Attendants moved onto the stage with careful efficiency, two of them lifting the Formation Core Stone's display stand while a third began the verification process for the Osborn Clan's payment. The transaction would take several minutes to finalise, but the result was already settled in the way that mattered—the item had a new owner, and everyone in the hall had seen who it was.
Morgan sat watching the attendants work with the particular stillness of someone who had just put down a weight they had been carrying for a long time.
His face remained calm, a testament to the years of disciplined training he had undergone. However, Robert had been around him long enough to sense the subtle difference between being composed out of mere routine and being composed because something important had finally been settled.
"Our purpose here is complete," John said quietly.
Robert looked at the stage where the next covered stand was already being positioned. "Now we watch."
