CHAPTER 178: EREVAN.

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Erevan Chronos sat alone in his solar.

Sunlight filtered in through tall, narrow windows cut from pale stone, illuminating the long desk before him. The desk was massive—crafted from layered aetherwood reinforced with spatial runes—but it was almost entirely covered.

Documents. Reports. Maps. Ledgers. Mana-encoded files hovering faintly above the surface.

To an outsider, it would have looked overwhelming.

To Erevan, it was peace.

His hands moved with practiced efficiency. A document slid beneath his fingers—signed, stamped, and placed to the right. Another was skimmed, its contents absorbed in seconds before being fed into a spatial archive. A third was shredded outright, reduced to fine ash by a minor spatial shear that left no residue behind.

Everything had a place.

Everything had a purpose.

And nothing was rushed.

Erevan’s mind, however, was anything but slow.

Information flowed through him at a terrifying rate—not in raw numbers, but in patterns. Trends. Deviations. Subtle correlations that would escape any observer physically present at the site of events.

He saw supply chains before they broke.

Political tension before it erupted.

Military movements before banners were raised.

This was the advantage of distance.

His dukedom spanned nearly a quarter of the human domain. No duke—no matter how powerful—could be everywhere at once. Even with spatial mastery bordering on myth, there were limits.

So Erevan didn’t try.

Instead, he read the world.

And the world spoke to him through paper, mana records, economic fluctuations, and the behavior of people who didn’t realize they were being observed as part of a larger system.

Millions served under the Chronos banner.

Some directly, within the estate.

Others indirectly, through subordinate noble families, trade guilds, and military branches bound by oath.

They were his responsibility.

And Erevan carried that weight with quiet, relentless competence.

He paused mid-motion, eyes narrowing slightly as he studied a particular file.

Not because it was alarming.

But because it was... interesting.

He leaned back, fingers steepled.

This habit—this way of processing—had been drilled into him from childhood.

His father.

The former Duke Chronos.

A man of iron discipline and singular focus.

Competence above all else.

Failure was not tolerated.

Weakness was not forgiven.

Compassion was... optional.

Erevan had learned leadership from him the hard way.

He remembered standing straight-backed as a boy, barely tall enough to meet his father’s gaze, being told—not asked—what it meant to carry the Chronos name.

It was duty.

It was sacrifice.

It was results.

What his father lacked, however, was warmth.

Empathy.

Understanding.

To the man, people were functions. Assets. Variables to be optimized.

And while that philosophy had forged one of the strongest eras in Chronos history... it had also left scars.

Erevan and his sister, Iris, had both seen it.

Not immediately. Children rarely do.

But as they grew older, the coldness became undeniable.

They had resolved—silently, separately—not to become him.

Yet even now, Erevan could feel traces of that influence surface within himself.

The withdrawn composure.

The formality.

The instinct to evaluate before comforting.

Genetic, perhaps.

Or simply learned behavior too deeply ingrained to erase entirely.

Iris struggled more.

He knew that.

She fought it constantly, swinging between emotional warmth and rigid restraint, trying to find a balance that didn’t feel like betrayal—to herself, or to the man who raised them.

And yet...

Despite everything...

Their father had been a great duke.

One of the greatest Chronos had ever known.

Erevan did not deny that.

Nor did Iris.

They simply refused to replicate his flaws.

Their grandfather, on the other hand...

Erevan’s lips twitched faintly.

A very different man.

Boisterous.

Loud.

Proud.

Deeply compassionate.

The kind of leader who knew every name, every story, every triumph and tragedy within his reach.

He had been warmth incarnate.

But warmth alone had not been enough.

His kindness had blinded him at times.

His reluctance to act decisively had cost the Chronos dearly—once, irreparably.

Borders had burned.

Trust had been broken.

Lives had been lost.

And from those failures, Erevan’s father had been forged.

From that lineage—warmth without steel, steel without warmth—Erevan believed he had emerged as something... better.

Balanced.

Fifteen years.

Fifteen years since he had taken the mantle of Duke Chronos.

And in that time, his dukedom had known stability.

Order.

Growth.

No rebellion.

No internal collapse.

One infiltration—yes—but even that had been turned to their advantage.

Erevan allowed himself a rare, private thought.

He had done well.

And not merely as a ruler.

As a husband.

Aurora.

The name alone softened something in his chest.

A woman of strength, intelligence, and compassion that rivaled any noble in the domain. She had tempered him when needed, challenged him when necessary, and stood beside him without ever trying to eclipse him.

And then...

Their children.

Lyrielle.

Competent. Brilliant. Warm.

A daughter any duke would be proud of.

And Orion.

Erevan’s fingers stilled.

His heir.

His son.

A mind sharper than his own had been at that age.

A talent bordering on absurd.

A presence that bent rooms around him without trying.

Orion Chronos was dangerous—not because of his power alone, but because of his potential.

And Erevan was painfully aware of it.

Which was why—

The file in his hands snapped shut.

His eyes narrowed.

Any threat to his blessings...

Would be eliminated.

Or exploited.

There was no middle ground.

He stood, walking toward the tall window overlooking the Chronos estate. The land stretched endlessly—forests, training grounds, towers, cities beyond.

Somewhere far beyond his sight...

His son had just shattered a wall like it was paper.

Erevan smiled faintly.

But not displeased.

Not at all.

If the world thought it could test his heir—

Then it would learn.

Just as it always did.

The Duke of Chronos turned back to his desk.

And reached for the next file.