Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 300: House Frost

CH300 House Frost

***

Alex’s words left Zora stunned. Then, in the next moment, her face lit up.

”Oh, Alex...” She sprang to her feet and moved around the table, hugging his head from behind and resting her chin gently atop his head.

”I’ve had a front-row seat to the most miracles you’ve made happen so far. I’ll never doubt anything you say you can do,” she whispered.

Alex reached up, grasped her hands where they rested across his chest, and pulled her around until she sat astride his lap. His hands settled firmly around her waist.

”That’s good to know,” he said with a soft smile. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her.

It was gentler than before—less fiery, but no less intimate.

When they parted, Alex’s grip around her waist unconsciously tightened.

”Thank you,” he said, meeting her gaze with quiet sincerity.

Zora quickly pulled him back into her embrace, pressing his head against her bosom as she rested her cheek on his hair. She hid the deep flush blooming across her face, using his body to steady her trembling frame.

In that instant, Alex’s words and expression had struck straight at her heart, leaving her momentarily weak. Fortunately, the last shred of composure within her allowed her to conceal the effect.

’Her maternal instincts must be strong. She really likes wrapping my head into her chest,’ Alex thought wryly—unaware of the emotional damage his heartfelt words had just inflicted.

He gently stroked her back, and the two of them shared a quiet moment in each other’s arms. It was a peaceful pause—a rare breath away from their usual workaholic lives, surrounded by each other’s warmth and scent.

Eventually, Zora’s strength returned, and the heat across her cheeks slowly faded. She released his head, though one arm remained draped around his neck as she stayed seated across his lap.

”I just realised,” Alex began, ”I don’t actually know much about your Frost Family—aside from what’s written in the history books. Which, honestly, isn’t much at all.”

Zora smiled faintly. ”There isn’t much to tell aside from what’s recorded. The Frost Family was once a powerful aristocratic lineage, tracing its roots back to before Emperor Commodus’s campaign into the Infernal Plane. That legacy continued well into the early days of planar travel.”

”Wait,” Alex interjected, his brows furrowing. ”Doesn’t that mean your family’s progenitor— master’s friend—had already travelled to our plane before our recorded first interplanar voyage?”

”You’re correct,” Zora said with a small smile. ”Powerful beings like Father and my family’s progenitor have been travelling between realms since millennia past. The so-called first interplanar travel merely marks the first recorded journey made by denizens of this realm—using this realm’s own power. All the great powers—royal families, archduchies, and imperial councils—know this.”

Alex’s expression turned contemplative. He recalled the saying that history was written by the strong.

Emperor Commodus had been powerful enough to shape the truth itself. Together with other ruling powers, he veiled the real history from the common masses, using the propaganda of the ”first interplanar travel” and its subsequent victories to consolidate their nations and personal dominions.

Zora pouted and patted his cheek to pull him back from his thoughts. Alex smiled wryly, nodding for her to continue.

Zora rolled her eyes—an effortlessly charming gesture that sent a small tremor through Alex’s legs. His hands, resting around her waist, drifted lower in a mischievous attempt to claim a little more of her curves.

A sharp smack quickly restored order.

Pouting in mock frustration, Alex returned his hands to their ’neutral’ position.

Suppressing a small laugh, Zora continued,

”When Emperor Commodus began consolidating his empire, the Frost Family was among the old aristocracies that opposed him—but to little effect. One after another, the ancient noble houses were pushed eastward, away from the imperial core, until they eventually established their own dominions to the east of the Arun Continent.”

She brushed a lock of blue hair behind her ear before going on,

”Recognising that most members of the Frost lineage were women, the family elders used marriage alliances to secure their influence. They wed the family’s daughters into the other displaced aristocracies, forming a web of ties that would later become the backbone of the Joint Defence Pact—a coalition formed to resist the Virellian Empire’s early expansion following the first interplanar invasion.”

Alex listened quietly, his hands absently tracing slow, thoughtful circles on her waist.

”That pact, brokered by the Frost Family, became the foundation upon which the Nearmarch Confederacy was built,” Zora explained.

”In exchange, the Frost Family relinquished their ancestral territory—which happened to be closest to the Confederacy’s geographic centre. That land became neutral imperial territory, governed not by one ruler but by the collective council of the Confederacy itself. In return, the Frost Family was granted ceremonial leadership, while the other old aristocratic houses—now royal families—brought their kingdoms into the alliance as members of the Confederate Council.”

”Wait—!” A sudden realisation hit Alex. ”If you’re the last scion of the Frost Family, doesn’t that make you the de facto queen of the Confederacy?”

”Technically... yes.” Zora smirked.

Alex’s jaw dropped. Zora burst out laughing, her shoulders and chest shaking with amusement—an unfairly distracting sight that left Alex momentarily entranced.

He quickly swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth before he embarrassed himself.

The scene was dangerously tempting. He had half a mind to lift her off his lap before his self-control snapped and he broke a social taboo by pinning her right there. Unfortunately for him, Zora seemed blissfully unaware of his internal struggle and kept herself comfortably seated on his legs.

Alex took a deep breath and called upon his formidable Spiritual Force to suppress the storm brewing in his mind. Only when he managed to rein it in did he allow himself a quiet sigh of relief.

”In that case,” he said with forced calm, ”I should be addressing you as milady queen from now on.”

”Of course,” Zora replied, leaning close to his ear. ”But not because of the Confederacy...” Her tone turned sultry, a whisper that sent a shiver down his spine. ”Because I’m your queen. Right?”

Then she nibbled playfully at his ear.

”Damn you, woman. That’s enough.” Alex growled, delivering a swift smack to her rear as he lifted her off his lap. ”Now I know you’re doing that on purpose.”

Zora’s laughter rang through the room, melodic and teasing, as she returned to her seat. She didn’t push her luck further, though—the last thing she wanted was to actually cross that line.

She composed herself before continuing, ”Although House Frost has dwindled to just me, our holdings still remain. Some are managed under the Confederate banner, others through a trust overseen by Pinchcoin’s finance department.”

”Good to know I’ve got a rich lady to fall back on.” Alex winked.

Zora chuckled softly.

Though he said it in jest, Alex didn’t actually mean it. In his mind, any wealth he needed, he could make himself. He didn’t need to rely on his wife’s assets.

The good old rule still held true—his wife’s money was her money alone.

”Alright,” Zora said, shifting the topic. ”That’s all there is to tell about my family. What you should be asking about is who your marriage candidates are.”

Alex’s expression turned serious. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.

”Okay,” he said evenly. ”Who are they?”

”The first,” Zora replied, her eyes glinting mischievously, ”is my chosen candidate—and someone you know quite well by now.”

Alex blinked. ”Huh?”

Zora smiled. ”Udara.”

***