I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM

A servant moved along the table filling cups.

The Duke looked at his brother.

Liam looked back at his brother.

Julian picked up his cup and drank, waiting to see who decided that the silence had run long enough.

It was the Duke.

He set his cup down and looked over the table at Marcus.

“Marcus,” he said. “How have you been?”

Marcus straightened slightly at being addressed directly by the Duke. A brief tension moved through his shoulders before he brought it under control.

“I am well, Uncle,” he said. “I have been focused on politics and mana cultivation. Father has been arranging lessons in both.”

The Duke nodded slowly. “Good. Make sure the training doesn’t slack. You are the heir at the end of the day. That carries weight whether you feel it yet or not.”

Marcus bowed his head in a small, respectful bow. “I understand, Uncle. I will make sure of it.”

Julian shifted his attention to the young man too.

“Marcus,” he said pleasantly. “Which realm have you reached?”

The table shifted its attention.

Louisa looked at Kraven with one brow raised. Beside her, Liam seemed taken aback as well, his reaction less restrained and more openly visible. Marcus, on the other hand, looked at Kraven with something close to surprise, though he suppressed it almost immediately.

“I just reached the Supreme Mage realm,” he said. “Two months ago.”

Julian nodded slowly.

“Supreme realm at nineteen,” he said. “That is considerable. If you maintain that pace and hit Grand Mage by your late thirties, you would be among the youngest in recorded history to do so.

He paused.

“Possibly the youngest,” he added. “Depending on how the next few years go.”

Marcus’s expression softened at that. He was genuinely pleased to hear someone acknowledge him as if the recognition mattered more than he had expected.

“I intend to work for it,” Marcus said, with a directness that was the most genuine thing he had produced all morning.

Liam looked at his son for a moment before turning his gaze back to Kraven. Louisa remained silent, offering neither reaction nor interruption.

Just then, the doors to the hall swung open.

Vanessa stepped through.

She had dressed for the morning with that same ruthless precision she applied to everything else. The deep burgundy dress clung to her body like it had been poured over her curves. It was high-collared and technically modest, but the fabric was so perfectly fitted that it left nothing to the imagination.

Her hair was pinned up in a neat, elegant style, yet a few soft strands had escaped at her temples, making her look more tempting in the morning light.

She took in the table in a single glance.

“Uncle,” she said warmly, her eyes finding Liam. “Aunty, Marcus.” She crossed toward the table with a smile that was genuine and also, Julian noted, precisely adjusted to its audience. “I didn’t know you were arriving this morning. What a wonderful surprise.”

Liam rose slightly from his chair in acknowledgment, his smile widening in a way it hadn’t widened for anyone else at the table.

“Vanessa,” he said, with a warmth that was real and immediate and considerably less constructed than everything else he had produced since arriving. “You look wonderful.”

Louisa extended her hand as Vanessa reached her side of the table and took it warmly, squeezing once.

“My dear,” she said. “Every time I see you, I think the same thing—that the Crown Prince is a very fortunate young man.”

Vanessa laughed softly. “You are very kind, Aunty.”

Marcus had straightened entirely.

“Cousin,” he said, with a nod that was trying to be casual.

“Marcus,” Vanessa said warmly. “You’ve grown again. Stop it.”

Marcus blushed from that and looked at the table.

Julian watched all of this quietly.

The shift in the room was immediate and clear. Liam’s careful politeness softened into something genuinely warm. Louisa’s composure relaxed, if only slightly, but enough to be noticed. Even Marcus let go of the stiff formality he had held onto throughout breakfast.

The future queen changed the atmosphere simply by entering the room. Her presence alone was enough, and the people around her responded to it without even realizing they were doing so.

She was valuable to them.

Not in any personal sense. She was the thread that tied this family to the crown, and every warmth shown to her carried an unspoken awareness of what she represented beneath the surface of that affection.

Vanessa pulled out the chair beside Julian and sat. She looked at him briefly as she settled and then turned back to the table.

“Have I missed anything interesting?” she said pleasantly to the table in general.

“Your brother was just telling Marcus he could be the youngest Grand Mage in history,” Louisa said, with the warmth still present in her voice.

Vanessa looked at Kraven.

“Was he?” she said.

“It seemed worth saying,” Julian replied. “It appears to be true.”

She held his gaze for a moment.

“You have many things that are worth saying lately,” she said. Her tone was entirely pleasant and entirely unreadable beneath the pleasantness.

Julian looked at her.

“I had a long time to think,” he said. “Besides, Marcus’s achievement is not only his own. It reflects the family. Whatever else has happened in this duchy, the next generation producing results like that is something everyone at this table should take satisfaction in.”

Louisa’s smile widened genuinely.

“You are right, Kraven,” she said warmly. She looked at her son briefly with the softness that appeared whenever Marcus was acknowledged well, then turned back to Julian. “That is very graciously said.”

A brief comfortable pause settled over the table.

Then Louisa tilted her head slightly, her earlier cunning slipping back in.

“And what about you, dear?” she said. “You speak of Marcus’s cultivation. What realm have you reached?”

Julian’s smile remained exactly where it was.

He reached for his cup, took a small unhurried sip, and set it back down before answering.

“Nothing particularly serious, aunty,” he said pleasantly. “I have had time here and there in Ezakael. Between everything else.” He lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. “I managed to reach Arch Mage.”