Strongest Incubus System

Chapter 363: General meeting

The meeting was scheduled for early evening, in the larger room of the east wing, because Morgana’s office could no longer hold everyone without looking like a collapsing storage room. The central table was cleared in a hurry, though "cleared" merely meant Aria pushed three stacks of documents onto a side table and swore she still knew the exact order of everything. No one believed her, but no one had the energy to argue.

Morgana arrived first, bringing Caldrick Voss’s signed declaration, the false order from the Council of Guarantees, and a short list of names the captured knights had provided during the first interrogation. Elizabeth came soon after, with sealed letters from Mirath and a financial report she had received by messenger. Aria entered carrying registry books, old seals, and two quills in her hair, without noticing either of them. Ester entered last, pushing Damon into the room with an expression that made it clear he was only there because he had promised to stay seated.

Damon did not like the chair placed for him near the unlit fireplace. Not because it was uncomfortable, but because it was clearly positioned too far from the table to prevent him from taking documents, pointing at maps, or physically participating in anything. He looked at Ester. Ester looked back. The entire conversation happened in silence, and Damon lost.

"You stay there," she said.

"I did not even say anything."

"Your face did."

"My face is being censored now?"

"As long as I am responsible for your recovery, yes."

Aria placed the records on the table and raised her head. "I support censoring his face. He makes that expression like he is about to get up and solve a problem with emotionally justified violence."

Damon pointed at her. "That is a very specific portrait."

"I have experience."

Morgana sat at the head of the table. There was exhaustion in her, but there was also firmness. The difference from the last few weeks was clear. Before, she looked like someone trying to keep the house from collapsing by holding the walls with her own hands. Now, she still carried far too much weight, but accepted that other people could hold beams beside her. She was not healed. No one there was. But she was less alone.

Elizabeth stood to her right, opening Mirath’s report. "Let us organize the situation before making any decision. There are too many loose threads, and Havelock may be counting precisely on that."

Morgana nodded. "Let us begin with Arven."

Aria pulled out a thick notebook and opened it to a page marked with red ribbon. "Short summary: Arven is still in debt, but less condemned than it seemed two weeks ago. The debt with Verden is suspended for formal review. House Voss annulled the entire charge after today’s incident. We still have pending matters with Halbrecht, lesser houses connected to transport, two arms supply contracts, and three loans that seem to have been signed by Albert under the influence of the former Duchess."

Damon leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "When you say ’seem,’ you mean there is still no way to prove it?"

"Exactly," Aria answered. "Some have obvious patterns. Dates when Albert was isolated, witnesses chosen by the Duchess, absurd clauses favoring third parties. But the law does not accept ’this stinks of manipulation’ as a formal argument, unfortunately."

"It should," Damon said.

Elizabeth turned a page of the report. "It would be convenient, but dangerous. Half the nobility would accuse the other half of signing stinking contracts."

"Maybe that would improve general honesty."

"Or start a civil accounting war."

Aria raised her hand. "As someone who has been reading accounting for weeks, I support anything that reduces the number of books."

Morgana gave her a dry look. "We are not setting archives on fire."

"I did not say setting them on fire. I only thought it very loudly."

Ingrivid was near the door, as always, but this time she was not merely guarding the entrance. She had a map of the duchy clipped to a board and several markings made by hand. Since the attempted arrest, she had taken over the review of security routes. She pointed to three areas near the southern border. "Voss’s men confirmed that the crestless knights came through secondary roads. That means someone inside Arven authorized or ignored their passage. They did not enter through the main post."

Morgana went still for an instant. "Internal traitors."

"Or bought guards," Ingrivid said. "I do not yet know which is worse."

Damon looked at the map. "Bought ones are simpler."

Ester narrowed her eyes. "No."

"I was only going to say they are simpler to identify."

"You were going to say they are simpler to break."

"That too, but later."

Morgana took a deep breath. "I do not want a blind purge. If we start arresting guards without proof, Havelock gains another argument to say Arven has become an unstable house."

Elizabeth agreed with a small gesture. "Better to conduct a silent audit. Change shifts, cross-check names, verify who was stationed when the knights passed. Whoever reacts too badly points us in the right direction."

Aria wrote something down. "I can compare recent guard payments with the irregular entries I found in the treasury books. If someone received money from outside, perhaps it appears as a settled debt, a suspicious purchase, or a deposit in a relative’s name."

Damon looked at her. "You are enjoying this."

"A little. It is like hunting monsters, except the monsters use ink and think abbreviations are hiding places."

Ester commented dryly, "That explains why you have two quills in your hair."

Aria reached up, found one quill, then the other, and decided not to show embarrassment. "Tools of war."

Elizabeth opened a letter from Mirath. "Externally, there is another matter. My friend in Mirath confirmed financial movements tied to Havelock. Nothing direct, obviously. But three commercial houses used by Halbrecht bought smaller Arven debts in recent weeks, and two of them have old ties to Verden. This suggests coordination among creditors."

Morgana closed her hand over the table. "Then these are not separate charges. They are grouping pressure."

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "And probably trying to create a scenario in which Arven seems insolvent, disorganized, and dangerous. If they manage that, they can request intervention from the Council of Guarantees or force a joint renegotiation on much worse terms."

Damon was silent for a few seconds, processing. "Today’s false order would be the first rehearsal."

"Or the first real attempt," Morgana said. "If Damon had not been with me, perhaps they would have managed to take me. Even for a few hours, it would have been enough to spread rumors."

Ingrivid tightened her grip on the board. "That is why you will no longer make visits with a minimal escort."

Morgana looked at her. "Ingrivid."

"It is not a request."

The room went quiet.

Damon said nothing, because for once he did not need to. Ingrivid was right, and Morgana knew it. Even so, accepting that was admitting the situation had passed from difficult negotiation into direct threat. Morgana looked away first, and that was enough as a concession.

"Fine," she said. "Starting tomorrow, no external visits without reinforced escort and double confirmation of the location."

Ester pointed at Damon. "And he only accompanies you if I authorize it."

Damon opened his mouth.

Ester looked at him.

He closed his mouth.

Aria smiled. "That was one of the fastest negotiations of the night."

Morgana returned to the documents. "Now Havelock. What do we have concretely?"

Aria pulled out three sheets. "We have Caldrick’s declaration stating Havelock coerced him. We have the false order with an apparently valid seal or a very well-made copy. We have the four captured knights, all saying they received payment through a man named Soren Vale, who works as a commercial agent between Halbrecht and Verden. And we have old records showing Havelock appears as a witness in at least five contracts signed by the former Duchess in Albert’s name."

Elizabeth completed, "Enough for strong suspicion. Not enough to bring him down alone."

Damon tilted his head. "And if Caldrick sends the message asking for new instructions?"

"He already did," Morgana said.

He looked at her.

She did not look away. "Before the meeting. Under Ingrivid’s supervision. The message said the attempt failed, but that Damon reacted violently and that this can be used against me if Havelock acts quickly."

Damon remained silent for a few seconds. "You used my intimidation moment as bait."

Elizabeth drank tea with offensive calm. "Yes."

"Without telling me?"

Ester crossed her arms. "You were sleeping, as you should have been."

"I was being manipulated while unconscious?"

Aria leafed through the papers. "You were being useful while finally quiet."

Damon looked at Morgana, waiting for some apology from her. Morgana merely raised her eyebrows. "Did it work?"

He breathed through his nose, too frustrated to deny it. "We do not know yet."

"Then complain later."

Damon stared at her for a moment. Then he let out a low laugh and leaned back in the chair. "That was very Elizabeth of you."

Elizabeth seemed pleased. "She learns quickly."

Morgana ignored them both. "If Havelock answers, we will have something more direct. If he does not, at least we will know he is suspicious and likely pressured."

Ingrivid pointed to the map again. "In the meantime, we need to protect three points: archives, treasury, and Albert. If their objective is to declare Arven unstable, they may try to attack anything that supports your legitimacy."

Albert’s name made the room heavier.

Morgana looked down for an instant. "My father still cannot be exposed to this."

Elizabeth spoke carefully. "How is he?"

"Better than before. He can converse for longer. He recognizes lapses. He remembers some things the Duchess did, but not all. When he tries to force memories, he has episodes. The doctor says recovery will be slow."

Damon observed Morgana. Her voice became more controlled when speaking of her father, which meant it hurt more. "Does he know about today’s attempt?"

"No."

"Better that way," Ester said. "For now."

Morgana nodded. "For now."

Aria turned another page of the notebook. "About money: the annulment of the Voss debt gives us some breathing room. Verden’s review may greatly reduce immediate pressure. If we prove the two arms contracts were fraudulent, Arven stops bleeding gold every month. But there is still the production problem."

Morgana closed her eyes for a second. "The northern mines."

"Yes," Aria said. "Three are halted due to lack of maintenance. The Duchess diverted funds, the equipment broke, and the local administrators began selling material off the books. If the mines return to production, Arven recovers real revenue in a few months."

Damon leaned a little forward, forgetting for an instant the order to stay still. "I can help with that."

Ester turned immediately. "No."

"I did not even say how."

"You were going to suggest going to the mines."

"Maybe."

"No."

"Ester, I can walk, fight, and cultivate. I am not porcelain."

"Porcelain does not freeze barons."

"Exactly. I am more durable."

Morgana raised her hand before the discussion could grow. "The mines will have to wait. I am not sending Damon north now, and I will not move enough guards while Havelock is still active."

Damon did not like it, but accepted it. Or at least decided not to argue out loud. The north could be important, but the priority was to keep the house from being attacked from within before recovering revenue.

Elizabeth looked at him, noticing his displeasure. "Your immediate function remains controlled presence. That is not little."

"It feels little."

"Because you confuse usefulness with visible action."

Ester murmured, "Finally someone put it into words."

Damon looked at her. "You are enjoying this meeting far too much."

"I am enjoying other people explaining things I have been repeating for weeks."

Morgana rested her elbows on the table, tired, but attentive. "So, to summarize: we have fraudulent debts under review, Havelock as the probable external organizer, possible infiltration in Arven’s routes, archives and treasury as targets, my father still vulnerable, production in the north halted, and a growing reputation that Damon woke from a coma as a walking threat."

Aria raised a finger. "A walking frozen threat."

Damon pointed at her. "Unnecessary."

"I need to be precise."

Elizabeth continued, "We also have advantages. Caldrick is cooperating out of fear. Verden was forced to retreat. Mirath can track financial movements. Aria has enough documents to begin connecting contracts. Ingrivid is reorganizing security. Ester keeps Damon functional, even against his will. And Morgana is finally delegating."

Morgana looked at Elizabeth. "Do not turn this into a personal victory."

"I do not need to. It is a collective victory."

Aria smiled. "I like that name. Collective victory sounds better than organized collapse."

Ester looked at Damon. "And you are going to sleep after this."

"I knew it would end with me."

"Almost everything ends with you doing something reckless or being stopped from doing it."

Damon sighed, but without true irritation. He looked at Morgana, then at the documents, the map, Elizabeth, Aria, Ester, and Ingrivid. The situation was bad. Worse than it seemed to anyone outside. Arven was not facing only debts; it was facing a network of people interested in profiting from its weakness. The former Duchess had died, but her filth remained alive in contracts, seals, agents, and cowardly nobles.

Even so, for the first time, it seemed like a war with shape.

They knew the names of some enemies.

They knew where they were bleeding.

They knew what to protect.

Morgana picked up the quill and wrote at the top of a clean sheet. "Then we will have three fronts. Political: Elizabeth and me. Documents and money: Aria. Internal security: Ingrivid. Damon’s health and control: Ester."

Damon raised his hand. "My front is being controlled?"

"Yes," Ester, Elizabeth, and Morgana said at the same time.

Aria raised her hand too. "I would have said yes, but I was late."

Damon looked at the ceiling. "Great. I was promoted to strategic problem."

Morgana looked at him, and there was a lighter exhaustion on her face now. "You are more useful that way."

"As a problem?"

"As our problem."

The sentence remained in the air for a moment.

Damon did not answer immediately. There was humor in it, but there was also something honest. After months in a coma, after waking with a strange body and a dangerous power, perhaps that was exactly what he needed to hear. He was still a problem. Of course he was. But not an isolated problem. Not something that needed to solve everything alone to justify staying alive.

He nodded slowly. "Then let us try not to lose this duchy."

Morgana lowered the quill onto the sheet. "We will not lose it."

Elizabeth raised her cup. "And, if possible, we will make some creditors regret things deeply."

Aria smiled. "With documents."

Ingrivid placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. "With security."

Ester looked at Damon. "With rest."

Damon let out a sigh. "That part remains the least inspiring."

Morgana finally smiled a little. "Perhaps, but it is the only part keeping Ester from killing us before Havelock tries."

Ester did not deny it.

No one thought it prudent to ask.

The meeting continued for some time, now with smaller tasks, deadlines, and names. When it ended, there was no definitive solution, no great victory, and no heroic speech. There was only a list of problems divided among tired, competent, and stubborn people.

In Arven, at that moment, that was already a great deal.