SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant-Chapter 464: A New Seat Among the Eight [VI]

The young-looking elven woman at the head of the Council of Sages let the silence settle for a brief moment before speaking again. Her posture remained straight, her expression unreadable, and yet the authority in her voice was enough to keep even a room like that still.

"Good. Thank you all for gathering today." Her gaze moved slowly across the eight heads seated around the obsidian table. "We will begin with the matter of the war. The parties directly involved were as follows. House Sylvanel and its allies. Later, House Morgain joined the conflict. Opposing them stood House Thal’zar." She paused just long enough for the structure of the matter to settle into the room. "If any of the three sides have something to add before this Council moves to its conclusion, now is the moment to state it."

Her eyes turned toward Elenara first. "Lady Elenara au Sylvanel, please begin."

Elenara did not rush to speak. She remained seated for a second longer, one hand resting lightly near her staff, the faint pulse of mana from the vines around it barely noticeable in the low chamber light. When she finally began, her voice was calm and carried the same ancient authority that always seemed to follow her.

"The war has ended," she said. "The two individuals responsible for setting it in motion have already been sentenced. That outcome was made possible because the war was formalized in the previous Council." Her green eyes remained clear and unwavering. "Those two individuals were Icarus di Valtaron and Kaedor du Thal’zar."

The room stayed silent.

"With both of them removed from the equation, peace has returned. It has already been established that House Thal’zar, as a whole, did not seek this outcome. The root of this war was Icarus." Her gaze shifted, landing briefly on Darian. "Because of that, no one else in House Thal’zar should continue paying for the sins of those two men."

Roderic still held his glass loosely but did not interrupt. Nyssara’s face remained smooth and unreadable. Lysaria’s faint smile did not disappear, though her red eyes sharpened slightly at the weight of the wording. Even Grumhald kept silent for once.

The elven woman gave a small nod. "Understood. That aligns with the reports already submitted to this Council." Then her eyes moved toward the newest seat among the eight. "Lord Darian du Thal’zar. Your turn."

Darian did not speak immediately. For a brief second, the chamber remained as it was, heavy with old names, older grudges, and the quiet pressure of seven other family heads measuring the youngest among them from across the obsidian table. It was the first time he spoke there not as Kaedor’s son, not as a surviving heir standing behind another voice, but as the one now sitting in House Thal’zar’s seat.

When he finally opened his mouth, there was no hesitation in him.

"House Thal’zar is satisfied with how the war concluded." His voice was steady. "We cannot say that we feel no sorrow over our father’s death. That would be false. He was still our father. But it was an inevitable end, and it is something my house will have to live with from this point onward."

No one interrupted him. There was something firm in the way he held himself, something that made it clear he had already repeated those words to himself many times before saying them there. He was not asking for pity. He was not trying to excuse Kaedor. He was simply stating the truth as House Thal’zar had chosen to accept it.

"As for the consequences of the war, everything has already been decided. House Thal’zar will compensate House Sylvanel for what happened to their sanctuaries. That agreement has already been made between our sides." His striped tail shifted once behind him, then stilled. "That is the course we accepted. And that is the course we will uphold."

The words settled well. Even in a room like that, where any weakness would be noticed and any wrong tone remembered, Darian did not embarrass himself. He did not hide his house’s loss, but he did not cling to it either. He spoke like someone who understood that the seat beneath him was heavier than his age.

The elven woman gave a small nod. "Very well. If both houses are already aligned on the matter, then the war may be considered concluded."

For a moment, it seemed that would be the end of it. That the first great issue of the Council would close there, cleanly and without further resistance.

Then another voice entered the room.

"Wait a moment."

Lysaria’s faint smile remained on her lips as she looked toward the center of the table, red eyes gleaming with distant amusement. "Why not ask House Morgain as well? I would also like to hear how exactly House Morgain found itself involved in a war like this."

Valttair’s grey eyes shifted toward Lysaria. He had not moved at all since taking his seat, yet the air around him seemed to harden by a small degree the moment her question settled into the chamber.

The vampire matriarch rested one pale hand against the arm of her chair and continued with the same faint smile. "House Morgain is one of the Eight. You did not simply send support to an ally’s border dispute. You entered a war between Great Families." Her red gaze flickered with quiet amusement. "That is something worth clarifying, is it not? Or are we meant to pretend the balance between the Eight was never touched?"

For a second, no one else spoke.

"The situation was exceptional," Valttair said, his voice cold and clean as drawn steel. "The presence of the Void Creatures had already turned the conflict into something beyond an ordinary war. House Morgain intervened because that danger had become immediate." He paused for only a breath. "And because the Rosenthal were inside."

Lysaria’s smile sharpened. "Ah, yes. The Rosenthal." She tilted her head slightly. "Your family allies. The blind girl of House Rosenthal and the bastard of House Morgain. The wedding is soon, after all." Her eyes glimmered. "Still, if everyone here decides that was reason enough, what exactly stops the rest of us from doing the same in the future? One family enters for an ally. Then another joins for its own interests. How long before a contained war turns into something ugly enough to drag the whole world with it?"

That line lingered in the room like smoke after a candle goes out. The question itself was not foolish. That was what gave it weight.

Before anyone else could answer, the elven woman at the head of the Sages spoke. "I understand your concern, Lady Lysaria." Her tone remained controlled, but final in a way that left little room for further play. "However, the danger posed by the Void Creatures was already beyond dispute. Every house present here witnessed the end of that battle. What appeared there was no ordinary military complication."

Silence held for a moment.

"House Morgain’s role will therefore be recorded as justified intervention under extraordinary circumstances, specifically in relation to the Void Creature threat and the protection of an allied house already inside the conflict zone."

Lysaria said nothing.

The elven woman looked over the chamber once more. "With that clarification made, the matter of the war is concluded."