The marble hall echoed faintly with the sound of armored footsteps and shifting cloaks as the captains of the Clover Kingdom filed into the grand council chamber.

Stained-glass windows filtered the morning light into colored shafts that danced across the floor like silent flames.

Magic radiated from every corner of the room—powerful, honed, disciplined.

You stood near the far end, positioned to Julius’s right, arms folded, expression calm. You didn’t need to say a word—your presence spoke for itself.

Every gaze in the chamber had shifted your way when you entered. You weren’t surprised. That much was expected.

It wasn’t every day a newcomer became a Magic Knight captain in mere months.

You felt it before you heard it—a dense pressure in the air, like smoke from a bonfire. A shadow shifted in the doorway, and Yami Sukehiro stepped in, dragging his chair across the floor with all the grace of a wrecking ball.

His black cloak fluttered around him like the wings of something feral. He scanned the room with half-lidded eyes… until they landed on you.

His brow lifted. Then, a smirk.

“So you’re the guy who became a knight captain after only a few months?” he said, voice low, rough, and amused. “Looks like you’re strong.”

Every head turned in your direction again, only this time it wasn’t curiosity—it was expectation.

You met his gaze. His aura was heavy, wild—like the sea during a storm—but he was studying you not as a rival, not even as a threat.

But as something interesting. You answered with silence, letting the weight of your presence respond in place of words.