Calm slowly returned to the Celestial Palace, but all who dwelled there knew that its walls never slept. In every corner, in every shadow of the corridors, someone was always watching, someone calculating, someone ready to pull the invisible strings that held the Empire's fate.
That afternoon, the echoes of solemn footsteps resonated in the Tower of the Heavens. A group of men and women dressed in robes embroidered with silver and black threads approached with firm steps, carrying high the standard of a white tiger that seemed to gleam under the torchlight.
