The commotion at the Harem's main tree last night had left a few lingering problems.
Sure enough, the moment daylight broke, security across the entire Harem doubled.
An extra shift was added to the guards rotating through fixed posts.
Li Xiang pushed open her door that morning and took one look at the airtight lockdown.
Wasn't this annoying?
She had been just one step away from getting her hands on platinum last night before being forced to back off. Now security had been tightened across the board, making another attempt to sneak into the central tree anytime soon more than ten times harder.
Kohaku, Ginro, and Lillian emerged from their rooms one after another.
Facing the tense, oppressive atmosphere, they exchanged glances and saw the same helplessness in one another's eyes.
Heavy black curtains blocked out all daylight. The room was dim and silent, its air cold and oppressive.
Thorn knelt on one knee by the curtain, his posture respectfully lowered as he quietly reported recent developments to the figure behind it.
"Chief, I have acted entirely in accordance with your wishes and expanded the Harem selection once again."
"The newly admitted female candidates are all exceptional in both looks and figure. Every last one is a remarkable beauty."
"Two of them have hair and eye colors unlike those of the local people. Their appearances and bearing are especially distinctive. I believe you will certainly like them."
After reporting everything that had happened recently, he had expected the chief to offer him some praise.
Yet from beginning to end, the supreme chief behind the curtain remained silent, offering not a single response. The quiet was almost eerie.
Only Thorn's low voice echoed through the room, the oppressive atmosphere making it hard to breathe.
Standing beside Thorn, Kirisa felt a