The seven days that followed that meeting in the library were, for most students, a return to the bureaucratic tedium of academic life.

For me, however, they were a marathon of power consolidation and technical refinement.

The Royal Academy campus was bustling with the presence of new faces; substitute professors arrived to fill the gaps left by those who had cowered or perished during the barrier incident.

The atmosphere was one of forced discipline, as if the administration was desperate to sweep the recent chaos under the stone carpet of the central courtyard.

I observed all of this from a privileged position: the center of attention.

The rumor of my engagement to Rebeca Fou Holfort was no longer just gossip; it was a confirmed fact that altered the social gravity of the school.

One afternoon, as I walked through the inner gardens, Aria’s voice echoed in my mind with crystalline clarity, now that the System signal was stable.

(Master, the monitoring reports from the surveillance units have been processed,) she informed, projecting a small translucent screen that only I could see.

(The confirmation of the engagement has reached Mari’s group and the Princes. The reaction was... satisfactory.)

I stopped near a marble bust, pretending to observe the scenery while watching the footage recorded by Aria.

The scene showed Mari in one of the private halls, surrounded by the princes.

Marie’s face was pale, a mix of contained fury and pure shock.

The princes, once arrogant, suddenly seemed small.

They spoke in low tones, and the word "Holfort" was repeated like a warning of a curse.

They were intimidated.

The union of my lineage with Rebeca’s financial power created a political monster they couldn’t simply crush.

(Mari seems to be changing tactics,) Aria continued.

(We intercepted conversations where she suggests that direct confrontation is now unfeasible. She intends to attempt a diplomatic approach with you. She believes she can manipulate you to serve her interests through Rebeca’s influence.)

An involuntary and cold smile appeared on my lips.

"She wants to use me?" I thought, resuming my walk.

"Excellent. Let her come. Let her think I’m just a lucky and manipulable noble. Her greed will be the leash I’ll use to drag her to my side. The time for Mari to become mine is coming... she just doesn’t know it yet."

During those seven days, the System gave me what I could only call a "technical truce."

The daily missions continued arriving with mechanical regularity, but the restrictions were lifted.

There were no more skill blocks or suicidal missions in open field.

Most of the missions involved maintaining my relationship with Rebeca and Olivia.

With the help of Paratime, I could complete each daily objective in a matter of "seconds" for the outside world, accumulating points efficiently and discreetly.

At the end of the week, after adding up the gains from completion missions and consistency bonuses, my total reached 25,000 PV.

However, I knew that accumulating points without improving the base was a rookie mistake.

If the System decided to block me again, I couldn’t rely only on temporal tricks.

(Aria, initiate attribute investment protocol,) I ordered mentally during a night of meditation in the dormitory.

[ATTRIBUTE INVESTMENT INITIATED]

[COST: 3,000 PV]

[ATTRIBUTES ENHANCED: PHYSICAL STRENGTH (+15%), MAGIC RESISTANCE (+12%), PERCEPTION (+20%)]

[CURRENT BALANCE: 22,000 PV]

The sensation was immediate and almost painful.

I felt my muscles contract and restructure beneath my skin, becoming denser and more efficient.

My vision seemed to capture frames of movement I had ignored before, and the circulation of mana through my body became a constant and vigorous flow.

I was no longer just the frail noble who entered the academy; I was becoming a physical weapon.

This new vigor directly reflected in Daniel and Raymond’s training.

I took them to the training field every day before sunset. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

If before they were just "background characters" in my story, now I was shaping them to become the first officers of my personal army.

"Ten more reps, Daniel! If you can’t hold that shield against a basic strike, how do you expect to survive a noble dinner?" I shouted, watching him sweat under the training armor.

"You... you’re a monster, Shade!" Raymond exclaimed, panting, leaning on his wooden sword.

"Where did all this strength come from? A week ago you were getting tired with us!"

"The world changed, Raymond. And I changed with it," I replied, delivering a quick strike that disarmed him before he could even react.

"Stop complaining and focus. You’re no longer ’mobs.’ If you want to stand by my side when I reach the top, you need the strength to climb."

By the end of the week, their progress was visible. Their posture was straighter, their gaze more focused. They were still far from my level, but they no longer looked like easy prey.

On the night of the long-awaited engagement dinner, the dormitory was immersed in an atmosphere of nervous excitement.

Rebeca had sent a set of high-nobility clothing: a black silk tunic with silver thread details and a cloak subtly bearing the intertwined colors of the Bartfort and Fou Holfort families.

As I adjusted myself in front of the mirror, Daniel and Raymond watched me with a mix of admiration and their usual playful envy.

"Man, just look at you," Daniel said, whistling. "You look like you came straight out of an epic hero painting. Who would’ve thought the master of the ’chest hit’ would get this far."

"Yeah," Raymond added, laughing. "Our dream is to find a rich noblewoman like that to support us too. You’re our idol, Shade. The hero of the sponsored."

I stopped adjusting the silver cuffs and turned to them.

Their smiles faded a bit at the seriousness in my gaze.

"Listen carefully," I began, my voice low and authoritative. "If you think this is about being ’supported,’ then you understood nothing of what I taught this week."

"It was just a joke, man..." Daniel tried to intervene.

"It’s not a joke, it’s a small-minded mentality," I cut in. "Support is for those who want to be pets. What I have with Rebeca is an alliance. I’m not receiving charity; I’m receiving resources to build an empire. I’m not being funded by her—I’m being crowned by her because she saw that I am the only man capable of taking her beyond what her family allows."

A heavy silence filled the room.

"Stop dreaming about women who will support you. Start dreaming about becoming so valuable that the most powerful women in the kingdom will fight to stand by your side. Understood?"

The two nodded in silence, visibly impacted.

I picked up my cloak and walked toward the door.

"Good luck at the dinner, Shade," Raymond said, this time with genuine respect. "Show those nobles who’s in charge."

I left the dormitories and walked toward the academy’s outer limits.

The night was clear, with the full moon illuminating the stone towers like silver sentinels.

I avoided the usual patrols, using my enhanced perception to detect the sound of guards’ boots before even seeing them.

I entered the forest surrounding the campus, where the vegetation was dense enough to hide what was about to happen.

My new physical attributes made moving through the thick woods effortless; I moved with an agility that surprised even me.

Upon reaching an isolated clearing, I saw a familiar silhouette waiting beneath the trees.

It was Rebeca.

She wore a luxurious yet practical travel dress, and her expression was one of pure anticipation.

"You’re here," she said, her eyes shining as she saw me in the clothes she had chosen. "You look impeccable, Shade. You almost look like a real prince."

"I don’t need to look like a prince, Rebeca. I am the man who will change the rules of this world," I replied, approaching her. "Ready to see our future wedding gift?"

She nodded eagerly.

I closed my eyes for a moment and called mentally. (Aria, descend now. Invisibility protocol at 10% for landing maneuver.)

The sound came first.

It wasn’t the beating of wings or conventional engines, but a deep, harmonic hum that seemed to vibrate in the bones.

Above us, the treetops were stirred by a controlled displacement of air.

From the clouds, a massive metallic shadow began to descend.

The Airship revealed itself slowly, its aerodynamic lines and the glow of ancient runes reflecting the moonlight.

It was a machine of war and luxury, a relic from a lost era that now obeyed only me.

Rebeca took a step back, her hand covering her mouth in shock.

She had heard about it, but seeing the magnitude of that vessel before her eyes was something no description could prepare her for.

"This..." she stammered, eyes fixed on the black metal structure. "This is... impossible. Shade, how did you...?"

"This is only the beginning of our journey, Rebeca," I said, extending my hand as a metal ramp began to descend silently from the belly of the ship. "Welcome aboard."

I felt the system register my satisfaction.

The dinner with the Holfort family was about to begin, but before that, I had an experiment to conduct and an artificial intelligence to present to my fiancée.