Free Web NovelChapter 235: Arcturus Family’s Family Meeting
Afterward, both of them decided to head back to Aurelian’s room, where the other two were still sleeping, and turned in for the night as well.
And just like that, a few days passed. Aurelian spent that time with Seraphine and the triplets, enjoying a break that had become surprisingly rare over the past several months.
The pressure of the frontier felt distant here, and even though he knew the calm wouldn’t last forever, he let himself enjoy it while he could before he had to go back.
Mornings were spent with his parents, going over matters connected to the Arcturus family and catching up on things he had missed while he was away.
The rest of each day shifted naturally between Seraphine and the triplets. Sometimes they stayed inside the estate, talking over tea or dinner, and other times they walked the outer terraces overlooking the family ship lanes while transport craft and patrol vessels moved steadily through the sky in the distance.
The days felt steady in a way he had almost forgotten was possible, and that peace was real.
But while Aurelian was enjoying those quiet days, others were not in the same position.
Inside one of the Arcturus family’s secured command wings, Cassian had already called a private meeting.
No outsiders, no observers, and no record that would pass through wider Alliance channels.
Only the inner leadership of the Arcturus family and the people whose voices actually carried weight when the family made a major move.
By the time Cassian entered, most of them had already arrived. Some had come directly from Alliance military operations and still wore their formal command uniforms.
Others had clearly left administrative work halfway through to answer the summons. A few looked younger than they were, while others had middle-aged looks, with a few people with white hair and an air of being elders, even though there were people older than them beside them.
Together, they represented the real strength of the Arcturus family, a powerful family already standing near the top of the Alliance, with enough influence and military reach that every major expansion had consequences far beyond claiming another border world.
The conversation started before everyone had even fully settled.
"The southern route has become worse than expected," one elder said, reviewing a projected report.
"The Alliance council has already begun limiting claims," another replied.
"Not surprising. Too many families pushed in the same direction at once."
"And too many fleets are trying to hold the same routes."
Cassian listened for a moment before taking his seat, then spoke.
"We are withdrawing from the southern expansion." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
That changed the room immediately. A few looked relieved, others frowned, but no one interrupted.
One of the older military commanders leaned forward. "Temporary?"
"Yes."
"And our expansion plans?"
Cassian looked around the table before activating the central projection. A map appeared in pale blue light above the surface, and most of the stars shown there were unfamiliar to the room.
Then Mournveil appeared, followed by the outer routes connected beyond it, and the silence that followed was immediate.
One of the elders narrowed his eyes. "What is this?"
"A secure frontier route," Cassian said.
Another elder leaned closer. "Discovered by our scouts?"
"No."
That got everyone’s full attention. Cassian let the pause sit for a moment before continuing.
"Aurelian discovered it during his deployment and established a foothold beyond the Alliance border."
Several voices came at once.
"A foothold?"
"How stable?"
"How large?"
"What local forces?"
"What kind of infrastructure?"
Cassian raised one hand, and the room quieted. "He secured strategic territory. Resource-rich space. A hidden route. Ancient infrastructure with real long-term expansion potential. There are hostile forces nearby, but they are manageable."
A logistics elder asked right away, "Manageable enough for settlement?"
"Yes."
A fleet commander folded his arms. "And Aurelian handled this on his own for now?"
Cassian nodded. "He did."
That made everyone think about the situation and realize that it seemed much better than expected before Cassian added the next part.
"He also reached Tier III while securing the region."
That landed heavily. Some already knew, but others clearly did not. One of the older women near the far side of the chamber slowly lowered the report in her hand. "So the rumors were true."
Cassian gave a single nod, then activated another display. Astra’s projection appeared above the map, dark and elegant, her scale obvious at a glance. Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then one of the senior commanders exhaled. "Tier V."
"Confirmed," Cassian said. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
The room stayed quiet, and not because the Arcturus family lacked Tier V assets. They had several.
But everyone understood what this meant. Aurelian had left quietly, disappeared beyond standard Alliance space, built a stable foothold, reached Tier III, and come back with a Tier V flagship.
That was not ordinary progress. That was the kind of gain that changed a family’s future direction.
One of the elders leaned back in his seat. "So the southern route truly no longer matters."
"Compared to this?" Cassian said. "No."
Another elder nodded slowly. "The risk is lower, the reward is better, and the route stays hidden."
"For now," Cassian said.
A military commander asked the next obvious question. "What does Aurelian want?"
"Support."
"How much?"
"Controlled support."
That answer drew quiet approval around the table. Cassian continued, "He requested engineers, logistics staff, administrators, and carefully selected settlement groups. Military support stays on reserve until it’s actually needed."
One of the older planners nodded. "He knows what he can absorb."
"Yes," Cassian agreed.
Another elder asked whether the region could sustain long-term expansion, and Cassian answered that it could and even more than that, but it depends on how the situation turns out over there.
This caused the others in the room to light up, as although they are not people who like to wage war, but who want to grow and become more and more powerful, they need to fight.
And this newfound space is something they would only hear about in history books or even in novels.
A hidden frontier, a stable route, defensible territory, real resources, and enough distance from the crowded Alliance lanes to build without drawing interference.
One elder who had spent decades in frontier planning finally put it plainly. "If handled correctly, this could become one of the strongest family-held regions we have ever built."
Cassian met his gaze. "That is my view as well."
Hearing this, everyone also agreed as they then started to plan around this new information, and the discussion was general but very thorough
Which specialists would move first, which settlement groups could be trusted, how to shift resources without drawing attention, how much military reserve could be prepared quietly, what kind of communications support would be needed to go through family channels, and how far they could develop the route before anyone outside the family noticed unusual movement.
The discussion lasted a long time. Several plans were rejected and others refined, but by the end, the shape of the decision was clear.
The Arcturus family would publicly pull back from the southern frontier, quietly and without making noise, while resources began shifting toward Aurelian’s region through protected channels.
Engineers first, administrative staff second, settlement groups after that, and military reserves held back and ready if needed.
Measured and disciplined, exactly the way the Arcturus family preferred to operate.
One of Cassian’s senior uncles stood near the end and looked at him. "I assume Aurelian does not realize we are moving this quickly."
Cassian smiled slightly. "That’s for sure, as I don’t think we would focus on this newfound land because it is far away, and without accurate information, we would not agree like this."
"That’s for sure, but we are stuck in a bottleneck, and this new location can help us break that barrier." One of the elders said.
"Yes, and also because I know him, and for him to focus on this place means that there is something that either led him there or he found something over there that made him stay there."
That drew a few quiet smiles around the room before the last question came.
"And Seraphine?"
Cassian’s expression shifted slightly. "The Veyr family matters too, but for now let’s keep it between us before bringing in them and even the Morozova family."
"Oh, even the Morozova family?"
"Yes, because it seems that Yelena from the Morozova family has already been there before, and the other two sisters knew about it before we did, so bringing them along won’t hurt us." The elder who had asked nodded slowly, noting that it might become useful sooner than expected, and Cassian did not disagree.
Once the meeting ended and people began filing out, he remained seated for another moment while the projected map still hung above the table. Mournveil. Larkspur Haven. The route beyond. Small markers spread across a vast stretch of dark space. A beginning.
He looked at it for a while without speaking, and then thought of Aurelian walking the estate grounds these past few days with Seraphine beside him, finally taking a rare break while the rest of the family quietly processed everything he had brought back with him.
