The dawn that followed Kenneth's… re-education… in the Steele Family dungeons was crisp and unsettlingly bright. Alaric Steele felt a familiar, dark satisfaction thrumming beneath his skin. He had broken the arrogant whelp, shattered his delusions of grandeur, and planted seeds of terror that would likely haunt Kenneth for years to come. The knowledge that Kenneth possessed a System, whatever its name, added a layer of strategic interest, but for now, the immediate pleasure of utter domination was enough.
He walked through the main hall of the manor, his stride confident, his ruby eyes holding a spark of their usual predatory amusement, now overlaid with a chilling calm. Kara and Ulriya, freshly bathed and clad in immaculate (and notably untorn) maid uniforms, bowed deeply as he passed, their eyes downcast, though he sensed their heightened awareness of his mood. They had likely heard whispers, or perhaps felt the shift in the manor's undercurrents.
