The First Prince walked quickly down the corridor of the western wing, his dark coat sweeping silently over the floor.
He didn't look back to see if anyone was following him or rather, he didn't need to. The entire royal court, including his father and every significant noble in the capital, was currently gathering in the main throne room to stroke the ego of a commoner who had gotten lucky in a Gate.
The sheer humiliation of it made his jaw tighten, his fingers curling into fists at his sides.
He turned a sharp corner, stepping out of the main hallway and into a much older section of the palace that hadn't been actively used in decades. The ornate carpets and bright mana lamps were gone here, replaced by bare stone and thick, unbroken shadows.
He stopped in front of a completely blank wall near the end of a dead-end corridor.
