Chapter 80: Audience with the Emperor

The room fell into a heavy silence, the kind that weighed on Izan's chest and made it hard to breathe. For the first time in his life, he felt truly helpless.

His entire life had been a series of challenges, battles for power, clashes over politics, maneuvering through wars, but this? This wasn't about any of that. This was about the one person he cared about more than anyone else, and the looming fear that he might have already lost him.

Izan's fist clenched tightly as the image of Elian flickered in his mind, his soft voice, the way his eyes seemed to light up in those rare moments when he let his guard down. The very thought of Elian discovering the rumors, the twisted half-truths that had spread like wildfire, gnawed at Izan's soul.