章 666: Change of Course

As the sombre assembly gathered in the ballroom, a palpable tension filled the air, underscored by the unsettling quiet—a quiet so profound it seemed to amplify the smallest of sounds, a testament to the gravity of the situation at hand. The recent string of military setbacks on the Anatolian shores had not just bruised the pride of Constantinople but had also cast a shadow over the empire's ambitious expansionist agenda. The emperor's call for a general meeting, initially conceived as a platform for strategic deliberation, had quickly devolved into an arena of personal grievances and veiled recriminations.