The couple's hesitation to talk about the jade was painfully obvious, and Orion felt it the moment the conversation drifted in that direction. It wasn't just a pause or an awkward delay—it was deliberate restraint. They knew something, and they were choosing their words carefully to avoid saying it.
For now, Orion did nothing.
He sat still, posture relaxed, gaze neutral. There was no need to press yet. The most important part had already been confirmed: the two Sylgrid leaders were aware of something connected to a "special" jade, and they were actively guarding that knowledge. The problem now wasn't whether information existed, but how to extract it without crossing into open hostility.
He left it to Seris.
If things deteriorated, force was always an option—dangerous, costly, and likely to complicate everything that followed—but it remained an option. Orion didn't like it, but he acknowledged it all the same.
