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"I'm telling you, you have to punish him—even if it's just reducing his salary."
The voice echoed through the Grand Assembly Hall, a circular chamber that seemed to breathe with its own austere authority. Vaulted ceilings stretched three stories high, supported by columns of pale grey stone veined with silver. Afternoon light filtered through arched windows set at intervals along the upper walls, casting long geometric shadows across the polished obsidian floor.
At the room's center sat a massive round table carved from a single piece of dark mahogany, its surface so meticulously maintained it reflected the faces of those seated around it like a black mirror. Thirty high-backed chairs ringed the table—each one occupied except for two: one conspicuously empty, and one where the designated occupant stood rather than sat.
