[Haldor's POV—Same Night—Different Places of Elorian Empire]
"Arrest every one of them."
My voice echoed through the marble corridor as Black Knights moved like shadows, seizing nobles from their chambers, dragging them away before their guards could even draw steel.
Doors burst open, silk robes met iron chains, and titles meant nothing tonight.
This was not a coup.
This was purification.
Grand Duke Osric stood beside a long table in the seized archive chamber, parchments spread before him like the entrails of a beast we had just cut open. His brows were drawn tight as he flipped through document after document.
"…I never knew," he murmured, voice heavy. "I truly never knew we had this much corruption in our empire."
I stepped closer, my eyes following the lines of ink.
"A diamond mine?" I asked slowly. "We have a diamond mine in Eloria?"
Osric nodded grimly. "On the eastern border. Officially, it was declared exhausted five years ago."
