My Children’s Gifts Give Me 1000x Returns!

**ARC 4: THE NORTHERN WAR & THE RECLAIMING OF THE SOVEREIGN QUEEN**

The Grand Snow Road was a massive, white-paved arterial highway carved directly into the sheer glacial cliffs of the Northern Realm. It connected the sword fortress of House Aurelius to the central trade routes leading toward the Imperial Capital.

Despite the howling sub-zero blizzard, the highway burned with extravagant, blinding luxury.

A grand procession over half a mile long glided slowly across the snowy pass. At its head rode sixty heavy-armored Imperial Royal Guards, all mounted on white dragon-scaled steeds and clad in golden plate armor that radiated elite Spirit Vein Opening Qi.

At the center of the retinue glided a colossal, two-story luxury carriage made of carved red sandalwood and gold filigree. Drawn by eight glowing, Grade-4 Flame-Lizard beasts, the carriage bore the grand crest of the Solari Empire—a roaring golden sun encircled by dragons.

Inside the opulent carriage, lounging on velvet cushions with a cup of spiced spirit wine in his hand, sat Third Prince Julian Solari of the Central Imperial Household.

Julian was a handsome, sharp-eyed young man in his early twenties, cultivating at Late-Stage Martial Scholar. He wore lavish purple dragon-silk robes, his face carrying a permanent, arrogant smirk.

"Is the Aurelius girl ready?" Prince Julian asked lazily, glancing across the carriage at an anxious Aurelius branch elder.

"Your Highness," the elder bowed frantically, sweat beading on his forehead despite the freezing weather. "Lady Evelyn remains in the trailing carriage under the care of our female guards. She... she has not spoken a word since leaving the Northern Frost Pavilion, but High Elder Jonathan has assured us that the marriage contract will be sealed the moment we cross the Imperial border."

Prince Julian sneered, sipping his spirit wine. "She should consider herself lucky. Her commoner husband from eight years ago was a crippled trash who probably froze to death in the slums long ago. Today, she becomes the consort of a Royal Prince of the Solari Household!"

Before the Aurelius elder could nod in agreement—

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A deafening, world-shaking spatial shockwave detonated directly in the sky above the Grand Snow Road!

The eight Grade-4 Flame-Lizard beasts pulling the royal carriage shrieked in terror, collapsing onto their knees as the icy ground beneath the procession cracked violently!

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Prince Julian shouted, spilling his spirit wine all over his silk robes as the carriage swayed violently.

Ahead on the high snow road...

The thirty lead Imperial Royal Guards reined in their panicking dragon-steeds, drawing their golden longswords, their faces pale as paper as they looked at the mountain pass ahead.

A fifty-foot-wide, pitch-black spatial rift—pulsing with violet lightning and suffocating Martial King Domain pressure—had torn open directly in the center of the Grand Snow Road, completely blocking the highway!

From the dark spatial rift stepped a quiet, majestic family.

At the front walked Gabriel, his dark dragon-silk coat fluttering in the violent mountain gale, his gold-tinted dragon pupils shining with cold, absolute dominance.

Flanking him were Ethan and Elena, both wearing their dark navy-and-silver House Sterling coats, their gold-tempered dragon physiques radiating a warm, golden-azure aura that melted the snow within fifty yards around them.

And stepping out behind them, looming like god of death, was Lord Tyrion—the Sovereign Shadow Dragon King—whose Peak Martial King aura completely froze the wind and snow in mid-air!

The lead Imperial Guard Commander, a Peak Martial Scholar, pointed his golden sword forward, his voice trembling despite his bravado.

"Halt! You are standing in the path of the Third Prince of the Solari Household!" the Commander shouted. "Clear the road immediately, or face the wrath of the Imperial Army!"

Ethan stepped forward calmly, unstrapping the linen-wrapped spear from his back. He didn't unwrap the blade, resting the wooden shaft on his shoulder.

"We aren't here for the Imperial Army," Ethan said flatly, his dark eyes locking onto the trailing silk carriage behind the royal procession. "We are here for our mother."

"Impudent commoner rats!" the Commander roared in fury. "Guards! Execute them!"

"CHARGE!"

Thirty golden-armored Imperial Guards spurred their dragon-steeds, charging forward like a golden tidal wave, their longswords flashing with sharp, icy sword Qi aimed directly at Ethan and Elena!

Elena stepped up beside Ethan, her azure sword remaining in its sheath.

"I'll take the steeds. You take the guards," Elena said softly.

STEP.

Elena executed a spatial shadow step, vanishing into thin air! She reappeared directly under the lead dragon-steed, delivering a single, gold-tempered dragon palm strike upward into the air pressure beneath the mount!

BOOM!

A shockwave of physical force blasted ten dragon-steeds twenty feet into the air, throwing their heavily armored riders into the snowbanks!

Simultaneously, Ethan stepped into the charging formation of the remaining twenty guards. He didn't use Qi—he simply swung his linen-wrapped spear in a wide, horizontal physical arc!

SWOOOSH—BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sheer, raw physical force generated by Ethan's Imperial Sovereign Dragon-Physique hit the golden guards like an invisible battering ram!

All twenty Imperial Guards were swept off their mounts simultaneously, their golden plate armors dented and shattered as they flew fifty feet backward, crashing violently into the rocky cliff face, completely incapacitated in a single second!

In less than ten seconds, the elite Imperial Vanguard of thirty guards was completely wiped out—without Ethan or Elena drawing a single blade!

Inside the royal carriage, Prince Julian stumbled out onto the snow, surrounded by his remaining panicked attendants. He looked at the thirty elite royal guards lying unconscious and bloody in the snow, then looked at Ethan and Elena stepping calmly toward him.

"Y-You... who are you monsters?!" Prince Julian shrieked in terror, drawing his jewel-encrusted rapier with trembling hands. "I am Prince Julian of the Solari Household! If you touch me, the Central Empire will erase your entire family!"

Gabriel walked past his children, stopping ten feet from the terrified Prince. He didn't even look at Julian, his eyes fixing instead onto the modest silk carriage trailing behind the main royal coach.

"Malakor," Gabriel called out softly.

WHOOSH.

Malakor materialized beside the trailing carriage, silently knocking out the six Aurelius female guards with a flick of his shadow fingers. He gently pulled open the carved mahogany carriage door.

Sitting inside the carriage, clad in ceremonial white-and-silver silk robes, was a beautiful, pale woman with dark eyes and a soft, trembling grace—Evelyn Aurelius.

Evelyn looked out of the carriage door, her breath hitching in her throat as her eyes landed on Gabriel, Ethan, and Elena standing on the snow-covered road.

Tears instantly welled in her eyes, spilling down her pale cheeks.

"G-Gabriel...?" Evelyn whispered, her voice shaking with disbelief, as if she were seeing a dream she had prayed for during eight long years of imprisonment. "Ethan...? Elena...?"

Ethan and Elena’s sharp, combat-hardened expressions melted instantly into pure, warm affection.

"Mom!" Elena called out, running forward and wrapping her arms tightly around Evelyn's waist!

Ethan rushed forward as well, his eyes shining as he hugged both his mother and sister, shielding them with his broad, dragon-tempered shoulders.

Gabriel walked up to the carriage, stepping inside and gently taking Evelyn’s trembling hands in his own. His gold-tinted dragon pupils softened into deep, boundless warmth.

"I promised you eight years ago in that slum alley," Gabriel said softly, brushing a stray dark lock of hair from her tear-stained face. "No one will ever take you away from us again."

"Gabriel..." Evelyn sobbed, burying her face into his chest, holding onto his dark dragon-silk coat as if she would never let go. "I knew... I knew you would come..."

Prince Julian, watching this from twenty feet away, flushed with mad, humiliated rage!

"REBELS!" Julian screamed hysterically at his remaining guards. "THEY ARE STEALING THE IMPERIAL CONSORT! ATTACK THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"

Gabriel didn't even turn his head back. He held Evelyn closely in his arms, his voice dropping into a cold, terrifying, and absolute tone that echoed across the entire snow-swept mountain pass:

"Tyrion."

Lord Tyrion stepped forward, his Peak Martial King aura erupting like a dying star, pinning Prince Julian and his remaining thirty guards flat onto the icy road!

"Sovereign Master!" Tyrion bowed deeply.

"Break Prince Julian's limbs," Gabriel commanded smoothly. "Leave him alive to carry a message back to the Central Imperial Household... tell them House Sterling has taken back its Queen."