For a few seconds, silence was all that reigned in the prison room, the the air thick with the smell of damp stone and iron.
The woman remained motionless within her cage of chains, her head hanging low so that her short brown hair almost obscured the jagged black iron collar around her neck.
After a long, agonizing pause, she finally parted her cracked lips.
"I don't… actually know," she whispered, her tone devoid of any deception, yet carrying a weight of profound emptiness.
Yuan almost exploded with rage at her words. The guild master's professional facade shattered instantly, his face contorting into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.
His veins bulged at his temples as he took a violent step toward the bars, his hands clenching into white-knuckled fists that shook with the effort of restraining himself.
