Chapter : 1395

"Make it happen," Hakim said. "You have two months. That is when the official engagement ceremony must take place. Until then, I will remain here. To observe. To ensure you are treating the alliance with respect."

"You are staying here?" Lloyd asked, his voice cracking slightly. "In the house?"

"Of course," Hakim said. "I need to make sure you don't run away again. I heard you like to take 'scholar's trips'. No more trips. You stay here. You court the Princess. You fix your mess."

Lloyd slumped in his chair. Two months. He had two months to solve an unsolvable puzzle. He had to keep Hakim happy, keep the King happy, keep Rosa from killing him, and somehow find time to build a giant robot.

"Meeting adjourned," Roy said, standing up. "We will send a message to King Liam immediately. Lord Hakim, my steward will show you to your quarters. We have a wing prepared for you."

"Good," Hakim stood up. He looked at Lloyd one last time. "Do not disappoint us, Lion's Cub. The Sultan likes you. But he likes his pride more."

Hakim marched out of the room. The door closed.

Roy let out a long breath. He looked at Lloyd. "Well. That went poorly."

"He brought elephants, father," Lloyd said. "Who brings elephants to a business meeting?"

"A man who wants to make a point," Roy said. "Lloyd, go to your room. Stay out of sight. I need to go to the palace. I need to speak with the King."

"What are you going to tell him?" Lloyd asked.

"I am going to tell him that we are holding a tiger by the tail," Roy said grimly. "And if we let go, it will eat us. We have to navigate this, Lloyd. We have to find a way to keep the alliance without losing our sovereignty. And without starting a civil war in my own living room."

Lloyd nodded. "Good luck with the King. He finds my suffering amusing."

"He finds everything amusing," Roy said. "Go. And for the love of the ancestors, do not provoke the Vizier."

Lloyd left the meeting room. He felt exhausted. His head was pounding.

He walked down the hallway, heading for his sanctuary—his manufactory. He needed to build something. He needed to weld metal. He needed to control something, because his life was spinning wildly out of control.

"Two months," Lloyd muttered. "I can do this. I just need to be smart. I need to be charming. I need to be..."

He turned a corner and nearly ran into Rosa.

She was standing there, looking like a storm cloud in a dress. She knew. Of course she knew.

"We need to talk," she said.

Lloyd closed his eyes. "Can we talk later? I have a headache the size of an elephant."

"No," Rosa said. "Now."

Lloyd opened his eyes. He looked at her cold, beautiful, terrifying face. He realized that Lord Hakim and his elephants were the easy part of his day. The hard part was just beginning.

"Fine," Lloyd said. "Let's talk."

He followed her, walking like a man marching to the gallows. The Envoy had arrived, but the real war was happening right here, in the hallways of his own home.

________________________________________

Lloyd followed Rosa into his study. It was supposed to be his safe space, a place of maps and diagrams and half-finished inventions. Now, it felt like a cage.

Rosa closed the door. She didn't slam it. She closed it with a soft, precise click that sounded like a lock snapping shut on a prison cell. She turned to face him. Her face was calm, serene even, but her eyes were shards of gray ice.

"The Envoy," Rosa said. Her voice was level. "He demands a wedding."

"He demands a lot of things," Lloyd said, walking over to his desk. He needed something between them. A barrier. A piece of furniture. "He also demanded strong tea. He is a demanding man."

"Do not deflect, Lloyd," Rosa said. She walked closer. "He wants you to marry the Princess. He wants you to discard me."

"It's politics, Rosa," Lloyd said, his voice weary. He dropped the humor. He dropped the mask. "You know this. It's an alliance. It's security for the realm. It's not personal."

"Not personal?" Rosa repeated. A flicker of cold fire ignited in her eyes. "You are my husband. You walked into my home, healed my mother, and then told me to leave. You told me we were done. And now, a foreign lord comes into my house and tells your father to replace me like a broken tool. How is that not personal?"

Chapter : 1396

"I asked for a divorce before he got here," Lloyd reminded her coldly. "I told you to leave. You stayed. You forced this situation."

"I stayed because I am your wife!" Rosa snapped. "I stayed because I will not be thrown away! I have fought for this family. I have bled for you. I carried you down a mountain when you were broken. Does that mean nothing?"

"It means you paid your debt," Lloyd said, his voice hard. "You betrayed my family in the first life. You were a spy. You helped kill us. Saving me once doesn't erase that. It balances the ledger. We are even. Now go."

"I will not go," Rosa said. She slammed her hand on the desk. Frost spread from her fingers, cracking the wood. "I don't care about your past lives! I don't care about ghosts! I care about now. I care about the man standing in front of me. The man who saved my mother. The man who showed me that I don't have to be cold."

"I showed you nothing," Lloyd lied. "I completed a contract. That's all."

"Liar," Rosa whispered. "I saw you. In the cave. In the garden. You felt it too. You felt the connection."

Lloyd looked away. He couldn't look at her. Because she was right. He had felt it. And that was why he had to push her away. He couldn't love the woman who murdered his family. He couldn't trust her.

"It doesn't matter," Lloyd said. "The Zakarian alliance is vital. The King needs it. I need the Lilith Stones. You are in the way, Rosa. You are a political liability."

"Then make me an asset," Rosa challenged. "I am a Sovereign-Level mage. I am the Ice Queen. I can fight. I can rule. I can be more useful to you than a pampered princess who plays chess."

"Amina is not just a princess," Lloyd defended. "She is a genius. She understands the new world I am building. You... you are part of the old world."

"Then teach me!" Rosa shouted. The ice in the room shattered. Snow began to fall from the ceiling. "Teach me this new world! Don't just discard me because I don't know your secrets yet! Give me a chance!"

Lloyd stared at her. She was begging. The proud, untouchable Rosa Siddik was begging for a chance. It broke his heart. And that made him angry.

"No," Lloyd said. "I can't. I won't."

Rosa straightened up. The vulnerability vanished. The ice returned, harder and colder than before.

"Fine," she said. "Refuse me. Reject me. But know this, Lloyd Ferrum. I am not leaving. I will not sign the papers. I will not step aside. If you want to marry that Princess, you will have to do it over my dead body. Or hers."

"Are you threatening her?" Lloyd asked dangerously.

"I am stating a fact," Rosa said. "I am a daughter of the South. We do not surrender what is ours. You are mine, Lloyd. And I will fight the world to keep you."

She turned and walked to the door. She paused, her hand on the latch.

"The Envoy can demand whatever he wants," she said softly. "But he is a guest. I am the lady of this house. Let us see who lasts longer."

She walked out. The room was freezing. Lloyd shivered. He sank into his chair. He had faced demon lords who were less terrifying than his wife.

"One down," he muttered. "Two to go. I need a drink. Or a teleportation scroll."

He didn't get a chance to find either. The door opened again.

Lloyd groaned. "Who is it now? If it's the elephant trainer, tell him the peanuts are in the kitchen."

It wasn't the elephant trainer. It was Faria Kruts. And she didn't look happy. She looked... intense. Like a volcano that had just decided it was a lovely day to rearrange the geography.

She stormed in, her red hair flying like a banner of war. She was holding a piece of paper.

"Explain this," she demanded, slamming the paper onto his desk, right over the frost mark Rosa had left.

Lloyd looked at it. It was a letter. On heavy, cream-colored stationery. With the seal of Duchess Milody.

To the Esteemed Marquess Kruts,

Regarding the union of our children...

Lloyd closed his eyes. "Oh, mother. Why?"

"Your mother sent this to my father this morning," Faria said. Her voice wasn't shaking with rage, but with a terrifying kind of excitement. "She officially proposed a betrothal. She said that while your situation with Rosa is 'complex' and the Zakarian issue is 'pending,' the most vital addition to your household is the passion of House Kruts."