Chapter 909: Alternate Timeline: Pleasant Breakfast
The courtyard fell silent.
Talcred Silver blinked.
The guards looked up in disbelief.
Wester continued, his tone flat as stone.
"Do not kill them. Do not let them fall into deep unconsciousness. But make certain that when others look upon them, they will believe they fought with all their strength."
The meaning struck everyone at once.
The guards began pleading for mercy.
"My lord!"
"We are loyal!"
"Please!"
But Wester Silver had already turned away.
Talcred Silver clenched his jaw.
Then he moved.
The sounds that followed echoed through the courtyard.
Heavy blows.
Grunts of pain.
Bodies hitting stone.
Wester did not look back. He stared instead at the morning sky, his expression unmoving.
When it was over, the eight guards lay bruised and groaning on the ground.
Wester turned toward them.
"Listen carefully," he said.
His voice was calm now, which frightened them more than his anger had.
"An unidentified intruder abducted my son while he slept. You eight were stationed on the first floor. You fought to stop the intruder and were defeated. Before reinforcements arrived, the assailant escaped using a treasure."
His eyes swept over them.
"You will tell His Majesty exactly that."
He paused.
The silence stretched like a drawn bowstring.
"And if even one rumor emerges that contradicts this story, and if that rumor can be traced to any of you, then the abyss will become your final home."
The guards shuddered and nodded repeatedly.
No one doubted he meant every word.
Soon afterward, Wester Silver prepared to leave for the Imperial Palace.
He intended to report his son’s "abduction" to the Emperor and present a threatening letter that he had happened to receive from the kidnapper, demanding his resignation, the cancellation of the marriage alliance, and five hundred thousand gold coins of ransom.
The letter itself was meaningless.
He had forced one of his cooks to write it.
The man would later accept blame, be imprisoned, and his family would receive enough gold to live comfortably in some distant town.
To Wester, this was not cruelty.
It was simply the cost of preserving a larger structure.
When a king builds a bridge, he thought, no one counts how many stones were buried beneath the river.
As he climbed into his carriage, Wester reviewed the list of possible culprits.
Neron Silver and several ambitious elders.
The Nyx Guild.
House Mist.
House Vale.
And finally, Kiara.
All of them had reason to oppose House Silver’s alliance with House Drake.
Yet beneath all those possibilities, one suspicion lingered like a shadow.
Lucian Storm.
Could House Storm be sheltering Arceus even now?
Wester ordered his spies to quietly investigate Storm Manor.
By noon, news of Arceus Silver’s "abduction" had spread across the Imperial City like fire racing through dry grass.
Soldiers were dispatched.
Questions were asked.
Rumors began to stir.
But inside Nexus Weapon Store, the mood could not have been more different.
At the dining table on the upper floor, Kiara and Arceus sat facing one another while Noah moved silently between them, serving breakfast.
Warm sunlight poured through the windows and spread across the polished floorboards.
The room carried the comforting scent of butter, potatoes, eggs, and honey.
For Arceus, who had spent the night in uncertainty, the peaceful atmosphere felt almost unreal.
His eyes moved from one dish to another, confusion and curiosity mingling on his face.
There were golden potato pancakes, crisp at the edges and soft in the center.
There was a farmer’s breakfast, hearty and fragrant.
A potato omelet.
Bircher muesli drizzled with honey.
And a bowl of semolina pudding that gleamed like pale silk.
He also stared at the strange metal utensil in Kiara’s hand.
It resembled a small pitchfork, the sort farmers used in the fields, except refined and polished.
Kiara noticed his expression and, with a faint smile, began introducing each dish.
"This is a potato pancake."
She pointed to another plate.
"This is a farmer’s breakfast."
Then the omelet.
"This is a potato omelet."
She tapped the bowl of oats.
"This is Bircher muesli. It tastes best with honey or milk."
Finally, she indicated the pudding.
"This is semolina pudding. It is sweet, so it is better to eat it at the end."
Arceus listened carefully, as though attending a lesson in an unfamiliar world. He never heard of those dishes in his life, and that last dish, he didn’t even hear that word. Is that even Orlon language?
Kiara demonstrated how to hold the fork and knife, cutting a small piece and lifting it with practiced ease.
"If you are uncomfortable with these dishes," she said, "please tell me what you would prefer. We have enough ingredients, and Noah can prepare something familiar."
Arceus quickly waved his hand.
"No, no, it is not that."
His eyes wandered over the table again.
"I was only surprised. Everything about you is unique, Lady Kiara. Sitting here feels as though I have stepped through a hidden door and entered another world."
Kiara tilted her head. "Is that a compliment?"
Arceus smiled.
"Yes."
Something in his sincere tone warmed her more than the sunlight. And having a normal breakfast with another human improved her mood.
"Then taste everything," Kiara said. "And tell me which you like most."
Arceus followed her instructions carefully.
At first, his movements were awkward.
The fork and knife felt strange in his hands.
But gradually he relaxed, tasting each dish one by one.
After a thoughtful pause, he pointed to the semolina pudding.
"I like this one best."
Kiara’s lips curved before she could stop herself. "Is that so?"
Arceus noticed her reaction. "What happened?"
Kiara immediately looked away and cleared her throat.
"Nothing."
Noah, who had been standing beside them, spoke in his usual straightforward tone. "The semolina pudding was personally prepared by Big Sis."
Arceus turned to Kiara, his eyes widening.
"Really?"
Kiara took a bite of her potato pancake to hide her embarrassment. "It is nothing special."
But Arceus had already taken another spoonful, and this time he savored it more slowly.
"It is very good," he said with genuine warmth.
The simple praise settled over the table like soft sunlight.
For a moment, Kiara forgot the schemes, the enemies, and the burdens waiting beyond the walls of her store.
She felt only the quiet happiness of sharing a meal with someone who truly appreciated it.
It had been a long time since breakfast had felt this alive.
Meanwhile, across the table, Noah watched them in silence.
A strange sensation stirred within him.
As he looked at Arceus seated in the guest chair, being served food and receiving Kiara’s gentle attention, a thought rose in his mechanical mind.
It would be nice, he realized, to sit in that place one day and be looked after in the same way.
The feeling was unfamiliar.
Noah did not have a name for it.
And so he stood quietly, holding the serving spoon in his hand, while that small and mysterious emotion flickered inside his heart like the first spark of a newly lit flame.