---- Chapter 5 His eyes bled crimson, his claws fully unsheathed And in the next second, his wolf took over. A massive beast burst forth from his body and collapsed to the floor, howling in agony. The room shook. The walls trembled. His pain cracked the silence open like thunder. But no one could answer his wolf's question. The entire afternoon, Shawn's expression. remained dark and cold. Several werewolf leaders left his office one after another-each of them clearly rattled after being sharply criticized. Outside the office, they wiped the sweat from ---- their foreheads. "Sheesh... What's wrong with the Lycan King today?" "We didn't even make any mistakes." "Yeah, I don't get it either... But stop talking and get back to work before we're next!" With that, the hallway quickly emptied, leaving only unease behind. As the sun set, Shawn stood silently by the floor-to -ceiling window. The golden light poured in, stretching his shadow across the floor-long and lonely. I hovered behind him, watching. There was something in that silhouette... a kind of hollow stillness that pierced through me. I didn't know why, but I felt a strange certainty: The bond between him and Ella wasn't as firm as it seemed. ---- Perhaps it was because Ella came from a prestigious old pack that had long maintained ties with Shawn's clan. Their union felt... arranged. Polished. Political. Not heartfelt. Shawn didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't even realize that Scarlet had been standing quietly behind him for some time. She hesitated, clenching the file in her hands. Then, after a deep breath, she finally gathered the courage to speak- "Your Majesty, the wedding designer has delivered ten decoration plans. I need you to pick one style," Scarlet said carefully, her tone hesitant. Shawn remained silent, unmoving, as if her words didn't reach him. Scarlet's heart pounded. The atmosphere in the