CHEN YU'S VILLA
Inside Chen Yu's private study, the atmosphere was silent and heavy—tense enough to cut through. A warm fireplace crackled in the background, its flickering flames casting long shadows across the obsidian-black wood bookshelves and the jade-sculpted furnishings that lined the walls. The curtains were drawn tightly shut, drowning out the gentle golden light of the Earth Realm's peaceful afternoon. Here, inside this sanctuary of silence and strategy, the fate of a kingdom was about to be rewritten.
Vornark stood near the far wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest, his towering frame still and statuesque. His sharp eyes, colder than usual, remained locked on Chen Yu. He wasn't impatient. Just waiting—for truth, for orders, for a path forward. There was a beast behind those eyes, caged for too long.
