Chapter 57: The Empire's Strongest Connections
When Viktor said the words "2 and a half years," Leah froze for a mont.
Equally, a question rose in her mind.
If you were going to agree, then agree—why put a ti limit on it?
She very much wanted to ask Viktor what he was thinking. Could he not be a little more sensible about this?
But Emperor Aubrey, upon hearing it, simply laughed. He looked at Viktor with a smile and said:
"Truly 2 and a half years?"
Viktor gave the Emperor a slight bow and spoke to Emperor Aubrey with sincerity:
"2 and a half years is sufficient for Her Highness the Princess to learn everything I have to teach. Once that ti has passed, it would hardly be appropriate for to remain."
Hearing Viktor's explanation, Aubrey slapped the arm of his chair and burst into laughter—laughing so hard with emotion that he was coughing and chuckling at the sa ti, and the Maidservant beside him quickly stepped forward to pat the Emperor on the back.
Emperor Aubrey waved a hand to signal the Maidservant to step back.
"Viktor! The more I look at you, the more I like you."
"How can you be this clever!"
Aubrey Sorel.
As the Empire's mightiest individual, Aubrey understood his own physical condition with perfect clarity.
In truth, 2 years at most—and he would perish from the depletion of his vital energy.
His shortened lifespan was an old ailnt that had taken root in his youth.
It was a threshold no powerful Warrior could ever truly escape.
Unlike Mages, Warriors had no Magic to cast through Magic Power.
They relied on their own formidable vital energy to bolster their physical strength and power.
While food and proper rest could replenish vital energy, the cost of expenditure was just as enormous.
And burning vital energy could grant a Warrior power so overwhelming it allowed them to challenge enemies far above their level.
Correspondingly, however, it also burned through the user's very life.
As the Emperor, Aubrey's past deeds had long since been unearthed and pored over by players.
At 17, Aubrey Sorel had already beco one of the Empire's most valiant and battle-hardened generals.
Alone and unard, he had slain a great dragon that had triggered a Natural Disaster.
He had stripped the dragon's hide and fashioned it into armor—his reward to himself for the feat.
And in the pri of his life, Aubrey had been even more formidable.
He had once faced down a 4th-Tier evil Mage's earth-shattering Magic in a direct confrontation—and walked away alive.
Though his skin was torn and his tendons snapped, his extraordinary regenerative capacity had restored him to full condition in just a few days.
The state Emperor Aubrey was in now was a direct consequence of burning far too much vital energy in his youth without ever properly nursing it back.
Perhaps he had simply been too fond of a fight.
Warriors as a class were uniformly short-lived—not even an Emperor was exempt.
It was also why Duke Livi, who was the sa age as the Emperor, looked so much younger, while the old Emperor burned like a candle in the wind.
Yet he had never once regretted it.
He looked at Viktor with a warm smile and said:
"Your father, in his younger years, was my finest subordinate."
"On the day of my coronation, I bestowed rewards upon every minister who had followed ."
"But when it ca to him—he asked only for a piece of Territory."
"I asked him: what about a title? Don't you want a higher standing?"
"He shook his head and told —being a noble is already enough."
"After that, he left the Royal Capital, Retired to the Countryside, and we never saw each other again."
This revelation—sothing even Leah had never heard before—ca as a genuine shock to her.
She had never known that her father had such a history.
Viktor's expression remained unchanged as he listened to the old Emperor recount the past.
"20 years passed after that—until I finally received word of his death."
"Viktor, you are his child. In the end, he left that Territory to you as well."
Aubrey let out a sigh, and apparently the effort was too much—he coughed twice in quick succession.
"You surpass him—even cleverer, to an excessive degree—but knowing when to advance and when to hold back is not always a virtue."
"Sotis, currying favor with those in power is not necessarily the wrong path."
"Take the Rether Family—no matter how great a mistake they make, so long as they still have justification, I will protect them all the sa."
Aubrey opened his eyes and looked at Viktor:
"Viktor, I will offer you a choice—2 and a half years, or..."
Viktor placed his hand over his chest and bowed with gravity.
"Your Majesty, within those 2 and a half years, I will give everything I have."
Aubrey exhaled slowly—yet there was a look of quiet satisfaction in his expression.
He gave the little Princess behind him a pat on the head and said with a smile:
"So be it. It seems this child simply does not have that fortune."
"I hope that in these 2 and a half years, you will fulfill your duty to the fullest."
That last sentence was directed at Viktor.
Viktor said nothing. Aubrey took his silence as agreent.
"Go wait outside for —let have a word with the child."
"Once I co out, you will accompany to the Banquet."
Leah and Viktor both agreed.
After the 2 of them left, Auréliane looked at Aubrey with a puzzled expression.
"Father, why did you have him beco my teacher?"
"I don't quite like him..."
"Why not?"
Aubrey laughed, watching Auréliane chew on her finger—adorable in an almost exasperating way:
"I feel like he is very cold—he must be the kind of strict instructor, and I don't like overly strict ones."
"But he can protect you, and make you stronger."
Aubrey gave Auréliane a fond pat on the head, watching as the confusion on his daughter's face deepened.
"But don't I already have Father to protect ? Father is so powerful."
Aubrey looked at her, his eyes brimming with tender, aching affection.
"My child."
"I cannot protect you forever."
"No one can."
***
Leah and Viktor waited obediently outside the door. Seeing that no one was around, Leah asked directly:
"When you said you needed to consider—were you genuinely thinking about refusing the Emperor?"
Viktor did not respond.
Leah understood—his silence was his answer. She asked with so urgency:
"Why?"
"Do you realize what that was? An invitation from the Emperor. So people spend their whole lives chasing sothing like that—and you wanted to refuse?"
"Leah, you are a rchant. You know that all goods carry value."
Viktor pulled out a pocket watch and glanced at the ti, then said to her:
"So in your opinion—what is my value in His Majesty's eyes?"
Leah blinked, thought for a mont, then said:
"You're that capable, so your value certainly can't be low. After all, he wants you to be the Princess's teacher—a Princess, at that. Very few people have ever even t her."
"Then compared to His Majesty's own kin—how does my value asure up?"
Leah furrowed her brow and pushed back:
"That's not even a fair comparison! How can you compare yourself to His Majesty's own family?"
Viktor gave the pocket watch's hands a slight turn. Leah caught a line of small text inside the watch—words ford from Magic Power that gradually grew larger before her eyes.
His Majesty has only 2 years left.
"What..."
Leah's eyes went wide with shock. She held herself back, not letting a sound escape.
This was the Palace—even with no one around, they could not casually discuss the Emperor's death.
So those 2 and a half years were...
"The remaining half year—I will still be Her Highness the Princess's instructor."
The instant Viktor finished speaking, Leah understood completely.
She was a rchant, but as the acting Lord of the Family, she was equally a sharp-minded politician.
Was Viktor's value high? Shockingly so.
He had demonstrated his strength, and after the Emperor's public comndation, Viktor's reputation had soared to extraordinary heights.
Even those who most despised the sight of him were eager to win his favor.
So before His Majesty's death—what would those fighting for power be thinking?
Whoever could secure the Clavena Family's support would hold a trendous advantage.
The Emperor did not want to see that kind of situation unfold. And so—
He had sacrificed his youngest daughter, Auréliane, using her status as Princess to bind Viktor in place and establish a teacher-student relationship.
That ant neither the First Prince nor the Second Prince could compete over Viktor any further.
Because this arrangent had been set by Emperor Aubrey himself—no one could defy the Emperor's word.
Unless the Emperor was dead.
But once His Majesty died, the newly crowned Emperor would have no further need of Viktor.
Viktor was destined to face a reckoning.
Those who hold power do not soften their hearts for the sake of siblings.
Auréliane would most likely be married off—just like Lady Cassana Rether, the Emperor's sister—made a sacrifice in a political Arranged Marriage.
If Viktor did not want to face a reckoning, he could not allow that to happen.
Which ant Viktor had to oppose it—Auréliane had to remain a Princess in order to keep the Clavena Family safe.
And so Viktor had chosen 2 and a half years.
When a new Emperor ascended the throne, stabilizing power would take ti.
Viktor would not be the first to face reckoning, so he could still protect Auréliane for another half year.
After that half year, Viktor would leave the Palace and keep the family safe through careful restraint.
The new Emperor would naturally not see Viktor as a threat.
Leah stood there in a daze, turning it all over in her mind. No wonder—no wonder the Emperor had said those things to Viktor.
Leah murmured:
"That is dark. That is so bloody dark."
She had always thought the scheming among nobles was already vicious enough.
But looking now at the Royal Family—crack open their chests and every heart inside was black.
"Then when you said 2 and a half years, weren't you afraid that..."
Weren't you afraid His Majesty would hold it against you?
Leah wanted to ask it that way, but she didn't say it.
She knew Viktor understood what she ant.
Viktor glanced at Leah for a mont longer, then shook his head:
"He won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
Leah was sowhat at a loss, having thought that forging ties with the Royal Family was a stroke of good fortune—only to find it was equal parts opportunity and peril.
She was naturally sowhat uneasy.
Being the Princess's instructor was a double-edged sword.
Wielded well, the Clavena Family would rise step by step.
Wielded poorly, once His Majesty stepped down, the reckoning would co.
"2 and a half years is the assurance I have given His Majesty."
Viktor's calm voice sounded beside Leah's ear—the words carrying a quiet, unshakeable confidence.
Leah went slightly still.
So he and the Emperor had already settled the entire arrangent within the space of that brief exchange.
Within these 2 and a half years, no matter what his children attempted to do—
No one would be able to lay a single finger on Auréliane.
The sa arrangent cut both ways.
If anyone moved against the Clavena Family—
Then Viktor would handle it himself.
Simple enough—because Viktor was now tied to the Royal Family.
For 2 and a half years only.
But he was bound to the Princess.
He would settle every score in the Princess's na.
"And besides...if we want the Clavena Family to beco truly great—"
Viktor said sothing seemingly out of nowhere.
"The final victor has yet to be decided."
Leah's eyes went wide. She stared at Viktor in disbelief.
"Are you saying you intend to support..."
Before she could finish, the door behind them suddenly swung open.
Auréliane walked out slowly with her arm linked through the Emperor's—her shy and delicate bearing carrying a thread of quiet mystery—while the Emperor she supported still radiated an aura of awe-inspiring strength.
Father and daughter looked so perfectly in harmony, the warmth on their faces reflected in the night sky behind them.
Viktor and Leah caught sight of the 2 of them and gave a slight bow in respect.
His Majesty smiled and gave Viktor and Leah a small nod.
"Let us go."
"Viktor—don't go pushing things away like your father did, not a second ti."
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