Lord Jethro went on, his voice steady despite the tension pressing down on the room.
"The person who did this wanted to destroy me," he said. "They wanted to humiliate me publicly. What reason would Grey have to do that if he is just generally interested in me?"
Alpha Norman did not respond. Leo did not either. The two of them exchanged a look-brief, tense, and unmistakably strained.
It was subtle, but it did not escape notice. There was something close to panic in the way Alpha Norman's jaw tightened, in the way Leo's fingers curled into fists at his sides.
Another emperor finally broke the silence, releasing a quiet sigh before speaking.
"What if he did it for the same reason Emperor Jason mentioned earlier?" he suggested.
"What if it is true that he is homosexual, and he was angered by the harsh rules you proposed against it? That could explain his actions."
Lord Jethro answered instantly, without hesitation.
