Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 264

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CHAPTER 182 PART 1

The safe house was buried in the mountains outside Five-River Province, accessible only through roads that wound between ancient stone formations. Maurice Springs sat at a wooden table, his body wrapped in fresh bandages, a cup of medicinal tea cooling beside him. His mind worked faster than his injuries would allow his body to move.

Miles Cooper paced the room, her own injuries pulling at her with each step. “The Lancaster Family tried to kill us. They tried to kill you while you were fighting Marcus Steel. They were betting you would both destroy each other.”

“Yes,” Maurice said simply. He had already worked through the logic, understood the strategy. It was the kind of thinking that showed either brilliance or desperation. Usually both. “They wanted me occupied with the Dragon King while they eliminated the problem of my existence.”

Quantez lay in the next room, sedated and immobile. The doctors they had brought from the city said his life was stable, but his mobility was gone. The aristocrats of Five-River Province would be laughing about that. They would be making jokes at his expense in their clubs and private dining rooms.

Maurice’s hands clenched into fists, the movement sending pain through his wrists. He ignored it.

“What do we do?” Miles asked. “If we retaliate against the Lancasters openly, the whole province will turn against us. They have connections everywhere.”

“The Lancasters have been sloppy,” Maurice said. He stood slowly, moving like an old man, like someone for whom each movement was a negotiation with his own body. “They relied on the assumption that I would be dead or too broken to investigate. They didn’t account for the possibility that I would survive.”

He walked to a window overlooking the mountain valleys. Below them, the lights of Five-River Province glowed like scattered diamonds. Somewhere down there, Isidore Lancaster was probably celebrating what he believed was a victory. Somewhere down there, Atlas Lancaster was recovering in a private hospital, already plotting new humiliations.

They didn’t understand yet what they had done.

They didn’t understand that by attacking Maurice Springs, they had attacked the Willson Pavilion itself.

“Send a message to the Pavilion Master,” Maurice commanded. “Tell him that I need to speak with him regarding the Lancaster Family’s actions. Tell him they attempted to have me killed during a conflict with the Dragon King. Tell him they clearly don’t understand the consequences of such foolishness.”

Miles hesitated. “Master, Amadeus Fairbanks won’t care about provincial politics. He’ll see this as your problem, not the Pavilion’s.”

“Then I’ll make it the Pavilion’s problem,” Maurice said. His voice was flat, emotionless, but underneath it ran a current of rage that even his injuries couldn’t suppress. “The Lancasters didn’t just try to kill a branch manager. They tried to manipulate the Dragon King himself. They used Pavilion resources indirectly. That makes it their

concern.”

The message took twelve hours to reach the capital. The response came in exactly eight minutes.

Amadeus Fairbanks was willing to listen.

The video call showed the Pavilion Master in his private study, surrounded by ancient scrolls and artifacts that spoke of centuries of power. He listened without interrupting as Maurice explained the situation. The attempted assassination. The involvement of the Lancasters. The fact that they had tried to use Maurice as a tool to destroy

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the Dragon King.

“They used your name,” Maurice said. “They invoked Willson Pavilion to justify their greed. They believe the Pavilion exists to serve their ambitions.”

Amadeus Fairbanks smiled, and it was the smile of a man who had spent decades learning how to make enemies disappear.

“The Lancasters have always been ambitious,” Amadeus said. “They’ve always believed that money and connections could purchase anything. It seems no one has taught them the fundamental rule of power.”

“What rule is that?” Maurice asked, though he already knew the answer.

“That there are forces in this world that cannot be purchased,” Amadeus replied. “And when you offend those forces, money becomes worthless. Connections become liabilities. Even your family name becomes a target painted across your chest.”

Maurice felt something settle in his chest. A sense of rightness. The Lancaster Family was about to learn what it meant to be hunted by something larger than themselves.

“I’m authorizing you to handle this,” Amadeus said. “Use whatever resources you need. The Pavilion will cover any costs. But Maurice, understand this. Once you move against the Lancasters, they will not stop until they’ve destroyed every trace of your existence. Are you prepared for that level of conflict?”

Maurice thought of Quantez lying in the next room, his leg gone, his future shattered. He thought of the countless disciples injured by the Lancasters’ schemes. He thought of years of building power only to have ambitious aristocrats believe they could use him like a chess piece.

“I’m prepared,” Maurice said.

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