Demerti had not even seen the full event yet when he had felt the atmosphere shift.
The room had gone strange.
The air had tightened.
And then, as if some higher authority had been waiting for the exact threshold of disaster, the system had returned.
Demerti had stood there in complete silence for several seconds before finally muttering, "You were right about him, your highness."
Elara, unsurprised, had only shrugged one shoulder.
"I am not wrong in this case."
That was what made it worse.
Not her victory.
Not the money.
Not even the fact that she had predicted it exactly.
It was the calm way she accepted the outcome, as though the return of the system had been no more remarkable than a routine administrative report.
Demerti had glanced toward the wall and then back at her. His expression was complicated now, part irritation, part disbelief, and part reluctant admiration.
"So," he said slowly, "you mean the goddess and the system are not good things?"
