Supreme Spouse System.

Chapter 643: The Arrival of Crown Prince Robert of Skyfall

The Arrival of Crown Prince Robert of Skyfall

A touch landed on the metal grip.

Paused.

And then -

He opened it.

A gust slipped down the passage, stirring the flame in its holder. Light wavered along the walls of the shadowed entryway.

A shape, maybe a person, stood past the glow.

William’s gaze sharpened.

Still inside, he stayed put. Not a move made. The door remained closed behind him.

He only whispered:

"...Interesting."

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Fingers twitching at his sides, William lifted himself up one bone at a time, like something uncoiling after years still. The loose drape he wore before slipped off, now swapped for an alignment sharp enough to cut silence. Cloth hugged close without wrinkling, falling straight down as if pulled by its own awareness. Stillness followed, not empty - charged.

Far across, a quiet glimmer began to tremble near the edge of the stone. A soft pulse rose where shadow met surface, barely noticeable at first glance.

Not light -

shadow.

A strange bend took hold, then it thinned out slowly - like an inner pull doing its work - until cracks ran through, much like fabric ripped by unseen hands.

Stillness held him at first. Through his nose came a long pull of air, one edge of his lips rising - faint, questioning, not startled but wondering.

"Hmm," William began, pausing just long enough to shift his gaze slightly, one eyebrow lifting as he studied the shifting shape before him. A quiet chuckle slipped out when he spoke again, words measured yet light. The air around them seemed thinner now, strained by what stood there - uninvited, unexplained. He did not move closer, nor step back, simply held still like someone recognizing an old mistake returning. "It figures you’d show up here," he added, voice low but clear, "wandering through places that don’t belong to you."

Light was how the words felt.

Behind them, a stare should’ve been there but wasn’t.

Faster than a breath, fire climbed the iron rings bolted into the wall, each flame jerking like it had been yanked awake. Dark shapes shrank back, pressed flat by the sudden light.

Stone met the scrape of a heavy boot.

William’s smile thinned.

"...Prince of the Skyfall Kingdom, aren’t you?"

The air shifted.

A hush passed down the hall, quiet yet clear, after that the breeze arrived - twisting into its own shape, moving low against surfaces, turning as if something awake was sizing up its borders.

A sound came first, slow and low out of the thick shadows. Not rushed, but measured each step forward. Sure without question, moving through the black like it owned the space.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

A foot touched down, soft yet certain, unhurried but sharp in its presence. Stillness followed each motion, not empty, just full of weight that needed no voice.

Footsteps came close, breaking the quiet. Light caught a shape moving ahead.

Faint glimmers of gold run through short-cut blonde strands, lit by unseen flames. Stillness lives behind those eyes - blue, sharp, fixed - as if weather waits just beyond a clear horizon. Over his height falls a robe, deep blue touched with silver, slow to settle after each step. Clouds stitched in thread ripple across sleeve and edge, barely moving, never still.

Quietly, the cloth moved with his steps, then suddenly the hallway seemed unable to fit someone so large.

Slowly he moved, not rushing, though each motion had direction. There was ease in how he stood.

His smile... practiced.

Well now, looks like I’ve been found out, he murmured, tilting his face up like it was just a bit of fun, not something serious at all. Sharp as always, Lord William

A slow twist touched William’s mouth. Not kindness shaped it. Not greeting gave it form. Just knowing did.

"Not Prince Robert of Skyfall," he replied.

A breath hung still as the disguise cracked slightly. Then came a quiet chuckle, deep and slow.

"Heh... you got me."

A hush carried it forward. Not sharp, never frantic. Out it came, steady as breath, shaped by long practice in lying - close to truth so watchfulness wavered, so certainty frayed at the edge.

Stillness held William’s gaze, fixed on the man, each flicker of movement measured without sound. A pause between heartbeats shaped his attention, tracking breaths like footprints. Tension threaded through silence, reading shifts too small to name. Every muscle spoke; he listened without ears.

"So," William murmured, his voice soft but sharp, "you used your family’s wind-element knock... masked the sound... bent the air itself to create an illusion. Hiding your presence. Only you bother perfecting it to this level."

A small shrug came from Robert, his expression briefly softening into something almost shy. That slip was just leftover muscle memory

A flicker of movement crossed his head, just enough to show he agreed.

No praise.

No rebuke.

Just acknowledgment.

Stillness hung in the air - no anger, no warmth. Just a quiet that settled like dust on shelves.

A silence sat there, heavy as a thought not voiced.

Out of the way moved William next.

"Come in," he said. "Join the party."

A faint spark lit up Robert’s gaze. Slight tilt of his head now, almost curious. The edge of his lips twitched, hinting at something close to laughter.

"Why not?"

Down the hall went William, leading the way. Beside him came Robert, moving smooth and low, like someone used to staying unseen. Not too fast. Not slow either. His stride fit William’s exactly, almost as though the air shaped itself around them. Quiet filled the gaps where sound might have been.

Footsteps echoed - just that - as they moved toward the chamber.

A gust of air slipped through as the private chamber’s doors cracked open once more.

Heads snapped up among the nobles at once.

And froze.

A stranger.

Royal air.

Foreign presence.

Something changed in the air right away - small, yet clear. Muscles tightened across backs. Gaze after gaze turned sharp. Uneasiness moved among the seated nobles, much like a shiver across calm water. Each man lifted himself up slowly, almost without thinking, then froze mid-motion, realizing too late how silly and open that made them seem.

That moment slipped past William. He caught every part of it.

He enjoyed it.

Into the room he came, slow steps showing no rush, taking position like someone who’d claimed the space long before. Behind him, a hand lifted slightly, just enough - quiet but heavy with meaning.

"This," he said, voice smooth, carrying easily across the room, "is Prince Robert of the Skyfall Kingdom. Our... neighbor."

Eyes widened.

Breaths tightened.

Fear slipped into their minds. Quiet chaos stirred behind their eyes.

What brings him around? That’s the question hanging there.

Behind closed doors, it happened without notice. A quiet room held voices meant for few ears only.

Was every word caught by him?

Could it be a trick?

None slipped out past their lips.

Not yet.

They nodded.

They smiled.

Stiff.

Fake.

Fear always shows right away.

Something caught William’s eye, every last bit of it. A smile crept across his face without warning.

Easy now, he said, voice like silk, a quiet laugh hiding behind his words while his eyes moved slow over their frightened expressions. The prince means no harm, just that - nothing more than truth in it

This one hit hard.

Just as a pebble breaks the surface of calm water.

"An ally."

Eyebrows rose.

A twitch ran across Renn’s face, just briefly losing control when surprise lit up his gaze - then nothing. For an instant, Selmen looked stunned, mouth opening, air catching - but soon, almost too quickly, his features settled again.

A small nod came from William, like he was agreeing with something settled long before.

Lowering his chin just slightly, Robert said, "A pleasure."

A flick of William’s hand moved toward the bare spot next to him, fingers spread in a loose, unhurried sweep.

"Prince Robert, please. Sit. Take some wine. Then we talk."

Down went Robert’s chin, just a nod. Then he glided toward the seat beside William, slow but sure. The chair accepted him soundlessly - no drag, no fidgeting. His hand found the cup already there, cool against his fingers. Up it came, raised like they’d met by chance after years apart. A sip followed, steady, calm. All while his gaze stayed fixed past walls, watching everything.

Into the cup he dipped, William lifted it high before sipping slow. The taste spread across his tongue as light caught the rim. A moment passed. Then another.

Glass whispered its final note. A hush followed.

Heavy quiet filled the room, awkward and pressing - so much that drawing air seemed wrong. Quiet came down like a held breath, uncomfortable in its stillness.

Some of the nobles looked at each other. Their gazes jumped - William one moment, Robert the next - shifting like thoughts too quick to catch. A silence hung, thick with what hadn’t been said yet.

Out of nowhere, Renn spoke up. The silence had lasted too long.

"My Lord William..." He spoke soft, every syllable weighed as if balance depended on it.

"Our nation is already... compromised. The capital has fallen. Leon sits where kings should sit. Soldiers burn through the night. The land still smells scorched."

A hush passed among the lords. Some lowered their eyes. Others held their breath.

Renn swallowed before continuing. "Why... involve another kingdom’s prince?"

A silence settled, heavy with what wasn’t said. The unspoken thing trembled between them like a wire pulled too tight.

Frozen faces looked his way. Stillness settled where he stood.

A quiet stillness sat behind William’s grin. It stayed on his face, yet somehow never touched his gaze.

The cup dipped downward in his hand.

Slowly.

Gently.

Precisely.

Back pressed into the seat, he lifted a leg across the knee of the other, palms settling slow on the wooden surface.

"Because," he said.

A silence stayed behind - unresolved, unspoken - an edge still poised mid-swing.

A tremor ran through the chandelier’s glow, spilling uneven light on metal breastplates and stones set in gold. Cold rushed in sideways, pushed by gusts that ripped at loose drapes beyond the window frame.

Waiting filled the room. Silence held every tongue. Fear kept voices buried.

A silence settled between them while Robert sipped his wine, barely moving. His stare stayed fixed on William, steady but impossible to decipher. Light slid across the rim of the glass as he set it down - measured, unhurried.

A small widening showed at the corner of William’s mouth.

Still falls short of feeling right.

"It’s time," he continued softly, his voice barely louder than the whisper of silk, "that you all understand... this is no longer a battlefield between just one kingdom’s monsters."

Away went his eyes, across the room they wandered. The space between walls held what caught him - slow, quiet, unasked.

Not rushed.

Not kind.

A shadow moved across every lord, slow and heavy, as if measuring. It stayed too long, pressing down like a silent verdict.

"Leon is not the only fire burning in the dark."

A sharp wind tore open the curtains, slapping them hard onto the stone. Light wavered as flames jumped from their holders, casting jagged shapes that danced like startled birds.

From far off, the soft sound of feet hitting ground slipped through the cold rock once more.

Muscles went rigid among the lords. Some fingers curled hard on cups. Breathing edged quicker, almost caught.

He spoke softer now.

"To survive what is coming..."

Forward he leaned, his elbows finding the table’s edge. Sharpness returned to his gaze, where moments before there had been only dull rest. The weight of attention replaced the slump of ease.

"...you will need to choose sides far more carefully than you ever have."

Silence dropped like a stone. Not even air stirred beyond the glass.

Robert said nothing.

Smiled faintly.

Whispered it, low enough that just William would catch the words

"You’re enjoying this."

William didn’t answer.

A quiet grin returned instead.