The subtle clash between the two women continued beneath the surface—silent, sharp, and charged with unspoken rivalry.
And yet, Dylan Brooks noticed none of it.
His attention had already drifted elsewhere, drawn instead to the phrase Old Master Winslow had casually mentioned earlier—
A “relic.”
The word lingered in his mind, echoing with implications that most people present would never truly understand.
Strictly speaking, the so-called “mystical items” that wealthy elites often talked about—things like jade pendants said to promote vitality, feng shui compasses that supposedly aligned one’s fortune, or decorative talismans meant to ward off misfortune—could barely qualify as anything significant.
At best, they were artifacts.
And even then, they were of the lowest possible tier.
T
