CHAPTER 546: BACK HOME FOR A VISIT (7)

Liam continued speaking with the same measured calm as he laid out the truth plainly, carefully trimming unnecessary details while giving them only what they needed—no more, no less. He told them of Princess Serah Magna, the woman who had given birth to him, and of the man who had fathered him, a dark mage whose very existence was considered a crime in the lands that despised their kind. Liam explained that he himself had only recently learned these truths. Even as he spoke, he kept his expression neutral, ensuring nothing slipped that might trouble them further or expose more than he intended.

The room softened into stunned silence as everyone absorbed his words. It wasn’t the kind of shock born from fear, but rather one rooted in disbelief. For Dr. Dain and Rose especially, the revelation struck deeply. They exchanged a glance—one part amazement, one part something almost pained. For a full year, the boy they had fed, sheltered, and cared for like their own had been living under their roof without them knowing he carried the bloodline of Solara’s royal lineage. The thought lingered on their faces, a quiet mixture of awe and an ache that they had never treated him as anything other than a normal boy—though Liam himself seemed entirely unbothered by this.

"Wow," Alice breathed once she pieced her thoughts together, blinking rapidly as though her mind were still bridging the gap between rumor and truth. "So you’re like... you know... a prince?"

"Not really," Liam replied evenly, his tone unmoved by the idea. "I was told that my mother was stripped of her title before she died because she’d been involved with a dark mage. So no, I’m not a prince. I suppose I just have royal blood in me, technically."

Dain leaned back slightly, his brows furrowing in quiet disapproval as he exhaled through his nose. "The Crescent and Solara Kingdoms have long held an unreasonable hatred toward dark mages. Irrational, outdated, and rooted in fear more than sense, if you ask me." His voice was calm but carried a small edge, as though the injustice irritated him more the longer he thought about it. "To think Princess Serah lost her life because of the blind beliefs of her people... it’s tragic."

Rose, who had remained leaning toward Liam with her hands folded gently on the table, softened further as she studied him. A tender motherly sadness filled her gaze, the kind that spoke of compassion rather than pity. "It must have been difficult," she murmured, her voice deepened with concern. "Learning all of this at once."

"I wouldn’t say difficult," Liam answered, his tone still calm, still steady. "I’m glad I learned the truth of my lineage... but I wasn’t overwhelmed or anything like that. I pity my mother’s death, of course, but I can’t cling to things that already happened. All I can do is make good use of the life I was born into... even if it wasn’t a life they could give me themselves."

His words settled over the table like a soft blanket. For a moment, no one responded; they were too busy absorbing the kind of maturity that few young men his age could muster. Dain nodded first, a proud smile gradually tugging at his lips.

"That is a good mindset, Liam," he said warmly. "And I hope you hold onto it. It’ll take you far."

"Absolutely," Rose added, her smile gentle and full of warmth. "Make the most of your life, dear. Don’t ever let anyone dim it or tell you what you should be."

"Thank you," Liam replied respectfully, lowering his head in acknowledgment. "Your words mean a lot."

’That should do,’ he thought as he straightened again, expression unchanged. ’Putting on that hint of sentiment was enough for them to accept what I wanted them to. The best outcome. No need to have them worrying about me unnecessarily.’

A small pause drifted through the room, not uncomfortable, but thoughtful. It lingered until Elsie’s eyes suddenly widened with realization.

"Wait... I just remembered something." She leaned forward, brows knitting. "Isn’t Galen Magna the former prince of the Solara Kingdom before he left and joined the Tempest Kingdom?"

"Yeah! Yes, he was!" Alice jumped in right away, nearly slamming her hand on the table as excitement burst across her face. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and anticipation. "And—wait, that means he’s your uncle, isn’t he?"

Liam felt the faintest twitch in his right eye the moment the word uncle left her lips. It wasn’t visible enough to be caught by anyone unfamiliar with him, but it was definitely there—small, subtle, but betraying the internal discomfort he still hadn’t managed to shake ever since learning of his connection to Galen. Even thinking of the white-haired knight as family was strange enough; hearing others call him Liam’s uncle made the reality even worse in a way he couldn’t describe.

"Yes," he answered eventually, keeping his tone neutral. "He is."

Alice slapped a hand over her mouth in overblown disbelief before lowering it again, eyes wide with glorified envy. "Oh sweet mother of nature," she breathed dramatically. "Your uncle is the strongest knight in Amthar. The strongest knight—Galen Magna—is your uncle. I am so jealous."

Liam kept his expression perfectly smooth, though internally he couldn’t help the dry note echoing in his mind.

’I wouldn’t be if I were you.’

The rest of the night drifted by in a blur, carried along mostly by Alice’s relentless enthusiasm. She spent nearly half an hour gushing about how she would gladly trade places with Liam if it meant being Galen Magna’s niece, her imagination spiraling into dramatic fantasies while the others tried not to laugh. Liam, stuck beside her, endured it with the patience of someone who had long accepted that resistance only prolonged the suffering. He nodded occasionally, offered vague responses when cornered, and silently counted the seconds until the conversation finally ran out of steam.

Eventually, the night drew to a close. Alice was escorted home by the Silverharts’ coachman, still buzzing with excitement even as she climbed into the carriage. Once the doors shut behind her and the wheels rolled away, the house slowly fell quiet. One by one, the family dispersed to their rooms, leaving the halls dim and peaceful again. Liam followed suit, retreating to his own room.

A short while later, steam drifted through the air as Liam stepped out of the shower, droplets sliding down his skin before he wiped them away. The faint warmth clung to him as he dried off and pulled on a pair of loose, comfortable pants. The moment he finished, he drifted toward the window, drawn almost unconsciously by the quiet outside.

The Silverharts’ property lay dark and still beneath the night sky, but Liam’s eyes weren’t searching for scenery. Instead, he scanned the subtle points where the faintest mystic signatures flickered at the edges of his awareness—members of the Royal Corps stationed discreetly around the estate.

’Most of them are about Mabel’s level... maybe a bit lower,’ he noted silently. ’Still, they’re competent. More capable than me, at least, in terms of experience.’

As he stood there in silence, a familiar presence shimmered into existence behind him. Mabel materialized out of her invisibility spell with the subtlety of a shadow settling into place. Without a word, she reached forward, gathering the strands of his hair that had clung messily to his face. Her fingers deftly combed through them as she began tying his hair back into a neat ponytail.

"You know," she said after a moment, her tone calm and almost contemplative as she continued working, "it was quite a sight seeing you act like a normal person for an entire day."

Liam’s brows lifted slightly. "Like a normal person?" he echoed, sounding mildly offended. "I’ve always been normal."

"No," Mabel replied bluntly, not even giving him room to pretend otherwise. "Not really. At least not for someone your age." Her voice held a quiet disapproval, though softened by understanding. "But I get it. You’ve probably been through more than most people your age ever will, so it makes sense that you’re... different. Still, it’s good to let go of all the tension sometimes. Just be normal. Like you were today." Her gloved hands paused for a heartbeat before resuming their work. "I’m sure that’s why you wanted to come here in the first place."

Liam didn’t respond immediately. His expression was unreadable as always, but he seemed to weigh her words somewhere deep inside where no one could reach.

He stayed still, allowing her to finish tying his hair with practiced efficiency. Only after a long moment did he speak, his voice quiet but clear.

"Hey, Mabel."

"Yes?" she answered, her attention shifting.

"Do you get to visit your family from time to time?" he asked, his tone casual but sincere.

The question startled her. Her eyes widened slightly behind the mask. "Well... I do. Sometimes. Her Majesty allows me to visit every now and then. She even granted me leave recently after the war."

"Then why are you here?" Liam asked calm as ever, his gaze still fixed out the window.

"Because I still have a duty to protect you," Mabel replied softly. "And... I owe you for saving my life."

Liam turned just enough to meet her eyes, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "You’re really making a big deal out of that," he said, voice low and even. "Saving you was just a simple act. Nothing worth all that weight. Besides, you only ended up in that situation because of me. Making a deal with Aesmirius was the necessary option to get you out safely."

He walked toward the bed as he spoke, his tone never wavering. "So stop making it sound bigger than it was. But... I appreciate your sincerity. It does mean something."

With that, Liam climbed into bed, settling against the pillow with practiced nonchalance. "Anyway, I’m done for the night," he murmured, already sinking into relaxation. "I’m off."

Mabel stood frozen for several seconds, her breath catching as his last words replayed in her mind. She stared at him, her eyes widening beneath her mask, realization slamming into her like a wave she hadn’t seen coming.

"He... he made that deal with Aesmirius purposefully to save me?" she whispered, barely audible even to herself as the truth dawned in full.