Aeliana had listened to the entire conversation. Every word. Every calculated pause. Every shift in tone between her father and Lucavion.
And the more she listened—
The more convinced she became.
This guy…
He knew too much.
Too much about her. Too much about her condition. Too much about the Kraken, about her so-called illness, about the very thing that had tormented her for years.
And on top of all that—
He was the disciple of that legend. Starscourge Gerald.
If she were like the nobles in court, she would have seen this for what it was. A grand opportunity. A way to secure a powerful ally, to gain insight into something that no one else in the empire had access to.
But for Aeliana—
None of that mattered.
For her, there was only one thing.
The bastard in front of her.
Lucavion.
Someone she would never forgive.
And someone she would never let go.
Which meant—
She couldn’t let him get away.
Because she knew.
If her father refused him right now—if he let Lucavion walk out of this room, if he turned him away—
That would be the end of it.
Lucavion wasn’t the type to grovel.
That was something she had come to understand about him.
Lucavion was weird. Pushy. Sometimes he spoke without thinking, sometimes he played games with his words, twisting things just enough to make people uncomfortable.
But once he laid things bare—
He wouldn’t stay.
He was the kind of person who, once rejected, would walk away without looking back. The kind who never begged, never pleaded, never tried to convince anyone beyond a certain point.
And that?
That was something Aeliana could not risk.
She refused to let him go.
If her father refused him now—if he dismissed Lucavion, if he let him slip through his fingers—
That would be it.
Gone.
And Lucavion would never return.
Which meant—
The moment her father accepted him, the moment he acknowledged Lucavion and tied his fate to the Thaddeus Duchy—
He would be bound to them.
Bound to the Duchy.
And more importantly—
Forever tied to her.
Aeliana’s lips curled slightly, the ghost of a smirk hidden beneath her composed expression.
Heh… Who would have thought you’d give me such an opportunity, you bastard?
She had no intention of wasting it.
Aeliana inhaled slowly. Then, with a composed yet deliberate voice, she spoke.
“Father,” she began, her amber eyes steady. “Do you understand what this means?”
Thaddeus narrowed his gaze. “Speak clearly, Aeliana.”
She didn’t hesitate.
“This guy—this bastard—has already reached a level that nearly no one in this generation has ever touched,” she stated, her voice unwavering. “You weren’t there, but I saw it. He was able to achieve something… something that no one else could.”
Lucavion chuckled softly at that, leaning his chin into his palm. “Oh? Praise from you? Now that’s rare.”
Aeliana shot him a glare before turning back to her father.
“Fighting against that monster… standing against that thing.” She clenched her fists slightly. “And that cut—Father, that cut at the time…”
Thaddeus’ golden eyes sharpened.
“What cut?”
Aeliana’s breath was steady as she recalled the moment.
“The one he made when he struck the Kraken.” Her voice lowered slightly, as if recalling the very air around it. “At that time… it felt like the world itself was being slashed.”
The chamber stilled.
Thaddeus stiffened.
Because—
He remembered it.
At the time, when he had been searching for Aeliana, when he had been aboard the ship, he had felt it too.
A cut that had split the sky.
A moment where even the sea seemed to hesitate, as if unsure whether to move forward or retreat.
He had dismissed it back then, focusing entirely on recovering his daughter, on ensuring she was safe. But now—
Now that he thought about it—
Who could have made such a cut?
Who else could have done that?
The answer was crystal clear.
There was only one person in that battle capable of such a feat.
His golden eyes slowly turned back to Lucavion.
“I see.”
Lucavion merely smiled. “It took you that long to piece it together? I’m disappointed, Mister Duke.”
Thaddeus ignored the remark, his mind already weighing the risks, the real risks of this situation.
Because as much as Lucavion’s sheer ability gave him an edge—it also posed a threat.
This boy…
This young man was the disciple of Starscourge Gerald.
And that?
That was both an advantage—
And a potentially devastating weakness.
Because everyone knew.
Everyone in the empire knew.
Starscourge Gerald had been affiliated with the Lorian Empire.
The enemy.
And sooner or later, people would come to know about that.
That Lucavion—this reckless, sharp-tongued swordsman—was the disciple of Starscourge Gerald.
Then what?
How could this situation possibly be explained?
Would it not look like he himself—Duke Thaddeus—was working with someone tied to the enemy nation?
That was not a minor issue. That was not something that could simply be overlooked.
It was treason.
And that—
That certainly sounded like something that could be weaponized against the Duchy.
Especially by the Royal Family.
Thaddeus exhaled slowly. Clades Lysandra would not ignore something like this. He had spent too much effort tightening his grip on the noble houses—too much effort ensuring that none of them could rise high enough to challenge him.
If this information leaked—if it spread in the wrong circles—then the Royal Family would have its excuse.
To strip the Thaddeus Duchy of power.
To dismantle everything.
To erase his family’s legacy.
His jaw tightened.
But at the same time…
This kid.
Lucavion.
He must know that.
He wasn’t an idiot—he had proven that time and time again throughout this conversation.
So what was he thinking?
What made him so confident?
Did he truly believe that his skill alone would be enough to erase the political consequences? Or did he have something else—some unknown factor that gave him such unwavering certainty?
Thaddeus could not comprehend it.
And that, more than anything—
Made him intrigued.
But whether or not he understood Lucavion’s reasoning—
The fact remained.
This young man had saved his daughter.
And no matter how reckless he was, no matter how frustratingly insane he seemed at times—
Thaddeus exhaled sharply.
The logical side of him—the part that had spent years navigating politics, war, and power struggles—was screaming at him to reject this madness outright.
Lucavion was a risk. A walking, unpredictable ticking bomb of a man, one who had no clear allegiance, no restraint, and a past that could very well bring the entire Duchy down if handled incorrectly.
But—
The other side of him, the side that had seen his daughter standing at death’s door, the side that owed this young man more than mere words—could not simply cast him aside.
He had given his word.
A favor.
And the Thaddeus Duchy was not one to break a promise.
Thaddeus lifted his golden eyes to Lucavion’s dark ones.
This boy.
This bastard.
He had seen through everything.
And despite his reckless words, despite his arrogance—he knew exactly what he was asking for.
And he knew exactly why Thaddeus could no longer refuse him.
Thaddeus exhaled once more, this time in resignation.
“Fine,” he said.
Lucavion blinked. Then—his smirk widened. “Oh?”
“You heard me.” Thaddeus’ voice was firm. Absolute. “You wanted my backing? You have it.”
Aeliana remained silent, but he could feel her amber gaze watching him closely.
Lucavion hummed, tilting his head slightly, his dark eyes glinting. “Well, well… That was faster than I expected.”
“Don’t make me regret it,” Thaddeus muttered, fingers pressing against his temple.
Lucavion chuckled. “Oh, Mister Duke, I can’t promise that.”
My Virtual Library Empire
Thaddeus sighed.
‘My god… please don’t make me regret this decision.’
—–A/N—–
We will have a mass release today, you are eating well.