The doors of the throne room closed behind him with a sharp thud.
The Heralds remained on either side, motionless, their dark robes hanging around them, their eyes burning with a fury they dared not unleash.
They wanted to shout.
They wanted to proclaim the prophecy.
But the sound of the five hundred Douglas soldiers waiting in the square was more persuasive than any prayer.
The Heralds stepped aside without saying a word.
Lusian did not grant them so much as a glance.
He kept walking.
Until he crossed the gates of the Douglas Palace.
Then someone threw herself at him.
"Lusian!"
A pair of arms wrapped around him so tightly that his armor creaked.
Adela.
Lusian barely had time to react before he felt the young woman bury her face against his chest.
She was trembling.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Beside her, the White Tiger let out a low growl.
The beast bared its fangs.
Lusian felt the pressure of its presence and froze for a moment.
That power...
Lusian recognized the sensation. It was the same magical beast he had known long ago, but its presence was completely different now.
It had grown far stronger.
A monster capable of tearing an army apart.
In the game, Adela had died defending her lord.
The White Tiger had fallen beside her.
Lusian had spent far too long trying to prevent that fate.
And now, once again, the world seemed determined to lead them toward it.
Adela tightened her arms around him even more.
"Don't ever leave me again..."
Her voice broke.
Lusian lowered his gaze.
"Adela..."
She lifted her face.
Her eyes were red.
But beneath the tears, there was something else.
Anger.
"My duty is to protect you."
Lusian remained silent.
"If something had happened to you..."
Adela clenched her teeth.
For a moment, the leader of the magical beast squad disappeared.
All that remained was someone terrified by the possibility of losing the person she loved.
Lusian placed both hands on her shoulders.
"It was necessary."
"I don't care."
The answer came immediately.
"Adela."
She shook her head.
"I don't want to stay here again while you risk your life."
Lusian sighed.
"That is precisely why you had to stay."
He gestured toward the outside.
"You're the only one who can command the magical beast riders. If I'm not here, you're the one who protects the duchy."
Adela lowered her gaze.
"But..."
"I need you here."
She slowly raised her eyes.
Lusian held her gaze.
"Do you understand?"
The White Tiger snorted.
As if it disagreed as well.
Adela curled her fingers into Lusian's clothes.
"I don't want to be separated from you again."
Lusian watched her for several seconds.
He knew this was dangerous.
Not for him.
For her.
He gently cupped her cheek and made her look at him.
"There won't be a next time without you."
Adela froze.
"Do you promise?"
"I promise."
Tears escaped her eyes once again.
But this time, she managed a faint smile.
"Then it's a promise."
She hugged him again.
Lusian closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.
The White Tiger stopped growling.
It slowly lowered its head.
As if it had accepted that promise.
Lusian remained like that for several seconds.
Then he opened his eyes.
And looked toward the palace gates.
The gods had just declared him their enemy.
The heroes would come.
The armies would come.
Everything he had spent years trying to avoid was once again converging upon him.
But this time, it was different.
He had made a promise.
And Lusian Douglas was not a man who broke his promises.
For the first time, however...
he was afraid he might not be able to keep it.
The embrace ended shortly afterward.
Lusian stepped out onto the balcony of the Douglas Palace.
Below, the five hundred soldiers of his personal guard stood in formation in the square, their silence ironclad. Around them, the vassal nobles, servants, and families who had accompanied House Douglas to the capital had gathered.
Lusian watched them in silence for several seconds.
"Prepare the caravans."
Commander Albert stepped forward from the courtyard.
"Are we returning to the duchy, my lord?"
Lusian cast one final glance toward the spires and battered towers of Acropolis, where the shadow of the Dogma already loomed over them.
"Yes." His voice echoed, calm but absolute. "Every Douglas currently in the capital will return to our ancestral territory. Nobles, soldiers, servants. We will leave no one behind to pay for our decisions."
Albert nodded gravely.
"And the Crown's businesses?"
"Close them all."
"The properties and residences?"
"They will be left vacant."
A tense murmur swept through the vassal nobles.
Lusian finally turned toward them, meeting the gazes of his own bloodline.
"We are no longer welcome here."
No one answered.
There was no need.
The condemnation pronounced by the Heralds had shattered a political pact that no sword or treaty could repair.
Lusian lowered his gaze toward the streets of the capital, where the shadows of passersby were already beginning to retreat.
"Then we will not give them the privilege of our presence, nor the opportunity to hunt us down one by one."
He turned, his cloak billowing behind him.
"We're going home."
The order spread like wildfire through every corner of the palace.
Within minutes, the black lion crest once again rose above hundreds of cloaks, wagons, and banners.
The Douglases were not fleeing the capital.
They were withdrawing for war.