The Kingmaker System-Chapter 431 - 430. Birthday Party (3)

Davian and I returned to the party, and it was immediately clear that the usual batch was drunk. Zach was already passed out, while Lord Devil had taken it upon himself to recite poetry out of nowhere.

It didn’t take long to figure out why Silas had come to fetch me. Alys was dancing with Kai, the two of them laughing and clearly enjoying themselves.

Was he seriously feeling jealous of my ten-year-old child?

"This is the real reason you brought me back, isn’t it?" I asked Silas, nodding toward Alys and Kai.

He grunted. "He was feeling down, so Alys went over to cheer him up."

I scoffed. "I didn’t know you had a lover, Archmage," Davian remarked, his tone teasing.

Silas rolled his eyes and walked away.

"It’s not his lover," I corrected. "She’s his fiancée."

Davian’s eyebrows shot up in surprise before he chuckled. "So, the man who swore off marriage has finally fallen in love."

"Nothing’s impossible these days," I said with a shrug as I made my way toward Asher, who looked like he was on the verge of losing it while trying to handle Zach.

"Master!" Zach beamed the moment he saw me, utterly unfazed, while Asher gave me a pleading look as if asking for permission to put him out of his misery.

"Knock him out and take him back," I said calmly.

Asher let out a sigh of relief, smacked Zach on the back of the head, and began dragging him away without hesitation.

I asked Remi to bring over the strawberry custards I’d brought for Kai, and while the guests remained busy, I settled down beside him and handed over the treats.

"Wow," his eyes sparkled at the sight of the four custards.

"I know I shouldn’t have left you today," I said gently, "but the situation was a little out of my hands. So I brought these as an apology."

Kai beamed and immediately dug into one. As he sliced into it and took a bite, his eyes practically lit up, cheeks flushed with delight.

"It’s really tasty!" he said, mouth full, and I chuckled at the sight.

"I’m glad. It was Remi’s idea, though," I said, watching as he happily devoured the custard.

"I wasn’t mad at you though, Master!" Kai suddenly said, making me tilt my head.

"You weren’t?"

He shook his head. "I was a little sad at first, but Davian told me that if I love you, then I also have to understand that I can’t always be your first priority. But I’ll always be special to you... since you see me as yours."

He looked at me with a small smile, and my heart softened.

"Davian said that when he was young and his parents went missing, you stayed by his side and gave him hope that they’d return. Then you actually went and saved them when they were in danger. He said if it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be this happy now."

I glanced across the room at Davian, who was talking to my father.

My eyes then flickered over to Eric who was standing on the other side of the hall with Rune and my Grandfather. Davian had been avoiding Eric since the beginning of the evening—and Eric, in turn, hadn’t acknowledged him either. I still didn’t understand what had happened between the two of them. They’d been close since childhood. Even when Eric was bullied by Carlos, Davian—though physically weak—had stood by him like a true friend. What changed?

"I showed Davian the coat you gifted me," Kai said, drawing my attention back.

"And he said that it means you acknowledge me as your rightful successor. That by giving me a coat with the Ryujin crest, you’re ready to entrust me with greater responsibility."

I couldn’t help but chuckle. "Davian overthinks everything."

Kai giggled. "He really admires you. He said that if he could, he’d live with us forever—but he also said you’d kick him out soon."

I smiled faintly. "He’s welcome to stay as long as he wants. But he has responsibilities of his own. He can’t stay here forever."

Kai nodded, looking a little down.

"But he’s still here for now," I added, "so enjoy learning and playing with him while you can."

"Yes, Master!" he said brightly.

A couple of hours later, the party came to an end. Kai was already dozing off, so I offered to carry him, even as the attendants stepped forward to help.

"It’s fine, I’ll bring him back," I said, glancing at the exhausted group of adults around us. "Please, get some proper rest."

With Kai on my back, his small arms loosely wrapped around my shoulders, I made my way to his room. He mumbled dreamily in his sleep, making me chuckle quietly.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside, gently laying him down on the bed. Enora followed close behind.

"Change his clothes and then go get some rest. You’ve worked incredibly hard these past few days," I told her, and she bowed respectfully.

Despite juggling the preparations for the celebrations at home and at Oasis, she bore no sign of weariness. Her composure remained steady, as always.

I lingered a moment beside the bed, watching Kai’s peaceful face before leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead.

"Happy birthday, Kai. Thank you for coming into our lives," I whispered.

He smiled faintly in his sleep, as if he’d heard me.

Davian’s words were untrue when he said that I couldn’t make Kai my first priority at times. But he’d really be special to me and would also have the title of being my Scion when it would come time for me to step down.

***

I nodded once at Enora before I stepped out of the room finding Asher standing outside. He straightened up as he saw me and I patted once on his shoulder.

"Rest for tonight, you’ll resume your position tomorrow morning." I said and he glanced once at Kai’s bedroom door before he nodded.

"All right, Master."

He walked with me as I made my way to my room and I looked back at him.

"Good night," I said and was about to enter but then I noticed him fidgeting.

"What is it?" I asked and his eyes avoided meeting mine as if he was trying to make up his mind.

Finally he did and took a deep breath and met my eyes.

"When I leave for Denril, I wish to take Rose with me to introduce her to my family." He spoke in a rushed tone and I stared up at him.

"Hm, all right." I said and his eyebrows jumped.

"Really? Just like that? I mean- she’s the manager of your information guild so, is it all right for her to just leave now when the things would turn out to be messy?" He asked and I sighed.

"It’s because of this that I want to give her a break. You know she has the tendency to be reckless, with the Princes returning the things will get even more messy now, I don’t want her to get caught up in anything dangerous that’s why it’s better if she’s away for the time being. I’ll handle the information guild so, don’t worry about it." I said and he sighed deeply, his tense shoulders slumping.

"All right, I’ll talk to her then," he said and I smiled.

After he left, I sat in my room in front of a chess game, I hadn’t changed out of my clothes. I had things to think before I could fall asleep and since all of my vassals and partners were here, I would have to take this opportunity of discussing things out with them.

There was a knock on the doors before Lyall peeked in, he walked in quietly and stood by the side of my armchair.

"You didn’t sleep?" I asked as I looked at the chess pieces.

"I couldn’t fall asleep." He answered and I hummed as I moved a piece ahead in the game and then picked up another.

"I have Marquis Glines in the dungeon, we’ll interrogate him soon so, prepare him for it." I said.

"Yes, Master."

"Tomorrow evening, arrange for Kai to be at Eldarf, the kids have arranged a party there since they couldn’t come here and also in the morning after breakfast have all of my vassals and partners be gathered in library for a meeting, including Alys." I instructed.

"Yes, Master." He responded.

It was good to have him back, it felt like I had missed an appendage these past few days.l when I had sent him off to Aurelius as punishment. But now that he was back, I felt at ease.

I changed out of my clothes after I had a brief idea of my future step and lay on my bed quietly. There was the peaceful silence around me. It was rare for there to be so many guests in Ryujin since it wasn’t open to a lot of people because of my trust issues. But it wasn’t completely bad to have so many people around. The place was quite lively today.

When I had decided to celebrate Kai’s birthday here I had only invited my Father, Grandfather and Uncle with the Ryujin household personnel.

After that, I allowed for Alys and Lady Elise to be here.

Last year, I had extended the invitation to my vassals and the nobles who were allied to me to a certain level. Still, it were only the core members and not their families.

I had increased the number today by bringing in Lord Hawke’s or rather, Count Wallace Nash’s family. They seemed to have enjoyed the celebration here and with Kai being introduced to my allies I could also rely on them at times when I couldn’t keep Kai with me.

It was a little hard but slowly, the seed that I had planted was growing into a plant with extending branches and deepening roots. It might only be a matter of time when this plant grows up to be a tree and I would get to see the fruits of all of our hard work.

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