Time/Date: TC1853.01.20 – Midday
Location: Long Estate → Metropolitan Police Station, 4th Ring
The SIS agents waited by their vehicles with the patient stillness of people who'd learned that rushing nobles only complicated matters. Gray uniforms, efficient postures, expressions that revealed nothing except professional readiness for whatever came next.
Darian stood at the entrance of the Long Estate's main hall, Caelia beside him with that perfect composure she maintained even in crisis, and Serenya—still trembling, tears barely controlled—a step behind like a shadow of the confident daughter she'd been an hour ago.
The lead agent, a woman in her forties with steel-gray eyes and the bearing of someone who'd spent decades dealing with celestial family politics, inclined her head with precisely calculated respect. Not too deep—SIS answered to cosmic law, not noble authority—but enough to acknowledge Darian's position.
