SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

Chapter 481: Chapter 481: The Formal Union [III]

The tension left by Helgar’s outburst had barely begun to fade when Valttair looked toward Trafalgar and Aubrelle.

”Come with us.”

There was no room in his tone for anything else.

Thaleon glanced once at his daughter, then at Trafalgar, and gave a small nod of his own. The four of them stepped away from the rest of the gathering until the voices behind them softened into background noise. They stopped near the edge of the garden, where the formation’s warmth still held against Euclid’s cold.

For a moment, neither patriarch spoke.

Then Thaleon folded his arms and looked at the two of them with the same steady weight he always carried. ”The formal part is done. What comes after matters more.”

Valttair’s grey eyes settled on Trafalgar first. ”You will return to the academy and finish what remains of your education.”

Trafalgar’s expression did not change. ”I assumed as much.”

”You are still in your first year,” Valttair continued. ”You have two more after this one. That does not change because you now have a wife.”

Aubrelle lowered her head slightly, then said, ”I still have one year less than him.”

”Which changes nothing essential,” Valttair replied. ”Both of you are still in a stage where growth matters more than comfort.”

Thaleon stepped in before the tone could turn too cold. ”What he means is simple. This is the right time to focus on becoming stronger.” His gaze shifted toward Aubrelle, softer there. ”After the last war, the world should quiet down for a while. At least compared to what it was.”

”’Should,’” Trafalgar repeated.

Valttair noticed the word at once. ”Yes. Should. That is enough. You prepare during stability so that chaos does not catch you unready.”

Thaleon nodded. ”Exactly. The war ended recently. The great houses will need time to settle again. That gives both of you room to study, train, and sharpen yourselves.”

Aubrelle rested one hand lightly against her dress. ”So even after today, little truly changes for now.”

”A great deal changes,” Valttair said. ”Your positions. Your value. The way others will look at you.” His gaze sharpened slightly. ”But your duty remains the same. Grow.”

Thaleon let out a faint breath through his nose. ”You are young. That is still a gift, despite everything else around you.”

Trafalgar glanced at Aubrelle for a second before looking back at them. ”Then that is what we’ll do.”

Aubrelle gave a small nod. ”Yes.”

The two patriarchs seemed satisfied enough with that answer.

After that, the farewells began.

The Rosenthal were the first to gather around them. Thaleon rested a hand on Aubrelle’s shoulder, then looked at Trafalgar with that same broad, steady presence of his.

”Take care of her,” he said. ”I know you don’t need me to say it, but I’ll say it anyway.”

Trafalgar inclined his head. ”I will.”

Lady Marie stepped closer after him, graceful as ever. ”And take care of yourself as well. Aubrelle worries more than she admits.”

Lady Renia smiled more openly. ”That applies to both of you. You are married now. Try not to look so serious all the time.”

That earned the smallest reaction from Aubrelle, while Trafalgar’s mouth moved faintly.

Idran offered his hand again, stronger this time, more like family than protocol. ”If anything happens, send word.”

”I know,” Trafalgar said, taking it.

Eldric followed, quieter, but no less sincere. ”We’ll see each other again soon.”

The twins were the hardest to pull away. Both clung to Aubrelle first, then looked at Trafalgar with open reluctance.

”Do we really have to go?” one of them asked.

Renia sighed softly. ”Yes.”

The other boy looked offended by the answer. ”That’s cruel.”

That almost made Trafalgar laugh.

Aubrelle bent slightly toward them, smiling. ”You’ll see me again soon.”

Only then did they finally let themselves be led away, still looking back more than once.

The Morgain side was different. A few offered the proper words and nothing more. Some simply left. Helgar did not come near again. Rivena’s smile lingered at a distance before disappearing with the rest. Darion and Elira departed with the same polished coldness they had arrived with.

Lysandra was the exception.

She stopped in front of Trafalgar once more before leaving and gave him a long look, one that held none of the poison common in the rest of the house.

”You handled today well,” she said. ”And... congratulations. Truly.”

Trafalgar met her eyes. ”Thank you, Lysandra.”

Then she was gone too.

In the end, Caelum remained.

He stood before Trafalgar with his usual composed posture, waiting. Trafalgar did not waste time.

”Keep informing me about Darian,” he said. ”If anything changes, I want to know.”

Caelum nodded. ”Of course.”

”And if you discover anything else related to that Primordial, send word immediately.”

”Understood.”

Trafalgar’s gaze sharpened slightly. ”Also keep watching the family. If any of them do something strange while I’m away, I want to hear about it before it becomes a problem.”

That drew the faintest change in Caelum’s expression. Approval, perhaps.

”I’ll keep my eyes open,” he said. ”You can trust me.”

”I do.”

Caelum bowed his head once. ”Then I’ll take my leave, young master.”

When he finally stepped away, the estate felt larger.

The voices were gone. The pressure had thinned. Euclid, which had been crowded with two great houses only a short while ago, was beginning to empty again, leaving behind silence, cold, and the lingering weight of everything that had just been sealed.

Trafalgar and Aubrelle had returned to his room without much conversation at first. The day had been long, heavy, full of eyes, names, and weight neither of them could really escape. Now, with the door closed behind them, the difference was noticeable.

Pipin circled once through the room before coming to rest nearby, his red eyes reflecting the low light. Aubrelle had already removed the blindfold again, and without it her face seemed softer, freer, as she turned it toward Trafalgar through the bird’s sight.

For a few moments, neither of them spoke.

Then Aubrelle stepped closer and asked quietly, ”So... what changed?”

Trafalgar looked at her, one hand moving to loosen part of his formal clothes. ”Nothing.”

That made her smile.

”Are you sure?”

He held her gaze. ”We’re still the same people we were this morning.”

Aubrelle took another step, close enough now that her fingers could reach him. They did. Her hand came to rest against his chest first, then moved slowly upward, smoothing over the dark fabric there as if testing the answer he had just given.

”I don’t think that’s completely true,” she murmured.

Trafalgar’s eyes followed her hand for a second, then returned to her face. ”Oh?”

Aubrelle’s smile deepened, faint but warm. ”This morning I was standing beside you.” Her fingers slid to his shoulder, then lightly to the line of his neck. ”Now I’m standing here as your wife.”

The word lingered differently in the room when she said it.

Trafalgar did not answer at once. His hand rose instead, settling at her waist as naturally as if it had always belonged there. ”That part changed, then.”

”It did.”

She was more touchy than usual tonight. Less guarded too. The tips of her fingers brushed his jaw, then slipped into his hair near the nape of his neck, familiar in a way that made the quiet around them feel warmer. There was no uncertainty in her now, only closeness, the kind that had nowhere else to go after a day like this.

Trafalgar let out a faint breath through his nose. ”You seem very aware of it.”

”I am.”

Aubrelle leaned in first this time, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, then another just below his jaw. Trafalgar’s grip at her waist tightened slightly, and when she felt that, a small pleased look crossed her face.

”Good,” she whispered.

He looked at her for a long second after that, then reached past her to the edge of the bed and drew her down with him. Aubrelle went willingly, her hand still tangled lightly in his hair as they sank into the sheets together, with Pipin keeping quiet watch from nearby and the mansion around them finally.