SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

Chapter 477: Chapter 477: Arrival of Both Families

The mansion had not stayed quiet for long.

By the time Arthur found him again, the air inside had already changed. More footsteps crossed the corridors, more servants moved through the halls with careful speed, and the silence that usually belonged to Euclid had thinned beneath the pressure of approaching nobles, guards, and attendants. Even before Arthur spoke, Trafalgar could tell something had shifted.

Arthur stopped a few steps away and bowed his head. ”Young master.” When he raised it again, his face had grown more set than before. ”Both families have arrived. Some have already entered the estate, and the rest are being escorted in now.”

Trafalgar looked at him for a second without answering.

So it had begun.

Until that moment, this had still been his house, his city, his territory. Prepared, yes. Changed, yes. But still his. Now that both great families were entering Euclid, that feeling had started to move. From this point onward, the estate would no longer belong only to him. It had become the ground where House Morgain and House Rosenthal would stand face to face before the marriage bound them together.

He rose from his seat and adjusted the sleeve of his dark clothes with one clean motion. ”Let’s go.”

Arthur stepped aside at once and fell into place beside him as they walked out.

The difference became clearer with every corridor they crossed. Servants from the main house moved through the mansion with speed of people trained under Valttair’s standards, carrying trays, arranging cloth, checking doors, adjusting details that most would not have noticed. Outside, through the tall windows, more guards than usual could be seen posted near the paths and entrance lines.

Arthur glanced at him briefly as they walked. ”The attendants sent from Lord Valttair’s side have taken over most of the reception arrangements.”

Trafalgar gave a faint hum. ”I noticed.”

”They’ve been at it since earlier,” Arthur continued. ”The Rosenthal side arrived not long ago. They are being escorted properly now.”

Trafalgar’s gaze shifted toward the front of the estate.

Even from there, he could already feel the weight gathering beyond the doors. The wedding was tomorrow, but the true pressure had started now, with carriages, escorts, bloodlines, and names that could shift the mood of a territory simply by stepping into it.

Arthur slowed half a step behind him. ”Everything is in order.”

”It should be.”

When they reached the main entrance, the cold waiting beyond the opened doors brushed against Trafalgar’s face, though weaker now beneath the formation laid over the estate.

Beyond the entrance, the Rosenthal had already arrived.

Several servants stood at a respectful distance while the family was being received, but the difference between them and the Morgains was obvious at a glance. They carried themselves with the same noble bearing expected from a great house, yet there was a warmth in the way they stood near one another that Euclid rarely saw. Wives close to their children, siblings naturally gathered around Aubrelle, the younger ones shifting restlessly near the adults instead of being kept apart like ornaments in fine clothes.

At their center stood Lord Thaleon au Rosenthal.

Tall, broad-shouldered, with brown hair and red eyes that held both weight and heat, he turned the moment Trafalgar stepped forward. Beside him were Lady Marie, poised and graceful as ever, and Lady Renia, softer in expression, her attention drifting often toward Aubrelle and the younger twins. Behind them stood Idran, solid and watchful, and Eldric, quieter, his gaze sharper and more inward. Aubrelle was there too, pale blindfold in place, posture elegant, Pipin perched near her as always. The two younger brothers stayed close to her side until they noticed Trafalgar approaching.

Trafalgar stopped before them and inclined his head properly. ”Lord Thaleon. Lady Marie. Lady Renia. Welcome to Euclid.”

Thaleon looked at him for a second, then stepped forward without warning.

”Trafalgar,” he said, his voice carrying that same steady strength Aubrelle had inherited from somewhere. Then his expression shifted, and before anyone else could say a word, he placed one hand on Trafalgar’s shoulder and pulled him into a brief embrace.

That made several nearby servants go very still.

”I owe you an apology,” Thaleon said as he pulled back, his grip still firm on Trafalgar’s shoulder. ”The first time we met, I did not trust you enough. Looking back, I was harsher than I should have been.”

Trafalgar blinked once, surprised despite himself, but he accepted it without stiffness. ”You had your reasons.”

”Even so.” Thaleon’s mouth curved faintly. ”You proved me wrong.”

A few steps behind him, Aubrelle’s face had already gone pink beneath the blindfold. She clearly had not expected her father to act like that the moment they arrived.

Lady Renia covered a small smile with one hand. Lady Marie remained composed, though even she looked more at ease after that.

Idran stepped forward next and offered his hand with an easy, strong grip. ”It’s good to see you again.”

Trafalgar took it. ”You too.”

Eldric followed after him, quieter as expected, but there was no distance in the gesture when he offered his hand as well. ”Welcome back,” Trafalgar said.

Eldric gave a small nod. ”And congratulations in advance.”

Then the twins moved.

Neither of them cared much for the order of noble greetings. The two younger boys hurried forward and clung to Trafalgar’s legs without the slightest hesitation, as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

That drew the corner of Trafalgar’s mouth upward, faint but real.

Aubrelle lowered her head slightly, still flushed. ”I’m sorry.”

”You don’t sound very sorry,” Trafalgar said, glancing at the twins.

That made Renia laugh softly, and even Idran’s expression loosened.

For a brief moment, standing there beneath the cold light of Euclid, the weight around the wedding eased. Not because the Rosenthal lacked status. They carried enough of that already. But because they moved like a family before they moved like a political house.

Trafalgar looked toward Aubrelle then, and his voice softened a fraction. ”Welcome to Euclid.”

After that, he stepped aside and motioned toward the estate.

”Please. Come in.”

The difference was obvious the moment the Morgains arrived.

Where the Rosenthal had entered Euclid with warmth and quiet closeness, the main family came wrapped in distance. Servants moved aside faster. Guards straightened more. Even the air near the entrance seemed to harden.

At the front was Valttair, severe as ever, his presence alone enough to pull the line into order. Beside and behind him came his four wives, each carrying her own kind of elegance, though none of it brought softness with it. Helgar was there too, broad and silent. Rivena came with that same beautiful, poisonous smile Trafalgar had never trusted. Darion and Elira followed with rigid composure. Nym was absent. So were the others.

Only Lysandra looked at him like he was something other than a duty.

Trafalgar noticed all of it in a glance. The Rosenthal were still there. Aubrelle was still there. Because of that, he let the coldness pass without reacting. He was not about to turn this into a scene in front of her family.

One by one, the Morgains approached.

Helgar gave him the bare minimum, a nod and nothing more. Darion’s greeting was empty. Elira’s eyes moved over everything around them with obvious disdain, as if Euclid itself were somehow beneath the standards of the main house despite all the effort spent dressing it for tomorrow.

Then Rivena passed by him.

As she drew level, Trafalgar’s gaze shifted toward her without turning his head fully. His voice dropped low enough that no one else would hear.

”You shouldn’t have come.”

Rivena’s smile deepened, pleased rather than offended. ”Father invited me.” Her eyes flicked toward him, bright and venomous. ”There is nothing you can do about that.”

She moved on before he answered.

Trafalgar said nothing. He only watched her go, his expression flattening further.

Lysandra came last among them and, unlike the others, actually stopped in front of him. Her voice was quiet, but there was no falseness in it.

”Congratulations, Trafalgar.”

He looked at her, and some of the tightness in his face eased. ”Thank you.”

Then came the surprise.

Another carriage had arrived behind the rest, and from it stepped Anthera, his aunt, with her children. Sylis walked beside her, with Eron and Mael close behind. The sight of them pulled Trafalgar’s attention more sharply than anything else had since the Rosenthal entered.

Anthera smiled when she reached him and placed a hand lightly against his arm. ”We weren’t going to miss the first wedding of our nephew.”

That made him stay with her longer than he had with the others. He asked how they had been, whether everything was alright. She answered easily, and the exchange carried none of the strain that clung to the rest of the main family.

Then Anthera’s expression softened.

”Mordrek would have liked to see this.”

Trafalgar appreciated them more than he could say.

Around them, both families now stood beneath the same roof.

And at last, with Rosenthal warmth on one side and Morgain frost on the other, the shape of tomorrow had fully arrived.