Veronique was somewhat puzzled.
Lord? Princess?
She wasn't entirely clear about the former term, but if she roughly understood it as a monarch or leader, Veronique could grasp its meaning—it referred to the head or leader of a faction.
As for the latter term, she fully understood its meaning but wasn't sure what Ryan was referring to.
The Chairwoman's interest was piqued.
For Veronique, the warmest and most memorable times were those distant days when she and the young warrior adventured together and returned to that dilapidated castle to celebrate the New Year.
Back then, she only had him, and he only had her.
Seeing that Veronique seemed to be reminiscing, Ryan's eyes also filled with nostalgia. He smiled and said, "You still don't understand?"
"I understand the first part," Veronique took out a bottle of golden apple cider and a goblet, then shook her head. "I don't think I'm your princess, but as you said, I'm now a lord."
"You are a princess, my princess, Veronique. You were my first woman," Ryan closed his eyes and leaned back on the soft sofa. "I helped you a lot in this process, but without your own efforts, it wouldn't have been possible. You've performed exceptionally well in several dangerous situations and expeditions, which proves your judgment was correct, and so was mine."
"So, we're still partners, still the best team?" This was perhaps the proudest moment of Veronique's life. Being affirmed by Ryan, she couldn't help but smile, though she quickly realized something.
"Are you saying that during this process, our relationship has changed?"
Ryan nodded solemnly. The Knight King picked up his iced cocoa and looked out the window. "Do you remember how we used to interact? We went on missions together, adventured in Nord, and even when I went to Marienburg to hunt down Bert, you followed. Then you came to Bretonnia to find me. This period can be summarized as the first stage. You should be able to feel that during this time, you were a completely independent individual. What you wanted to do or not do, I couldn't stop you. We discussed everything, and often your opinion took precedence."
Veronique thought about it and realized it was true, so the Camellia Sorceress nodded.
At that time, their relationship was entirely dominated by Veronique. Even after Ryan became a legend, she had tied herself up with a ribbon and presented herself to him. If Ryan upset her, she could simply leave.
Even after the Marienburg incident, when Veronique wanted to leave, Ryan couldn't stop her despite his reluctance.
"The second period was from the construction of your wizard tower to the destruction of the Camellia Council," Ryan nodded and sighed. "During this time, our relationship began to change. After you came to Bordeleaux to find me, although we never said it out loud, our relationship had shifted from you leading to us discussing and allying together. With the completion of your Dawn Wizard Tower, our relationship entered the second stage. During this stage, you still had significant influence over me and retained some freedom of action. But with the appearance of Sulia, Theresa, Olica, and Morgiana, you were no longer the only one. In many cases, you weren't even their match in terms of hard power."
"The second period can be summarized as you still having autonomy but starting to be tied to me. You could still act independently, but you couldn't just leave or ignore my opinions," Ryan said with a smile. "As for the third stage, it began when I appointed you as Chairwoman and tasked you with rebuilding the Sorceress's Assembly."
Veronique fully understood now. The Chairwoman was stunned for a few seconds, then clenched her teeth, her hands turning white from gripping too tightly. Her chest heaved as she spoke word by word, "From that point on, I became completely your vassal. I no longer had freedom. I became a caged canary, a private possession with the special psychic mark of Ryan Malcador on my abdomen! Is that how I should understand it? Although I went from a little sorceress to a Chairwoman and leader, I also went from your lord to your vassal princess?"
"Exactly," Ryan nodded slowly, a rare hint of sorrow in his eyes. The young Veronique had been a very independent, free-spirited, confident, and spirited beauty. If something didn't go her way, she wouldn't hesitate to scold him, and even back at the inn, she would give him the cold shoulder, leaving Ryan to coax her.
But the current Veronique, though mature, charming, and intellectually stable, had lost some of her former vitality and the boldness to stand up to him. She now had to shoulder the entire council, which was both an immense honor and an inescapable burden. The Knight King was silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "But this was your choice."
People must grow, and people always grow.
Veronique nodded slowly, her eyes moist. The Camellia Council was destroyed, and Margarita had handed the heavy burden of rebuilding it to her. To rebuild the Camellia Council, she had to rely on Ryan, who had grown into a towering tree.
As Ryan said, the moment she chose to depend on his power to rebuild the council, she had inevitably entered the third stage—completely losing her autonomy and becoming a vassal.
Looking back now, perhaps Lady Aurora's perspective had some truth to it from her personal standpoint. Compared to the young Theresa and Veronique, Aurora was much more mature and experienced. She saw things more clearly—Ryan was a wolf that devoured people without spitting out the bones.
In every sense.
"You have your interests, dear, and I have mine. Broadly speaking, our directions align, but internally, it's not so simple," Ryan shook his head. "As you became completely vassalized, it was inevitable that your presence and status would decline."
"But no matter what, you were my first woman. I've spoiled you, and your requests have mostly been fulfilled. If there's something you don't want to do, I don't force you. I even asked my brother Vulkan for a divine ring for you. I took you with me on the Eight Peaks Grand Expedition and during Morkin's invasion. And look at Olica—she knows better. She dares to bully Sylphia and occasionally drags Aurora and Theresa to the duke's castle basement to test her new potions and mind-control spells. But has she ever done anything to you?" Ryan spread his hands and said slowly, "Just like how I knew I could issue a royal decree for you to bring people, but I came to you personally instead."
Veronique pursed her lips to keep the tears in her eyes from falling.
The Chairwoman knew she hadn't chosen the wrong person. Ryan was willing to lay everything out so clearly, and even after gaining so much power, he still maintained respect. For a man who was possibly the most powerful in the Old World, this was remarkable. "Did you come specifically to communicate with me?"
"To avoid misunderstandings in the future."
"Then why don't you communicate like this with Theresa, Aurora, or Morgiana?"
"Theresa is content with her current life. Olica and I have already dealt with Aurora's issues. As for Morgiana, she's actually quite simple—just feed her well and lift her spirits," Ryan shook his head slightly. "As for Olica… Olica has even more ambition than you, and because of that, she's the least likely to betray me. She's already made a deal with my father."
Veronique wanted to ask more but was afraid of touching on knowledge she shouldn't. Ryan's biological father was an existence of such magnitude that He hadn't even granted Veronique the right to speak with Him.
So the Chairwoman asked the question that had always concerned and puzzled her the most: "You still haven't answered my question. Why do you love Sulia the most? Why is it that even though her contributions aren't the most outstanding, your shared experiences aren't the most numerous, and the depth of your feelings isn't the greatest, you've loved her the most since your marriage? Not just you, but even your demigod brothers and your godly father favor her the most?"
"Because Sulia… has the purest relationship with me," Ryan was silent for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Compared to everyone else."
"Are you kidding me? A political marriage where you just wanted the status of one of the twelve founding Grail Knight families, and she just wanted to reap the benefits of your reforms and place her bets on you," Veronique almost spat out her drink, her face showing disbelief. "You both got what you wanted."
"That was a transaction between the rising power of Ryan Malcador and Duke François's family of Quenelles," Ryan said coldly. "This transaction was realized through my marriage to Sulia, but this has nothing to do with Sulia herself."
"!" Veronique's laughter stopped abruptly.
"If you remove this transaction and only look at my marriage to Sulia, you'll notice one thing," Ryan continued, closing his eyes. "You'll find that Sulia is the only woman in my household who has never made any demands of me, never tried to use me to gain anything, never sought to leverage my authority as her husband for personal gain, and has instead constantly used her influence and talents to help me."
Veronique closed her mouth.
"I'm well aware that everyone in my household… except for Sylphia, who was too weak and came as a bonus with Sulia, whether it's Theresa, Morgiana, Emilia, Olica, or even the Lady, they've all been good to me and have helped me greatly. But there's no doubt that they all had their own demands, their own hopes for returns. Even Sylphia—I helped her find her exiled father," Ryan reopened his eyes, his gaze profound. "But only Sulia is different."
"When Sulia married me, she only had two manors as her personal fief. Now, as the Queen Consort, personally titled by my father, do you know how many manors she has as her personal fief?"
Veronique wasn't sure. She tentatively asked, "Ten?"
Veronique herself now had seven manors as her personal fief.
"Still two," Ryan shook his head. "Since marrying me, Sulia has never used any excuse or reason to ask for or actively increase her fief. She's never had a single penny of her own private savings. The only time she hinted at anything was when I had luxurious carriages made for you and Theresa but forgot to make one for my queen. She subtly hinted that I should be fair, and this was more to protect you all. Otherwise, the knightly nobles would have long since made trouble."
"..." Veronique was speechless.
"I'm a very confident person, dear," Ryan continued. "I'm confident in my strength, in my future, and in my ability to repay your kindness and efforts. So in the early days, you all did contribute a lot to me, but in my view, these were things that could be repaid through various means or methods. So I'm grateful to you, I accept it openly, and I keep it in mind."
"No wonder Theresa once complained to me that she felt she and her mother had been very good to you, and then she came here specifically to find you, only to feel that you weren't particularly moved," Veronique fully understood now. "So even though the Lady of the Lake helped you to such an extent, handing an entire country to you after countless efforts, you only gave her a bit of special attention."
"Exactly," Ryan let out a long breath. "But only Sulia, only her."
"She asks nothing of me. She's contributed a lot, but she makes no demands. She comes from a prominent family, she's the daughter of a top-tier noble, with exceptional talent and vast knowledge. Even if she hadn't married me, she would have lived well," Ryan went on. "I know what each of you wants, but only Sulia—I couldn't figure out what she wanted. On one hand, she already had everything. On the other, she only gave to me without asking for anything in return. As my wife, she didn't even have much desire to monopolize me and even suggested sharing me with the Lady."
"This is rare and precious—the purest feelings she gave me. She loves only me, Ryan Malcado."
"But she's already received the highest level of reward!" Veronique couldn't help but emphasize.
"That's not what Sulia wanted," Ryan smiled. "That's why she gained the unanimous approval of my father and brothers. Before Sulia even knew them or my true identity, her actions had already been observed by my father and brothers. She gained their recognition not because of her noble status or outstanding talents, not because she's my legitimate wife, but because she never sought to gain anything from me."
"And precisely because she sought nothing, she received the highest level of reward from my father and brothers."
"As for me, it was only many years after our marriage that I finally understood what my wife, Queen Sulia, truly wanted."
"She not only wanted my person, she also wanted my heart!"
"So when my father came here specifically to instruct and teach her swordsmanship, she took the initiative for the first and only time, breaking the existing rules. Through this and a series of subsequent events, she completely shattered my psychological defenses."
Veronique's gaze sharpened, and an answer was on the tip of her tongue. The Chairwoman pounced like a panther, straddling Ryan and pinching his face with both hands, demanding fiercely, "Was it that trip to Ulthuan? Ever since you came back, your attitude toward Sulia completely changed!"
"Yes, which is why I named this event 'The Date War.'"
"What exactly happened between you two?! I want to know, I need to know, tell me now! No objections allowed!"
"Guess!"
"Riddler, get out of Gotham City!"
---
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/INNIT
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.