Chapter 249: Orvain Arcturus 2
Aurelian understood that kind of problem.
A family branch did not disappear only when its people died out. Sometimes it slowly faded because it no longer had a place where it mattered, and over time, that could be just as damaging.
Orvain looked at him again before speaking.
"The Crownward March is dangerous," he said, "but it is also the kind of place where capable people can become important very quickly. That’s what my branch needs."
Aurelian didn’t answer right away. This wasn’t the sort of offer he could accept just because it sounded useful.
"What would you want in return?" he asked.
Orvain laughed softly.
"Direct. Just like your father."
Orvain clasped his hands behind his back as they continued walking through the garden.
"I would like my branch to be among the first family branches allowed to establish itself there. I want land rights where it makes sense, industrial shares where they’re earned, leadership positions where my people prove they deserve them, and the opportunity to send young commanders to learn under Crownward March operations."
Aurelian raised an eyebrow.
"That’s a lot."
"It is," Orvain admitted. "But I’m not asking for any of it for free."
Aurelian waited.
Orvain turned fully toward him.
"In return, I’m willing to place my branch’s assets under your strategic authority."
Aurelian narrowed his eyes slightly.
That sounded almost too good.
Orvain immediately noticed the reaction and smiled.
"I know what you’re thinking. No, I’m not trying to work my way into your territory from the inside. If I wanted to play those games, I wouldn’t be standing here saying it openly."
"Then why offer that much?"
Orvain was quiet for a moment before answering.
"Because I’m too old to play mind games with you."
His expression softened slightly.
"Aurelian, you’re already Tier III. You have a Tier V flagship. You found a hidden frontier, secured a habitable world, inherited an ancient bastion, recovered technologies most people only dream about, and somehow managed to make the family leadership change its long-term plans."
He shook his head with a faint smile.
"I spent years hoping someone from my branch would become the kind of person I could trust with its future. Instead, that person appeared in the main family line."
The praise made Aurelian uncomfortable, but Orvain continued before he could say anything.
"I don’t care if the next great rise of my branch carries my name. What I care about is making sure my people have a future worth building. If that future happens under your command, then I don’t see that as a loss."
For several moments, Aurelian remained silent.
Behind him, Astra said nothing, but he could feel her paying close attention.
Eventually, he asked, "Does Father know you’re thinking this way?"
Orvain laughed.
"He suspects."
"Of course he does."
"Cassian suspects everything but doesn’t stop anything that is not bad for the overall situation. It’s one of his more annoying traits, but that is what makes him different from other clan leaders."
"That sounds accurate."
"I’ll speak to him properly after this," Orvain said. "But I wanted your reaction first."
Aurelian looked out across the garden while he thought.
He could see the logic behind the offer.
Orvain’s branch wasn’t among the strongest branches of the family, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
A branch with too much power might eventually try to dominate the March or create competing interests. A smaller branch, one that needed room to grow, would be far more careful.
They had enough people and resources to be useful.
Not enough to become a threat.
At least not if things were managed properly.
It was still a risk.
Then again, almost everything connected to the March had started as a risk.
"What about leadership?" Aurelian asked. "If your people come, they don’t get positions just because they belong to your branch. They earn them."
"That’s exactly what I want."
"And if they fail?"
"Then remove them."
Aurelian studied him carefully.
Orvain’s expression never changed.
"Don’t treat them gently because they’re mine," he said. "That would defeat the entire purpose."
Aurelian slowly nodded.
"Then I’m willing to consider it."
Orvain waited.
"But not all at once," Aurelian continued. "Start small. Engineers, administrators, a few settlement staff, and maybe two or three young commanders. That’s enough for a first group."
"Reasonable."
"They’ll work under existing March structures. If they perform well, we expand. If they cause problems, we stop."
Orvain nodded.
"Fair."
Aurelian smiled slightly.
"It’s more generous than fair."
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he had just repeated something Cassian had said earlier.
Orvain noticed too.
A laugh escaped him.
"You really are Cassian’s son."
"That’s not always a compliment."
They started walking again, moving more slowly than before.
The conversation felt different now. The important part had already been decided, and Orvain looked much more relaxed than when they had started.
It was almost as if he had already received the answer he wanted.
After a short silence, he spoke again.
"There is one more thing."
Aurelian sighed.
"There usually is."
Orvain smiled.
"I spent years looking for the right future anchor for my branch."
Aurelian glanced toward him.
"Originally, I thought it might be your father. Later, I wondered whether one of his children would eventually become suitable."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It probably was."
Aurelian shook his head.
"And now?"
"Now we’re having this conversation."
That was difficult to argue with.
Orvain continued.
"I expected that decision to arrive years from now, not this quickly."
Aurelian snorted softly.
"That’s a polite way of saying I ruined your plans."
"You absolutely ruined my plans."
"Good to know."
"Terribly."
That finally pulled a genuine smile from Aurelian.
Orvain shook his head.
"Your father became family head, and once that happened, things became more complicated. Aligning my branch directly beneath him no longer made as much sense."
"Politics?"
"Partly."
"And now?"
"Now you’ve returned with a frontier that needs people, territory large enough to support them, and opportunities most branches would fight over."
Aurelian couldn’t really argue with that either.
The March needed manpower.
It needed specialists.
It needed clan members willing to build something from the ground up.
Most importantly, it needed people willing to grow alongside it rather than simply take advantage of it.
Orvain seemed to understand all of that.
For a moment, they walked in silence.
The garden remained peaceful around them, with evening light filtering through the trees and distant estate traffic moving across the sky far beyond the grounds.
Eventually, Aurelian looked toward him.
"So you’ve made your decision."
"I have."
"And you’re sure?"
Orvain’s answer came without hesitation.
"Completely."
Aurelian stopped walking.
Orvain did the same.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Orvain smiled, looking far more relaxed than he had at the start of the conversation.
There was confidence in that smile, but also relief.
The expression of someone who had spent a long time searching for an answer and finally found one.
"I spent years thinking your father would be the future anchor for my branch," he said.
Aurelian waited.
Orvain’s smile widened slightly.
"Then you showed up."
Aurelian raised an eyebrow.
"And now?"
Orvain looked directly at him.
"Now I’ve changed candidates."
Aurelian held his gaze.
Orvain’s smile never moved.
"I found a better one."
