Paul turned around, his gaze resolute.
"But I still have to uphold these rules. Precisely because I know that strength is fundamental, I cannot allow that strength to run unchecked. If even the First Family can do whatever it pleases, those below will learn to cross the line. Officers will claim undeserved credit, officials will abuse their positions, and soldiers will plunder—once strength has no boundaries, it will become tyranny."
"I don't expect to change everyone overnight, but I have to set an example. The law draws a line around power. Even if equality for all is still out of reach, people must at least see that not even a lord's household can act with impunity."
Mariana listened quietly. The disapproval remained in her eyes, but there was also a hint of scrutiny. She could tell that her son was not indulging in empty idealism. He was wielding power in a way she was unfamiliar with.
Paul said at last, "I'm not worshiping the law. I'm using it—as a tool to control power and control myself, not as a decoration."
Hearing her son's words, Mariana fell silent for a moment before suddenly letting out a cold laugh. "If your father had dared bind me like that, interrogating me like a criminal, I would have broken things off with him long ago. How would you even have had the chance to stand here lecturing me about the law? And there certainly wouldn't have been you and Nathan."
There was a trace of mockery in her voice, as well as a deeply buried nostalgia. "Your father understood one thing—running a household isn't the same as ruling a country. A family depends on affection, trust, and knowing each other's boundaries. And you're actually using the law to control your own wife."
Paul had