A cold breeze left a thin fog on the windowpane as Orpheus stood by the window, gazing intently outside. His expression was a mix of impatience and deep contemplation, as if he was waiting for something to happen or someone to arrive. Behind him, the others sat around the table in silence, each lost in their own thoughts and emotions.

Alice leaned gracefully against her chair, her absent-minded gaze fixed on the faint patterns on the table. Her eyes occasionally drifted toward the others in the room, but she kept her questions to herself. Beside her, Norton sat with a thoughtful expression, his rugged stance unaffected by the wear and tear on his attire. Despite his resolute demeanor, the weariness on his face was unmistakable.

Melly sat quietly at the corner of the table, her head slightly tilted as if gauging the atmosphere in the room. Behind the veil of her helmet, her thoughts remained inscrutable. Frederick, on the other hand, sat upright, his composed demeanor radiating a subtle sense of authority. His presence seemed to lighten the oppressive air in the room, if only slightly.

Each of them had arrived here the same way—with a letter. The letters still lay on the table, untouched, but no one dared to mention them. A shared silence weighed heavily in the room, thick with unspoken tension. Orpheus’s watchful gaze out the window only amplified