The street had fallen into silence once more, but it was not the comfortable kind of quiet that came from peace. Instead, it was the aftermath of pressure—an invisible tension that had only just receded, leaving behind a lingering weight in the air, as though the stones beneath their feet still remembered what had nearly unfolded moments ago.
The armored men were gone.
Their disciplined footsteps had faded into the distance, swallowed by the labyrinth of the Imperial City's upper district. The faint echoes of their presence dissipated gradually, like ripples fading from the surface of still water. What remained was the soft glow of lanterns suspended from curved iron brackets along the buildings, their golden light casting elongated shadows across the polished stone road.
A gentle breeze moved through the street, stirring the edges of cloaks and brushing against the quiet stillness as if attempting to restore normalcy.
