After Max agreed to represent her in the Bloodline Legacy Battle, Rose didn't keep him in the ancestral hall for long.
She looked once more at the statue of the First Progenitor, and for a brief moment her expression turned complicated again. There was longing in her eyes, but also frustration, restraint, and a faint trace of resentment that had clearly been buried for years.
To the true heirs of the Four Sacred Clans, this statue represented origin, pride, and inheritance. To Rose, it represented everything she'd been denied since birth.
Then she turned away.
"Come with me," she said. "I'll take you to the place prepared for you."
Max gave the statue one last glance before following her out of the sealed hall. The moment he stepped away from the chamber, the strange reaction inside his blood eased a little, though it didn't vanish completely.
