I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM

Chapter 846: The Confession – part 1

Julian did not look bothered. If anything, the caution in her voice seemed to deepen the focus in his eyes. He remained where he stood, making no move to close the distance yet, but also offering no apology for the remark.

“He is occupied,” Julian said, matching her quieter volume.

He took a small step closer and his voice dropped further so that it would not carry beyond the sitting room.

“I missed you, Mother.”

Olivia’s eyes widened a fraction. Her gaze flicked once more toward the closed door of the study, then back to him.

Her heart was racing.

Seeing Kraven in her private chambers was already a surprise. Hearing him admit that he had missed her was even more unexpected. But knowing her husband was sitting only a single door away made the entire moment feel dangerously unstable.

Is Kraven not afraid that the Duke might hear? Or had he come specifically to tease me?

The questions tumbled through her mind too quickly for her to answer any of them.

rustle

Before she could spiral further, Julian moved. He stood from where he had been and began walking toward her.

Olivia stepped back without thinking. The wet fabric clung more tightly with every small movement, outlining the full curve of her breasts and the soft line of her waist.

“You look so pretty, Mother,” Julian said, his voice low and steady. “You might not know this, but I have always admired you.”

The flush already present on Olivia’s cheeks deepened. She clutched the fabric more tightly, yet the moisture from her bath continued to make the silk almost translucent in places.

Julian stopped a short distance from her… close enough that she had to tilt her head slightly to meet his eyes. His expression carried none of the playful edge he sometimes wore. Instead there was something quieter and more serious beneath the surface.

“In the past, you knew me as a lustful man who preyed upon his own mother and sister.” He paused, his voice losing some of its confidence as the words settled between them.

“But the truth is…” He took a slow breath, as though admitting it was far more difficult than he had expected. “I have always loved you. Perhaps I should never have allowed myself to feel this way, and perhaps you will never be able to forgive me for it. But no matter how hard I tried to bury those feelings, they never truly disappeared.”

His expression tightened, and for the briefest moment, something almost like hurt took over his face.

“I know the love a son should have for his mother. I know the boundaries that should exist between us. But what I felt for you was always something deeper… something I could never force myself to see as merely maternal affection.”

He lowered his gaze before looking back at her.

“And that is the truth I have carried all this time. I have loved you… not as a son should love his mother, but as a man who could never stop wanting your affection, your attention, and a place in your heart.”

“In the past, you knew me as a lustful man who preyed on his mother and sister.” He paused, and for a brief moment his expression shifted into something that looked almost hurt. “But the truth is… I have always loved you. And more so than a son should love a mother.”

The confession settled into the silent room with unexpected weight.

Olivia stared at him, completely speechless. Whatever she had expected him to say… it had not been this.

The old rumors about Kraven’s obsessions had always painted him in darker colors. During their previous sessions, she had prepared herself for that version of him.

But ever since he had returned from Ezakael, everything about him was different. The way he spoke, no longer carried crude edge. Even now. Everything that he was saying sounded sincere, almost gentle, as if he were placing something fragile between them rather than trying to take something from her.

Her breathing increased. The damp robe rose and fell more quickly against her chest. Water slipped from the wet ends of her hair, traced the line of her jaw, and fell from her chin.

plop

The droplet landed on the upper curve of her breast and slid slowly downward, disappearing into the soft valley of her cleavage. She felt every inch of its path. Her eyes remained sharp and wary even as her body betrayed her with the flush and the quickened pulse.

Julian watched the droplet vanish, then lifted his gaze back to her face. A small smile touched his mouth.

“Do not look at me with such venom, Mother.”

There was no mockery in his words. If anything, they carried a plea beneath the surface, as if he already expected her rejection.

Olivia still could not find her voice. The study door remained closed. The Duke’s presence on the other side of it turned every second into a risk. Yet the young man standing in front of her had just offered a confession that reframed everything that had passed between them. The previous sessions, the dirty words she had been coaxed into speaking, the pure mana that had flowed through her body and left her trembling, all of it now sat under a different light.

If what he said was true, then the hunger she had felt from him had never been only lust. It had been something more complicated and far more dangerous.

She finally managed to speak, though the words came out softer than she intended.

“You should not say things like that.”

“I know,” Julian answered. “I also know that staying silent has not changed what I feel. Every time we shared the circuit, every time you allowed me even a fraction of your mana and your presence, it only made the truth clearer. I am not asking you to accept it all at once. I am only telling you that the version of me you feared is not the only one that exists.”