Raul Leonhard's office was a more than just a room it was a declaration of dominance, the very dominance the Leonhard household prides itself on. Every detail screamed of house Leonhard, unmatched grandeur, the kind that made the kings personal room in the palace look modest. Towering ebony bookshelves stretched to the vaulted ceiling their edges carved into golden lion's frozen mid-roar. Above, frescoes of sword-wielding ancestors bathed in sunlight looked down with eternal judgment.
At the center stood a massive oak desk, polished to a mirror's gleam, ivory inlays traced across its surface-like veins of light, while peacock quills and crystal inkwells etched with the Leonhard crest rested upon it—tools of power dressed as ornament.
The window stood veiled in heavy crimson drapes, thick enough to strangle the morning light. Where the sun broke through, it spilled onto marble floors veined with amber, the stone burning like sunlight made solid.
Above the fireplace hung the ceremonial longsword. Its hilt, studded with topaz, glowed faintly—as though it had stolen the flames from the heavens. A relic of blood and faith. And the only sword that was passed down from one patriarch to another—as a symbol of absolute leadership.
The air in the room carried weight on its own. Today was not just another morning. Especially after the declaration made by the grand patriarch concerning the selection ceremony.
Raul stood before the window, hands clasped behind his back. Sunlight crowned his silhouette in gold. His midnight-blue overcoat shimmered with fine gold embroidery, every stitch a lion's roar. Topaz buttons caught the light with each movement. A fur-lined cloak draped from his shoulders, held fast by an emerald brooch shaped like a lion's head.
Opposite him, across the vast desk, stood Hugo. His posture was unbowed, one hand resting casually on the curved sword at his hip. The gesture was neither a threat nor an accident—it was a reminder. He was no ornament. He was a blade.
Hugo's robes flowed with the quiet weight of a mountain storm. Black fabric, heavy yet unrestrained, draped across his frame, its wide sleeves whispering with each movement like the wings of a hunting hawk. Golden tigers roared from his shoulders, their eyes fierce and unyielding, announcing power without a single word spoken.
The front lay open, baring the hardened lines of his chest—a warrior's declaration that his body itself was a blade. Around his waist, the dark folds of the robe cinched into a battle-ready knot, simple yet unshakable.
On the back, embroidered in gold, gleamed the crest of the Leonhard household: the lion, eternal and unbowed. It marked him not only as a son of his bloodline but its sharpest fang.
"Raul." His voice calm but holding signs of fear and dread. "Do you think that this is not going too far?"
Raul still not facing his brother.
"There is nothing we can do..."
"But..."
"Do you wish to defy father's orders. You know what type of man he is better than any of us.... even better that Julian."
Hugo looks down defeated. No words come out of his mouth even as he opened it to protest. Turns in frustration and punches a shelf hard making it shake violently. Raul casually glances at him from his shoulder.
A knock is heard on the and a maid walks in, eyes wide with fear. Not the kind of fear where you have done something bad or wrong but the kind where you don't want to tell your master that something bad happened.
"I-i greet the patriarch and lord Hugo..."
Raul turns to face the maid noticing the fear in her voice and talks calmly.
"What could be the matter?"
"I-i didn't want to tell you this but..."
Turning to look at the maid and talking in a voice laced with impatience. Hugos voice booms making the maid flinch.
'L-l-lady E-Eun hyang passed out my lords."
The two brothers' eyes open wide in shock.
In the next very few minutes the two brothers' barge into the room with worried looks on their faces. Hugo instinctively went to his wife who was lying on Grays bed being fanned by another maid while the three children were on a mat on the floor, Eugene and Iris playing together while Gray looks at the adults.
"What happened?"
Raul says walking up to his wife and sister-in-law. There was no response, just pure silence. The two brothers looking confused looked at each other.
"Roxanna what's going on?"
With a fearful look in her eyes, she places the three gold coins on his palm. Out of curiosity Hugo leaves his wife's side and stands next to his brother as they both examine the look. After just taking a glimpse of the coins, the color drains from their faces.
Hugos voice sounds rusty as if the very sight of the coins took his voice away.
"I-i-impossible t-this can't be..."
Arm trembling Raul finally opens speaks.
"Elden..."