That chamber looked like a counselling chamber. It was a counselling chamber. But not exactly as before. When they had gone to war, the builders had made it different for safety. The walls were smooth again, the marble floor polished until it caught the dim light. Faint scents of fresh limewash and oil polish still lingered in the air, mixing with the heavier aroma of parchment and old incense.

Ervin's eyes fell on that room, and for a moment his dull gaze seemed to focus. He had been following his assistant without paying attention to the turns of the corridor. His boots made a muted sound on the floor, each step trailing slightly behind hers. The soft sweep of her robes across the marble seemed to guide him like a tether, his mind drifting elsewhere, following not the path but the rhythm of her movements.

The facility was quieter than it should have been. Passing figures moved slowly, their eyes downcast. Some sat alone against the walls, their fingers tracing absent patterns on their knees. Others clasped at pendants or rings, lips moving in silent remembrance. Each face carried the same heaviness, loss of friends, family, and the weight of what tomorrow might bring.

When Ervin finally registered where they were, his brows knit slightly.

"Helly, why have we come here? Sorry, I was not paying attention. Did I ask you to come here? Sorry if I did." His voice was low, almost apologetic.

"No, sir, you did not." Her tone was careful, her eyes flicking briefly to his before looking away. She did not scold him. She understood. Kaelin and the Mage King had been more than allies and enemies to Ervin, and grief had taken hold of him like frost over stone.

"There is someone who wants to meet you," she continued, adjusting the fold of the note she carried in her hands. "I don't know him, but Sir Kiratava told me. I will introduce you to him."

Ervin's head tilted slightly. "Sir Kiratava has said… Well, okay. If he has said that, then it must be something important. But where is he? No one is visible." His eyes scanned the empty space, the chamber silent but for the faint hum of the ceiling crystals.

"I don't know either. All he told me was that when we reach here, we will automatically see those people. He said that they will come here by teleportation." Helly's fingers tightened slightly on the note.

Ervin's gaze sharpened. "But they have the authority to teleport here. As you know, there are only a few people who can teleport without authority. Either you are powerful enough that the system cannot detect you… or you are a special person."

"Yes. Sir Kiratava told me that he has given his approval." Helly nodded.

Ervin exhaled slowly. "Okay, then let's wait for him to come."

The two stood in the center of the polished chamber, their reflections faint in the floor's sheen, as the air seemed to grow still around them. The time passed and then...

The air in the counselling chamber felt still, the faint scent of polished wood and incense lingering from earlier meetings. Ervin and Helly stood in silence, their eyes drifting to the empty chairs and long table at the center.

A faint ripple appeared in the air, like heat bending light. It deepened, widened, and with a soft crack, two figures stepped out of nothing.

One was dressed in a simple black coat, his face half-hidden under a hood. His movements were measured, yet unnaturally silent, as though the floor itself refused to echo his presence. Even when he shifted his weight, there was no sound no creak of leather, no whisper of cloth. His eyes were sharp, scanning the chamber in an instant. The faint shimmer along his shadow was a sign of rare magic stealth magic woven with the art of assassination. An art so precise that, when mastered, it could erase one's existence from the senses of the living.

The other was a man in a tailored deep-blue suit, his golden cufflinks glinting faintly in the low light. A calm smile rested on his face, but there was an effortless authority in his posture. Even here, far from the markets of great cities, the weight of his presence was clear. He was a man whose influence could shape nations with a word the richest man in the known world, owner of fleets that sailed every sea and vaults that stored treasures from across the continents.

Ervin's gaze moved between them, then settled on the man in the suit.

" Welcome sir, May I ask you about your identity. Don't misunderstand me. All because of security purposes. I know you both are sir, Kiratava's guests but it's necessary for us now."

The businessman's smile deepened, his tone polite but steady. "You may call me Aurel Veylan. Trade and gold are my weapons."

Ervin's attention shifted to the hooded figure, whose presence seemed to bend the air around him. "And about you sir?"

The man in black raised his head slightly, his voice low and without warmth. "Names are useless for people like me. But if you must call me something, call me Kairn. I make problems… disappear."

Helly, who stood quietly by Ervin's side, felt the faint pressure in the air. The businessman's influence was like a warm tide, steady, heavy, commanding. The assassin's presence, however, was like the edge of a blade grazing the skin, reminding her that one wrong step could mean the end.

Ervin crossed his arms, studying them both. "So, sir Kiratava sent you."

"Yes," Aurel said. "And our interests… align with Ren."

The assassin said nothing, only let his gaze sweep the room once more.

The chamber grew quieter, the faint ticking of the wall clock filling the space between them.

The chamber was quiet, the faint hum of magic wards embedded in the walls barely audible beneath the still air.

Ervin sat opposite the two figures who had just appeared through the teleportation. He leaned forward slightly, studying them.

One was dressed in a finely cut blue coat , embroidered with threads that shimmered faintly in the light. His eyes were sharp but not unkind, the sort of gaze that could measure the worth of a person in a single glance. Rings of rare gemstones adorned his fingers, each one a sign of wealth and power. At first glance Ervin didn't recognise them but when he heard that name in his mind something stricken.

Ervin recognized him from old merchant reports though seeing him in person was different. This was not just a rich man. This was the richest man in the world, a man whose caravans could shift the economy of kingdoms, whose influence reached the courts of emperors.

Beside him stood a figure in black, hood drawn low. His presence was quiet, almost unnatural. Shadows seemed to cling to him even in the steady glow of the chamber's crystals. This was no ordinary guard.

His aura carried the cold precision of someone trained in both stealth magic and assassination magic. That arts so rare and dangerous that few dared to even study them. Stealth magic masked one's presence from sight, sound, and spirit sense. Assassination magic did not simply kill. It severed the thread of life so completely that even divination spells could not trace the victim's final moments.

After recognition Ervin broke the silence. "Sir, May I know your names again?"

The merchant answered calmly, his voice deep and measured. "My name is Aurel Veylan."

Ervin raised an eyebrow. "The Aurel Veylan?"

A faint smile tugged at the corner of the man's lips. "So you have heard about me."

Ervin's gaze shifted to the hooded figure. "Yes, sir."

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