Lassen looked at each of them, one by one. He took a second, then another.
He liked letting silence stretch just long enough for tension to settle and for everyone's nerves to sharpen. Then, in a voice that was calm yet edged like a blade, he said : "For the first step, we need to unify the countries."
The shock was immediate.
Kaela flinched, just a little. Adrian blinked. Elias lifted his head from the hologram, looking lost between numbers and reality. Alex, true to form, kept a neutral expression… but his pen stopped mid-stroke.
Kaela was the first to break the quiet, her voice slightly shaky: "You… you're not going to start a world war, are you?"
Lassen let the theatrics hang for a beat before shaking his head with a faint, crooked smile: "Of course not. I'll leave that to the Germans."
Kaela stared at him, mouth half open. Adrian cleared his throat. Elias didn't seem to get the joke. Alex rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.
