Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 167. When Mothers Break

"Three days later, Mother called the whole council together."

"All the important people in Meridia, like the high nobles, military leaders, and religious leaders. And she asked Typhon to stand next to her like he always does."

Sebastian stopped writing. Even the sarcastic butler looked like he cared now.

"The pre-celebration council was supposed to finalize the details of the party," Thalor said.

"Instead, my mother stood in front of everyone who mattered in our kingdom and said, ’Before we celebrate seven hundred years of partnership, I have a question for my consort.’"

In the quiet that followed, Rick could hear his own heart beating.

"She asked him in front of everyone if the rumors about Queen Seris were true."

"There’s not even privacy or mercy for what’s to come. It’s just a question that looks like a public execution."

Thalor’s hands shook. "And Typhon told the truth."

"He confirmed all the rumors—the affair, the children, and everything else."

"All it takes is thirty seconds to reveal two hundred years of lies."

"What did he say to defend himself?" Carmilla asked, and Rick could hear the anger bubbling up under her calm voice.

She had been betrayed once. Her husband had died, but at least he had been faithful while he was alive.

Thalor’s face twisted in disgust. "He said, and I quote, ’You bore me three hundred children. I wanted a family that was mine alone. Something that belonged to me, not to Meridia.’"

Rick said, "Hell nah... that sounded so wrong on so many levels!"

"Yeah." Thalor nodded. "That was when I saw my mother die... not in a physical way, of course, but all the things that made her who she was were gone."

"Her expression went completely blank as she spoke in the calmest voice I had ever heard, ’You are a consort in name only, for the sake of political stability.’"

"’You will never talk to me again. You won’t ever touch me again. You mean nothing to me now.’"

Liora covered her mouth with one hand, clearly shocked. Even Natasha appeared disturbed, which was quite telling.

"The aftermath was immediate," Thalor went on, his words pouring out like they had been held back for fifty years. "Mother took away all of Typhon’s power but kept his title."

"There can’t be a succession crisis while a betrayal scandal is going on, but she also took away his guards, his private rooms, and his seat on the council."

"She basically took everything from him."

"What about Queen Seris?" Zephyra asked, her voice carefully neutral.

Thalor’s expression darkened. "My mother personally led a strike force to the Abyssal Trenches three weeks after the fight..."

"I was involved... they told us it was a security check." He took a shaky breath. "Turns out... it wasn’t."

"Mother went directly to Queen Seris’s palace and killed her, all for me, with her own two hands."

"Then she killed all seventeen of Seris’s children."

"All of them."

There was no sound in the room.

Rick’s blood ran cold while he was saying something inside his head. "This went dark... WAY too quickly..."

He knew Nerissa had to be tough to rule an empire for six hundred years, but this was different.

Thalor said, "I witnessed my mother kill them all without mercy."

"She began with the youngest, believing they would suffer less if they understood. Then she moved on to the oldest, who was around 150 years old..."

"And she didn’t cry about it nor didn’t think twice."

"There was no emotion at all. At that point, I knew the mother I had grown up with was gone for good."

Rick said, "Holy fucking shit... that’s so messed up that I can’t believe the story could lead down that path."

"After that, she completely took over the Abyssal Trenches, integrating them into Meridia..."

"She appointed new governors to oversee the region. Once that was done, she returned home and never mentioned it again."

Sylvia spoke up. "What happened to Typhon?"

Thalor frowned and said, "That’s the strange part."

"Within a month of Mother’s order, he got some kind of curse..."

"We never found out if he did it to himself or not, but he just stopped moving."

"He is sitting in the throne room and not doing anything. He doesn’t eat, sleep, or move unless someone makes him."

"That bastard just sits there, looking at the place where Mother used to stand next to him."

"He did that for fifty years?" Rick asked in disbelief.

"Yes, for fifty years," Thalor said. "At this point, he’s basically a statue that lives."

"Some kind of magical catatonia brought on by guilt."

"The healers can’t figure it out, and Mother won’t let them try very hard."

"She doesn’t care if he lives or dies as long as he stays out of her way."

Zara leaned back, looking really upset. "That’s fucking brutal even by demon standards."

"Things get worse," Thalor said with a sigh. "Typhon being a statue isn’t even the worst part." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"It’s what happened to Mother."

He looked around at all of them, ocean-blue eyes haunted. "Before the betrayal, my mother was the kindest."

"She hugged us and laughed at our stupid jokes. She gave advice and listened to our problems, even though she was strict when she needed to be, she was also a good mother for us all."

He shook his head. "Then she turned into a machine..."

"She still rules perfectly by making all the right choices, keeps the wards in order, and handles diplomacy, but there isn’t any warmth of kindness anymore."

"There’s no love and affection that she usually shows to her children."

"When I go to a council meeting, it feels like I’m reporting to a general in charge of a war, and it’s not like talking to your mother."

"She doesn’t dislike us or anything, but she just doesn’t feel anything."

"She acted like that to all three hundred of her children?" Liora asked, her voice tinged with sadness.

"Yeah... she treated every single one of them that way."

"Some of my siblings left Meridia completely because they couldn’t handle the change."

"Others worked hard to reclaim something that was never theirs to begin with."

"Anyone born in the last fifty years—the youngest ones—have never even met her when she was at her kindest..." Thalor’s voice broke completely. "I stayed because someone has to keep the wards running."

"She might look at me the way she used to if I can be useful and capable enough, but she won’t... and she can’t because it’s already too late..." Thalor closed his eyes, trying to hold back his tears.

Something twisted in Rick’s chest. The loneliness, the shutdown of feelings, and the mechanical routine of going through the motions without really living resonated too deeply with him.

It hit him way too close to home.

He realized, with uncomfortable clarity, that it was like hearing a story that mirrored his own—before he had passed away and before meeting Carmilla.

Before any of this had happened. He felt present but not truly alive.

Carmilla’s hand gently squeezed his shoulder, as if she could read his mind through their bond.

"Three weeks ago," Thalor said, pulling himself together with visible effort, "I was checking the outer wards near the Astral Deep border."

"That’s where the corrupted creature found me."

Everyone got tense. This was the part that mattered for strategy.

"It didn’t attack me like it did other things," Thalor said. "The corruption whispered."

"It conjured images of my mother smiling again, of our family united and joyful. It felt as if fifty years of grief could be wiped away as if they had never existed."

His expression contorted with shame. "I was being weak..."

"I listened because I wanted my mother to be her usual self again, just for a moment, but that was all it took."

"The corruption took over right away, and I saw myself attack Tidebreak Port from inside my own head, unable to stop it..."

Zephyra adjusted her glasses and said, "The Archon is going after Nerissa."

"The assault on corruption is planned."

"Why?" Rick asked, even though he had a terrible feeling he already knew.

Thalor nodded sadly. "The oceanic wards are the most important part."

"My mother’s personal magic purifies seventy percent of the world’s water. If she fails, the oceans will face ruin in a matter of days rather than months."

"The Archon needs her to either abandon her post or undergo a transformation to secure victory."

"Emotional vulnerability," Natasha said softly, putting the pieces together.

"Corruption thrives on hopelessness and being alone."

"Nerissa is the perfect target."