The conversation flowed around Kaelen like water around a stone, normally he would have started to feel the original owner's resentment but he was calm.
Lord Marius spoke of politics, of alliances, of the coming assessment. Aldric interjected with boasts of his recent victories in the training yards. The Ashworth envoy discussed trade routes and marriage contracts with a precision that made Kaelen's skin crawl.
And Lysander watched.
He did not participate much. A word here, a laugh there, his comments were so sharp it took a moment to realize it was a blade but no one said anything. But his eyes never left him and even the dense Aldric noticed.
The system flickered occasionally. Kaelen ignored it, he had noticed something.
The realization crystallized as he watched Lysander lift his wine glass his eye still on him. The hum pulsed. Lysander's hand paused for a fraction of a second, barely noticeable, before continuing its motion.
He feels it too.
The thought did not shock him much. All he needed to know was what this bond was, how it worked, why it had chosen him.
But that would have to wait. Because Lysander was looking at him again, and this time, he spoke.
"Caelus." The name rolled off his tongue like a caress. "I've heard so much about you. The youngest son. The… what was the word the eldest verdant used?"
He glanced at Aldric, who laughed.
"Disappointment," Aldric laughed clearly slightly drunk or he would have noticed the rhetoric. "We've been calling him that for years."
The table laughed. Marius allowed a thin smile. Seraphine did not laugh. Her eyes were fixed on her plate, her knuckles white.
Kaelen let the laughter wash over him. Let his shoulders slump further. Let his voice come out soft, uncertain.
"I'm sorry to disappoint. I know I'm not what anyone hoped for."
The words tasted like ash. But they were the right words, if he ever gets a chance to kill that bastard Han Seo-jun he will do it in a very painful way.
Lysander's smile did not waver. But something shifted in his eyes a flicker of interest, of curiosity, of something that looked almost like recognition.
"On the contrary," he said. "I find you fascinating."
The table went quiet. Marius's smile vanished. Aldric's laugh died in his throat. Even the Ashworth envoy paused in her calculations.
Lysander Valtor did not find things fascinating. He found things useful or disposable. There was no third category that was known all over the kingdom.
But here he was, looking at the useless son of a failing house, and calling him fascinating.
Kaelen kept his eyes down. Kept his posture small. But beneath the table, a finger was tracing on his palm.
The system flickered:
[Connection Network Update]
[Villain (Lysander Valtor) – Interest Detected]
[Status: Watching]
[Warning: This individual does not act without purpose.]
The dinner continued, the plates were cleared and the Wine was poured. The conversation shifted to lighter topics the assessment, the upcoming social season, the marriages that would secure the future of the houses represented at this table.
Kaelen drank mechanically, spoke when spoken to, said nothing of substance. He played his role perfectly.
But all the while, he could feel Lysander's eyes on him they never left him. Although for some reason it made him happy it also made his skin crawl, the thought of someone viewing him as prey was not pleasant.
The dinner ended at midnight.
Kaelen rose with the others, made his obeisances, retreated toward the door. He was three steps from freedom when a hand closed around his arm.
Lysander's grip was light, almost gentle. But Kaelen felt it like a brand. The hum spiked, sharp and clear, and for a moment just a moment he felt something else pass between them.
"You should be careful, Caelus." Lysander's voice was soft, meant for his ears alone. "I left you a small gift tell me when you find it."
Kaelen met his eyes. For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
"I'll be sure to watch my step, thank you your grace," Kaelen said.
Lysander released his arm seeming almost relactant.
He walked away, his footsteps echoing in the corridor and his guards followed, leaving Kaelen standing alone in the hall with only servants occasionally passing.
The system flickered:
[Connection Network Update Complete]
[Nodes Identified:]
- Protagonist: Rina (Unawakened)
- Villain: Lysander Valtor (Active)
- House Verant: Marius (Enemy – Low), Aldric (Enemy – Low), Seraphine (Neutral)
- House Ashworth: Alliance with Valtor (Confirmed)
- House Duvall: Alliance with Valtor (Pending)
[Status: Host is marked as disposable by 4 nodes]
[Warning: Disposable status can be changed. ]
[Method: Unknown.]
Kaelen stared at the words until they faded.
He turned and walked toward his chambers, his footsteps silent, his mind already planning.
In his chambers, alone in the darkness, Kaelen sat on the floor and closed his eyes. The system interface hovered at the edge of his vision, a map of connections he was only beginning to understand.
The protagonist. The villain. The family that saw him as currency. The houses that circled like wolves.
He reached for the hum and it increased almost seeming excited. He had not forgotten that there was foreign mana in his body.
He closed his eyes and filled his mana path was then suddenly opened them, the pain he used to feel when moving mana was gone replaced by the foreign… not the blessed mana in his body covering the atrophied pathways allowing mana to pass through smoothly.
[Mana Pathway Restoration: 2.1% complete]
[Bond Stability: 4%]
[System: Partial Awakening – Additional functions will unlock as bond strengthens.]
This was the fastest he had ever completed his training, he was happy and the hum noticed and seemingly approved. He selectively choose to forget the things people could do with mana in another's body and focused on the fact that he could train without pain. He hated pain so even though he secretly thought the man was an a**hole for doing whatever he did atleast he did not loose out a hundred percent.
The hum pulsed once, strong enough to make his breath catch.
Somewhere across the city, in a manor of black stone, Lysander Valtor touched his chest and smiled.
For a broken vessel to heal that fast it was interesting.