Chapter 353: Convenient Geography

Chapter 353: Chapter 353: Convenient Geography

The next morning, Liam discovered that competence could be extremely attractive.

He stood in the central planning room with a tablet in one hand, staring at the imperial schedule Severin, Mezos, Rubis, and Kamal had somehow dismantled, reorganized, and compressed into something that no longer resembled an assassination attempt disguised as administration.

Three diplomatic meetings had been delegated.

Two council sessions had been moved forward.

The trade review with the southern districts had been handed to Cassian and Narissa, who were both qualified enough that Liam suspected the meeting might actually end early for once.

Even the foreign delegations currently attempting to resurrect century-old agreements had been divided between ministers instead of waiting personally for Arik to explain for the fifth time that Nuria being inaccessible did not somehow entitle them to mineral concessions negotiated by their great-grandparents.

Liam scrolled down.

Then back up.

He looked across the long black conference table.

"I could kiss all four of you."

Arik’s hand landed immediately on his shoulder.

Liam turned his head.

His husband stood beside him in a fitted black coat with restrained gold at the collar, his expression perfectly calm except for the sovereign eyes fixed on Liam with unmistakable objection.

"No."

Severin laughed.

Rubis lowered his face toward his tablet, although the movement of his shoulders betrayed him.

Kamal appeared to find the entire situation beneath comment.

Mezos, who had been adjusting the tactical projection at the far end of the table, looked at Arik.

"We cleared two entire days from the Emperor’s schedule."

Arik’s hand remained on Liam’s shoulder.

"You may receive formal commendations."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"That seems much less affectionate."

"Yes."

"I was being appreciative."

"You may appreciate them from there."

Severin leaned against the edge of the table.

"He has become worse since marriage."

"Incorrect," Liam said. "He was already like this."

Arik looked down at him.

"You married me knowingly."

"I did."

"Then this is an informed consequence."

Liam considered that, then looked at the schedule again.

"Fine. Commendations."

Mezos gave a grave nod. "We accept."

Rubis finally laughed.

The humor lasted only until Mezos expanded the map.

A broad section of terrain appeared above the table, projected in pale gold and silver, beginning at Nuria’s western boundary and extending toward Wrohan. Mountain chains rose in translucent layers, crossed by old road systems and newer aerial routes that had evolved while Nuria remained hidden.

A narrow territory between the two countries brightened.

Liam stepped closer.

"That is where the tether ended?"

"Within this region," Mezos said. "We narrowed the signal after comparing the directional trace with old ether infrastructure and recent transport records."

Arik studied the projection.

The province was small compared with either Nuria or Wrohan, wedged into a valley system that had once belonged to the outer Nurian territories before the Gate closed.

"What is its current political status?" Liam asked.

Rubis answered.

"Independent."

Arik’s eyebrow rose.

"Voluntarily?"

"Historically, yes. Financially, apparently not anymore."

Liam looked at him.

Rubis expanded a second layer over the map.

Numbers appeared.

Debt. Infrastructure obligations. Bond payments. Energy imports.

Liam stared.

Then slowly looked toward Arik.

"That is catastrophic."

"I assumed as much from your face."

Kamal folded his hands behind his back.

"When Nuria disappeared, the province was effectively cut off from the imperial structure. The local government declared independence rather than submit to the Wrohan administration."

"Reasonable at the time," Arik said.

"It became less reasonable over the following decades."

Liam enlarged the financial records.

"They borrowed against transport infrastructure."

"Yes."

"And then borrowed again to service the first loans."

"Yes."

"And apparently continued doing that for thirty years."

Rubis nodded.

Liam looked genuinely offended.

"Who manages their treasury?"

Severin smiled. "Someone you would dislike."

"That does not narrow it down."

Arik moved closer to the projection.

"And now they want back."

Mezos brought up the latest diplomatic request.

"They contacted Nuria eleven days after the Gate opened."

Liam glanced at him.

"That quickly?"

"They remembered their former status quickly."

"Debt is a goldmine for historical memory," Kamal said.

Arik’s mouth curved.

The province had apparently rediscovered its cultural attachment to Nuria at roughly the same moment creditors rediscovered the province.

Its government now wanted formal negotiations for reintegration.

Liam scrolled through the request.

"They are offering tax integration, border control, and partial transfer of administrative authority."

"They have very little leverage," Rubis said.

"They have Felix."

The room quieted.

Arik’s gaze remained on the highlighted territory.

That changed everything.

Felix’s true body was somewhere inside a province already asking to return under Nurian rule.

Severin gave a low whistle.

"That is almost convenient."

Arik glanced at him.

"Nothing involving Felix is convenient."

"No, but geography is making an admirable effort."

Mezos expanded the region further.

"His location appears to be somewhere in the northern interior, likely below the old provincial capital. There are pre-Gate ether lines beneath the entire valley."

Liam leaned over the table.

"How intact?"

"Unknown."

"That means dangerous."

"That means old," Mezos corrected. "Dangerous is assumed."

Arik looked at Liam.

Liam noticed.

"I know."

"You were about to say something reckless."

"I was going to say the infrastructure might explain why Felix chose the province."

"That is acceptable."

"It might also connect directly to Nuria."

Arik’s expression changed.

Kamal moved closer to the map.

"Historically, that valley carried auxiliary ether lines toward the western Gate structures."

Liam’s attention sharpened.

"So Felix may not simply be hiding there."

"He may be using it," Arik said.

The humor disappeared completely.

For years, the province had been draining itself financially while sitting above infrastructure nobody fully understood anymore.

Felix could have been there for decades.

Arik rested both hands against the table.

"We leave in two days."

No one argued.

The schedule allowed it now.

Mezos nodded toward the map.

"We can enter under diplomatic authority. The provincial government requested a Nurian delegation three days ago."

Severin smiled faintly.

"Then we give them one."

Liam looked toward Arik.

"With the emperor personally attending."

"And the empress consort," Arik said.

Mezos’s expression remained resigned.

"I had accepted that part."

"Good."

Rubis closed one of the schedule windows.

"The provincial delegation believes the visit concerns reintegration."

"It does," Arik said.

Liam studied him.

"And Felix?"

Arik’s gold eyes remained fixed on the glowing valley.

"That concerns internal security."

Severin laughed quietly.

Technically, it was difficult to argue.

If the province wanted to return to Nuria badly enough to hand its borders, taxation, and administrative structure back to the empire, then Felix had chosen an extraordinarily inconvenient place to hide.

Liam folded his arms.

"Do we tell them he is there?"

"Not yet."

"Because?"

Arik finally looked at him.

"Because if their government knows, I want to see what they do when I arrive."

Liam smiled slowly.

Mezos noticed and sighed.

"I dislike when both of you make that face."

"What face?" Liam asked.

"The one that creates paperwork."

Arik reached over and closed the financial projection.

"The province wants Nuria back because it is drowning in debt."

Kamal nodded.

Arik’s expression became thoughtful.

"Then perhaps we should find out what else it has been paying for."