As the group began walking into the Ice Palace, still enclosed within the protective barrier, the surrounding elders, guards, and clan members instinctively stepped aside. Despite their discipline, quiet murmurs began to ripple through the crowd like wind across frozen water.
"That's the Patriarch's family?" someone whispered in disbelief. "Such a big one… three wives?"
Another voice followed, lower but sharp. "Look carefully. That woman beside him… she's an elf."
A third scoffed softly. "But she's not an ice elf."
"Are you blind? How would someone as amazing as the Patriarch would take an ice elf as his wife?" someone hissed back. "Can't you sense the divinity in her blood? That's a celestial elf. Royal blood. The highest among all elven lineages across the planes."
A hush fell for a brief moment before another murmur rose, tinged with curiosity. "Then does that mean Lady Xia is the fourth wife?"
