Her words plunged the hall into an even deeper silence. Faces now bore not even a hint of color, and the weight of the revelation hung heavily over the gathering. Finally, the silence was broken by shouts of anger.
"That despicable monster!" one man roared.
"So that's how he maintained his youth? By slaughtering his own children and separating their flesh from their bones?" another exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table.
"This is unthinkable! Even if I were promised a thousand years, I couldn't bring myself to do such a thing. To kill your own child…!"
Another warrior shook his head in disbelief, muttering, "Even a beast grows fond of its young if it raises them long enough. For the emperor to have done this… he truly abandoned his humanity."
The room filled with voices of fury and revulsion. An elderly man, his eyes closed, nodded solemnly. "Now it all makes sense. I thought it odd that a crown prince would move against his own father, but it seems his life depended on it."
