Supreme Spouse System.

Chapter 686: Guardian Village

Guardian Village

Leon’s expression shifted.

He understood.

This wasn’t about reputation. This was about something dangerous enough that even the air could not be trusted.

Slowly, he raised his hand.

With a flick of his fingers, three droplets of blood formed midair from his own palm.

They hovered between them, glowing faintly in the dim light—bright against the polished stone floor.

The elders stiffened. Even they hadn’t expected that level of immediacy.

A crimson sigil expanded in the air between them, intricate lines weaving into one another like veins.

”This is a silence contract,” Leon said. His voice was steady, controlled. ”Bound by blood. What is spoken here will not be revealed without mutual consent. Not by tongue. Not by memory extraction. Not by magical coercion.”

The middle elder narrowed his eyes. ”And if one of us attempts to break it?”

Leon met his gaze evenly. ”The contract will decide the punishment.”

A beat of silence.

He pressed his blood into the sigil.

A glow throbbed there, slow like a heartbeat, staining their weathered skin crimson. From within it came warmth, felt more than seen, shifting shadows around the room.

Without pausing, the three elders moved. They gave no sign of doubt.

Thumb after thumb went between teeth. Into the space came a piercing smell of blood.

A single drop landed first, then another, followed by a third - all sinking into the carved shape. The old blood spread slowly, linking together within the mark.

When the final drop hit the line, light exploded across the page, sharp and sudden, gone before you could blink

Then vanished.

The air pressed down, thick and still. Shut tight.

His hand came down slow, fingers curling into a loose knot like whatever happened didn’t matter much. Then again, it rarely did.

A flash of gold moved over the trio standing there.

”Now Speak.”

A hush followed the words, though they were spoken soft. Heavy air filled the space between breaths, thick as smoke around the dim glow of the lamp. Each man froze, shoulders low, as if pulled backward from something dark and deep.

A deep pause came before he spoke, his throat tightening like something heavy had lodged there. Breath pulled in slow, filling his chest as though preparing for what waited ahead.

”My name is Max.”

Fatigue had settled deep, not in his throat but in his frame. That sort of weariness you feel in your joints before you notice it on your tongue.

A nod came first, then he pointed at the person beside him - wider in build, face marked by a line running from cheek to chin.

”This is my second brother, Rex.”

A flicker of movement passed through Rex’s head - just enough to count as agreement. Tension held his face together, while something alert stayed alive behind tired eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Max nodded toward the smallest one standing farthest right.

”And our youngest, Lux.”

Head down, Lux stood still. Fists tight by his hips, fingers white with pressure. Silence hung around him, thick. Maybe rage filled that quiet. Or sorrow. Either way, it stayed locked inside.

A tilt of Leon’s head gave just enough notice - no smile, no cold shoulder either. Easy on the outside, yet a quiet tension hummed under his stance.

Now that everyone had been introduced, Max spoke again, his voice more stable than before.

”We come from a village near the Forbidden Forest.”

Focusing slightly, Leon’s eyes grew more intent.

”The village was called Guardian Village.”

Silence followed.

Leon’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly. Not surprise — calculation.

He remembered maps.

He remembered every duchy, every barony, every township under his rule.

He had memorized them.

Borders, trade routes, tax records, military outposts — all of it lived in his mind like etched stone.

There was no record of any Guardian Village near the Forbidden Forest.

He said so.

”There is no such village listed.”

The statement wasn’t accusatory. It was precise.

Max’s eyes hollowed, the faint strength in them flickering.

”It existed,” he said quietly. ”Past tense.”

Leon’s fingers, which had been resting against the arm of his chair, stilled completely.

”What do you mean?”

Rex stepped forward half a pace before Max could answer. His jaw tightened.

”It no longer exists.”

Leon’s voice cooled, sharp and direct.

”Destroyed?”

Lux nodded slowly, throat working as if the word itself burned.

”Yes.”

Leon’s eyes narrowed.

”By whom?”

The question cut cleanly through the room.

Max did not hesitate.

”King Gary.”

The name felt heavy — not shouted, not dramatic — but deliberate. It hung in the air like a blade suspended above them all.

Rex’s hands curled into fists.

Leon did not interrupt. He did not react outwardly. But his gaze had sharpened into something far more dangerous than anger — focus.

”Explain.”

The single word landed heavy.

Max’s jaw tightened, a muscle ticking near his temple. For a moment, it looked like he might hesitate. Then he drew in a slow breath.

”Our village was not ordinary.”

Rex picked up the thread before the silence stretched too far. ”It was never meant to appear on any map. Most people believed it didn’t even exist.”

Leon’s eyes shifted between them. Calm. Assessing.

”We were guardians,” Rex said.

”Guardians,” Leon repeated, voice low. ”Of what?”

Lux, who had been staring at the floor, finally lifted her eyes. There was something raw in them — grief sharpened into resolve.

”Of something Gary desired.”

Leon did not interrupt.

Max straightened slightly, as if reminding himself of who he was before everything burned.

”Guardian Village existed long before Gary’s reign,” he said, more steadily now. ”It was hidden deliberately. Our ancestors chose that isolation. We specialized in suppressing spiritual anomalies emerging from the Forbidden Forest.”

Leon’s gaze darkened, just a fraction.

The Forbidden Forest was unstable territory.

Corrupted beasts prowled its depths. Ancient relics surfaced without warning. Entire zones shifted like living things, swallowing the unprepared.

”A dangerous duty,” Leon murmured.

”It was,” Rex agreed. ”But it was ours.”

Max nodded. ”At the heart of the forest’s edge, we maintained a seal. A formation older than this kingdom. Older than the current bloodlines that pretend to rule it.”

Leon’s fingers tapped once against the armrest. ”And Gary wanted it.”