THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR

[Previously]

The meeting was taking place in the De Gor's Mansion meeting room, a chamber steeped in secrecy and precision. Unlike the hidden sanctuaries nestled within the Families' Le rosa underground network, this space was woven into the heart of aristocratic grandeur, standing as both a fortress and a statement of power.

Its security did not rely on conventional means, no mere guards patrolled its entrance, nor were its doors sealed by mundane locks. Instead, layers of in-built magic wards pulsed softly within the walls, their enchantments maintaining secrecy itself.

Sound dissipated before it could escape, light twisted unnaturally at the edges, and even the very concept of presence became fragile under their influence. Here, no uninvited soul could listen, watch, or even perceive the gathering within.

The air, though crisp, carried the faint, mingled scents of polished wood, arcane reagents, and the subtle, almost metallic tang of mana. Dim, crystalline lanterns cast long, dancing shadows, highlighting the rich tapestries that muffled any stray sound.

At the center of a grand, dark oak table, David sat, his posture relaxed, almost languid, yet radiating an undeniable authority. Around him, his inner circle of Shadow Maidens were arrayed, a formidable collection of loyalty and power.

Vivian, a coiled spring of lethal energy, sat closest, her crimson eyes alight with anticipation. Katrina, her movements watchful, sat to her left, a silent mage guardian. Shay, with her deceptively calm demeanor, was across from them, while Angelica, her aura of serene competence, was to David's right. Seraphina, ever the pragmatic strategist, sat poised, her gaze analytical.

Beside them, as new guests to this inner sanctum, sat Elara, the Archon of Lysora County, her shoulders tense with the burden of her people and her sister. Her frustration, a simmering ember, was palpable.

Across from her, defying expectations, was Yue, a figure who looked no older than a child, with curious, wide eyes and a perpetually tilted head, yet she was an ancient elven alchemist of unparalleled genius. And beside Yue, a picture of quiet strength, was Litty, Yue's daughter and a master duelist, her hand never far from the hilt of her ornate rapier.

The atmosphere was thick, pregnant with unspoken questions and the grinding pressure of time. Elara, unable to contain her mounting anxiety, finally broke the silence, her voice tight with desperation.

"Time is up, David," she pressed, her gaze demanding. "You said this… this thing," she gestured vaguely at the table, "was your plan. Are you finally going to tell us how you intend to free Salomonis, or are we just going to sit here and watch Lysora burn?"

David, however, remained unfazed by her outburst. His lips curved into a knowing, confident smile, a faint, almost mischievous glint in his eyes.

With deliberate slowness, he reached forward, his fingers brushing the cool, intricate surface of a disc-shaped device that lay nestled on the table. It shimmered with an internal, ethereal light, hinting at impossible energies contained within its sleek form.

"Not just a plan, Elara," David corrected, his voice calm, resonating with an almost theatrical certainty. He settled deeper into his seat, the very picture of unshakeable confidence.

"The plan. Or rather," he added, a subtle emphasis in his tone, "the tool that will make it succeed." His gaze lingered on the disc, as if it held all the answers to the universe.

From her corner, Yue, whose elven years numbered centuries but whose demeanor was perpetually that of an inquisitive child, piped up. Her eyes, large and intelligent, darted from Elara to the maidens, then back to the device.

"Honestly, Lady Elara," she began, a hint of genuine curiosity and mild alchemical exasperation in her tone, "how do you think I even entered this room undetected? This chamber, you know, is filled with some of the finest mages and sword users David has trained, sensitive to the faintest magical ripple. And yet, you were unaware?"

Her question, delivered with childlike innocence, immediately drew curious, speculative glances towards David and Yue from Vivian, Katrina, and Shay.

Elara's eyes widened, a slow dawning of disbelief creeping into her features as the implication sank in. She looked from Yue's earnest, slightly over-eager face to David's subtly smug, knowing smirk.

"You… you used teleportation magic?!" she gasped, her voice barely a whisper. "But that's impossible for such a distance, it's simply impractical and the mages and resources it would require! No spell in recorded history can achieve such precision without immense preparation and a beacon!"

Yue's face lit up, her eyes blazing with the unadulterated passion of a true genius. "Ah! You see! It's not just teleportation, but spatiotemporal dislocation combined with recursive dimensional folding, allowing for precise, undetectable entry! It's my greatest invention....well, our invention, the culmination of 12 hours of research into…!"

David, knowing full well that Yue would now get hopelessly lost in a labyrinthine explanation of quantum mechanics and interdimensional harmonics, cut her off smoothly.

He simply clapped his hands once, a sharp, authoritative sound that echoed faintly in the hushed room. Immediately, two of his cloaked maidens, not the ones at the table, but silent, efficient figures whose forms moved with unnerving fluidity, rolled in a large, pristine whiteboard.

It was David's own creation, a personal project from his spare time, complete with a rainbow of dry-erase markers. The sight was almost comically mundane for the setting, yet it spoke volumes of David's peculiar 'acquired' genius.

David rose, moving to stand before the whiteboard, a dry-erase marker clicking with purpose in his hand. His posture was relaxed, yet radiating an undeniable authority, the casual air of a professor about to deliver a lecture. His gaze swept over his assembled Shadows, an imperious gleam in his eyes.

"Alright, everyone. Class is in session. Pay close attention. This will be the largest operation we've undertaken since the very formation of our handpicked and trained Shadows."

The pronouncement hung in the air, a mixture of a school lesson and a declaration of war, delivered with perfect, theatrical timing.