before he could summon anyone, she activated the Veil of Broken Echoes and its suppression settled across the chamber.

The king rose slowly from his seat. “Marchioness Orlen. Entering my private chamber without permission is a strange way to request an audience.”

“An official audience would defeat the purpose of coming here,” Rowena replied.

“Nobody can observe us now, and nothing that happens inside this room will be sensed outside it. Before I explain what I want, I need your guarantee that my visit and everything discussed during it will remain confidential.”

The demand sharpened the king’s attention.

Rowena knew something important enough to infiltrate his palace and conceal their conversation, but that didn’t make him willing to surrender control.

Royal authority descended across the room as he drew upon the Official Path.

Inside the heart of his own kingdom, the recognition sustaining the Crown transformed his command into a pressure capable of forcing ordinary Paragons to lower their heads.

Mana simultaneously surged from his reconstructed core as several defensive Spell Models awakened around his body.

“You will first explain how you entered my palace,” the king ordered.

Rowena remained standing. The royal pressure struck the space around her, then broke apart before reaching her body.

When the defensive Spell Models completed and manifestations appeared, her mana entered the gaps between their structures and disrupted every connection with such precision that the spells collapsed without exploding.

The king was a Paragon Mage and had also reached the equivalent realm through the Official Path, making him considerably stronger than most practitioners at his level.

Rowena had never received the ducal title required to reach Paragon through political authority, and even a Duke’s authority would have remained inferior to that of a reigning king even if both allowed one to become a Paragon.

None of it would’ve changed the result though.

Twenty years ago, Rowena had stood among the finest Paragons on the continent.

Now her old injuries were healed, while the benefits left by Vharaketh had continued refining what already made her exceptional.

The king possessed the breadth of two Paths, but neither had reached the terrifying depth Rowena had achieved through her own power.

His final defense activated when she stepped toward him.

A transparent barrier surrounded the king, drawing power from the palace formations and a royal artifact hidden beneath the floor.

It was meant to withstand an attack long enough for every Paragon protecting the capital to respond.

However, Rowena was no ordinary Paragon. She placed two fingers against its surface and circulated her mana.

A narrow crack spread from that point, crossed the entire barrier and shattered it before the chamber could even produce a single audible alarm.

She stopped with those same fingers pointing towards the king’s throat.

“If I had come to kill you, Your Majesty, this conversation would never have begun,” she said before stepping back. “Can we speak privately now?”

The king stared at the fragments of light fading around him before withdrawing his mana.

His anger remained, but he was experienced enough to recognize that continuing would only announce his helplessness to the sole person in the room.

And helplessness would be a bad quality to show in negotiation of any kind.

Well, one could only sigh at the fact that the king thought he could still negotiate with someone like Rowena.

Rowena placed a short Divine Contract upon the table.

Its terms only prevented either of them from revealing her visit or the contents of their conversation, except where disclosure was necessary to enforce any agreement created during the meeting.

The king examined every clause before signing it, and Rowena added her own signature immediately afterward.

He definitely wouldn’t have signed if the clause specified that only he wasn’t allowed to expose Rowena’s presence here.

Because that would mean the woman standing in front of him would be free to share to the world how she intruded upon the royal palace and subdued him so easily.

Only after the King signed the contract did Rowena explain Ryu’s request.

She demanded a binding royal guarantee that the Orlen mansion, its lawful residents and their ordinary private property would be protected from confiscation, displacement or retaliation arising from any future change in House Orlen’s political standing.

“Are you planning to renounce your title?” the king asked. “Disappear? Rebel? You definitely would not break into my chamber for a possibility you consider remote.”

“I am arranging a contingency.”

“Against what?”

“You do not need to know. That is not part of my request.”

He questioned her about dates, destinations and whether a threat was approaching the kingdom.

Rowena gave him nothing.

He could infer that she might leave or that she expected House Orlen to lose its authority, but he obtained no information he could use to discover her route or larger plan.

In the end, the king opened a concealed compartment and produced a blank royal instrument.

He wrote the protections personally, excluding military stockpiles, territorial taxes and property belonging to House Orlen in its governing capacity.

The mansion, its ordinary grounds, lawful residents and their private possessions were placed under direct royal protection regardless of the house’s future political status.

He pressed the royal seal into the document and channelled both mana and the authority of the Crown through it.

“Your chamberlain may break the outer seal and present this to any royal official when the protection becomes necessary. Interfering with it will be treated as defiance of a direct royal command.”

Rowena inspected the instrument for hidden conditions before placing it inside her spatial storage. “That is sufficient.”

She deactivated the Veil and departed through the same route by which she had entered.

The palace remained silent, because the king had no desire to reveal that Rowena had crossed its defenses, suppressed both of his Paths and broken his final protection without alerting a single guard.

Before dawn, the sealed royal instrument rested in Ryu’s hands.

No public petition had been filed, no soldiers had moved and no unusual audience had appeared in the palace records.

If Alastair was watching for signs of Rowena’s intentions, she had given him nothing to see.

Thank you for reading!