The Agaron delegation occupied nearly an entire eastern section of the diplomatic palace.

Not officially.

Officially, Wrohan had merely ’expanded accommodations’ in recognition of Agaron’s status and the scale of the ether negotiations.

In reality, the Crown Prince of Agaron had arrived with enough military personnel, diplomatic staff, intelligence officers, engineers, analysts, medics, and household attendants to qualify as a mobile political ecosystem.

Kamal walked through the eastern corridor with Noah beside him, his pace unhurried and measured.

Servants moved differently when he passed.

The effect had begun within minutes of Kamal being appointed through the system, and Noah found it deeply impressive and slightly horrifying.

"You haven’t even officially taken over yet," he muttered quietly as they turned another corner. "And somehow the entire staff already walks like they’re being graded."

"They are being graded."

Noah glanced sideways at him, his green eyes wary.

"...Right."

The eastern administrative hall had been temporarily converted into the delegation’s operational center. Security schedules hovered in layered projections above one side of the room while diplomatic timetables rotated slowly against the far wall. Staff moved efficiently between terminals carrying tablets, encrypted reports, and updated route clearances.

The moment Kamal entered, the atmosphere sharpened.

A woman near the central table straightened immediately before stepping forward.

Sella Harper, Chief of the Crown Prince’s household staff, dressed in the dark uniform of the staff, her silver hair pinned flawlessly.

Expression composed enough to survive imperial politics for at least another decade.

"Steward Kamal," she greeted smoothly with a respectful inclination of her head. "Welcome back."

Noah noticed the wording instantly. ’My god, Arik’s staff is terrifying in accommodating the lie so fast.’

Kamal inclined his head in return.

"Chief Harper."

Unlike Noah, Sella showed absolutely no visible curiosity regarding the implications surrounding Kamal’s sudden appearance.

Which likely meant she was curious enough to qualify as medically dangerous internally.

"The current household reports are prepared," she continued calmly. "I have also separated the Wrohan staff evaluations ahead of tomorrow’s review."

"Efficient."

"Thank you."

Noah watched the exchange with the quiet fascination of a man observing two highly intelligent predators politely recognizing each other’s existence.

Then Sella’s attention shifted briefly toward him.

"Lord Noah."

He sighed softly.

"There’s judgment in your voice."

"You authorized three unscheduled route changes this morning."

"They were emotionally necessary."

Sella did not blink.

"That explanation concerns me."

"It concerned me too."

Kamal extended one hand toward the nearest terminal.

Sella passed him a tablet immediately.

The steward reviewed the files in silence while the operational center continued moving around him. Staff schedules. Security structures. Internal routing. Kitchen rotations. Medical placements. Diplomatic reception teams.

His eyes moved quickly, maybe a little too fast for ordinary reading.

Noah leaned slightly closer, his blonde hair catching the light.

"Should I be worried?"

"Yes," Kamal answered calmly. "But not about the household."

That did not improve Noah’s emotional state.

Kamal continued reviewing the reports for another minute before speaking again.

"The Agaron personnel are stable enough for now." His gaze lifted slightly toward the far side of the palace. "The Wrohan staff review tomorrow will require restructuring."

Sella nodded once. There was no need to hide the fact that no one trusted staff from Wrohan.

"I anticipated that."

"Good."

Then Kamal’s attention shifted toward another file, one so new that the printer ink barely dried.

Noah noticed the moment immediately.

"Amara?"

Kamal was silent briefly.

The name settled differently than most things around him. Older. Heavier.

Finally, he nodded once.

"She cannot remain unattended."

Noah’s expression lost some of its humor.

Amara Kaelen-Tor currently occupied an isolated side wing within the diplomatic palace under quiet Agaron protection. Officially, she was merely an elderly civilian consultant relocated for safety reasons after instability near the lower districts.

Unofficially...

Noah was beginning to suspect that half the people surrounding Arik belonged in classified historical archives.

"You think someone from before should join the household?" he asked carefully.

Kamal’s gaze remained on the report.

"There are some who still live quietly enough to be approached."

The answer carried no emotion, and that made Noah almost shiver.

Noah leaned against the edge of the central table, lowering his voice instinctively despite the privacy fields already active around the room.

"How many?"

Kamal considered the question seriously for a minute before answering.

"Not many." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Something old moved briefly behind his eyes. A mix of loss, distance, and calculation perfected by decades.

"Nuria is gone," he said quietly. "Most of those who survived learned how to disappear afterward."

The operational center remained active around them, but Noah suddenly became intensely aware of how strange this entire situation truly was.

Arik was Goliath reborn.

Amara was alive, and now Kamal was returning to his old post.

Pieces of a dead empire were quietly gathering beneath the surface of modern politics while Wrohan smiled politely above it.

"And yet they’re coming back," Noah murmured.

Kamal’s gaze lifted toward the eastern windows of the palace.

"No," he corrected softly. "Only some of us."

The answer lingered heavily between them.

Then, with the terrifying efficiency of a man capable of compartmentalizing several emotional catastrophes simultaneously, Kamal returned to the operational files.

"For now," he said calmly, "someone for Amara will be enough."

Noah blinked once.

"That’s your priority?"

"She is alone."

The simplicity of the answer silenced him immediately.

Kamal continued reviewing schedules while speaking.

"She spent decades hidden in markets pretending to be harmless while carrying memories no one else should have retained." His eyes moved once across the staffing lists. "She will not remain isolated inside this palace."

Noah watched him quietly for a second.

"Why didn’t she try to have her own family?"

Kamal’s hand stilled briefly against the tablet.

"Because anyone exposed too closely to Felix’s poison ages faster than is natural," he said calmly. "Amara should physically resemble a woman in her thirties. Instead, the poison corrupted her ether channels over time."

The operational room quieted slightly around them.

Even Sella, standing near the central projection table, lifted her eyes for the briefest moment before returning to the schedules in her hands.

Noah leaned back against the wall, arms loosely crossed now, his expression sharpening with thought rather than humor for once.

"I saw something similar in old Claymore medical files," he said slowly. "Not identical, but close. Workers exposed to contaminated extraction zones near the northern sites." His eyes narrowed slightly as he thought through it. "The damage slowed when they were transferred into areas with cleaner ether concentrations."

Kamal listened without interrupting.

Noah pushed himself away from the wall.

"Do you think access to a stable source of white-grade ether would help her recover?"

For the first time since entering the operations hall, Kamal looked genuinely caught off guard.

"Possibly," he admitted at last. "If the source was strong enough."

His gaze drifted briefly toward the eastern side of the palace where Amara’s temporary quarters had been arranged under discreet security.

"Felix’s poison damages more than the body. It corrodes ether pathways gradually. Most treatments only slow the deterioration." He paused. "Clean white-grade ether could theoretically stabilize the corruption."

Sella spoke quietly from beside the projection table.

"There are no white-grade sources in Wrohan."

"No," Kamal agreed. "Nor in any neighboring territory capable of sustaining prolonged treatment."

Noah was already pulling up his terminal.

Kamal’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"What are you doing?"

Noah looked up.

"Calling Arik."

Sella closed her eyes briefly like a woman already anticipating paperwork severe enough to qualify as military trauma.

Kamal watched Noah carefully.

"You believe he has access to such a source."

Noah let out a short breath. "Oh, I know for sure."