[A/N: Had a long powercut so it took me some extra time to finish all the writing.]

Adrian was sitting inside the forest with his troops. He spotted the movement on the wall and walked out of the tree line.

He used his voice amplification spell again.

"Good job." Adrian’s voice boomed. "I will keep my word and we will leave now."

"No!" Thorne screamed back from the wall. "Please stop! Let us talk!"

Thorne tossed Alexander’s body right off the edge. The corpse dropped down and hit the ground like a broken doll.

Then Thorne rushed down the stairs and ordered the men to pull the heavy gates open.

The Knight Captain walked out with his entire remaining army trailing behind him.

Thorne walked a few paces forward and then dropped to his knees right on the dirt road. Every single soldier behind him immediately followed his lead. Three thousand men knelt in the dirt in total submission.

Adrian slowly rode his horse toward them while his elite knights marched closely behind his mount.

When Adrian got close enough, Thorne looked up at him.

"Please take over this land, Lord Adrian." Thorne pleaded loudly. "We wish to serve a Lord like you."

Adrian looked at the kneeling army and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I guess I could do that." Adrian said casually.

He looked past the gates and stared at the city for a few seconds. "Though taking over a new city does require a lot of things to look into. What about the Halerius family? The wives and the heirs?"

Thorne did not even hesitate. "We can just kill them all for you."

"Nah." Adrian shook his head. "There is no need to kill the family. It was Alexander who went against me so I don’t really have an issue with the others. We just need them to accept the fact that they are handing over every single thing they own. They just need to sign the official documents."

Thorne bowed his head. "Understood, my lord."

Adrian spurred his horse forward and rode right through the open gates with his inner circle and exactly one thousand knights. He left the remaining four thousand soldiers waiting outside the walls just in case of an emergency ambush.

He went straight to the viscount’s mansion, only to see that Alexander’s own soldiers had surrounded the building. They were actively keeping watch on the doors and making sure no one from the noble family escaped.

Adrian hopped off his horse and walked into the lavish house.

He stepped into the main living room and found the entire Halerius family tied up with thick ropes. They were sitting on the expensive carpets, kept watch by their own former servants.

Adrian looked them over.

There were Alexander’s two wives, Felicia, and her younger brother who looked completely terrified.

Adrian stood in front of them and crossed his arms.

"Well." Adrian started calmly. "I know you are all incredibly angry at me right now, and you probably feel like this is totally unfair. But your head of the house was the one who went against me first. Alexander secretly had my town burned to ashes. So this outcome is exactly what he asked for."

The family members just stared at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"Now, you have two options." Adrian held up two fingers. "The first option is that I will kill you all right now."

The younger concubine let out a muffled sob.

"The second option," Adrian continued, "Is that you guys will hand over this entire territory to me legally."

Adrian looked directly at the young boy.

"You will be signing the transfer documents." Adrian told the kid. "Because you are the official male heir of this territory. But I will still be taking everyone else’s signatures as witnesses to prevent any future disputes."

The family members looked at each other in pure relief.

They were genuinely terrified that he was going to sell them all off as slaves to a foreign kingdom. The fact that he was just taking their land and letting them live was a massive blessing.

Both of the wives nodded frantically.

"We agree." the older wife said quickly. "It is fine. Just let us live and let our children live. We will sign whatever you want."

"Sure." Adrian nodded and pointed at the son. "Tell him to sign."

The boy gulped and nodded his head rapidly. "I will sign it."

Adrian pulled out a Soul Contract from his dungeon and dropped it on the floor.

"Sign this first." Adrian demanded. "This contract legally binds your souls. Your family can never go against me directly or indirectly ever again."

Once they all pricked their thumbs and stamped their blood on the parchment, Adrian pulled out standard imperial territory transfer documents.

The boy grabbed a quill and signed his family’s legacy away in seconds, which meant that the entire territory officially belonged to Adrian now.

Adrian tucked the documents into his coat. He turned to the guards standing nearby.

"Untie them." Adrian ordered. He looked back at the ruined nobles. "Get out of this city."

The guards cut the thick ropes and Alexander’s family stumbled up from the carpets. They rubbed their wrists and quietly shuffled toward the heavy wooden doors.

But Felicia stopped right at the threshold.

She looked back at him over her shoulder. Her eyes were totally bloodshot. They held nothing but pure grief and a burning anger because she had literally lost her father, her massive wealth, and her entire future in a single day.

But there was nothing she could do. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

So she balled her small hands into tight fists and walked out of the mansion that wasn’t hers anymore.

Adrian did not give a single fuck about her dramatic exit.

He just turned his back to the door and looked around the grand mansion instead. It was absolutely stunning. Rare imported woods made up the furniture and beautifully paintings were hung up on the walls. This place was just so much better than his own mansion.

And this city was also located much closer to the royal capital compared to Oresfall.

He thought about it for a second. ’Is it better to just move into this place and make it my new capital?’

He quickly shook the thought away.

’Nah, Oresfall is Oresfall. I like my own town better.’