The next day, within the sprawling halls of the sea palace of Aquis Vanlur, the entirety of the noble bloodline had been summoned under urgent and unforeseen circumstances.
The palace was rarely this restless. Whispers swam through the water, slipping between coral pillars and curling along the vaulted ceilings.
From the fragments of overheard conversations and the scattered rumours spreading like wildfire through the courts, most of them had already pieced together a rough image of what was about to unfold.
At the heart of it all was a single human—an outsider, someone plucked from certain death by none other than the next heir to the throne, Luris Glanis.
This same human, against all reason and expectation, had managed to catch the eye of Empress Wannre herself.
The story that had spread was as absurd as it was enticing. Supposedly, this human possessed an ability that rendered him immune to her natural charm.
