CHAPTER 15: A DECLARATION OF WAR

Veltharion did not need to be violent.

His presence alone was pressure enough to make his errant son quake.

And then, when they were alone, just a single statement.

The air itself seemed like it was about to catch fire.

Yet the words were not explosive. Nor were they loud like one.

"You pathetic little wretch. The Eidolons have seen fit to curse me in this life for the sins I committed with the woman you forced me to execute. They gave me a wastrel as an heir.

And now I am forced to hunt the only son I have who is worth a damn, to cover for your sorry neck. If the laws that bind Magi like myself permitted it, I would have your corpse swinging from the rafters of my Great Hall for all eternity!"

Valerius was utterly dumbstruck. His father had never expressed such fury toward him.

There were very complicated emotions that threatened to erupt from within his heart.

But one look at his father’s glowing eyes stifled them instantly, forcing his gaze to the ground in shame and defeat.

Veltharion, however, was far from satisfied with such a weak reaction.

He immediately backhanded his son across the face with his iron gauntlet, knocking Valerius to the floor in a swift, brutal motion.

He stared coldly at the place where his son now lay, eyes dazed, barely stirring with life.

Though the fool still breathed, he was clearly concussed.

Veltharion spat on his son’s face and turned to leave the room, but not before offering one final, scathing remark:

"The day your mother bears another son of mine, I will honor his birth with your execution. I owe the woman you killed at least that much."

The door slammed shut behind him.

Valerius’s mind slowly began to come back to its senses, and when it did, his heart pounded with fury, like a volcano threatening to erupt.

He wiped the blood from his mouth and cursed the man who had struck him, now that he was out of earshot, at least.

"You miserable old bastard... Your love for that pathetic Null has blinded you!

When I have won this war, it will be your neck swinging from the rafters, not mine!

Just you wait and see!"

With that, Valerius stood and stormed off to his room, eager to continue whatever petty schemes he had long since devised.

---

Since his synthesis, Caedrion had grown quieter, yet more focused.

He would often vanish for hours, delving into the ancient glyph systems that powered the city’s infrastructure.

No one thought much of it.

But there was a flicker in his eyes that suggested understanding... not just of spells, but of systems.

Now, however, his studies were interrupted by a notification.

A feeling, if you will, at the back of his mind, or perhaps an overlay in his own vision.

Guest badges had been temporarily issued to new arrivals.

And the one who had granted it... was none other than his father, Malveris.

These guests now stood within his family’s court. One of them handed a letter to his father, Lord Malveris Ignarion, who read the enchanted ink with a furrowed brow and narrowed gaze.

After what felt like a lifetime, he handed the letter to his sister, Lady Sylene, seated beside him.

Her eyes did not remain stoic. They exploded open with fury.

"Is this some kind of satire? Or has your Lord truly gone mad?! These claims are not only slanderous; they have no proof to support them! If that miserable prick Veltharion wishes to declare war, he should have the spine to do so openly, without hiding behind false pretenses!

We should be the ones demanding his wretched son be handed over for justice, not the other way around!"

Malveris sighed. He knew then that war was inevitable.

He said nothing. He didn’t need to.

His sister had spoken the outrage he felt on his behalf.

The delegate from House Ignarion was young, not even a century old.

Among Magi, whose semi-divine blood gifted them lifespans many times that of mortals, this was barely more than adolescence.

And yet he stood smugly before the Lord and Lady of another Great House, arrogance dripping from every word.

"You would be wise to curtail your tongue, traitor!

You should be on your knees before me, begging for a taste of mercy.

Instead, you spit in my face and insult a Great House?!

You lot are barely better than nulls. Know your place, bitch!"

A sharp crack echoed through the hall, followed by a sight so horrific that even seasoned knights recoiled.

The Ignarion diplomat’s jaw was sliced clean off, tumbling to the marble in a wet heap.

Blood splattered the floor in wide arcs.

He fell to his knees, trying to scream. But no sound came.

His tongue had gone with the jaw.

Sylene’s palm was still outstretched, glowing with rust-colored energy.

Her eyes burned with the same brightness.

The leylines glowing across her skin pulsed violently, threatening to blind the hall.

"CEASE THIS MADNESS AT ONCE!" Malveris bellowed, rising to his feet.

But it was too late.

The Ignarion host had already drawn steel and spell alike, clashing with Ferrondel’s household knights in a chaotic burst of violence.

Two of the Ignarion Magi rushed to save their diplomat, trying to cauterize the wound.

But no matter how they channeled their flame, the blood refused to stop.

It was as if the wound refused to close.

A fireball tore through the air toward Malveris.

He raised a pillar of white stone from the ground, just in time.

It struck and detonated, shattering the column in a concussive blast.

And then... silence.

The Ignarion delegation and their guards... vanished.

The only sound that accompanied it... was a single snap of the fingers.

Malveris and Sylene froze. Then their eyes turned.

Caedrion stood at the entrance, lowering his hand.

On the back of his left hand, a glowing arcane circuit flickered, then faded, like a dissipating brand.

It wasn’t a spell. Not truly.

It was authority.

Before anyone could ask what had just happened, the heir spoke:

"House Ignarion has violated the law, and assaulted a Magus in her own home. I have restrained the perpetrators and will be holding their execution publicly tomorrow morning, in the city square. There is no going back now. We must prepare for war."

Malveris, Sylene, and Aelindria, who had arrived just in time to witness Caedrion’s proclamation.

None of them spoke.

They did not understand how Caedrion had contained the situation so completely.

Nor did they know how to rebuke his words.