The Evergreen Family did not sleep that night.
Every lantern throughout the estate remained lit.
The lively music that had filled the celebration only hours earlier had long since fallen silent.
Instead...
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through every corridor.
The attempted assassination had transformed one of the happiest days in the family's history into its greatest security crisis in decades.
Patriarch Manuel immediately assumed command.
His voice was calm.
Yet carried unquestionable authority.
"No one is to leave."
"No one is to be accused without evidence."
"We are hosts before we are investigators."
"If the culprit is truly among our guests..."
"We will uncover the truth."
"If they are not..."
"We will still owe every innocent guest our respect."
Every elder bowed.
"As you command."
Within moments...
The Evergreen Family's protective formations expanded across the entire estate.
Invisible barriers sealed every entrance and exit.
Not a prison.
But a precaution.
Guests were informed politely.
Most accepted without complaint.
After witnessing the explosion...
None wished to leave under suspicion.
The first investigation began with the remaining gifts.
Hundreds of elders carefully carried every unopened package into a separate hall.
Nothing was touched directly.
Formation masters inspected each gift from a distance.
Alchemists searched for hidden poisons.
Artifact specialists examined every seal.
Experts in spiritual intent searched for traces of killing techniques.
Hour after hour...
The work continued.
Nothing suspicious appeared.
Not a single gift resembled the black package.
Andrew personally examined the destroyed remains.
The fragments of the black cloth.
The shattered box.
The residual energy.
He reconstructed the explosion repeatedly.
Each attempt produced the same conclusion.
"This object..."
"...was never meant to survive."
"The moment it activated..."
"It erased itself."
William quietly listened.
"So whoever prepared it..."
"...never intended to leave evidence."
Andrew nodded.
"Exactly."
"They sacrificed any possibility of recovering the mechanism."
"They wanted only one result."
Silence followed.
William calmly finished the sentence.
"My death."
Andrew looked toward him.
"No."
William frowned slightly.
Andrew continued.
"If they wished only to kill you..."
"They would have prepared something far stronger."
"You reacted within a fraction of a second."
"And yet..."
"You survived with only superficial injuries."
Andrew's eyes narrowed.
"I believe..."
"...their true objective was uncertainty."
"To turn your wedding into fear."
"To make every future celebration feel dangerous."
William remained silent.
He understood.
Sometimes...
A failed assassination achieved more than a successful one.
Meanwhile...
Angela accompanied Victoria through another section of the estate.
Victoria sighed softly.
"I never imagined your wedding would become like this."
Angela gently smiled.
"Neither did I."
She looked toward the brightly lit halls.
"But..."
"I'm grateful."
Victoria looked puzzled.
"Grateful?"
Angela nodded.
"I saw something today."
"When that explosion happened..."
"He never hesitated."
"He didn't think about himself."
"He thought only about protecting everyone nearby."
Victoria smiled sadly.
"That's my brother."
"He always chooses others first."
Angela lowered her eyes.
"Which is exactly why I worry."
Elsewhere...
Merito, Javier, Maria, Sarah, Daniel, Mark, Vladimir, Tiago, and Kashmir gathered together.
No one joked.
No one laughed.
Daniel finally broke the silence.
"Whoever did this..."
"...underestimated William."
Javier folded his arms.
"Or perhaps..."
"...they understood him perfectly."
Everyone looked toward him.
Javier continued.
"They attacked the one day he would never allow himself to fail."
Maria quietly nodded.
"It wasn't merely an attack."
"It was psychological warfare."
Merito looked toward the distant main hall.
"Then they're intelligent."
Sarah sighed.
"Which makes them dangerous."
Near midnight...
William stood alone outside the ruined ceremony platform.
The shattered stone had already been removed.
Yet...
The marks left by the explosion remained.
He stared at them quietly.
Behind him...
Footsteps approached.
Andrew.
"You should rest."
William shook his head.
"I'm thinking."
Andrew stood beside him.
"About revenge?"
William remained silent.
Then...
"No."
Andrew looked slightly surprised.
"I'm thinking..."
"...about what I failed to notice."
The old man smiled faintly.
"You blame yourself."
William answered honestly.
"I always do."
Andrew looked toward the stars.
"That's a burden every protector eventually carries."
He turned toward William.
"But remember something."
"The responsibility for evil..."
"...belongs to the one who commits it."
"Not to the one who failed to predict it."
William slowly lowered his gaze.
"I know."
"But knowing something..."
"...doesn't always make it easy to believe."
Andrew gave a quiet nod.
"I understand."
At dawn...
The final reports arrived.
Every elder had reached the same conclusion.
No additional dangerous gifts existed.
No suspicious formations had been discovered.
No guest had behaved unusually.
The black package remained completely isolated.
As though it had appeared from nowhere.
Patriarch Manuel gathered every honored guest once again.
He stood before them and bowed deeply.
"The Evergreen Family thanks every one of you for your patience."
"Our investigation has found no evidence implicating any guest."
"We therefore refuse to stain anyone's honor through suspicion alone."
He straightened.
"Those who wish to depart..."
"...may now do so with our gratitude."
One by one...
The delegations began leaving.
Before departing...
Many personally approached William.
Not with curiosity.
But with sincere concern.
Some offered assistance.
Others promised to investigate through their own networks.
Several powerful families even volunteered intelligence resources in hopes of uncovering whoever had planned the attack.
William thanked each of them respectfully.
As the final flying ship disappeared beyond the horizon...
Silence returned to the Evergreen Family.
The celebration had ended.
The guests had departed.
The laughter had faded.
Only William, Angela, Andrew, Manuel, Victoria...
And one unanswered question remained.
Who had sent...
The black gift?
Far beyond the Evergreen Family...
In a place untouched by sunlight...
A single figure quietly watched a glowing projection.
The image showed the moment of the explosion.
Then...
William emerging alive.
The unknown figure slowly extinguished the projection.
"...As expected."
A calm voice echoed through the darkness.
"He survived."
A second voice answered from somewhere unseen.
"What now?"
Several moments passed.
Then...
The first voice replied.
"We proceed to the next stage."
Darkness swallowed the room once more.
And somewhere...
Far beyond William's sight...
A plan that had taken years to prepare...
Continued moving forward.