Kaelan pushes open the door to Xueyao's office without knocking.
He sees her seated behind a wide table covered in documents, while three ministers stand on the opposite side, their expressions tense and cautious.
The ministers glance back when they hear the door open, recognise Kaelan instantly, and bow in unison.
They congratulate him on the birth of his child, their words polite, careful, and filled with calculation.
Kaelan acknowledges them with a slight nod and remains silent.
After a few more formal exchanges, the ministers excuse themselves and leave the room one by one, closing the door behind them.
The moment they are gone, the air changes.
Li Xueyao looks up at him, her gaze sharp and guarded.
"What are you doing here?"
Kaelan walks forward and stops in front of the table, resting his hand on its edge.
"I want to hear if anything is troubling you in the kingdom."
She exhales softly and leans back in her chair.
"The same old problem," she says, "the noble families and my relatives refuse to relinquish control over the provinces outside the capital."
Kaelan leans back as well, folding his arms.
"Your uncle is still causing trouble."
Her expression tightens.
That man once ambushed her when her father was still alive and tried to kill her, and only failed by chance.
After she married Kaelan, the attacks ceased, but her ambition never waned.
Li Xueyao meets his gaze.
"Why do you think my uncle will ever stop?"
Kaelan answers calmly.
"A governor governs a province, and governors are selected either from the royal family or from the local noble family of that province, correct?"
She nods.
"Yes, the position was created to prevent powerful noble families in the capital from spreading their influence outward, but now those same governors have become obstacles."
Kaelan's eyes narrow slightly as he thinks.
"Then introduce a new position in every province to dilute the governor's power and keep them in check."
She frowns thoughtfully.
"How?"
Kaelan speaks without hesitation.
"The Wizard Association already has branches in every city and town of the kingdom."
He pauses to let the idea settle.
"Appoint a provincial association head in each province, someone who governs all association towers within that province."
Li Xueyao straightens slightly.
"Give them authority over all spiritual nodes and spiritual resources found in that province."
He waits a moment before continuing.
"Without control over resources, the governor's real power will shrink naturally."
Li Xueyao nods slowly, her eyes lighting with understanding.
"That can work."
She makes a note on the document in front of her.
"I will discuss this in court."
She then looks up at him again, expectation clear in her eyes.
"Anything else?"
Kaelan continues.
"Introduce a police system."
Her pen pauses.
"Create the position of Police Commissioner in every province," he says, "and make them responsible for investigating crimes of all types, regardless of noble status."
Li Xueyao listens intently.
"Separate law enforcement from provincial administration," Kaelan continues, "so governors can no longer bury crimes or abuse authority without consequence."
She nods again.
Kaelan does not stop there.
"Reform the courts."
Her expression grows serious.
"Establish a Supreme Court in the capital," he says, "High Courts in every province, and lower courts in all cities and towns."
"The judges interpret and enforce the laws of the kingdom," Kaelan continues, "taking judicial power away from governors, magistrates, and even from you."
Li Xueyao looks at him in surprise.
"You would weaken my own authority?"
Kaelan meets her gaze steadily.
"True authority does not come from holding every power in your hands."
"It comes from creating a system that functions even when you are absent."
Silence stretches between them.
Li Xueyao slowly exhales and nods.
"You haven't changed," she says quietly.
Kaelan smiles faintly.
"I have," he replies, "just not in this."
After a few more minutes of discussion, refining details and addressing potential resistance, the conversation comes to a close.
Kaelan leaves the office without ceremony and returns to Yuelan's chambers.
Inside, he finds Yuelan fully recovered, her complexion healthy, and her aura stable.
Their daughter sits upright with support, golden eyes bright and curious, far too aware for a newborn.
Kaelan sits beside them and watches quietly.
He stays there, guarding the fragile peace, while reconstructing his new magic circuit in his mind, one connection at a time, preparing for the path ahead.
---
Veena sits cross-legged in the centre of her cultivation room, her body perfectly still as invisible structures unfold within her.
At the Spiritual Wizard Realm, etching a magic circuit is no longer an act performed on flesh alone, but a process that reshapes existence itself.
The first step was long completed when she carved the circuit outside the cell, anchoring mana patterns into the space surrounding her body.
The second step followed when those circuits were etched inside each cell, allowing mana to flow through her flesh as naturally as blood.
The third step came after that, when every individual circuit was connected into a unified system, forming a complete internal magic network.
Now she stands at the fourth step.
Veena directs the remaining power of her magic circuit inward, pushing it past cells and structure, forcing it down to the level of particles.
Mana sinks into the smallest components that make up her body, rewriting their nature, aligning them with death itself.
This is the final threshold before full elementisation.
Her breathing grows shallow.
Her mana drains rapidly.
The process slows until continuing further would risk collapse.
Veena stops without hesitation and allows the remaining mana to disperse naturally.
She opens her eyes and exhales, stretching her arms and shoulders as tension leaves her body.
Standing up, she walks out of the cultivation room and begins climbing the spiral steps of her wizard tower.
The tower stands alone outside the capital city, distant from noise and politics, built by her own hands.
She lives here alone.
Kaelan's clone once suggested that she take in students and teach them the Way of Death.
Veena refused.
She has already completed three of the four criteria required to advance to the Third Stage of Transcendence.
Her mana and spirit have both completed materialisation.
Her comprehension of the Law of Death has reached the Meteor Stage.
Only the physical body's elementisation remains.
Teaching others now would slow her.
She enters her living chamber and moves directly to the bathing room.
Warm water pours over her body, washing away lingering death-aspected residue.
She steps out after a while and changes into a fresh robe, light and simple.
Standing before the mirror, she examines her reflection carefully.
Her face remains normal.
No corpse-like pallor.
No hollow eyes.
No death-marked distortion.
A satisfied smile appears on her lips.
"This result is enough to make turning to the Wizard way worthwhile," she says softly.
She leaves the room and enters the kitchen.
Cooking is slow, deliberate, almost ritualistic.
She prepares the food herself, each movement precise yet unhurried.
When she finally eats, she closes her eyes and focuses on the sensation.
Taste spreads across her tongue, rich and real.
Satisfaction follows.
This ritual is important to her.
Before turning to the Wizard path, the Death Element twisted her body until she looked like a walking corpse.
Her senses faded one by one.
Taste was the worst.
Food became meaningless.
Now, after every deep cultivation retreat, she reaffirms what she regained.
While eating, her thoughts drift.
She remembers Yuelan's labour.
She remembers holding the newborn.
A child.
A quiet ache forms in her chest.
She wants one too.
But she cannot.
Though the Death Element no longer deforms her appearance or erodes her senses, some effects remain deeply rooted.
One of them is infertility.
Life does not easily take root in a body so deeply aligned with death.
Perhaps, when she fully comprehends all paths of the Death Law, she will be able to suppress this side effect.
Perhaps not.
She finishes her meal in silence.
After cleaning up, she returns to her cultivation room.
As she sits down again, her thoughts turn to the future.
Once she completes full elementisation, she must meet Kaelan.
They need to discuss how to break through the Third Stage of Transcendence.
That thought brings a flicker of concern.
She is closer to breaking through than he is.
There is a chance he might deliberately slow things down, waiting until he can advance together.
Veena shakes her head slightly.
She should not think like that.
Kaelan taught her the Wizard way without reservation.
He gave her everything he knew.
She will trust him.
Closing her eyes once more, she resumes cultivation, guiding magic circuits back toward the level of particles, continuing the final transformation step by step.