Asher stopped just inches from Elias, his voice low, calm, but sharp as a knife. “How dare you talk like that, trying to shame my guest when you’re nobody.”As soon as those words left Asher’s lips, Elias’s eyes quickly flicked to Ambrose, the one person he still trusted in the room. Ambrose barely moved, just a tiny shake of his head, which was almost invisible. But to Elias, it said everything, “Back off. Change your game. Not now.”Elias got the message loud and clear, he was out of his depth and needed to rethink his move. Asher wasn’t like the usual prey they preyed on. After a tense moment, Elias let out a quiet, forced chuckle to break the awkward silence. He raised his hands a little, like he was surrendering, and spoke carefully as he tried to sound respectful, even though it didn’t sit well with him.“Ah… that’s not what I meant, General Asher.”In truth, Elias had walked into the court completely unaware of what was already happening. The mood was nothing like he expected.

Elias stood in the center of the court feeling himself. He was loving every second of the attention, the gasps from the crowd, the silence from the ruler, and the way Janine was practically shaking in her shoes, it all felt like the whole room was his stage.A smug grin stretched across his face as he raised a hand. “Open the doors!” he ordered.The guards didn’t hesitate. Immediately, the big doors creaked open… and standing right there in the hallway, was Alesha.She wore the famous Angel Wing Gown. She looked like a queen walking into her court, with a cocky grin on her face like she owned the whole room. She took one bold step inside, then stopped like she was sizing up a room full of peasants.Then, two more figures appeared behind her. Julian and Juliet.They walked side by side, dressed in matching outfits, with their hands interwoven, and both of them wore smug looks.At their sight, Morgana’s jaw tightened. “What the hell is this?” she hissed under her breath.Meanwhile, Ashe

At Asher’s outburst, Elias was completely thrown off because he hadn’t expected that kind of ranting from him. The general was known for keeping his cool and using cold cutting words instead of raising his voice. But this was pure fury.For a moment, he stood there stunned with his mind racing. What just triggered that? he thought. What did I say that crossed the line?Meanwhile, the room went completely silent. The only thing anyone could feel was the heavy, suffocating tension. Asher’s eyes burned like fire and his whole body was tight, like he was one second away from snapping. Even the ruler, who hardly reacted to anyone’s outbursts, shifted in his seat and had his expression darkened.Janine, who had been hoping Asher would defend her, suddenly felt her chest tighten. Was this still about her… or had something deeper just cracked open?Juliet, standing nearby, stiffened as she could sense danger in the air.Then Asher’s voice came, low and sharp, cutting through the silence like

The moment Asher shouted, “You killed my uncle, didn’t you?!” something sharp twisted deep in his chest and his mind flashed back to several years ago.Back then, he was just a young soldier, but he was already weighed down by responsibilities and the endless stress of leadership. He could still remember the exact day the letter arrived and how he got the message that shattered him.His uncle, his father’s brother, the man who helped raise him was dead. He died “Died mysteriously in his chamber,” the letter had read.He had been crushed because the man wasn’t just family, he was one of the few people in his life who made things feel normal. He was kind, gentle, and loved by everyone in Drakmont. He was the kind of man who’d leave his office to drink with the townsfolk or sit beside street performers just to cheer them on. Everybody adored him.But back then, he was stuck in war and duty that he couldn’t drop everything to find out what had happened. He had to swallow his grief and kee

The next morning, Morgana was walking beside Asher down the hospital hallway with her voice full of excitement.“You should’ve seen how the party ended last night, General,” she said, grinning. “Janine ended up performing instead of Alesha. Can you believe that? And she killed it. The whole place went silent when she started, then boom, everyone was drawn in.”Asher gave a small nod but his eyes were still looking ahead.“That’s good,” he said, but Morgana kept going and her smile got even wider.“And guess what, General, the ruler himself asked Janine to perform in the court. Directly. No need to go through the Ministry of Rites anymore. She’ll be performing for him alone. That’s huge! Her rank’s going to shoot up.”“That’s nice,” Asher replied, sounding calm, though Morgana caught the little spark of approval in his expression.She let out a small sigh as she realized his thoughts were somewhere else but she decided to drop one last update.“Oh, and I heard this morning, Elias repor