The heavy doors of the private imperial council chamber clicked shut with a definitive, metallic echo that seemed to lock out the rest of the world. Inside, the atmosphere felt completely different from the chaos outside in the palace courtyard. Once everyone had settled into their assigned seats, the room settled into a tense hush filled with nothing but formal diplomacy, careful calculations, and the quiet rustle of parchment.
There were no shouting guards, no frantic murmurs, and no rushed footsteps. Instead, the room was a sanctuary of quiet, high-stakes bureaucracy, smelling faintly of aged parchment, polished mahogany, and the subtle, lingering scent of wax seals.
