I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM

Chapter 862: A change of interest

Julian’s smile faded.

A thick, suffocating aura suddenly erupted from his body.

It was dense, oppressive, and spread through out the balcony like a heavy palm pressing down from the heavens.

The environment seemed to tremble under it. The teacup on the table rattled faintly and even the chair that Louisa was sat, skid a little.

Her eyes widened in pure shock.

For a moment she looked as if the air itself had grown too thick to draw into her lungs. Her fingers tightened, and a visible strain crossed her face as she struggled to endure the sudden pressure.

“I already warned you,” Julian said. “Do not plot against me behind my back.”

The aura continued to press down for another long second, heavy enough to make the space between them feel smaller and far more dangerous.

Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, Julian drew it back.

The pressure vanished, leaving only the ordinary afternoon air in its place.

Louisa quickly inhaled as if she were starved for years. After few seconds of heavy breathing, she stared at him with a mixture of anger, and reluctant recognition of the power he had just displayed so casually.

Meanwhile, Julian’s expression did not change much.

“I came here in good faith,” he continued. “But if our arrangement no longer holds value for you, then say it clearly. Do not waste my time with silence.”

**

Julian never cared much about the power struggle between the two brothers.

From the moment he had taken Kraven’s body, the conflict between Duke Astran and Liam was nothing more than a background noise to him.

It was just two ambitious men competing for control of a single duchy.

He left them to their own games and watched from a distance, intervening only when their movements threatened to interfere with his real purpose.

Whether the Duke or Liam ultimately came out on top never mattered to him.

His only goal was to investigate the Servant of Death in silence, gather information, and decide his next step without unnecessary entanglement.

But now the entire situation had flipped.

What he had uncovered over the past months painted a far bigger picture than a simple dispute.

Almost the whole of the Hermes Kingdom appeared to be under the direct or indirect control of the Servant of Death.

The signs were everywhere: the crown prince, the strange aura clinging to Captain Voss, the erased history of Valthor, the memories of Kraven, and the way how royal capital sealed themselves to prevent the information leak.

This was no longer a matter that Julian could hope to solve on his own.

It was much more than that. So he needed to be critical.

Julian himself was at the level of a Transcendent Mage, a being of the God Realm. In most cases that alone would have been enough to dominate an entire mortal kingdom.

But his opponent was Servant of death, someone who reported directly to one of the supreme beings.

He must be atleast on the same realm as me, or in worst case scenario, higher than me.

That was the only logical conclcusion that he could reach.

Even if he set aside the gap in personal cultivation, the difference in forces supporting them was even more severe. The Servant did not move alone. He already held the greater part of Hermes in his grasp, and Julian strongly suspected that his influence extended further into other kingdoms.

But, most importantly…

Heaven’s Realm.

That last possibility was the greatest variable of all.

Julian had once stepped onto the trail that led toward the Heaven’s Realm. He had glimpsed its edges and felt the weight of laws and existences that stood above ordinary divinity.

But he had never mapped its full structure… never measured the true depth of the powers that resided there. If the Servant of Death were to bring forces from that level, which Julian believed that he could, then the scale of war would be unimaginable.

Because of that, every small force now mattered.

A single loyal archmage, a stable territory, a noble house willing to stand against the crown – each of these had become valuable.

If the Duke truly made up his mind to oppose the royal family, then Duke Astran was no longer just another player in a local succession struggle.

He was a potential partner.

A stronghold.

A foundation that could be reinforced and used when the larger war finally broke into the open.

And that meant Julian could no longer afford to treat Liam’s ambitions with the same uninterest as before.

If Liam continued unchecked, if he succeeded in weakening or fracturing the Duke’s position at this critical moment, then one of the few reliable pieces would be damaged or lost entirely.

That was no longer acceptable.

**

Julian’s eyes narrowed slightly as he sat across from Louisa, the earlier pressure of his aura still lingering faintly in the air between them.

He could still see the woman trembling.

That, however, was not his problem. He had respected her enough to accept a deal in the first place. If she had fulfilled her end of it, he would have fulfilled his without hesitation. But if she chose to back out and become a thorn in his side, then he would treat her no differently from any other enemy.

“I thought I asked you a question,” Julian said with a steel in his tone. “Are you just going to remain silent?”

Louisa flinched. The residual pressure of his earlier aura still seemed to linger in her body, and it took her a second to gather herself. She quickly lowered her gaze.

“No… I’ll speak.”

Her voice was quieter than before, stripped of the usual control she wore like armor. She kept her head down as she continued.

“Liam seems to have found some way… to make the King favor him more.”

Julian raised a brow.

“Continue.”

Louisa’s fingers tightened slightly.

“I don’t know the details. He is planning something, but he has not even briefed me on it.”

“Must be very important if he has not even let you in,”