Supreme Spouse System.

Chapter 688 688: Where History Was Rewritten

Where History Was Rewritten

The air in the room seemed to thin.

"He broke the seal," Rex continued. "And Gary opened it."

Leon did not move.

But his eyes— Shifted Slightly. Cold. Interested. Calculating.

The oil lamp against the far wall hissed softly, its flame bending as if even it felt the shift in the room. Shadows stretched long across the floorboards, crawling up the old men's robes. No one breathed too loudly. No one dared.

Then Leon spoke.

"So," he said evenly, voice low and measured, "Gary obtained the treasure. Whatever it was you tried to guard."

It wasn't a question. It was a blade laid flat on the table.

The three old men exchanged a look—silent, heavy, the kind that carried decades of shared secrets.

Lux was the first to shake his head.

"No."

Leon's gaze sharpened. "You said he opened it."

Max nodded slowly. "He did."

"And yet he did not get it?" Leon leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees. His posture relaxed—but the tension in the room tightened. "Explain."

Max exhaled, long and tired, the sound rough in his chest. Beneath the exhaustion, however, there was something else. Not fear.

Pride.

"He opened what he believed to be the seal," Max said carefully. "But what he found was not the true treasure."

Leon's brow lifted.

"Oh?"

Rex's cracked lips curved faintly. "Our ancestors were not fools."

Leon's eyes flicked to him. "Few ancestors are. Most descendants are."

Lux almost smiled at that. Almost.

Max continued, his voice steadier now. "For generations, Guardian Village prepared for intrusion. We knew power would come one day—someone strong enough to tear through the outer formations. Someone arrogant enough to demand what was never meant for them."

"And you expected that someone to be Gary?" Leon asked.

"We expected someone like him," Lux corrected quietly.

Max nodded. "If a force powerful enough forced their way through our defenses and demanded access to what we guarded… they would be led to a decoy."

"A fake," Leon said.

"Yes," Lux answered. "A fabricated relic. Crafted with layers of false history, forged aura signatures, even reactive spiritual pressure. Convincing enough to deceive anyone who lacked understanding of its true nature."

Leon's fingers tapped lightly against his knee. Once. Twice. Thoughtful.

"You built a lie strong enough to fool a conqueror."

"We built a lie strong enough to survive one," Rex replied.

Leon's gaze turned distant for a brief second, as if picturing Gary standing before that so-called treasure—greedy, triumphant, certain of victory.

"And Gary fell for it."

"For a time," Max said quietly.

Leon's expression shifted.

"For a time?"

Rex nodded slowly. "He sensed something was wrong. But he had already destroyed the village by then."

The words carried no theatrics.

No shouting.

No visible hatred.

And that made them heavier.

The chamber felt colder after that. Even the torches along the stone walls seemed to dim, their flames bowing to the weight of what had just been said.

Leon studied them carefully. He didn't move, didn't blink. But his gaze sharpened—measured, surgical.

"If Guardian Village was hidden," he asked, voice controlled, "how did Gary find it?"

Max closed his eyes briefly.

The chains at his wrists shifted with a faint metallic rasp as he adjusted his posture. When he opened his eyes again, there was no fear in them. Only memory.

"Perhaps the world forgot," he said quietly. "But we did not."

Leon did not let him continue.

"Answer directly."

The interruption wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.

Max looked at him fully now. Studied him. Weighed him.

"King Leon," he said, "you are aware that Galvia is divided between four empires and four kingdoms."

Leon nodded once.

"Yes."

"And that there are five Forbidden Forests in total," Rex added, his voice low but steady. "Four within imperial territories. One shared between the four kingdoms."

"Yes."

"That is basic geopolitical knowledge," Leon said calmly. His tone suggested patience was thinning.

Max leaned forward slightly despite the chain's weight. The metal tightened around his wrists, but he didn't seem to notice.

"But do you know why they are forbidden?"

Leon's silence answered.

He knew the reports.

Those who entered rarely returned.

Those who returned… returned broken.

Eyes hollow. Minds fractured. Some muttering about shadows that moved without wind. Others screaming about voices that wore familiar faces.

He knew danger resided there.

But the origin?

No.

Max saw the gap.

A faint, almost sad smile touched his lips.

"Then listen," he said quietly.

Rex shifted his stance, glancing briefly at Leon, as if asking permission without words. Leon gave none. He simply watched.

"In the distant past, before Galvia became structured under kingdoms and empires…" Max began, his voice steady now, no longer hesitant. "This land was fractured. Warlords ruled territories. Constant conflict. Endless blood."

Leon nodded slightly.

"Yes. That is recorded history."

Max's eyes darkened.

He repeated it quietly. "Got it." The answer came back without delay

He tilted his head just a fraction. "But tell me, King Leon… have you ever wondered who recorded it?"

A silence followed. The unspoken thought hung there.

A flicker of steel crossed Leon's eyes. Out with it, he seemed to say without moving his lips

Rex exhaled slowly. "Back then, there were no borders. No centralized authority. Just power. Whoever held it wrote the narrative."

Leaning forward, they caught each syllable as Max spoke softer still.

"The Forbidden Forests were not always forbidden. They were battlegrounds. Places where warlords sought something greater than steel and soldiers."

That word came out dull, like stone. "Power," Leon stated without lift.

"More than power," Max replied. "Control over what should not have been controlled."

A metallic rattle broke the silence when he stood up.

"Magic older than the kingdoms. Rituals that twisted the land itself. Experiments that blurred the line between man and… something else."

Rex's jaw tightened. "Those who survived those conflicts sealed those lands. Declared them cursed. Dangerous. Forbidden."

"And erased the rest," Max added.

Leon's eyes narrowed. "You're suggesting the forests are remnants of those experiments."

"I'm telling you," Max said, meeting his gaze without flinching, "that the forests are scars. And scars do not vanish just because history is rewritten."

Silence stretched again.

Faint pops came from the burning torches.

A quiet stillness settled over him as Leon laced his fingers together behind his spine. One deliberate stride forward, then he froze mid-motion.

"And this connects to Guardian Village… how?"