Chapter 214: Using the nobles.
For a moment, he was left in silence after Mize exited the chamber.
His gaze lingered on the spot she had just vanished from, the faint echo of her voices lingered in his mind.
Then, almost reluctantly, his eyes shifted back to the wide glass panes at his side.
The view was vast.
From the palace’s elevated perch, the city spread outward like a tapestry, streets bustling with carts, traders shouting over the din, smoke from forges and kitchens curling into the sky.
It was alive, growing faster than he had ever anticipated, "Half a year into this world, and so many changes already"
He leaned slightly against the window frame, the reflection of his own shadow cutting across the busy scenery.
“I can protect her physically, yes…” His voice was low, almost meant only for himself. “But her state of mind, that is another matter entirely.”
The weight of his words hung in the air.
“She needs to understand… no matter how powerful we are, there will always be something we cannot control. Something we cannot save.”
A heavy sigh slipped from him, quiet yet edged with the fatigue of truths long carried.
In all honesty, if he could, he would've followed her words already.
He doesn't really care about this world. Even if this world was fated to be destroyed, he possessed countless other back up plans for the two of them to survive.
But not being able to fulfill her demand, for the very first time, "Sigh..."
Sadly enough, "I can't... "
His hand rose briefly to rub at his brow, then dropped to his side again.
The glass before him seemed to shimmer faintly with the play of light, but his focus wasn’t on the reflection, it was on the city, on the territory that stretched beyond its walls.
Still, his eyes remained steady.
He didn’t flinch from the truth; he only acknowledged it, "The only way is just to become stronger and stronger then... "
Then, Liam slowly shifted his gaze to the side.
Sensing something emerging.
From the polished stone floor, a pool of shadow spread outward, thick as ink bleeding into water.
Out of it rose a figure draped in a cloak of pure darkness, the Butler, his form indistinct, edges wavering like smoke.
“How is the assimilation progress doing?” Liam asked right away, voice calm, his eyes steady on the shadowed servant.
“Saka is doing a great job, my lord,” the Butler replied with measured tone.
"We are rapidly transferring the humans into our territory. But…” he hesitated slightly, “there’s a slight problem on Elias’ side.”
“What is it?” Liam cast him a brief glance before turning, walking back to the huge table at the center of the study room.
He drew the chair out, the wood grinding softly against the stone, and sat down with unhurried composure.
The shadowed figure followed, coming to stand at the table’s edge. “There are simply too many people. The current rate of our city expansions can’t keep up with the numbers being brought in.”
Liam raised his brows, eyes narrowing faintly. “Even with so many under him, he still cannot manage it? Is he courting death?”
"Perhaps I was being too lenient on his side hobby that he is failing in his main responsibility now."
“My Great Master, please, calm down,” the Butler said quickly, lowering his head, tone almost pleading.
Then, lifting his gaze back, he asked carefully, “Her Highness was here, wasn’t she?”
“She was,” Liam replied, his expression softening.
He gave a small nod before a quiet smile touched his lips, a clear shift in mood as soon as Mize entered the topic. “My dearest flower. I rubbed her head several times today.”
“What an honor it was for her, my lord,” the Butler answered, his tone respectful, though steady.
“No.” Liam waved his hand sharply, cutting the thought short.
His voice firm, but touched with a strange warmth. “It was my honor, to be graced by her presence in my life.”
“Beautiful as the flowers,” the Butler murmured.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Liam said, leaning back slightly in his chair, eyes fixed somewhere distant.
His smile lingered, faintly twitching as though caught between joy and restraint. “It’s a beautiful feeling. For a monster like me… to have something so completely opposite.”
The Butler shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, my lord. I was only born not too long ago.”
“Mm…” Liam’s smile twitched again, then faded into something softer, thoughtful. “Well… love is beautiful.”
“Indeed it is, by the looks of it. The lord has been smiling much more compared to before,” the Butler replied quietly.
“I am,” Liam admitted, before letting the thought trail away.
His hand lifted, fingers gesturing toward the Butler. “Then, let Saka receive any refugees coming from outside our protected area. The more, the better.”
“Understood.”
“As for the overpopulation,” Liam went on, tapping his finger on the table in brief thought, “and Elias’ failure to handle it…” He reached to the side, pulling out a scroll.
After pausing, he dipped the quill into ink and began writing, strokes steady.
It took him a full minute before the final mark was set. He rolled the scroll neatly and pushed it across the table.
The Butler took it with careful hands, unrolling it and reading silently.
When finished, he lowered the parchment slowly, voice subdued but tinged with admiration. “My master… this system is truly remarkable.”
“Indeed it is.” Liam leaned back slightly, his face unreadable. “This way we can conserve both resources and manpower, easing the strain on us. I’ll leave you in charge of this matter.”
“As you wish, my lord.”
With that, the Butler inclined his head.
From beneath his cloak, a wisp of smoke curled outward, spreading low along the floor.
The shadow of his form loosened, unraveling like mist, and then in a single trailing sweep he vanished into the dark corners of the chamber.
Liam remained at the table, returning calmly to his work, or what he might call work.
As for the plan that the Butler had praised so much, in truth, it was simple.
Liam’s domain stretched vast and wide.
Though two new cities had been created to relieve the strain, management of the territory as a whole was still sorely lacking.
In the back of his mind, Liam knew that the territory would only grow harder to control as time went on.
What he had now was already stretching thin, and if left unchecked, it might swell to the size of a world itself.
This territory can grow to the size of a world and more?
Yes, of course.
Galaxy even.
Too vast for him, too vast for the throne cabinet to govern alone.
Elias was reliable, but one man couldn’t possibly cover everything.
Even if Liam created more followers, he doubted they could keep pace with the rapid expansion.
The truth was simple, he couldn’t do it all himself.
Being all powerful he is, there's always something he couldn't do.
So he settled on a more practical system. Nobles would be placed in charge of the barren lands he had no time or means to manage directly.
Refugees pouring in from outside would be settled in those places, each group given a plot of land, a foundation to build on.
The nobles would rule those stretches as their own, but in name and authority, all of it would still belong to him.
Taxes would flow back to the palace once a year, a steady fee for the privilege of holding the land.
Nothing complicated, simple, but effective.
Liam had already noticed the number of nobles gathering in his territory these past months.
They had settled and adapted in part, but deep down many of them still longed for their former lives of wealth and indulgence.
That hunger for luxury lingered, almost stubborn.
For that, Liam would provide a path. He would give them the means to chase such a dream again, but only under the authority of the palace.
Whatever title or wealth they gained would exist beneath his rule.
The power they would hold was the power to govern land, granted, but never absolute.