Renji was two steps away from the carriage door, Valeriana’s hand clamped tight around his bicep like a vice made of velvet and lust, when the world turned blue.

  [Alert: Emotional Threshold Exceeded.]

  [System Intervention Initiated.]

  [Activating: Libido Suppression (Level MAX)]

  [Activating: Emotional Nullification (Level MAX)]

  [Activating Passive Skill: Aura Farmer]

  The change was instantaneous. It wasn't a wash of cold water; it was the abrupt cessation of heat.

  The frantic pounding of his heart stopped, replaced by a rhythmic, hydraulic thrum. The sweat on his palms dried. The anxiety about the carriage ride, the awkwardness of the harem, the confusing arousal from Valeriana’s proximity—it was all deleted.

  His mind cleared. It was like stepping out of a noisy nightclub into a silent, snowy field.

  Renji blinked. His eyes, previously darting around in social panic, focused with laser precision.

  Right, Renji thought. His internal monologue shifted tone. It was no longer the voice of a panicked twenty-something. It was the voice of a Manager. A Ruler. A Shadowbroker.

  Why was I panicking? This is a simulation of power. To rule is to perform. If I want them to fear me, I need to stop acting like a protagonist in a bad rom-com and start acting like the Final Boss.

  Aura Farmer, Renji mused, checking the new skill description. Passive generation of 'Dread' and 'Majesty' based on silence and posture. Excellent. I don't need to speak. I just need to exist, and let them fill in the blanks.

  "Ah," Renji exhaled, his voice devoid of tremor. "Finally."

  He stopped walking. He didn't slow down; he became an immovable object.

  Valeriana, caught off guard by his sudden rigidity, tugged at his arm. "My King? The carriage awaits. We have so much—"

  Renji didn't look at her. He simply rotated his wrist and flicked his arm. It was a casual motion, yet backed by Level 99 strength. Valeriana’s grip broke instantly. She stumbled back a step, her eyes widening in confusion.

  Renji turned slowly. He looked past Valeriana, past the carriage, directly at Vexia.

  The Spider General was still seething by the door, her aura spiking with jealousy. Renji tilted his head, his face a mask of absolute, terrifying neutrality.

  Why is she vibrating? Renji analyzed coldly. Inefficient energy expenditure. Whatever. It is irrelevant to the expansion.

  He turned his gaze to the shadows stretching from the palace walls.

  "Kaelthas," Renji said.

  He didn't shout. He didn't need to. The name carried the weight of a command that bent reality.

  The shadow of a decorative pillar lengthened, twisted, and bubbled. From the darkness, a figure rose like a corpse surfacing in a black lake.

  Kaelthas materialized in his human form, adjusting his glasses, a sheen of cold sweat on his brow. He bowed so low his nose nearly brushed the cobblestones.

  "I am here, Supreme One."

  Renji looked down at him. "Status."

  One word. Open-ended. Vague.

  The courtyard went deathly silent. Grakkor stopped petting the carriage horses. Vexia stopped grinding her teeth. Valeriana held her breath.

  They all watched Kaelthas.

  Kaelthas pushed his glasses up his nose. His mind raced at a thousand miles per minute. 'Status'? He asks for the status? He must know. He sensed the disturbance in the ether before my spies even reported it. Of course. He was merely playing along with the tour to test our vigilance.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Kaelthas looked up, his eyes shining with fanatical devotion.

  "Sasuga, my Lord," Kaelthas whispered, his voice trembling with awe.

  The silence stretched. Even the wind seemed afraid to blow.

  Renji stared at Kaelthas. 'Sasuga'? As expected of me? What did I do? I just asked for a status report because I didn't want to get in the car.

  But externally, Renji didn't blink. He nodded once, slowly. A gesture that said, Go on. Impress me.

  "I was foolish to think I could hide the urgency from you," Kaelthas continued, standing up and producing a dossier from thin air. "You sensed the movements on the Eastern Border, didn't you? The machinations of the Kingdom of Gaipen-Mansur."

  Renji’s eyebrow twitched, a microscopic movement.

  Gaypen what?

  Is that a real name? Did the random name generator break? Or is this world just messing with me?

  Renji maintained his icy facade. "Continue."

  "Yes," Kaelthas said, pacing back and forth. "The Kingdom of Gaipen-Mansur shares a border with Lady Valeriana’s domain of Oakhaven. They are a vassal state desperate for the favor of the Solarian Theocracy."

  Kaelthas pointed a finger at the map Grakkor was still holding.

  "Their King intends to invade Oakhaven while we are transitioning power. They plan to seize the grain stores and the mountain passes, and then gift the entire territory to the Theocracy as a dowry to forge an alliance. They believe that if they hand over Oakhaven, the Theocracy will grant them Holy Protection."

  Kaelthas looked at Renji, waiting for the explosion of rage.

  "You knew this," Kaelthas said. "That is why you stopped the carriage. You knew that a simple romantic tour would leave us exposed to their ambush."

  Renji looked at the sky. He looked at Valeriana, who had gone pale. He looked at the ridiculous name of the enemy kingdom in his mind.

  So, a neighboring kingdom wants to steal my loot and give it to my main enemy to curry favor. Standard 4X strategy game AI behavior.

  "Yes," Renji said, his voice deep and resonant. "I knew all about it."

  He looked at the carriage. It was a plush, velvet-lined trap of social awkwardness. Now, it was something else.

  "So," Renji said, turning back to his generals. "Let us cancel the tour."

  Grakkor’s face fell. "Cancel? But my Lord, the romance! The bonding!"

  "Sasuga again, my Lord!" Kaelthas interrupted, his voice rising in excitement. "You are right! A tour is too passive! It implies we are tourists in our own land!"

  Kaelthas turned to Grakkor, his eyes manic. "Don't you see, you muscle-brained oaf? He doesn't want a tour. He wants a Military Exercise."

  Renji blinked internally. Huh?

  "We convert the procession," Kaelthas explained rapidly. "Instead of a carriage ride of love, it becomes a Death March. We march the legions through Oakhaven not to wave at the peasants, but to demonstrate absolute terror to the spies of Gaipen-Mansur! We show them that touching Oakhaven means erasure!"

  Renji watched Kaelthas rant. Military Exercise. That sounds... actually better. Less talking. More marching. More intimidation.

  "Precisely," Renji said.

  "And to ensure the message is received," Kaelthas added, a cruel smile playing on his lips, "we should deploy him. The psychological impact alone will shatter their morale."

  Renji tilted his head. "Him?"

  "The Necromancer General," Kaelthas said. "Samul. Samul Graveward. He has finished his reconstruction in the Crypts."

  Renji paused. He searched his memory. Samul... Samul... Right. The boss of the 'Crypt of the Undying Sovereign.' The Level 85 Lich Lord I beat up three months ago and forcibly recruited.

  He remembered the drop loot. A cool staff and a robe that looked suspiciously like it belonged to a certain anime protagonist Renji had watched in his previous life.

  Renji smirked. It was a cold, cruel expression that made Valeriana shiver.

  "Yes," Renji said. "A perfect choice. It is time the world learned that death serves me."

  He raised a hand, palm up. He focused his mana on the shadow beneath the carriage.

  "Samul Graveward," Renji commanded, his voice echoing with the weight of the System. "Come forward."

  The temperature in the courtyard plummeted. The horses whinnied in terror and reared up. Frost spread across the cobblestones in a spiderweb pattern.

  From the deepest shadow of the carriage, a void opened. A sound like the wailing of a thousand damned souls whispered on the wind.

  Slowly, majestically, a figure rose.

  He was tall. Skeletal. He wore a magnificent, high-collared robe of purple and black, adorned with golden trim and massive, jeweled pauldrons. In his hand, he held a golden staff topped with seven serpents. His face was a bleached skull, and within the empty sockets, two points of crimson fire burned with intelligent malevolence.

  He looked exactly like the Sorcerer King from Yggdrasil.

  The skeleton floated forward, gliding inches above the frozen ground. He stopped before Renji and knelt, the motion fluid and elegant.

  "At your service, my Lord," Samul Graveward rasped. His voice was deep, echoing as if spoken from the bottom of a well. "I await your command to spread despair."

  Renji looked at the Lich. He looked at the terrified Consort. He looked at his awestruck Generals.

  This, Renji thought, the Emotional Suppression keeping his giddiness in check, is much better than a date.

  "Rise, Samul," Renji said. "We are going to Oakhaven. And we are going to show the Kingdom of Gaipen-Mansur why they should have stayed home."

  Renji turned, his cape swirling.

  "Grakkor. Get my warhorse. The carriage is for the lady."

  He walked back toward the palace to change into his armor, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

  "Sasuga..." Kaelthas whispered, wiping a tear from his eye. "He thinks ten steps ahead of us all."