My Glitched World Throne System Came Ten Years Too Early!
Chapter 4: One Punch?

Chapter 4: 4: One Punch?

Roderic’s expression didn’t change one bit.

’’The engagement,’’ he said, pointing between himself and Catherina. ’’I said it’s fine with me.’’

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Arthur’s mouth slowly fell open, unsure whether to be angered or just shocked by what he’d said.

Finally, Catherina recovered first.

A faint smile appeared beneath the fan covering the lower half of her face.

’’Then I’m glad we’ve reached an understanding,’’ she said gracefully.

She stood up and gave Arthur a respectful bow.

’’The dissolution papers will be delivered in the coming days, along with the pre-discussed compensation.’’

She straightened her posture.

’’If you’ll excuse me, Lord Arthur.’’

Arthur sat there for a moment, still processing everything.

After a moment, he closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

’’Very well,’’ he said, his voice hollow.

Catherina bowed once more before turning toward the door.

Without sparing Roderic another glance, she calmly walked out of the reception hall.

Click!

The heavy oak doors shut behind her.

Silence filled the reception hall.

Arthur remained seated, his eyes still fixed on the closed doors.

Only after several long seconds did he slowly turn toward Roderic.

His calm expression had completely disappeared.

BAM!

His fist slammed onto the desk once again.

’’Have you completely lost your mind?!’’ he roared.

Even outside the room, Edmund and the two guards flinched at the noise.

Roderic pulled his head back slightly, taken aback.

He knew beforehand that Arthur would likely flip. But seeing it like this still subconsciously awakened some fear inside him.

’’What?’’ he asked almost automatically.

’’What?!’’ Arthur repeated, nearly laughing in anger. ’’Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?’’

Roderic narrowed his eyes without a hint of hesitation.

’’Yes, I do,’’ he said firmly.

Arthur stared at him in disbelief for a moment.

Then he pushed himself to his feet, veins popping out on his forehead.

’’House Ironhart supplies over half the weapons and armor used by our knights,’’ he said through clenched teeth. ’’With your engagement, we would’ve had an unbreakable alliance with them!’’

Arthur’s chest rose and fell with every breath.

’’Not to mention, you begged me for this engagement day and night!’’ he shouted. ’’What kind of lunatic of a son would embarrass me by accepting an annulment now?!’’

Roderic quietly listened until Arthur finally finished.

Only then did he speak.

’’Father,’’ he said calmly. ’’Did House Ironhart ever ask whether we agreed to dissolve the engagement?’’

Arthur glared at him angrily.

’’What are you talking about?’’

Roderic continued without hesitation.

’’Think about it,’’ he said. ’’Catherina said she was here to inform us that they ’simply couldn’t refuse’ the other suitor.’’

Arthur opened his mouth for a moment, but no words came out.

The anger slowly seemed to fade from his face as he remained deep in thought.

’That’s good,’ Roderic thought. ’Everything’s going to plan.’

’Now for the final nail in my perfect defense...’

He stood up, intentionally catching Arthur’s attention.

’’Whether I agreed or not... would that really have changed anything?’’

Arthur didn’t reply.

’’Had I objected,’’ Roderic continued, ’’House Ironhart would’ve still broken the engagement.

’’The only difference is that they’d be able to spread rumors of our desperation to keep it.’’

Arthur’s fists slowly loosened.

The fury in his eyes gradually gave way to contemplation.

For several long moments, he simply stared at Roderic without saying a word.

Finally, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"...Leave."

Roderic looked at the man, taken aback.

"Father?" he asked automatically.

"I said leave."

Arthur didn’t even bother looking at him anymore.

"I need time to think."

For a moment, the room fell silent.

Roderic didn’t even hesitate and stood up right away.

’’As you wish,’’ he quickly said.

Without another word, he slipped to the door and disappeared.

Click!

Only after the oak doors closed behind him did Roderic let out a deep, long breath.

’That... went way better than expected,’ he thought.

At first, he’d expected Arthur to completely dismiss everything he said.

Instead, the man had actually taken the time to think it through.

’Though I was correct in my observations, I shouldn’t celebrate yet.’

Roderic rubbed the back of his neck while nodding once at Edmund.

’We did kind of lose our biggest and most valuable supplier, which isn’t a good thing.’

Though the prices would simply return to how they used to be, an awkward tension would likely linger between the families for a long time.

As he made his way through the corridor together with Edmund, his eyes fell on the system screen still floating in front of him.

[Recalibrating...]

Estimated completion time: 00:31:47

’Only half an hour left...’

He still had no idea what exactly the recalibration was supposed to accomplish.

The system had claimed his current physical state didn’t match... his current physical state.

Just thinking about that sentence made his head hurt!

’Whatever. I’ll find out soon enough.’

Just as he was about to turn the next corner, something slammed into him.

Thud!

A small figure bounced back before landing on its backside.

’’Ow!’’

Roderic snapped out of his thoughts with a frown.

Lying on the marble floor was a boy no older than twelve.

Soft brown hair covered his forehead, while a pair of familiar emerald-green eyes stared back at him.

’Dennis Whitemane...?’ Roderic thought, raising an eyebrow in interest.

Almost at the same time, another system screen suddenly appeared before Roderic’s eyes.

The moment Dennis also saw who he’d bumped into, his expression darkened.

’’You fucking dimwit!’’ he shouted. ’’Watch where you’re walking, you talentless piece of shit!

’’Do you know how much these clothes cost?! They’re worth more than your entire life!’’

Roderic didn’t even look at him.

His attention was completely focused on the system screen in front of him.

[DNA signature detected.]

[Scanning surroundings...]

Roderic raised an eyebrow.

’Why did it detect something all of a sudden?’

Suddenly, a second screen popped up on top of the first one.

[Dennis Whitemane detected.]

Knock out or kill Dennis to certify defeat.

Reward: Supreme Aura Constitution + 10000 Throne Coins

Roderic’s eyes widened, and even his mouth fell open.

’’Huh?’’

’’The fuck are you staring at?!’’ Dennis shouted angrily as he pushed himself up from the ground. ’’Did bumping into me finally knock the last brain cell out of your head?’’

Seeing Roderic still not responding, Dennis’s face turned red.

’’Say something, you pathetic, talentless loser!’’

Roderic’s gaze slowly shifted away from the system screen.

He tilted his head faintly as his eyes landed on Dennis, a strange glint running through them.

’You know... maybe one punch would do him some good.’