SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

Chapter 476: Chapter 476: Return to Euclid

It was the day before the wedding when Trafalgar returned to Euclid.

The moment he stepped out of the Gate, the cold wrapped around him at once, dry and biting. His city stretched ahead beneath the pale light, neat and disciplined, with the streets already shifting around the preparations for tomorrow. Servants moved from one place to another carrying boxes, cloth, and small decorations, while guards kept their routes without letting the increased activity disturb the usual order. Nothing looked neglected. Euclid was functioning exactly as it should.

Arthur was already waiting for him near the main path.

The captain stood straight in his armor, one hand resting behind his back, the other near the sword at his waist. When he saw Trafalgar approach, he bowed his head.

”Young master.”

Trafalgar gave him a short nod and stopped in front of him. ”Arthur.”

Arthur raised his head again. ”The preparations are already being handled. Everything is advancing without issue.”

Trafalgar listened, but his eyes narrowed slightly before he asked the thing that mattered first. ”The soldier who died. Was his body returned properly?”

Arthur’s expression shifted at once, growing more solemn. He answered without hesitation. ”Yes. We delivered the body to his family, offered condolences in your name, and made sure he received a proper burial.” He paused, then added, ”The money was also delivered. His family will be able to live without hardship.”

Trafalgar stayed silent for a second, then dipped his head once.

”Good.”

Arthur watched him carefully.

Most nobles would have asked about the wedding first. About the guests, the house, the image their territory would give tomorrow. Trafalgar had returned to Euclid the day before his marriage, and the first thing he chose to ask about was a dead soldier.

Trafalgar looked at Arthur again. ”Thank you.”

Arthur placed a hand over his chest and bowed his head a second time. ”It was my duty.”

They began walking after that, shoulder to shoulder, with Arthur half a step behind as the captain’s mind lingered on the exchange.

His young lord was only seventeen, yet moments like that left no room for doubt. He remembered the dead. He remembered the families left behind. He did not throw men into war and forget them after.

Arthur’s jaw tightened faintly.

’I need to do better.’

Not because someone had demanded it of him. Because a man worth serving had returned, and Arthur had no intention of failing him.

As they walked deeper into Euclid, Arthur straightened a little and continued with the report.

”Our numbers are still growing,” he said, glancing at Trafalgar from the side. ”More than before, actually. After the war, many people became even more eager to enlist under your banner. The men already here are in good spirits too. The city is stable.”

Trafalgar listened in silence, his eyes moving briefly across the street ahead where several workers were carrying polished wooden frames toward one of the outer buildings.

Arthur went on. ”The economy is improving as well. Trade has been steady, the shops are doing well, and the tax income has risen with it.”

That made Trafalgar turn his head slightly. ”They’re all paying properly?”

Arthur gave a small, dry smile. ”That would be too beautiful.”

Trafalgar’s mouth twitched faintly.

Arthur lowered his voice a little as they kept walking. ”Under normal circumstances, no. Of course not. Some people will always keep a little hidden if they think they can get away with it.” He paused, then his expression grew more serious. ”But most of them aren’t trying to take advantage of you. They respect you too much after what happened in the war and in the past.”

Trafalgar said nothing for a moment.

That answer was not what he would have expected from most territories, but Euclid had changed quickly after they give him the territory, and so had the way people looked at him. Respect was useful. More useful than fear in the long run.

Arthur then shifted to the next matter. ”Servants from the main family arrived not long ago. Directly from Lord Valttair’s side. They’ve taken over much of the wedding preparation.”

Trafalgar’s gaze moved ahead again. He had already noticed signs of it the moment he entered the city. Too many hands at work. Too much polished detail even from a distance.

”They’ve gone too far with the decorations,” he said.

Arthur let out a tired sigh through his nose and rubbed at his temple for a brief second. ”If you had seen it from the start, you’d say that even faster.”

Trafalgar looked at him.

Arthur shook his head once. ”I’ve never seen a wedding like this in my life.”

Trafalgar’s eyes narrowed a little. ”It was supposed to be small. Only both families.”

”That’s what I was told too,” Arthur said, then glanced toward one of the upper balconies where fresh cloth in dark silver and crimson had been hung with almost absurd precision. ”But the decorations say otherwise.”

He looked back at Trafalgar.

”I think your father cares a great deal about this alliance,” Arthur said. ”Enough that he wants everything around it to show that.”

By the time they reached the mansion, it became obvious Arthur had not been exaggerating.

Workers were still moving through the garden, adjusting the last details beneath the pale light of Euclid. Dark fabrics had been hung with careful symmetry, silver ornaments had been fixed along the pathways, and the space itself looked far grander than Trafalgar had expected for something that was supposed to remain contained between two families. It did not look excessive in a vulgar way. It looked expensive, measured, and unmistakably deliberate in the way only people from the main house would know how to make it.

Trafalgar’s eyes moved across it once, then narrowed slightly.

And then he noticed something stranger.

There was no snow.

Not on the paths. Not over the arranged tables. Not across the trimmed edges of the garden or the stone near the entrance. For Euclid, that alone was enough to feel wrong.

Arthur noticed where his gaze had gone. ”Yes,” he said. ”They put something over the estate.”

Trafalgar looked upward, though nothing could be seen with the naked eye.

”It feels like a dome,” Arthur continued. ”Some formation, a device, maybe both. It keeps the cold out and holds the warmth inside. They activated it this morning.”

Trafalgar said nothing as they passed through the front entrance.

The difference became even clearer the moment they stepped inside. The chill that had followed him from the Gate vanished almost at once, replaced by a controlled warmth spread evenly through the mansion. Even the air felt different. Someone had reshaped the entire place for the wedding, not only with decoration, but with mana and preparation on a level far beyond what he would have bothered with himself.

Arthur came to a stop once they were inside and turned toward him. ”You should rest for now.”

Trafalgar glanced at him.

”I’ll inform you when Lord Valttair arrives,” Arthur said, keeping his posture straight. ”And...” His mouth tightened for a second, as if suppressing the obvious. ”You should prepare yourself. Tomorrow is the big day.”

That made Trafalgar let out a faint breath through his nose.

”Thank you for reminding me,” he said in a dry voice.

Arthur’s expression shifted just enough to suggest he knew exactly how that sounded. He bowed his head once. ”Of course, young master.”

With that, he stepped away to return to his duties, leaving Trafalgar standing there for a moment in the warmth of his own mansion.

The preparations were done. The city was ready. The house was ready.

Tomorrow.

Trafalgar looked once more toward the inside of the mansion, then finally started walking.

Tomorrow, the wedding would begin.